AR-NEWS Digest 645

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Ely, MN Wolf Meeting
     by "Cari Gehl" 
  2) Fwd: Premarin
     by "Cari Gehl" 
  3) Fwd: Puppy mills
     by "Cari Gehl" 
  4) Overview of the 1996 Seal Hunt 
     by "Cari Gehl" 
  5) DOC'S WHALE-WATCHING MORATORIUM WELCOMED
     by "Cari Gehl" 
  6) Judge says he never intended to order death of wolves
     by "Cari Gehl" 
  7) Duluth News Tribune Wolf Editorial
     by "Cari Gehl" 
  8) [UK] Imported cattle 'threaten fight against BSE'
     by David J Knowles 
  9) [SP] Protest over 'throwing of the goat' 
     by David J Knowles 
 10) [CA] Environmentalist fears forest code erosion
     by David J Knowles 
 11) Macau chickens to be slaughtered and sold
     by David J Knowles 
 12) =?iso-8859-1?Q?[UK]_=A32m_British_beef_promotion?=
     by David J Knowles 
 13) [UK/CA] AR-Friendly soap
     by David J Knowles 
 14) Fwd: Activists Charged in Sugarloaf Dolphin Release
     by "Cari Gehl" 
 15) Subscription Options--Admin Note
     by allen schubert 
 16) (US) Call to halt using animal tissue in man
     by allen schubert 
 17) Cod liver oil can be bad for your child's health 
     by Vadivu Govind 
 18) (HK) Champions of Mother Earth unite 
     by Vadivu Govind 
 19) (HK) Chicken farms should consult vets: Democrats 
     by Vadivu Govind 
 20) (US) Hindu sues Taco Bell over beef burrito
     by allen schubert 
 21) Desperate hunters!
     by Teresahfc@aol.com
 22) Nomination
     by Miyun Park 
 23) Stop Radio Show Fur Promotion
     by MINKLIB@aol.com
 24) [US] EDITORIAL: "Still time to save monkeys"
     by Steve Barney 
 25) Re: Stop Radio Show Fur Promotion
     by "Bob Schlesinger" 
 26) Cheetah comments
     by Friends of Animals 
 27) Sorry!
     by Miyun Park 
 28) Re: Stop Radio Show Fur Promotion
     by MINKLIB@aol.com
 29) Resolution to help Vilas Monkeys..
     by "Alliance for Animals" 
 30) Alert: Yellowstone Bison Slaughter Resumed!
     by Michael Markarian 
 31) (NZ)Deadly rabbit virus impending release
     by bunny 
 32) "Newfoundlanders just can't win"
     by Nicola Thompson 
 33) (US) Tempers flare during testimony
     by allen schubert 
 34) Nadas Story on Hardcopy - Feb 3rd
     by "Bob Schlesinger" 
 35) (US) Lawyer asserts industry can't prove Oprah's show affected
  beef prices
     by allen schubert 
 36) (US) Plaintiff, lawyer spar during court
     by allen schubert 
 37) Re: (US) Tempers flare during testimony
     by can commies be vegan too? 
 38) (US) Cattleman says second show not enough to halt beef price
  plunge
     by allen schubert 
 39) (US) When will Oprah testify? No one will say for sure
     by allen schubert 
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:41:14 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Ely, MN Wolf Meeting
Message-ID: <19980126064115.19496.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; 
    boundary="====================987654321_0==_"

Attached is an interesting account of the Ely, MN Wolf Meeting that I 
found on alt.wolves last week.  Apparently, the person that authored the 
account is a hunter (note his remark about "real hunters") but also 
appears to be pro-wolf. It makes for a fascinating read for anyone that 
has been following this situation. It is, however, quite long so I sent 
it as an attachment so that you can choose not to download it if you 
wish.  

Take care and best wishes to everyone,
Cari Gehl

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Attachment Converted: ATTACHMENT DELETED
Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:45:51 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: Premarin
Message-ID: <19980126064552.467.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

The following was posted to rec.pets as a request by someone that is 
looking to contact organizations or persons that are actively working on 
the Premarin issue.  If anyone has any recommendations for her on who 
she might contact, please e-mail her directly at:

hypoint@aol.com

Thanks and take care,
Cari Gehl

-------------forwarded post---------------
>From: hypoint@aol.com   on rec.pets
>I'm looking for people who are concerned about the Premarin
>(Pregnant Mare Urine) issue.
>
>Many of the foals that are born as a result of producing estrogen for
>Premarin are sold for slaughter.  Though I have heard that recently
>these farms are making an effort to produce more saleable horses
>- which is another problem in that they could flood the market with
>70,000+ horses per year.  This would contribute the surplus we already
>have in North America and just mean that many more horses at risk for
>being slaughtered.
>
>I need help seeing how this issue can be better communicated so that
>every woman, every horse person and a lot of other people are aware of
>it.  I just learned about it this week, and as I have talked about it
>with people I am stunned by how many women and horse people that I've
>talked with are not even aware of it.  I think it is very important 
that
>it become common knowledge so that people can make informed choices.  I
>feel that if someone chooses to (or needs to) use Premarin instead of a
 >synthetic, herbal or vegetable alternative, then that is their choice.
I
>just want to make sure they at least know what the issue is for the
>Pregnant Mares and the foals that are produced.
>
>I understand that currently there are about 70,000 mares in service for
>PMU.  With the baby-boomers entering menopause I can see demand for
>Estrogen Replacement Therapy skyrocketing which would result in more
>mares being needed, more foals being produced, more horses entering the
>market and going to slaughter.
>
>You can help by working on communicating this issue in a multitude of
>appropriate ways and by responding and letting me know things I could 
>do,
>and people I could contact.  One person I contacted advised this 
message
>board for which I am really grateful.
--------------------end forwarded post----------------------

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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:49:59 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: Puppy mills
Message-ID: <19980126065000.6618.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

Another request for help from a volunteer at a no-kill shelter in 
Massachusetts.  She is looking for resources on educating the public 
about the puppy mill/pet shop connection.  If anyone has any 
suggestions, please contact her directly at:

leigh13@ix.netcom.com

Thanks much!
Cari Gehl

------------------------forwarded post----------------------
>From:  leigh13@ix.netcom.com
>
>Hi All!
>
>I am a 3 year volunteer with a no-kill shelter in Massachusetts.
>
>My problem...our shelter has been receiving LOTS of "pure breed puppies
>with papers" that are coming from PET STORES!!!!
>
>Obviously these people buying from pet stores do NOT realize these dogs
>come from PUPPY MILLS! 
>
>Anyway, these dogs are ALWAYS sick and have problems such as kennel
>cough, epilepsy, infections, viruses, worms, etc... Its SOOO sad.
>
>Does anyone have any ideas on educating the public as to where these
>pets come from and the fact that they pack dozens of puppies (for
>HOURS) in crates and fly them across the country to various pet stores.
>Several of these puppies also die EN ROUTE!
>
>Not to mention..who are these crappy "VETS" signing off clean bills of
>health on the dogs that are purchased from these pet stores???
>Obviously the are getting PAID OFF / BRIBED to give clean bills of
>health...because they are never healthy. I have NEVER HEARD OF ONE
>HEALTH PUPPY COMING FROM A PET STORE. I MEAN HEALTHY FOR YEARS
WITHOUT
>NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS ETC...
>
>Someone please help...I feel like I'm fighting an up hill, no win
>situation!
>
>Email me at the user group or directly!
>
>Thanks,
>Leigh
>
>
------------------------end forwarded post----------------

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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:52:44 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Overview of the 1996 Seal Hunt 
Message-ID: <19980126065245.1341.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

>From the IFAW web page at http://seals.ifaw.org/seals/overview/:

Overview of the 1996 Seal Hunt 

        In 1995, the Canadian government introduced increased
subsidies for the seal hunt  and pledged that the renewed kill would
be humane, well regulated, sustainable, and free from waste. 

        In 1996, the Canadian seal hunt ran wildly out of control: 

        Hunters killed over a quarter of a million seals in less than
three months.  Video evidence obtained by IFAW and outlined in this
report show some were skinned alive.
    
         Many others were wounded by gunfire and caught on sharpened
steel hooks or clubbed to death with illegal weapons. 

        Federal inspectors were unable, or unwilling, to prevent
sealers from killing over three times the legal limit of hooded seals.


        Sealers were convicted of skinning seals alive and other
violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations. 

        IFAW observers produced video and photographic evidence of
widespread dumping of seal skins and dead seals. 

        CBC Radio reported local hotel owners were complaining that
the stench of rotting seals was harming their business. Such
evidence is characteristic of the waste associated with this hunt.

        Dead seals were also found with only their genitals and a few
other parts removed. 

        Most recently, government officials charged 101 sealers --
including the President and one third of the 1996 Executive Council of
the Canadian Sealers’ Association -- with illegally selling more than
25,000 protected whitecoat harp and blueback hooded seal
pups for profit. 

        These abuses occurred despite thirty years of attempted
reforms, including the funds put into sealer training, the expenditure
of over 23 million dollars for a Royal Commission on Seals and
Sealing,  the annual costs for about 100 federal inspectors
plus aircraft, icebreakers and rescue ships ... and at least one
million dollars a year since 1985 in direct and indirect taxpayer
subsidies to the sealing industry. 
---------


        Boycott Canada and Norway.

......Real men do not kill seals for penises.



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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 22:56:33 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: DOC'S WHALE-WATCHING MORATORIUM WELCOMED
Message-ID: <19980126065634.8597.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

15-Jan-98 07:13 pm Regular  National

DOC'S WHALE-WATCHING MORATORIUM WELCOMED


   Wellington, Jan 15 - Today's decision by the Department of
Conservation (DOC) to impose a three-year moratorium on Kaikoura
whale-watching permits while it carries out research has been
welcomed by World Wide Fund for Nature New Zealand (WWF-NZ).

