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AR-NEWS Digest 422
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) (US) Elephant trainer killed
by BHGazette@aol.com
2) [UK] RSPCA outrage as pigeon killer avoids charge
by David J Knowles
3) (LK) Fifty people killed annually by elephants
by Vadivu Govind
4) (US) 'McDonald's 4' Refuse to Pay Food Giant
by allen schubert
5) (US) 3 Held in Abalone Poaching Case
by allen schubert
6) (US) Reminder: Monday, June 2 -- NYC Spay/Neuter Conference
by Marisul@aol.com
7) Poultry Pollution in W Post
by Jean Colison
8) Cuba clones rabbits
by Vegetarian Resource Center
9) (US) Oklahoma Weekly Outdoor News
by JanaWilson@aol.com
10) (US) Oklahoma Quail/Deer Hunting Conflict
by JanaWilson@aol.com
11) (US) "Rats" (CNN-American Edge)
by allen schubert
12) (US) Bostonian Moves To Protect Whales
by allen schubert
13) Elephants poisoned in Thailand?
by Andrew Gach
14) Rats on CNN
by Andrew Gach
15) Proctor & Gamble to acquire Tambrands (Tampas tampons)
by No1BadGrl@aol.com
16) Golf course or hunting grounds?
by Andrew Gach
17) Fwd: Bostonian Moves To Protect Whales
by LMANHEIM@aol.com
18) Fwd: More Than 8,000 Minks Released
by No1BadGrl@aol.com
19) Many overestimate rabies danger in U.S.
by Vegetarian Resource Center
20) Are houseflies giving us ulcers?
by Vegetarian Resource Center
21) Fwd: AIDS Vaccine Protects Chimps
by LMANHEIM@aol.com
22) Militant P.E.T.A
by MyPetsPal@aol.com
23) Unsubscribe
by MyPetsPal@aol.com
24) UPC Alert: Protest Student Cruelty to Hens
by Franklin Wade
25) UPC Alert: Mesa State College Professor Abuses Chickens
by Franklin Wade
26) UPC Wants to Stop Forced Molting of Layings Hens
by Franklin Wade
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 00:34:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: BHGazette@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Elephant trainer killed
Message-ID: <970601003411_-430449466@emout11.mail.aol.com>
Sorry if this has already been posted....
Gainesville, Texas (AP) An animal trainer was crushed to death by an
elephant at a privately owned zoo on Wednesday (May 28) after entering the
animal's pen to move it to another area, officials said.
Lee Rhoades, a worker at the Frank Buck Zoo, was taken to Gainesville
Memorial Hospital just after 3 p.m. with severe internal injuries.
Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 23:10:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] RSPCA outrage as pigeon killer avoids charge
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970531231138.20f70030@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - June 1st, 1997
RSPCA outrage as pigeon killer avoids charge
By Catherine Elsworth
ANIMAL welfare workers were outraged yesterday after police said they were
unable to prosecute a man who beat a pigeon to death with a plank of wood in
the street.
Officers in Stonehouse, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, said they could not
charge the man with an offence because he killed the bird outright and did
not cause it any suffering.
The man attacked the pigeon after leaving the town centre Royal Arms public
house, where he had been drinking. He crossed the road and attacked the bird
which was sitting on the wall of Wycliffe College. Cheered on by friends,
the man continued to beat the bird with a
plank of wood once it fell from the wall. An onlooker notified police.
One witness said: "On being challenged, he seized the dead bird and
retreated with his friends to the pub yard where they celebrated until the
police arrived."
Sgt Geoff Clark, of Stonehouse police, said no crime had been committed
because the man had killed the pigeon outright. "We could not come up with
an offence that would fit the bill," he said. "Pigeons are not a protected
bird. The only possible offence would be cruelty
but in this case, no cruelty was involved. He just smacked it over the head
with a plank, and killed it. Although I can understand people being shocked,
if the pigeon is just sitting there and someone hits it on the head and
wipes it out, I can't see that there is any offence."
The RSPCA attacked the man's actions as "sick" and said he ought to face
some kind of action. It was possible he could be prosecuted under the 1981
Wildlife and Countryside Act for not being a "competent and proper person"
to carry out a cull. But if there was a loophole which meant his actions
were not covered, this should now be addressed, a spokesman for the charity
said.
He added: "Sadly we do get this kind of thing happening quite a bit. It's
more commonly hedgehogs and rabbits attacked by drunks or gangs of kids. The
situation is much improved following the Wild Mammals Protection Act, but
unfortunately there are still offences that fall through the net."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 14:26:06 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (LK) Fifty people killed annually by elephants
Message-ID: <199706010626.OAA15458@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Sunday Observer
1 June 97
Fifty people killed annually by elephants
By Vernon Perera
ON AN average, between 20-50 people are being killed by wild elephants
annually in Sri Lanka.