   Executive director Chris Laidlaw said DOC's announcement that it
would not issue further permits until there was a clear
understanding of the impact of tourist numbers on the whale
population was a model which out to be followed more widely.

   ``We would like to see an agreement between DOC and the tourism
industry as to the wider research priorities on sustainable tourism
in New Zealand as a whole.''

   Mr Laidlaw said it was extremely important for the future of this
form of tourism that the balance was right.

   ``Earlier research by WWF-NZ in Kaikoura has shown that whale
behaviour is definitely affected by the presence of tourists and the
welfare of the animals must obviously be put before the interests of
volume tourism,'' he said.

   Earlier DOC said that no further sperm whale-watching permits
would be issued, and 16 current applications would be declined.
Existing operations are unaffected.

   DOC Nelson-Marlborough conservator Neil Clifton said the research
was to enhance management of the whale-watching industry.

   The study would determine whether there were any impacts from
whale-watching vessels on sperm whales and what effect additional
commercial operators might have.

   DOC had commissioned an extensive study into whale watching in
1982, which had provided a basis for managing the industry, but the
information was very outdated.

   ``The local sperm whale population has a few new members, the
type of boats used commercially has changed, recreational activity
has increased and new techniques are being used to track the
whales,'' he said.

   Additional research had indicated that a few individual whales
received most of the attention.

   ``In short, further research is needed before any increase in
whale-watching permits at Kaikoura can be considered,'' Mr Clifton
said.

   Whale watching began on the Kaikoura coast in 1988. Two permits
have been issued since then, both to Whale Watch Kaikoura, 51
percent-owned by the Kaikoura runanga and 49 percent by the Ngai
Tahu tribe.

   A decision by DOC to issue a third permit in 1992 was the subject
of a High Court appeal after it was opposed by Whale Watch Kaikoura.
In 1995 the court overturned DOC's decision and instructed the
department to reconsider.

   Mr Clifton said the research would be contracted out and probably
would begin this winter with field work off Kaikoura.

   Whale Watch Kaikoura said today it had a mixed reaction to the
moratorium.

   Chief executive Wally Stone said the company was relieved that
DOC had accepted its responsibility for ensuring the sustainable
management of the Kaikoura whales.

   ``But until we see the terms of reference for the research brief,
the company will hold back its judgment of the plan,'' he said.

   Whale Watch Kaikoura had been arguing for a number of years that
further research was required.

   He said any research by DOC should take into account the need to
educate and encourage responsible behaviour at all times around
whales, dolphins and other marine life.

   ``The bottom line for Whale Watch Kaikoura is very sobering -- no
whales, no business. We cannot afford to get it wrong.''

   Applicant Gordon O'Callahan, who applied 10 years ago for a
permit, said today the decision to decline all applications was no
surprise.

   ``DOC has played into Ngai Tahu's hands.''

   He said Whale Watch Kaikoura's 16 trips a day was too many.

   ``That's no way to run a whale-watch. What are they going to
study -- the effects of 16 trips a day? If we get a whale-watch
permit, we're not going to do 16 trips a day,'' he said.

   Mr O'Callahan is a former employee of Nature Watch, which ran
whale-watching tours in Kaikoura in the late 1980s. It made only two
trips a day.


NZPA WGT BLE kk gt







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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 23:36:31 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Judge says he never intended to order death of wolves
Message-ID: <19980126073631.10489.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

A federal judge's order for the removal of Canadian wolves
transplanted in Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho should not
be seen as a death warrant for the wolves, he said.

U.S. District Judge William Downes, in a clarification of his December
order for the removal of more than 150 wolves in the northern Rockies,
said the order is not a call for the wolves to be killed.

But Downes said the evidence in the case indicated the wolves could be
removed from the northern Rockies as easily as they were brought into
the area in 1995 and 1996.

"The record suggests that if non-native wolves can be humanely
captured and transferred to the experimental population areas, they
can also be humanely captured and removed," his clarification said.


http://www.trib.com/NEWS/HEAD/wolves20.html
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 23:41:21 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Duluth News Tribune Wolf Editorial
Message-ID: <19980126074121.16890.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

DULUTH NEWS-TRIBUNE 

REGIONAL VIEWPOINT
WE MUST EVEN ODDS WITH WOLVES 



Monday, January 19, 1998 
Section: FRONT 
Page: 09A 

By Steven Downing 

Imagine a day in the farm economy, sometime soon, when you're paying,
say, $4 a pound for pork butt, a day when chicken legs run $3 a pound.
A day when hooves and horns have to be added to a wiener's mix of lips
and other cow end parts (i.e., to make ends meat), will the hot dog
finally deserve its bad press?

Never one to cry wolf, that's what we're looking at, if we don't do
something about wolves, pronto. And 400 people recently came together
in one room here in Grand Rapids, at a Department of Natural
Resources-sponsored meeting, to deal with just this issue: Wolves are
trashing our barnyards and deer herds, putting livelihoods,
neighborhoods and the fat-dependent cost of living at risk.

True: There are no hard, verifiable data in this barnyard business,
but if we wait for the numbers to add up we'll never get ahead of the
curve. Think of our past mistakes and, for that matter, our successes.
We rightly saw that the buffalo, almost singlehandedly, was
subsidizing a culture we knew to be heathen and primitive beyond our
ability to upgrade. We effectively exterminated the buffalo, sure, but
only late in the game, in the process turning the whole sunny, shaggy,
down-to-earth plains way of life absolutely romantic, in a tragic,
cinematic sort of way. Native Americans are still thanking us for
that; it was a close call, for them and us.

Woodland caribou, too, and wolverines, to name just a couple other
long-goners: we saw them early on for what they were -- negligible, in
the big picture -- and wiped them out. Or, on the mistake side of the
ledger, let's not forget communists. We tried killing them off,
onesie-twosie, but never fully put our minds to it. We were sitting on
our thumbs when the entire left side of the world caved in of its own
topheavy inertia. If we wait for this to happen to wolf populations,
sitting on our thumbs is going to look like aerobic exercise to most
people reading this page today. Live and learn, that's the ticket.

Fortuitously, the sentiment that wolves need ``managing'' has some
newfound steam, and there was plenty of that at the Jan. 8 meeting in
Grand Rapids. But what's with the euphemism ``managing''? You manage
baseball teams, manic-depression. Wolves, you kill. Where's the shame
in that? They're rather stupid animals, almost as stupid as we are.
Better parents, no doubt, as the Ojibwe noted, but should that
guarantee them anything? They're not overly beautiful, especially not
in action, working together on the evening meal, each member of the
pack snarfing up a quarter of its own body weight. To compare, to
compete, I'd have to wolf down something like 40 pounds of raw
venison, extremely fast, how about you? They can't sing, or can only
sing about who and where they are, and, honestly, has anybody seen
them dance? That they've acquired a taste for critters we think of as
ours -- ours to kill, ours to eat -- is nobody's fault but theirs.

Wolves have been protected now for fully three decades, and if they
haven't figured out yet how to appreciate the technical, bureaucratic
difference between ``endangered'' and ``threatened,'' what are the
chances ``managed'' will ever break through the wolf's semantic
disadvantages? Kill them, dig the guilt. Extinction is not a moral
failure.

Think of the alternatives. More securely fenced, and therefore more
costly, barnyards? Consequence: pork butt, $4 a pound. More whitetail
deer for the wolves to hunt and eat? Firearms season, bye-bye. The
deer herd is down, yes, but who doubts that the reasons are 1) wolves
and 2) snow? There are 2,000 wolves out there today, up from a few
hundred 30 years ago, vying with us for venison and the thrill of
tearing out a deer's heart -- and who's wearing the goofy orange suit?
We owe it to ourselves to even the odds.

Or, more radically, we might leave the wolves free to choose, well or
poorly. Since they seem to be mimicking us in other ways, perhaps
they'll simply overpopulate, turn on one another, discover cold fusion
and begin to self-destruct. If that looks too much like sitting on our
thumbs, remember: Every earthly species we've ``managed'' has ended up
as a zoo exhibit or a museum piece -- in other words, ``protected''
for eternity. Heaven is a diorama, your very own, in a hushed, dimly
lit space. Who said that?


Downing is a resident of Grand Rapids


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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 23:24:52
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Imported cattle 'threaten fight against BSE'
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980125232452.2e1780d0@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Monday, January 25th, 1998

Imported cattle 'threaten fight against BSE'
By David Brown, Agriculture Editor 

CATTLE infected with BSE that have been imported from other EU countries
have undermined Britain's efforts to salvage its global export markets for
beef and eradicate mad cow disease, vets said yesterday.

About a dozen infected cows imported from Italy, Belgium, France and
Holland over the past 10 years have been slaughtered. But thousands of
cattle of uncertain history are still being imported, some from Germany and
the Republic of Ireland, which have both suffered outbreaks of BSE.

The British Cattle Veterinary Society - a branch of the British Veterinary
Association - called for tighter Government controls on cows imported for
breeding. There was no way of knowing whether these animals were infected
before or after arriving in Britain.

Special efforts must be made to trace them and make sure that they do not
enter the human food chain. Otherwise, controls on British-bred and reared
livestock were meaningless. About 36,000 cows have been imported in the
past five years to supply farmers who cannot find suitable replacements
here because of the precautionary slaughter of native cattle. About 40,000
were killed to eliminate any that may have been in contact with the
contaminated food blamed for causing BSE.

All supplies of this food were cleared from farms in the United Kingdom by
Aug 1, 1996. More than 6,000 cattle were imported between August and
December last year - but vets said yesterday there was no guarantee that
they had not been exposed to the same sort of food.

They also warned, in a letter to The Veterinary Record, that these cattle
could jeopardise British efforts to establish Aug 1 1996 as a "cut-off
date" by which all beef from animals born after that date is deemed clear
of BSE. This is seen as the best criterion for persuading other countries
that beef exported from Britain is safe. Imported animals born after that
date must be identified and their movements monitored, the vets say. 