This was revealed by Professor Charles Santiapillai of the Department of
Zoology, University of Peradeniya, at a recent lecture held at the SLAAS,
Auditorium..
"More men are killed by wild elephant than women and most of the fatal
human-elephant encounters take place in the night,'' said Prof. Santiapillai.
In all reported cases, the elephant responsible for causing human deaths
were lone animals, presumably bulls.
However, many more people (about 1,500 per year) are killed by poisonous
snakes than by elephants in Sri Lanka, but any incident of people being
killed by wild elephants is widely publicized in the news media, he said.
"Three factors are responsible for the current escalation in human -
elephant conflict. A rapidly growing human population, loss of forest cover,
and the on going civil strife in the country,'' he said.
In a survey of wild elephants done by the Department of Wildlife
Conservation in June 1993, in the North Western, Mahaweli, Central, Eastern
and Southern regions, it was estimated that there was a minimum of about
2,000 animals in the wild.
According to records available at the Department of Wildlife Conservation, a
total of 1,163 elephants were lost in the wilds between 1950 and 1970, of
which 639 (55 per cent) were killed in defence of crops by farmers.
Therefore, on an average, about 60 elephants were being lost annually, as a
result of natural mortality, gunshot and land mine injuries.
Prof. Santiapillai said, "It appears that while the elephant population is
growing at a rate of three to four per cent per annum, about six per cent of
the animals are dying annually.'' The long-term survival of the elephant
population in Sri Lanka depends on the ability to minimise conflict between
people and elephants, he said.
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 03:22:40 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) 'McDonald's 4' Refuse to Pay Food Giant
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970601032233.006c8a88@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from McLibel e-mail list:
----------------------------------------
Subject: 'McDonald's 4' Refuse to Pay Food Giant
Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 23:08:09 +0100
From: civillib@cwnet.com (by way of mclibel@globalnet.co.uk \(McLibel Support
Campaign\))
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 1997
'McDonald's 4' Refuse to Pay Food Giant,
Sentenced to 10 Days in Jail; Appeal Planned
SANTA CRUZ -- Four animal rights activists Friday were sentenced to 10
days in jail, and told to pay $1,500 in restitution to multi-billion dollar
food giant McDonald's by Santa Cruz County Judge Samuel Stevens.
However, the "McDonald's 4" told the judge they would not pay
McDonald's and their jailing has been postponed until June 25 to give them
time to appeal the judge's ruling.
Nicole Briggs, Kevin Keller, Stella Sythe and Richard Krebs will appeal
the conviction on the basis that Stevens refused to allow a "defense" that
included claims that they had to protest at McDonald's last October to end
environmental harm and animal cruelty caused by the corporation. As a result
of Stevens' ruling, the trial lasted less than one day.
The maximum sentence for a misdemeanor is a $1,000 fine and/or 1 year
in jail. However, trespassing convictions usually involve no jail time. The
October demonstration involved dropping a banner from the McDonald's roof as
part of a national protest.
"This is not justice. These are nonviolent activists who were
brutalized by police during a peaceful protest against a wealthy food chain.
Now these college students are told they have to go to jail, not the police
who
were violent, and that they should pay 'restitution' to McDonald's, which
makes
more money in an hour then these defendants will see in a lifetime," said
Crescenzo Vellucci, executive director of the Activist Civil Liberties
Committee, a national, California-based legal defense firm that represents
political activists.
In the meantime, several defendants are moving forward with plans to
sue the city of Santa Cruz for excessive force used by officers making the
arrests, which resulted in a concussion suffered by Nicole Briggs, at the
hands of at least one Santa Cruz police officer.
Contact: ACLC Main Office (916) 452-7179 or Nicole Briggs (408) 459-9762
Activist Civil Liberties Committee
PO Box 19515, Sacramento, CA 95819 (916) 452-7179 Fax: (916) 454-6150
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Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 03:28:07 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) 3 Held in Abalone Poaching Case
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970601032804.006cd6cc@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
------------------------------
05/31/1997 21:00 EST
3 Held in Abalone Poaching Case
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) -- Three men were arrested and more than a ton of
abalone meat was seized following a year-long sting in which suspected
black-market dealers bought the tasty mollusks for shipment to Asia,
authorities said Friday.
The state Fish and Game Department said 1,700 abalone worth $234,000 were
seized Thursday at locations in San Jose and Los Angeles County. About
$20,000 in cash also was taken, investigators said.