Bob Moore, president of the British Cattle Veterinary Association, said:
"We are trying to avoid a problem down the line when we could have an
unexpected outbreak of BSE despite our controls, which are the tightest in
the world. We would be blamed for it even though the cause lay elsewhere.
We have no way of knowing whether these imported cattle have been exposed
to the suspect food."

The National Farmers' Union of England and Wales said: "We have always
urged the same level of controls in all member states. It is in everyone's
interests." The Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that 12 cattle, born
overseas, had since died of BSE. It said: "All cattle in this country are
now monitored whether they were born here or not."

The European Union is to launch a £1 million advertising campaign next
month to urge consumers in Britain to eat more beef. The EU still refuses
to accept that British beef is safe enough to sell to consumers in other
countries.

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998. 

Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 23:28:36
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [SP] Protest over 'throwing of the goat' 
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980125232836.2e176e28@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Monday, January 25th, 1998

Protest over 'throwing of the goat' 
Tim Brown, Madrid 

ANIMAL lovers were outraged yesterday after a ritual known as "the throwing
of the goat" went ahead in the village of Manganeses de la Polvorosa in
north-west Spain. Youths hurled a goat 37 feet from a church tower on to a
trampoline. It escaped injury.

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998. 

Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 23:55:07
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Environmentalist fears forest code erosion
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980125235507.2e170e20@dowco.com>
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>From The Vancouver Sun website - Monday, January 25th, 1998

Environmentalist fears forest code erosion

VANCOUVER (CP) – At least one B.C. environmentalist fears Premier Glen
Clark will decimate the province's Forest Practices Code Monday when he
addresses last week's massive cutbacks by forestry giant MacMillan Bloedel
Ltd. 

"The thing we are hearing is that they are reducing the stumpage rates for
the companies in British Columbia," said Colleen McCrory of the Valhalla
Wilderness Society based in the southeastern Kootenay region. 

Stumpage is the amount companies pay the province to cut the trees on
public land. 

McCrory said Sunday that from what she's been told by the group's sources
in the Forests Ministry, she believes Clark's announcement will gut the
much-heralded Forests Practices Code that was developed to make forestry
more environmentally sensitive. The code regulates forestry practices on
Crown land. 

Last week, MacMillan Bloedel, Canada's largest forestry company, announced
it would be cutting 2,700 jobs over the next year, about 1,300 of them in
B.C. – the majority in forestry-dependent towns on Vancouver Island. 

Clark was travelling with the Team Canada trade mission to Latin America at
the time, but was scheduled to address the issue this morning in  Vancouver
with Forests Minister Dave Zirnhelt. 

Opposition leader Gordon Campbell said Sunday that Clark should have
addressed industry concerns before MacMillan Bloedel's cutbacks. 

"It's going to be too little too late," Campbell said of whatever
announcement Clark makes. 

MacMillan Bloedel's returns have lagged behind the industry for the last
three years and investors have viewed it as bloated and inefficient. The
cuts were made to appease shareholders, new president Tom Stephens told
reporters last week. 

That angered union leaders who said the company is mismanaging a public
resource. 

Copyright 1998 Southam News / The Vancouver Sun


Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 23:55:20
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Macau chickens to be slaughtered and sold
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980125235520.2e174926@dowco.com>
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>From The Vancouver Sun website - Monday, January 25th, 1998

About 75,000 Macau chickens to be slaughtered and sold

HONG KONG (AP) – Macau will slaughter and sell 75,000 chickens crammed into
poultry farms because the Hong Kong bird flu has chilled demand, a Hong
Kong newspaper reported Sunday. 

Farmers and officials had been grappling with overcrowding in poultry farms
for some time before deciding to slaughter the chickens and sell them
cheaply, the South China Morning Post reported. 

The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed six people and sickened 12 others in
Hong Kong since it crossed over to humans for the first time last year. The
outbreak led to the mass slaughter of all of Hong Kong's 1.4 million
chickens. 

No bird flu cases have been reported in Macau, a tiny Portuguese colony on
China's southern coast. 

Copyright 1998 Southam News / The Vancouver Sun


Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 00:05:09
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] £2m British beef promotion
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980126000509.2e174b0e@dowco.com>
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>From The BBC Website

Monday, January 26, 1998 Published at 04:12 GMT 

UK

£2m British beef promotion

A £2m marketing campaign is being launched to try to restore confidence in
British beef. 

Sales have recovered slightly since the dramatic collapse following the
link established between BSE and the human variant, CJD. But the European
Union ban on British beef is still in force. 

Now, in what is being seen as a significant gesture, the EU is contributing
towards the funding of the campaign, which will concentrate solely on
British beef. 

Meanwhile the Meat and Livestock Commission, funded by farmers to promote
British beef, is about to publish its latest research into consumer
attitudes. 

It asked 2,000 consumers whether they considered British beef to be safer
than imported meat. They were also asked which beef they preferred. 

While little is being said in advance of the report's release, the
commission says results are
encouraging. 

Consumer confidence has taken a pounding with each new revelation about BSE. 

Now the commission believes the time is right for an advertising campaign. 

Copyright BBC 1998

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 01:07:04
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK/CA] AR-Friendly soap
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980126010704.2e1727ae@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Ar-Friendly soap - soap opera, that is. Granada Television's 'Coronation
Street', which is the world's longest-running soap, has been developing an
animal-friendly look recently, both on and off the set.

Tina Hobley, who plays barmaid Samantha, has joined a growing band of stars
who have come out against fur as a fashion item. She told Company magazine:
"Cruelty to animals is
never stylish." Fellow Street star Angela Griffin, who plays hairdresser
Fiona, agrees: "I'd prefer to hug something cuddly and warm, rather than
something cold and dead."

Meanwhile, on the show itself, a new character, modeled on eco-warrier
"Swampy", was introduced to British viewers in mid-December.

The character, known as Geoffrey "Spider" Nugent, is an eco-warrier and vegan.

Canadian viewers can catch the new character's introduction next week on CBC.

(Coronation Street has already had one previous vegetarian character, but
"Spider" is believed to be the first  character in a prime-time British
soap to be vegan.) 
.



Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 01:53:27 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: Activists Charged in Sugarloaf Dolphin Release
Message-ID: <19980119095328.23817.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain

>From the NOAA website:
----------------------
 NOAA 98-R103


Contact:  Scott Smullen           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                  1/14/98

 ACTIVISTS CHARGED IN SUGARLOAF DOLPHIN RELEASE 

The Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration has filed charges against several dolphin freedom 
activists for harassing and illegally
transporting two captive dolphins in connection with their deliberate 
release six miles off the coast of Key West, Florida, on May 23, 1996. 
Alleging multiple
violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, NOAA assessed a maximum 
allowable $10,000 for each of the six counts charged, resulting in a 
total of $60,000
in penalties against those involved. 

After the dolphins were dumped off the side of a boat, they were found 
injured, emaciated, and begging for food from boaters in local marinas, 
and were rescued by
federal biologists with the help of several government agencies and 
private groups.

Charges have been filed against Richard O'Barry of Coconut Grove, Fla., 
Lloyd Good, III, of Sugarloaf Key, Fla., Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary, 
Inc., of Sugarloaf
Key, Fla., and the Dolphin Project, Inc., of South Miami, Fla. All four 
have been charged with an illegal "take" by harassment and illegal 
transportation of each
dolphin. Both the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary and The Dolphin Project 
also have been charged with failing to notify NOAA prior to the 
transport of the dolphins. 

According to NOAA, the dolphins were transported without prior 
notification and not for purposes of public display, scientific 
research, or enhancement or survival
of the species or stock. The day after they were dumped overboard and 
released, one of the dolphins appeared in a congested Key West marina 
with lacerations
and begging for food. The second dolphin, found over 40 miles away 
almost two weeks after the release, also sustained deep lacerations and 
was emaciated. After
determining that the dolphins were injured and in need of treatment, the 
agency, with the help of others, rescued and provided veterinary care to 
the dolphins.
Following initial treatment, one dolphin was transported to the U.S. 
Navy facility in San Diego for rehabilitation. The other dolphin was 
found to be in considerably
worse condition requiring extended rehabilitation, and remains at a 
Department of Agriculture licensed marine mammal public display facility 
in the Florida Keys. 

Federal officials later seized a third dolphin from the Sugarloaf 
Dolphin Sanctuary, after officials with the Department of Agriculture 
suspended the facility's license for
multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act. The dolphins had been on 
public display at the Sugarloaf Lodge motel in Sugarloaf Key since 1994. 
Prior to that,
these dolphins were part of the U.S. Navy's marine mammal research 
program, and had been in captivity since the late 1980's. 

According to the agency, in order to protect the health and welfare of 
marine mammals, any release should be conducted only under a Marine 
Mammal Protection
Act scientific research permit. Applications for such permits are 
subject to scientific and public review, and would involve the 
development of a release protocol that
addresses important concerns such as whether: 1) a released animal is 
properly and humanely prepared to live in the wild; 2) long-term follow 
up monitoring of the
animal is conducted; 3) wild marine mammals are affected; and 4) 
contingency plans are in place if it is necessary to rescue a released 
animal. 

"These dolphins were injured, needed medical attention, and could have 
died. This incident underscores the need to conduct any dolphin release 
scientifically and
with follow-up to ensure the health and welfare of the animals," said 
Terry Garcia, assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere 
and NOAA deputy
administrator. "Prior to the release, we repeatedly warned these 
individuals of the risks inherent in releasing dolphins without a 
scientific research permit. They agreed
to apply for a permit but didn't, and released the dolphins without one. 
A scientific research permit, if issued, would have facilitated the 
development of a responsible
release protocol and authorized any take' that could have occurred 
incidental to a release."

Agency officials said, wildlife experts agree that releasing captive 
marine mammals has the potential to hurt both the released animals and 
the wild marine mammals
they encounter. Experts are concerned about the ability of a released 
animal to hunt for food, defend itself from predators, and avoid 
interactions with people and
boats. Other concerns include disease transmission and unwanted genetic 
exchange between a released animal and wild marine mammal stocks, and 
any behavioral
patterns developed in captivity that could affect the social behavior of 
wild animals as well as the social integration of the released animal.