The department said Jason Diep of El Monte, Loi Bao Diep of Rosemead, and
Chris N. Doan of Cupertino, were arrested Thursday after the Dieps, who
are brothers, bought 300 abalone from an undercover game warden for
$6,800 in Southern California.
Warrants for their arrests were issued by a Sonoma County judge.
Fish and Game Capt. Marvin Hee said the three were being held on $500,000
bail each. There was no immediate indication when they would be
transferred to Sonoma County.
A criminal complaint in Sonoma County charges the men of felony
conspiracy to violate fish and game laws and several misdemeanor fish and
game violations between April 1 and 28.
Commercial abalone fishing is illegal in the North Coast.
The arrests and seizure of approximately 1.25 tons of abalone meat --
about 3.5 tons with the shells included -- is the result of a year-long
sting operation investigating an illegal black-market ring involving
Sonoma County abalone.
Hee said an informant tipped authorities that the three suspects were
buying abalone ``no questions asked, under market value.'' Undercover
investigators allegedly sold the Dieps and Doan 70 to 119 pounds of
frozen abalone, collected by Fish and Game for genetic studies and seized
from previous abalone stings, on five occasions.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 07:41:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Marisul@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Reminder: Monday, June 2 -- NYC Spay/Neuter Conference
Message-ID: <970601074139_-1330204573@emout04.mail.aol.com>
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York's Committee on Legal
Issues Pertaining to Animals is presenting a conference entitled:
Can We Stop the Killing? Legislative Responses to Cat and Dog Overpopulation
Monday, June 2, 1997, 6:30 p.m.
House of the Association, 42 West 44th Street, New York, NY (212 382-6600)
"Millions of homeless cats and dogs die in shelters every year. In response,
many communities have adopted laws motivating people to spay and neuter
companion animals. Should New York City join them?"
Moderator: Jane Hoffman
Speakers: Hon Kathryn E. Freed, Member, New York City Council
Elinor Molbegott, Counsel, Humane Society of New York
Louise Murray, D.V.M.
Marion Churchill, President, Compassion for Camden
John Sabella, Captain (ret.), Camden, NJ, Police Department
Members of the Association, their guests and all other interested persons are
invited to attend. No fee or reservation is required.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 09:58:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jean Colison
To: Ar-news
Subject: Poultry Pollution in W Post
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
FRONT PAGE, TOP
Poultry Poses Growing Potomac Hazard
Chicken Production Employs Many but May Taint Water for Many More
By Eric Lipton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 1 1997; Page A01
The Washington Post
MOOREFIELD, W.Va. -- There is no escaping chicken in this hard-working
farm town.
It's in the air -- the putrid smell that wafts through downtown from the
340,000 birds slaughtered daily in the region's largest chicken plant.
It's in sight -- from the rooster on the Moorefield Examiner's front
page to road signs welcoming drivers to "The Poultry Capital of West
Virginia."
And, increasingly in recent years, it's in the water -- as some of the
155,000 tons of waste the area's 90 million chickens produce each year
enters local streams that are the headwaters of the Potomac River.
The birds have been great for the local economy, employing thousands of
people in a state with one of the highest poverty rates in the East.
But the dramatic boom in the West Virginia chicken industry -- it grew
by more than 200 percent in the last decade -- has alarmed
environmentalists and federal officials, who say the water here is now
so polluted that people risk getting sick if they canoe or swim in it or
rely on wells for tap water.
And the concern doesn't stop at the West Virginia border.
The chicken waste flows downstream and threatens years of effort and
billions of dollars spent to clean up the Potomac River and the
Chesapeake Bay, federal officials say. Last month, American Rivers, a
Washington environmental group, cited the distant poultry industry when
it added the Potomac to its list of the nation's "endangered rivers."
The small creeks and rivers now under siege in West Virginia are a
source of raw drinking water for more than 2.5 million people
downstream, including residents of Montgomery, Prince George's and
Fairfax counties and the District.
Some scientists believe that the bacteria and parasites from
agricultural waste can survive the 10-day trip to Washington, 135 miles
away, and that the dirtier the water is in West Virginia, the more
intense chemical treatment it needs at Washington area water plants.
They argue that increased pressure on treatment plants means that if one
malfunctions -- as happened in the District in 1993 -- some
disease-causing bacteria or pathogens could wind up in tap water.
"The unfettered expansion of the poultry industry could very well undo
much of the progress that has been made in the last 25 years cleaning up
the Potomac River," said Beth Norcross, spokesman for American Rivers.