The parties charged in this case have 30 days in which to respond. If 
desired, they may request an administrative hearing in which to contest 
the charges. 


______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 07:10:47 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Subscription Options--Admin Note
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980126071047.006a232c@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

time again for this...
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To unsubscribe, send e-mail to:  listproc@envirolink.org

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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 07:25:30 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Call to halt using animal tissue in man
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126072527.00b2cf80@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from USA Today http://www.usatoday.com
--------------------------------------------------------
    01/22/98- Updated 01:38 AM ET
    
Call to halt using animal tissue in man

One of the leading scientists in the field of xenotransplantation
- transferring animal tissue into humans - is calling for a halt
to the practice until society can decide whether the benefits
outweigh the potential risks to public health. 

Fritz Bach, an immunologist at Harvard Medical School, argues
that while the use of animal tissues and organs could ease the
shortage of human organs needed for transplant, there is a chance
that unknown, dangerous viruses could move from animals into the
human population.

Most xenotransplantation research has involved the use of specially
bred pigs. Already, pig tissue has been used as grafting material
for burn victims, and pig livers have been used temporarily on
patients waiting for human donors.

But, after years of research in animal-to-human transplantation,
Bach says, I began to realize there were issues some of
us  had not thought about as much as we should. . . .  We cannot
put the public at risk, he says, unless the public
in some way has recommended it.

At a meeting in Washington, D.C., today, where health officials
are developing guidelines on xenotransplantation, Bach says he
will recommend formation of a national committee of nonscientists
who can assess the medical risks and ethical issues associated
with the technique. A commentary to that effect, written by Bach
and eight colleagues, is in Thursday's issues of Nature
and Nature Medicine.

Bach's comments reflect growing  concern about the direction science
is heading with advances in genetic engineering. Ethical issues
surrounding cloning and the use of animals for spare parts are
troublesome, says University of Pennsylvania ethicist Arthur A.
Caplan. It's not that we can't identify the ethical issues,
he says. It's that scientific advances move much quicker
than the political process and public education is able to carry
them.

Corrine Saville, chief operating officer of Imutran, a company
that develops transgenic pigs for human transplantation, says
many of Bach's concerns have already been addressed by public
health agencies. One of the major tenets is that the potential
benefit to the patient should be balanced by any risk to society
at large, she says. What he's outlining is a stepwise
approach (to further development), which is what we would also
endorse.

By Anita Manning, USA TODAY

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:27:33 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Cod liver oil can be bad for your child's health 
Message-ID: <199801261227.UAA04877@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit



>The Electronic Telegraph
20 Jan 98

Cod liver oil can be bad for your child's health
                  By David Fletcher, Health Correspondent 


                         COD liver oil, the foul-tasting vitamin
supplement forced on generations of children,   has been found to contain
traces of dangerous industrial chemicals including some  linked with cancer,
a report said yesterday.

                  The Food Commission, an independent watchdog body,
said that although the levels were low,  mothers should be aware there was
some concern for the effects on young children and  consider alternatives.

                  Sainsbury's said last night that it was considering
putting a warning on bottled cod liver oil that it should not be given to
children under five or adults of low body weight after discussions with the
Department of Health and MAFF.

                  A spokesman said: "We already recommend on labels that
adults and children under 12 should not take more than one teaspoon a day of
cod liver oil.

                  "We are now in discussions with MAFF and are
considering recommending that it should not be taken at all by children
under five." She added that cod liver oil capsules contained such  small
quantities of oil that they were not covered by the recommendations.

                  A report by MAFF said their investigations have found
"relatively high concentrations" of dioxins and PCBs (polychlorinated
biphenyls) in fish liver oils. They are picked up by fish swimming in
polluted waters and stored in their liver.

                  Dioxins and PCBs are linked to increased risk of
cancer and officials from MAFF and the  Department of Health have met
representatives of the fish oil industry to discuss ways in which they can
be reduced in fish oil products. The estimated intake of these chemicals by
adults and
school children who stick to the manufacturers recommended dose were below
"tolerable daily                  intake" levels recommended by the Government's
Committee on Toxicity.

                  "However, in combination with intakes from the diet,
the tolerable daily intake could be  exceeded by some of these consumers,"
said a
spokesman. He said that when the intake of toxins in normal diet was taken
into account, toddlers consuming the manufacturer's recommended dose could
exceed the "tolerable" limit.

                  Cod liver oil is a source of vitamins A and D and was
so prized during the food rationing period of the Second World War that it
was distributed free by the government. It has also been recommended by
doctors to reduce the risk of heart disease and is taken by an estimated one
in 10 adults, most of them over 55 years old, who believe it is helpful in
relieving the symptoms
of arthritis.

                  The MAFF report said: "Dioxins and PCBs are known to
be biomagnified as they progress through the food chain and the main route
of exposure to these compounds is through the  consumption of fatty foods,
such as milk and milk products, meat and fish."

                  Alan Clements, corporate director of Seven Seas, which
has a 60 per cent market share of cod liver oil supplements sold in Britain,
said
manufacturers went to considerable lengths to minimise the levels of
pollutants in cod liver oil.

                  He said adults taking up to two teaspoonfuls a day
would be well within MAFF's "tolerable  daily intake" levels for dioxins and
PCBs. The only concern was for babies and very few of                  them
were given cod liver oil. He said cod liver oil was perfectly safe and
beneficial to health.

                  "We use the cleanest possible oils by taking cod from
the Arctic region where there is the least   pollution and by using a
purifying process which minimises levels of pollutants," he said.

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998. 

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:28:04 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Champions of Mother Earth unite 
Message-ID: <199801261228.UAA06447@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
26 Jan 98

Champions of Mother Earth unite
By Terry Sellards 

WESTERNERS of Judeo-Christian tradition are taught in the Book of
Genesis that God said, ``Let us make a man in
our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over
all the earth . . . '' 

Dominion over all the earth? That has been generally interpreted to mean
``the earth is your people, do what you want
with it''. Pardon me, but this Catholic boy doesn't believe God meant
anything of the kind. Unfortunately, we Westerners
have behaved as though God did. 

For centuries we have consumed the earth and all its resources as if
there were a never ending supply, and we have
exported our greedy consumption of nature to all parts of the globe,
particularly mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
and all of Southeast Asia. 

My hat off to the University of Hong Kong, the Salisbury YMCA and the
Plowshares Institute, and the Macarthur
foundation. 

They are rolling up their sleeves and beginning a process to raise
public awareness and co-operative action in Hong
Kong to address the runaway pollution that is a greater long-term threat
to the region than the current flux in the stock
market. 

In March and September, Christine Loh, one of Hong Kong's leading
environmental spokespersons, and Dr William
Barron of the university's Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental
Management will take leadership roles in
workshops which address the problem of ``sustainable development'' _
striking a balance between economic
development and environmental protection and replenishment. 

Dr Robert Evans and Alice Frazer Evans, the husband-and-wife team who
founded Plowshares will serve as
co-ordinators for the workshops bringing with them years of experience
in catalysing leadership on matters of important
to the world village, primarily human rights, conflict resolution and
sustainable development. 

The purpose of the workshop is not to sit around a table and discuss how
terrible everything is for the environment in
Asia and worldwide. Boring. Everyone already knows that. 

The purpose is to bring together key people from different segments of
Hong Kong society. The meetings are seen as
the beginning of a process of focused effort to heighten awareness of
the problem and ultimately stimulate co-operative
action to arrest the assault on Hong Kong's air, land and water. 

It is hoped that as Hong Kong becomes more aware of the problem and
takes more positive action, it will be able to
lead other parts of Asia, particularly China and Taiwan into a more
enlightened and balanced relationship with Mother
Nature. It seems to me that the predisposition for ``balance'' in Asian
culture could eventually put Asia in the forefront of
the international effort to stop the merciless attack we humans are
making on our home planet. 

Alice Evans points out to me that the word ``dominion'' in the Book of
Genesis has another meaning _ stewardship. And
that, my friends, is what its all about. Dominion correctly translated
from original scripture means taking care of, working
for the good of, and other similar concepts. 

If all that is too idealistic for you, just look at the practicalities.
If we don't strike a balance with nature then our days are
numbered. We are using up renewable resources like air, water and land
faster than they are replenishing themselves.
We don't have a choice. 

Just remember, the Earth will survive whether we do or not _ even if it
has to get rid of us to do it. 

   Terry Sellards is a consultant to Hong Kong Standard and the Sing Tao
group.

---------------------------------------------------

Christine Loh is a vegetarian according to
http://www.ivu.org/global/english.html

- Vadivu

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:28:09 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Chicken farms should consult vets: Democrats 
Message-ID: <199801261228.UAA04880@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
26 Jan 98

Chicken farms should consult vets: Democrats
By Cynthia Wan 

THE government should draft a law requiring chicken farms and
wholesalers to hire or consult registered veterinarians
regularly, the Democratic Party has suggested. 

A team of five Democrats, returning from an inspection tour of poultry
handling facilities in Taiwan, suggested the government use Taiwan's
quarantine system as a model. 

A poultry quarantine centre to detect diseases in advance should be
established, they said. 

The delegation included Nelson Wong Sing-chi, Ng Wing-fai, Chan Chu-ying
and Lee Kwok-keung. 

They found that 60 per cent of Taiwan's 22 abattoirs slaughter their
animals using machines. The Taiwan government recommends that
veterinarians be employed by chicken farms and poultry wholesalers so
that
when a problem arises, the chickens can be examined immediately. 

Tertiary institutes also collect samples of feathers, faeces and serum
in order to control the possible outbreak of
epidemics among animals. 

Examinations are then conducted by the local livestock association. 

In addition, Taiwan adopted the Chinese Agricultural Standard in 1989. 

The standard, designed by government agricultural bodies, regulates all
types of agricultural and poultry products and
processed food. 

The delegates also said they were impressed by the Taiwanese
government's preventive approach to the H5N1 virus. 

Chicken farmers, vendors and academics have been liaising with each
other to scrutinise the latest developments. 

The democrats urged local officials to develop closer links with
representatives working in related trades.


Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 07:30:27 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Hindu sues Taco Bell over beef burrito
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126073025.00b2d488@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from USA Today http://www.usatoday.com
--------------------------------------------------------
Hindu sues Taco Bell over beef burrito

VENTURA, Calif. - A devout Hindu is suing Taco Bell, claiming he suffered
extreme distress because he was served a beef burrito. Hindus hold cows
sacred and Mukesh K. Rai maintains that he carefully ordered a bean burrito
at the Taco Bell in Ventura in April. "He clearly repeated the order twice
so that he would be ensured of not receiving a burrito with meat," the
lawsuit states. He says he realized the mistake when he bit into it.
"Eating the cow, it was a really devastating experience," Rai said Friday.
His lawsuit, filed last week, seeks damages for emotional distress, medical
expenses and loss of wages. There was no comment Sunday from Taco Bell; its
Irvine headquarters was closed.
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 08:33:28 EST
From: Teresahfc@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Desperate hunters!
Message-ID: <9c29878b.34cc90a9@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

The following is excerpted from the Scranton Sunday Times:

"At its January meeting, the Pennsylvania Game Commission proposed major
changes in small game, spring gobbler and deer seasons.

The most significant point would allow junior license holders with anterless
deer licenses to harvest anterless deer during the two-week buck season.
Advanced to improve the success rate of young hunters, the proposal is
envisioned as a tool that will bring success earlier to young hunters and
hopefully involve them in hunting for life."

In other words, "junior hunters" would be allowed to shoot both a buck and an
anterless deer the same day! Other hunters are limited to one deer a day. This
of course is in response to the fact that junior license sales (not to mention
all license sales) have been dropping steadily.
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 10:52:47 -0500
From: Miyun Park 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Nomination
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126105034.006a69f4@pop.erols.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I would like to nominate Gowri Koneswaran to this list. She works with PCRM
and is an active member of Compassion Over Killing. Her e-mail is:
gowri@erols.com.

--Miyun

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 11:55:41 EST
From: MINKLIB@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Stop Radio Show Fur Promotion
Message-ID: <3e12fc39.34ccc010@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

The following was posted to members of the National Trappers Association
by a trapper.  Please help counter their efforts.
______________
Hello NTA members,

        I have news of an important supporter of ours. A major radio
station here in Rochester N.Y.  1180 WHAM has an afternoon talk show
host named Bob Lonsberry. Mr. Lonsberry was very vocal in his support of
the fur industry in one of his commentarys. He opened by saying "friends
do me a favor and wear fur today". This was in response to the strong
arm tactics of the AR people on the day after Thanksgiving. Mr.
Lonsberry has often spoke on his program of his love of the
outdoors,hunting,and gun ownership and while not mentioning trapping
specifically,at least to my knowledge, he is a common sence host that is
on our side. The Bob Lonsberry show can be heard on 1180 am from noon
until 2:00 Mon-Fri. and is a 50,000 watt station that covers close to 40
states and Canada. So when I said we have an important voice in support
of our cause you
can see why. I recently e-mailed Bob Lonsberry and thanked him for his
support and I urge any of you with the capabilities to do the same. I
informed him that we are a close-knit group and he could be assured he
would here from many of us. Let's show him our gratitude and impress
upon him our committment to what we love, Trapping!!

         You can e-mail Bob Lonsberry at lonsberry@eznet.net and find
much more out about his show and the 800 # to call his show at
www.wham1180.com  Once again lets overwhelm him with our show of support
for taking a stand for our cause. Thank You in advance.



Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 12:27:31 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] EDITORIAL: "Still time to save monkeys"
Message-ID: <34CCD593.BA56161D@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: MULTIPART/MIXED;
BOUNDARY="Boundary_[ID_WxOrJGtaBCSEP4Ul6pL2xg]"

For related info, go to links under section #3.1 in Outline of the
Animal Liberation Action Group's web page at: 
     http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/


-- http://www.thecapitaltimes.com/monkey.htm
                                  [Image]

An editorial

Still time to save monkeys

Jan. 22, 1998

The 150 rhesus and stump-tail monkeys housed at the Henry Vilas Zoo form
the oldest stable breeding colony of macaques in captivity. They have names
like Bizzy and Buttercup. They take walks in the moonlight. Their antics
delight children.

But within weeks, many of the monkeys could become the subjects of leprosy
studies in Louisiana while others are thrown into the limbo of an
as-yet-unconstructed "sanctuary'' in Thailand.

The monkeys should not be moved. Yet, at this point, it remains likely that
they will be forced from the zoo -- due to the insensitivity of officials
with the University of Wisconsin's Regional Primate Research Center.

The primate center has run into trouble with the National Institutes of
Health, which ruled in October that the center could no longer use a
portion of its NIH grant to maintain the monkey house.

Rather than reorganize its own operations to qualify for the NIH money, or
seek new sources of funding, the primate center decided to shut down the
monkey house. It was the sort of bottom-line decision that is all too
common in business these days, but one that a research facility affiliated
with a great university ought not make.

Animal rights activists, friends of the zoo and concerned citizens have
been campaigning to save the monkeys -- with some success. Tonight the Dane
County Board is expected to set in motion an initiative that could lead to
talks between the county, which runs the zoo, and the university.

While the county's action is to be applauded, it is the UW that has the
most profound duty to take the lead in maintaining the monkey house. At the
least, the university should delay shipping the monkeys away until a local
alternative can be forged.

So far, however, the university has failed to display concern for the
monkeys.

Now that officials at the primate center cannot use the monkeys to gain
easy federal funding, they seem determined to be done with them. The
problem is that the monkeys are still alive, and still deserving of a home
in Madison.

To deny them that home brings dishonor to the University of Wisconsin -- an
institution that, historically, has set a higher standard.

Tell us what you think

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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 10:42:22 -0800
From: "Bob Schlesinger" 
To: MINKLIB@aol.com, ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Stop Radio Show Fur Promotion
Message-ID: <199801261042220920.0072A551@pcez.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Since the original posting of this by MINKLIB was an attachment, I am reposting this for those
who cannot read attachments.  I believe the AR-NEWS rules either strongly discourage or
prohibit attachments.

-Bob Schlesinger
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following was posted to members of the National Trappers Association by a trapper. Please
help counter their efforts.
______________
Hello NTA members,

I have news of an important supporter of ours. A major radio
station here in Rochester N.Y. 1180 WHAM has an afternoon talk show
host named Bob Lonsberry. Mr. Lonsberry was very vocal in his support of
the fur industry in one of his commentarys. He opened by saying "friends
do me a favor and wear fur today". This was in response to the strong
arm tactics of the AR people on the day after Thanksgiving. Mr.
Lonsberry has often spoke on his program of his love of the
outdoors,hunting,and gun ownership and while not mentioning trapping
specifically,at least to my knowledge, he is a common sence host that is
on our side. The Bob Lonsberry show can be heard on 1180 am from noon
until 2:00 Mon-Fri. and is a 50,000 watt station that covers close to 40
states and Canada. So when I said we have an important voice in support
of our cause you
can see why. I recently e-mailed Bob Lonsberry and thanked him for his
support and I urge any of you with the capabilities to do the same. I
informed him that we are a close-knit group and he could be assured he
would here from many of us. Let's show him our gratitude and impress
upon him our committment to what we love, Trapping!!
You can e-mail Bob Lonsberry at lonsberry@eznet.net and find
much more out about his show and the 800 # to call his show at
www.wham1180.com Once again lets overwhelm him with our show of support
for taking a stand for our cause. Thank You in advance.

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 12:10:16 -0800 (PST)
From: Friends of Animals 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Cheetah comments
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19980126150948.492f9ba6@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



January 19, 1998

Chief, Office of Scientific Authority
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 750
Arlington, VA 22203

Sir:

With this letter, Friends of Animals informs you of its opposition to the
petition by Safari Club International to reclassify the Namibian population 
of cheetahs (Scinonyx jubatus) from Endangered to Threatened under the
terms of the Endangered Species Act. 

The Namibian population of cheetahs has been reduced by more than half
over the past twenty years, and hardly conforms to any concept of
"recovery" envisioned by the Act.

Furthermore, because of this species' extremely narrow genetic base, the
Namibian population of 2,5000 individuals likely has a genetic variability
of fewer than 1,000 animals of other wild species.  The prognosis for the
future is not bright.

Exacerbating this problem is the fact that trophy hunting is highly selective,
and often safari operators search out in advance the precise trophy animal
they want their clients to shoot.  Usually, in an effort to appease the client,
the safari operators seek out the best specimens available -very often the
most vigorous, healthy and well proportioned (precisely the ones which
are normally favored by natural section!) - for these make the most
appealing trophis.  This is a form of unnatural selection which, when
weighted against the already low population, and narrow genetic base, 
suggests to us that an irresponsible attitude motivated the petition in the 
first place.

We urge you to reject this petition.

Sincerely yours,
Priscilla Feral
President

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 16:04:53 -0500
From: Miyun Park 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Sorry!
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126160258.006b3bb8@pop.erols.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Sorry for posting the nomination to this list...my mistake!

--Miyun

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 16:48:14 EST
From: MINKLIB@aol.com
To: bob@arkonline.com, ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Stop Radio Show Fur Promotion
Message-ID: <1eb16815.34cd04a0@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

In a message dated 98-01-26 13:34:45 EST, bob@arkonline.com writes:

<< Since the original posting of this by MINKLIB was an attachment, I am
reposting this for those who cannot read attachments.  I believe the AR-NEWS
rules either strongly discourage or prohibit attachments.
 
 -Bob Schlesinger
 --------------------------- >>
I did not send it as an attachment.  I sent copied and pasted it, and if AOL
screwed it up in the transmission then it isn't my fault.  Thank you for the
reminder that ar-news "strongly discourages or prohibits attachments" but it
was not sent out that way.

JP
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 16:23:24 -0600
From: "Alliance for Animals" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Resolution to help Vilas Monkeys..
Message-ID: <199801262221.QAA22940@mendota.terracom.net>

URGENT!
Please Contact the following committee members who are assigned to
work on Resolution 241: Directing the Zoo Commission and Zoo Director
to Develop options to retain the monkey colonies at the Henry Vilas
Zoo and ask respectfully that they work to keep the Rhesus Monkeys
here in Madison at the Zoo..or here until a SAFE, HUMANE alternative
can be found.  Once they leave for Tulane Primate Center, they and
their offspring will be used in research.  They do NOT deserve such a
fate.  We CAN still work to keep them safe!
 (Copy of Resolution 241 follows list of names...)


    Vilas Zoo Director:Dr. David HallWk:266-4732 Call him and
     ask that he take an 
     active role in
     protecting the Zoo
       Zoo Commissionmonkey colonies.
   Name, District Karen West, Chair,Hm:273-0061 Gail
       Goode,Hm:836-8618 Jonathan Becker,11Hm:
  238-7076Wk:267-0647
       Linda ScheidHm:838-8245 Paul FrancoisHm:424-3979Wk:
     257-3674
      Napoleon SmithHm:255-6468Wk:266-4071 Philip O'Leary
      Hm:274-0646


Ways & Means Committee
Name, District
     Jonathan Becker, Chair,11Hm:238-7076Wk:267-0647
    John Hendrick,6Hm:257-1409
    Kevin Kesterson,34Hm:838-9518
      Ruth Ann Schoer,9Hm:836-1312Wk:277-8887
    Tom Stoebig, 15Hm:222-6429
    Helen Hellenbrand,27Hm:849-8451
    Larry Olson,12Hm:244-1480
    Judith Pederson,1Hm:274-4016
    Mike Blaska,38Hm:837-2652
    Dave Gawenda,16Hm:221-4021
      Andrew Janssen,5Hm:238-9396Wk:266-1182

Public Works & Facilities Management Committee
Name,District
    David Ripp, Chair,29Hm:849-7643
  James Mohrbacher, Vice-Chair,18Hm:246-9153
   Eugene Craft, Sec.,30Hm:437-5652
    David Blaska,7Hm:271-4882
      Jonathan Becker,11Hm:238-7076Wk:266-4360
    Judith Pederson,1Hm:274-4016



 RESOLUTION 241

Directing the Zoo Commission and Zoo Director to develop options to
retain the monkey colonies at Henry Vilas Zoo

 Since 1963, the University of Wisconsin and the Henry Vilas Zoo have
 had a partnership and lease agreement for maintaining a "primate
 holding center" and the colonies of rhesus and stump-tailed macaque
 monkeys at the zoo. The Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center of
 the university has funded the care and upkeep of the monkeys,
 primarily with federal research funds. 

 Recently, the university announced that it no longer wishes to
 maintain the monkey colonies, and will abandon the breeding and
 research facility at the zoo on February 1.  Last August, however,
 the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center stated there was no
 hurry to come to any decision on the fate of the monkey colonies,
 noting that the current lease between the university and the zoo runs
 until 2004.  UW officials also indicated concerns about the
 transmission of the herpes B virus, although health experts have
 since stated that the disease threat posed by the monkeys for zoo
 attendants and the general public is minuscule.  While the university
 has indicated it is closing the facility in response to federal
 funding cuts, the Primate Research Center has substantial federal
 grant funding from the National Institute of Health as well as other
 funding sources to maintain the monkey colonies at the zoo, at least
 on a short-term basis. 

 The stump-tailed macaque monkey colony at the Henry Vilas Zoo has
 been described as the last large healthy breeding group in captivity
 in the world.  These and the two rhesus macaque colonies have served
 as an important community resource, and have brought enjoyment to zoo
 victors for more than thirty years.  Because of this importance, the
 citizens of Dane County have an interest in the discussion and
 decision making regarding the fate of the monkey colonies at the zoo.
  Both Dane County and the City of Madison, through the Henry Vilas
 Zoo Commission, provide oversight to the zoo as well as funding, and
 have an interest in the ongoing viability of the zoo. 

 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Dane County Board of
 Supervisors hereby directs the Zoo Commission and Zoo Director David
 Hall to develop and review both short and long-term options for
 maintaining the monkey colonies at the zoo, including assumption of
 ownership by the zoo, a buy-out of the lease by the university to
 produce revenue to maintain the colonies, and financial contributions
 from the university and private donors to assist with maintaining the
 monkey colonies both on a short-term and permanent basis; and that
 theZoo Commission develop and review options in consultation with
 interested community groups, individuals and university officials;
 and

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Zoo Commission report back to the
 County Board with its recommendations no later than March 1, 1998;
 and

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County Board hereby requests the
 University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research
 Center to delay any final disposition of the monkey colonies and
 holding facility at the Henry Vilas Zoo until options have been
 reviewed and a decision is reached by the county and

 BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to UW
 President Katharine Lyall, UW-Madison Chancellor David Ward, UW
 Graduate School Dean Virginia Hinshaw, and Wisconsin Regional Primate
 Research Center Acting Director Joseph Kemnitz.

SUBMITTED BY: Tom Stoebig (primary sponsor)

Also:Regina Rhyne
 Andrew Janssen
 John Hendrick
 Scott McCormick
______________________________________________________________________
________

 Please make your calls today, as time is running out for these
 innocent creatures. We can't help them without your calls.  The
 University is dead-set on sending the Rhesus to Tulane.  Tell the
 committee members that you want the animals protected.


    Chancellor David WardPh:608-262-9946Fax:608-262-8333
University of WI Madison
Bascom Hall, Room 161
Madison, WI 53706

    Dean Virginia HinshawPh:608-262-1044Fax:608-262-5134
Graduate School
Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706
(She oversees the base grant from the NIH to the Primate Center)

     Dr. Joseph KemnitzPh:608-263-3588Fax:608-263-4031
UW Primate Research Center
1210 Capitol Court
Madison, WI 53715


For more information, please contact the Alliance for Animals in
Madison at: 257-6333 Thank you.
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 14:40:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, wild-rockies-alerts@wildrockies.org
Subject: Alert: Yellowstone Bison Slaughter Resumed!
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19980126174426.230f9a86@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

ACTION ALERT!   IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED! 

YELLOWSTONE BISON SLAUGHTER RESUMED

After last season's wholesale destruction of nearly 1,200 bison, the state of
Montana has begun to kill Yellowstone bison again.  Montana tries to justify
this unnecessary slaughter by claiming that bison pose a disease threat to
cattle, and unless the bison are removed, the state's brucellosis-free
status may be revoked and other states may impose sanctions on Montana's
cattle.  Not only is the risk of disease transmission virtually
non-existent, but the adoption of sensible risk management strategies could
eliminate any risk altogether.  But rather than adopt such sound science and
rational policy, Montana has chosen to allow baseless fears to dictate bison
management.

Even more outrageous is that even though most brucellosis experts agree bull
bison pose zero risk of transmission, bull bison are the first victims of
this year's actions by the Montana Department of Livestock!  After the
number of bison deaths mounted last season, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture assured the state of Montana that it need not kill bull
bison and other low risk animals in order to maintain its brucellosis-free
status.  Despite this assurance, Montana killed hundreds of bull bison and
low risk animals last season and its killing machine rolls on today.

To make matters worse, Montana has set up and baited a capture facility on
the outside of Yellowstone's west boundary where animals are trapped and
tested for exposure to the bacteria.  Animals testing positive are sent to
slaughterhouses whether or not they are actually infected or infectious.
Last year, The Fund for Animals and grassroots activists collected 
videotape footage which documented serious injuries and death 
to bison caught and transported to slaughter.  

Please write and call the following individuals to express your outrage over
the killing of our nation's wildlife.   

The Honorable Marc Racicot
Governor of Montana
State Capitol
Helena, MT  59620 
Phone: (406) 444-3111
FAX: (406) 444-5529

Mr. Laurence Petersen
Montana Board of Livestock
P.O. Box 202001
Helena, MT  59620
Phone: (406) 444-2023
FAX: (406) 444-1929

Secretary Dan Glickman
U.S. Department of Agriculture
14th & Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C.  20250
Phone: (202) 720-3631
FAX: (202) 720-2166

You may want to make the following points:

* It is scandalous that special interests control the fate of our nation's
wildlife.  Montana must immediately stop the killing of bison and adopt
sensible risk management strategies to deal with this issue. 
 
* Luring wild animals with bait to be trapped and then shipped to slaughter
is inhumane, scientifically and ethically unjustifiable, and should not be
allowed to continue.

* Montana won't see any of your tourist dollars until it stops killing your
bison.  

In addition, write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper describing
what's happening to Yellowstone bison.  Encourage people to write Governor
Racicot to voice their opposition to the slaughter.  Be sure to include the
Governor's address in your letter.

For more information, contact The Fund for Animals'
Rocky Mountain office at (307) 859-8840.

fund4animals@fund.org
http://www.fund.org

Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 07:57:51 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (NZ)Deadly rabbit virus impending release
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980127075028.23a7aa76@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From The Southland Times - January 21, 1998

 LOCAL NEWS 

RCD for release
in Te Anau 

By Jan Ludeman

TE ANAU _ The rabbit calicivirus disease is to be released in the Te Anau
basin, in what could be a national first. 

The Te Anau Basin Pest Destruction Group said yesterday the RCD virus would
be released in late autumn or early winter. 

Farmers in the Te Anau Basin had earlier been urged to wait before
introducing RCD in an uncontrolled and unmanaged manner while the pest
destruction group explored all the facts. 

But a recent explosion in rabbit numbers in the region, combined with a
presumption that the virus was likely to arrive eventually or be released
by someone, had prompted the group to step in and confirm it would
introduce the disease. 

Te Anau Basin Pest Destruction Group chairman Ross Cockburn said the group
felt strongly the virus should be introduced at the most effective time. 

The decision had been made in close consultation with scientists from
Invermay Research Centre and Landcare Research, Mr Cockburn said. 

The pest destruction group plans to get a prepared strain imported by a
commercial operator, which would guarantee a maximum kill rate and lessen
the chance of rabbits developing an immunity. The RCD would then be spread
at selected spots using either baited oats or carrots. 

The group asked farmers in the Te Anau basin to be patient and to wait for
the organised release programme. 

RCD was just one tool in the war against rabbits, Mr Cockburn said. After
an initial release, follow-up control by conventional methods would still
be required to keep rabbit numbers down. 

Te Anau vet and pest destruction group member Brian Vidler said the RCD
release would also be effective on small holdings and rural land close to
Te Anau and Manapouri. 

Scientists had assured the group there had been no species transfer of the
virus, even to hares, which were closest to rabbits. 

Ferrets and stoats switching prey from rabbits to native birds was not
considered a major threat either, Mr Vidler said. 

=====================================================================
========
                   /`\   /`\    Rabbit Information Service,
Tom, Tom,         (/\ \-/ /\)   P.O.Box 30,
The piper's son,     )6 6(      Riverton,
Saved a pig        >{= Y =}<    Western Australia 6148
And away he run;    /'-^-'\  
So none could eat  (_)   (_)    email: rabbit@wantree.com.au
The pig so sweet    |  .  |  
Together they ran   |     |}    http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
Down the street.    \_/^\_/    (Rabbit Information Service website updated
                                frequently)                                

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
       - Voltaire




Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 19:14:05 -0500 (EST)
From: Nicola Thompson 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: "Newfoundlanders just can't win"
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980126191400.3c0f2f74@mail.interlog.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Further to the posting of CP article ("Newfoundlanders just can't win"), I
would like to provide the following info to the group.  Newfoundland
Department of Fisheries Minister, John Efford, recently gave a speech in
Toronto.  Based on his favourite statements (ie: seals eat all the cod,
Newfoundland economy depends on the sealing industry) and his allegations of
IFAW's "misleading" campaign, here is a bit of our side of things...

Nicola Thompson
Grassroots Coordinator (Ontario)
CATCSH (Canadians Against the Commercial Seal Hunt) - A project of IFAW
(International Fund for Animal Welfare)

                                * * * * *

Setting the Record Straight:  
Reasons to Stop the Commercial Seal Hunt

- Canadians want a factual debate on the seal hunt, rather than emotional
accusations against people who oppose the cruelty of the slaughter.

- CATCSH, and all of the more than 50,000 IFAW supporters in Canada want
Newfoundlanders to have good jobs.  We want to see the Canadian government
invest sensibly in the Newfoundland economy.

- A subsidized slaughter which has led to documented cruelty, serious
charges (including charges against 1/3 of last year's executive council of
the Canadian Sealers' Association), and unsustainable levels of killing is
not the future for Newfoundland.

- This speaking tour by Newfoundland Fisheries Minister John Efford will be
a beneficial opportunity for Canadians to hear both sides of the debate.
IFAW will continue to present the facts, based on logic and rational
assessments, at every opportunity.

- Minister Efford's comments on the supposed impact of seals on commercial
fisheries fly in the fact of the current opinion of the international
scientific community.  As recently as February 1997, at an international
scientific workshop in St. John's, Newfoundland, the world's experts
concluded there is no evidence that seals are responsible for problems in
the commercial fishing industry.

- Even last year's president of the Canadian Sealers' Association (CSA)
disagrees with Minister Efford's rosy assessment of the industry.  Gary
Troake has been recently quoted by the national media as saying that the
sale of penises is a real problem that must be dealt with, that the current
seal hunt quota is too high, and that the current large scale government
subsidy to the sealing industry must be ended.

- The seal hunt is cruel.  Seal pups - under a year old, some as young as
two weeks old - are killed illegally.  Many wounded seals are left to bleed
to death.  Many other seal carcasses are "dumped" after their penises have
been sliced off for sale as "aphrodisiacs".  This large-scale commercial
hunt, conducted over thousands of square kilometres of ice cannot be
adequately regulated.

- Except for the sale of seal penises in Asian markets (in Canada and
abroad), seal meat has no viable commercial value.

- According to the Department of Fisheris and Oceans' OWN STATISTICS,
Canadian taxpayers spent $3.4 million subsidizing the sealing industry in
1996.  Each seal-slaughter job cost Canadian taxpayers more than $28,000.

- According to the DFO's OWN STATISTICS, the current kill levels are not
sustainable.  The Department has clearly not learned the lessons of history.
It was this same cavalier attitude that drove the Atlantic Cod stocks to
near extinction.

- This seal hunt provides no net economic benefit to Newfoundland.  In 1996,
it accounted for 0.06% of employment, or the equivalent of 120 full-time
jobs on a total of 190,000 employed in Newfoundland and Labrador.

                                * * * * *

For further information, please contact:  Nicola Thompson, CATCSH (Canadians
Against the Commercial Seal Hunt), Tel: (416)532-7875.

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:46:03 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Tempers flare during testimony
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126204601.00af7f74@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Monday, January 26, 1998 6:55 p.m. CT

Tempers flare during testimony
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey

By CHIP CHANDLER
Globe-News Staff Writer

Tempers sometimes flared on Monday as the second week of testimony in the
defamation lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey began.

Texas Beef Producers managing partner Bill O'Brien remained on the stand
throughout the day and will continue to testify Tuesday, his third day in
the spotlight.

Winfrey's attorney Charles Babcock grew irritated several times, saying he
thought O'Brien was avoiding direct answers to questions. He made a number
of objections trying to get the judge to have O'Brien answer "yes" or "no."

Babcock said the National Cattlemen's Beef Association representative had a
chance to make four points during the April 16, 1996, Winfrey telecast.
Each time he asked if O'Brien agreed, the cattleman would say, "Yes, but. .
." before being cut off by Babcock.

O'Brien earlier insisted that viewers were confused whether Winfrey and her
guests were talking about the safety of American beef over British beef,
which Babcock disputed.

"Do you think people watching television are total idiots?" the attorney
asked.

O'Brien said people could figure out that American beef is safer, but "not
from the dangerous foods program," the episode of Winfrey's show in
question.

In testimony last week, O'Brien said the show caused the cattle markets to
go limit down, the lowest level possible in one day. He said that was
"highly unusual."

Babcock disputed that on Monday, bringing into evidence a chart that showed
that the cattle futures market went limit down seven times in 21 total
trading days.

O'Brien still blamed the show for the market's troubles, even though one of
the days in question was a day before the show was taped.

"If the traders . . . found out some secret information and knew what (the
show) was going to be about" the markets could still suffer, O'Brien said.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages for the losses they say they suffered
when the markets crashed after Winfrey's show aired. The defense argues
that other factors caused the dip in prices.

"A lot of news publications characterized (the crash) as the Oprah crash .
. . because it was caused by the Oprah show," O'Brien said.

He denied that other media reports on mad cow disease could have shared the
blame because he said Winfrey's show was highly inflammatory and reckless.

In re-direct testimony, plaintiffs' attorney Joseph Coyne tried to allow
O'Brien a chance to complete his answers to some of Babcock's questions.

Earlier Monday, the defense argued that Texas cattle feeders and others
were opposed to parts of a mandatory ban on feeding rendered cattle to
other cattle, according to letters entered as evidence in the case.

Babcock read parts of a letter from the Texas Cattle Feeders Association to
the Food and Drug Administration opposing the FDA's proposed ban.

TCFA wanted the ban only to include tissues from the brain and spinal
column, believed to help spread mad cow disease.

A letter from Dr. Gary Weber of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association
also called for such a limited ban.

In earlier testimony, O'Brien had said the cattle-feeding industry
supported the mandatory ban. In reading the letter to the jury, Babcock
called that into question.
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 17:56:42 -0800
From: "Bob Schlesinger" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Nadas Story on Hardcopy - Feb 3rd
Message-ID: <199801261756420700.020058D1@pcez.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Hillsboro, OR
January 26, 1997

We have just received word that CBS' Hardcopy will air a story about Nadas on Tuesday
February 3rd.  Check your local listings for broadcast times.

Nadas is the Southern Oregon dog sentenced to die for allegedly chasing a horse.  Nadas has been
impounded for nearly a year and a half while the sentence has been appealed.  The Oregon
Supreme Court is expected to decide whether or not to take the case this week.  Public outcry
about this tragedy has caused Jackson County Oregon officials to stiffen their resolve to destroy
Nadas, even when non-lethal alternatives are available.

Currently officials are faxing copies of a smear article written by their local newspaper to any
media people who request information about the situation.  The article diverts attention from the
issue of killing the dog by focusing on nearly libelous statements about the dog owner.

Hardcopy was not fooled by this tactic, we are told.

For more information, review  the story of Nadas at Ark Online at
http://www.arkonline.com/nadas.htm


Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:50:33 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Lawyer asserts industry can't prove Oprah's show affected
  beef prices
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126205030.00af8958@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Monday, January 26, 1998 3:46 p.m. CT

Lawyer asserts industry can't prove Oprah's show affected beef prices

By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press Writer

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - Cattlemen suing Oprah Winfrey can't prove that her
talk show about the potential threat of mad cow disease in U.S. beef caused
cattle market prices to plunge, her attorneys said today.

Defense attorney Charles Babcock supported his assertion by citing two
consumer confidence surveys about red meat that were issued by the National
Cattlemen's Beef Association.

The first, issued shortly before the show on which Ms. Winfrey is accused
of allowing false and defamatory statements against the industry onto her
show, showed 82 percent support. A week after the show, support was still
at 80 percent.

Bill O'Brien, one of the plaintiffs, responded on the witness stand that
those numbers reflected consumer attitude and not actual behavior.

"The key thing for us is what happened in the stores," O'Brien said as
testimony in the case moved into its second week. "That's where we lost."

At issue is whether Ms. Winfrey and her production company knowingly aired
false and defamatory statements about the potential threat of mad cow
disease in the United States, a disease that began ravaging British cattle
herds in the 1980s.

O'Brien testified last week that cattle prices in the Texas Panhandle fell
7 percent in just eight days and took months to recover.

Babcock brought up other factors that could have triggered the plunge.

"You don't have any evidence whether it was (media attention) or whether it
was because chicken prices were low, pork prices were low, or whether it
was something else, do you?" Babcock asked today.

O'Brien responded that beef prices "only go down when demand drops off."

"That would be conclusive proof," he said.

Attorneys cited a gag order when asked to speculate when Ms. Winfrey might
take the stand. Her name appears on both sides' witness lists.

Already slumping cattle prices fell after the April 16, 1996, show that
included an interview with vegetarian activist Howard Lyman, a co-defendant
in the lawsuit. Cattlemen claim they lost $10.3 million in the market
plunge. The defense blames the price drop on drought, oversupply and other
factors.

Because the feeding of rendered livestock protein to cattle - thought to
have spread the disease in Europe - was occurring in the United States,
Lyman said consumers ran the risk of contracting a similar brain-destroying
disease. The feeding custom was outlawed last summer in the United States.

"I think that any supermarket shopper after watching would be afraid of
buying beef products, because they were afraid to cook it and get holes in
their brain," O'Brien testified Friday.

O'Brien and Mike Engler, son of plaintiff Paul Engler, testified last week
that mad cow disease hasn't been found in the United States, that Ms.
Winfrey's show was biased and that the cattle industry suffered.

The defense got the witnesses to admit there's no proof that bovine
spongiform encephalopathy - the disease's formal name - doesn't exist here.

The defense also showed that Ms. Winfrey's comments on the program usually
were prefaced by cautionary words like "could" and "may" and were included
in questions, not statements. Cattlemen countered that her show edited out
important pro-beef comments.
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:59:11 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Plaintiff, lawyer spar during court
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126205909.0074fdc8@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Monday, January 26, 1998 12:42 p.m. CT

Plaintiff, lawyer spar during court   
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey

By KAY LEDBETTER                      
Farm and Ranch Editor          
                               
The second week of the area cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey trial opened today
with more sparring between defendants' lawyer Charles Babcock and plaintiff
Bill O'Brien.

The case includes Amarilloan Paul Engler and his company, Cactus Feeders
Inc.; Texas Beef Group; Maltese Cross Cattle Co.; Bravo Cattle Co.; Alpha 3
Cattle Co.; and Dripping Springs Inc. on the plaintiff side and Winfrey;
Harpo Productions Inc.; and Howard Lyman on the defendant side.

The lawsuit includes a claim of libel and the violation of Chapter 96 of
the Texas Civic Practices and Remedies Code, which establishes liability if
someone intentionally disseminates false information about a perishable
food product.

Cattle prices dropped severely after the airing of the show, and Engler has
said he and his company lost $7 million because of false statements on the
show.

At issue today was the concern of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association
in establishing a plan in case mad cow disease were to show up in the
United States.

Babcock said the existence of the plan indicted NCBA thought there was a
likelihood of made cow disease occurring in the U.S.

O'Brien said he would not say absolutely that under no conditions that mad
cow couldn't be started here. He said terrorists could drop a mad cow in
the middle of Ohio.

Babcock said that was most likely not one of NCBA's intentions of the plan.
He tried to get O'Brien to agree that NCBA felt there was a likelihood of
mad cow disease occurring in the U.S.

O'Brien maintained that was not true.

"We plan for things all the time that don't happen, like a nuclear bomb,"
he said. "It doesn't mean we're dumb to plan, but it doesn't mean we expect
it to happen."

Babcock repeatedly read from an NCBA plan that he said centered on public
relations and money, not the concern for consumer safety.

"The purpose is to keep from permanently damaging consumer confidence in
beef," Babcock said.

He offered exhibits that showed consumer confidence was not a problem,
either before or after "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

The NCBA consumer-attitude survey April 2 through April 5 showed 82 percent
were very to somewhat confident in the safety of U.S. beef. A week later,
80 percent were over- to somewhat-confident in beef's safety.

"There was no change in perception as far as the consumer in concerned,"
Babcock said.

O'Brien said, however, that was an attitudinal survey, not a behavioral
survey.

"The key thing for us is what happened in the store," he said.

Babcock said there were no behavioral surveys made, but O'Brien said a
monitoring of boxed beef sales was "absolute as conclusive proof" that
sales fell after the show.

Babcock said pressures such as drought, other media, corn prices, supply,
and packer concentration could have affected that boxed-beef survey.

O'Brien said all those factors were present before and after the show, but
"what happens on (that boxed beef survey) we isolated to the 'Oprah Show.'
"

The exhibit showed three different general cattle markets: live cattle
prices; cattle futures market; and the amount of boxed beef going to
supermarkets.

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 20:59:03 -0500 (EST)
From: can commies be vegan too? 
To: allen schubert 
Cc: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: (US) Tempers flare during testimony
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


does anyone know if this (the oprah case) is being covered on court tv?


Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 21:07:13 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Cattleman says second show not enough to halt beef price
  plunge
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126210710.00751450@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Monday, January 26, 1998 7:42 p.m. CT

Cattleman says second show not enough to halt beef price plunge
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey

By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press Writer

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - Oprah Winfrey's airing of a second show on mad cow
disease was not enough to undo the damage caused by the first, a cattleman
testified Monday.

"She didn't go on the program and eat a hamburger before the world," said
Bill O'Brien, co-owner of Texas Beef Group and one of several cattlemen
suing Ms. Winfrey on charges she defamed the industry.

Cattlemen claim meat prices plummeted after the April 1996 show, but
lawyers for Ms. Winfrey say there is no evidence of a connection between
falling prices and the talk show.

Although National Cattlemen's Beef Association specialist Gary Weber was
invited back to Ms. Winfrey's show to reassert that the industry was doing
everything possible to prevent the brain-destroying disease from striking
U.S. herds, the plaintiffs claim it was too late.

"I would put (the second show) into the category of being too little, too
late," O'Brien said. "The second show did not correct the damage."

At issue is whether Ms. Winfrey and her production company knowingly aired
false and defamatory statements about the potential threat of mad cow
disease in the United States, a disease that began ravaging British cattle
herds in the 1980s.

Defense lawyer Charles Babcock said two consumer confidence surveys issued
by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association showed very little change in
support for red meat. Prior to the show, there was 82 percent support for
red meat. A week later, support was still at 80 percent.

O'Brien said the numbers reflected consumer attitude and not actual
behavior.

"The key thing for us is what happened in the stores," O'Brien said.

O'Brien testified last week that cattle prices in the Texas Panhandle fell
7 percent in just eight days and took months to recover.

Babcock brought up other factors that could have triggered the plunge.

Already slumping cattle prices fell after the April 16, 1996, show that
included an interview with vegetarian activist Howard Lyman, a co-defendant
in the lawsuit. Cattlemen claim they lost $10.3 million. The defense blames
the price drop on drought, oversupply and other factors.

Because the feeding of rendered livestock protein to cattle - thought to
have spread the disease in Europe - was occurring in the United States,
Lyman said consumers ran the risk of contracting a similar brain-destroying
disease. The feeding custom was outlawed last summer in the United States.

Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 21:09:34 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) When will Oprah testify? No one will say for sure
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980126210932.00751058@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Monday, January 26, 1998 5:40 a.m. CT

When will Oprah testify? No one will say for sure

By MARK BABINECK
Associated Press Writer

Oprah Winfrey has made her name interviewing others. When she'll become an
interviewee on the witness stand is the lingering question as her beef
defamation trial begins a second week.

One of the cattlemen suing her was to resume testimony Monday as defense
attorneys continue trying to tear apart the plaintiffs' case.

At issue is whether Winfrey aired knowingly false and defamatory statements
about the potential U.S. threat of mad cow disease, which began ravaging
British cattle herds in the 1980s.

Winfrey has showed little reaction through two days of often-dry testimony,
except for signs of fatigue caused by long days at the courthouse followed
by evenings of taping her talk show at a local playhouse.

Attorneys cited a gag order when asked to speculate when Winfrey might take
the stand. Her name appears on witness lists for both sides.

Already slumping cattle prices fell after the April 16, 1996, show which
included an interview with vegetarian activist Howard Lyman, a co-defendant
in the lawsuit. Plaintiffs claim they lost $10.3 million in the market
plunge.

Because the feeding of rendered livestock protein to cattle - thought to
have spread the disease in Europe - was occurring here, Lyman said
consumers ran the risk of contracting a similar brain-destroying disease.

The feeding custom was voluntarily banned in 1996 and outlawed last summer.

"I think that any supermarket shopper after watching would be afraid of
buying beef products, because they were afraid to cook it and get holes in
their brain," Amarillo cattleman Bill O'Brien testified Friday.

O'Brien and Mike Engler, son of plaintiff Paul Engler, drove home to the
jury last week that mad cow disease hasn't been found in the United States,
and their contentions that Ms. Winfrey's show was biased and that the
cattle industry suffered.

Defense attorneys Charles Babcock and Barry Peterson got witnesses to admit
there's no proof that bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the disease's
formal name, doesn't exist here.

The defense also showed Winfrey's comments on the program usually were
prefaced by cautionary words like "could" and "may," or formed into
questions, not statements.

Plaintiffs countered that her show edited out important pro-beef comments,
and they hold her liable.

Paul Engler, O'Brien and others are suing Winfrey, her production company
and Lyman for actual and unspecified punitive damages related to the price
drop. O'Brien said Texas Panhandle cattle prices fell 7 percent in just
eight days and took months to recover.

The defense blames the price drop on drought, oversupply and other factors.



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