"We have an antiquated water treatment system in Washington that can
barely handle the current levels of pollutants. Why add a greater
burden?"
West Virginia's chicken boom, along with other agriculture factors such
as cattle farming, already has harmed the Potomac's headwaters.
Blooms of algae -- which can cause fish kills when the decaying algae
depletes available oxygen -- have become more common in recent years.
Crews at water treatment plants in West Virginia have noticed changes in
the odor and taste of their raw water. And seven rivers or streams in
the eastern panhandle of West Virginia -- all feeding the Potomac --
were added last year to a state list of polluted waterways, with each
action attributed to intense farming.
"Something is wrong there," said Dan Ramsey, a biologist with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. "There is just not enough land to take care
of all that manure."
West Virginia officials, who have encouraged chicken farming as an
economic windfall, acknowledge that they have a problem.
But for now, they're relying on a voluntary approach: encouraging
farmers to clean up their practices -- such as improving storage of
waste and disposal of dead birds. If that doesn't clean the water, state
officials say, they'll require those and other steps.
"We are keeping a close eye," said Bill Brannon, an assistant chief in
West Virginia's Division of Environmental Protection. "One way or
another, the industry is going to comply with their responsibilities to
the environment. We will exercise our regulatory authorities if
necessary."
Virginia's Own Trouble
In Virginia's Shenandoah Valley -- just over the mountains from where
the industry has mushroomed around Moorefield -- residents know what can
happen if poultry farms aren't properly managed.
In Virginia counties such as Rockingham, Shenandoah and Page, the
poultry industry boomed in the 1980s. The state wound up with an
industry much bigger than West Virginia's, totaling about 260 million
birds in 1996.
Virginia also suffered more severe pollution.
Startling levels of contamination were found in tests conducted from
1991 to 1993 in areas of heavy chicken farming in the Shenandoah Valley.
Under Virginia guidelines, fecal coliform -- a byproduct of animal waste
-- should not exceed an average of 200 colonies per 100 milliliters for
water to be considered safe for swimming, fishing or boating.
But in one stream, the coliform was measured at 424,000 colonies. In
essence, some valley waterways were little more than streams of animal
waste.
"The numbers are extraordinary," said Bruce A. Wiggins, a James Madison
University associate professor of biology who led the study. "This water
is really polluted."
Half of the 104 drinking-water wells tested in the area were
contaminated with nitrogen, a byproduct of fertilizers and animal waste
that can be toxic to newborns. Fourteen of the wells had high levels of
fecal coliform, which can result in illnesses from flu-like symptoms to
dysentery.
"For years . . . the animal waste was not considered a concern," said
James A. Shiflet, a Virginia conservation technician. "We have ended up
with contamination in our ground and surface waters."
Since the late 1980s, local governments in the valley have imposed
restrictions aimed at reversing the environmental decline, requiring
that poultry houses be set back from streams, for example. This year,
Virginia's General Assembly set aside $5 million in cleanup grants for
farmers, and a new state law imposes $5,000-a-day fines on farmers who
refuse to clean up after their animals.
One side effect of the new restrictions, officials said, is that large
poultry producers like Virginia-based WLR Foods Inc. began looking
elsewhere to expand -- to places where government officials were eager
to create jobs and weren't imposing such tough pollution rules.
In WLR's case, the company didn't have to go far when it came time to
build another plant. Just across the Appalachian Mountains in West
Virginia, an area known as the Potomac Headwaters welcomed the company
with open arms.
Into West Virginia
Moorefield, a gritty town on the Potomac River's South Branch, has been
a farming community since it was founded in 1777. But it wasn't until
the 1990s that the Potomac Headwaters area saw the type of intense,
corporate farming that now dominates its economy.
The chicken industry is highly competitive, so large corporations such
as Perdue, Tysons and WLR Foods that sell birds to restaurants and
supermarkets cut costs by being involved at every level of production --
from hatching eggs and preparing feed to slaughtering birds and
delivering them to market.
Farmers don't own the birds they raise, and they focus mostly on keeping
chickens well fed and living in exact temperatures during the 44 or so
days they are paid to nurture each bird. Farmers are paid about 4.5
cents a pound for the birds they raise. A chicken house -- a building
the length of a football field that typically holds about 20,000 birds
-- produces about $5,000 a year in net profit for a farmer, an industry
group says.
The corporations also make sure that their farmers are close to
processing plants, cutting transportation costs.
The result is that in communities near chicken plants -- such as
Moorefield and surrounding Hardy County -- just about everyone either
works for the chicken company or has a friend or relative who does.
Wampler Foods, a WLR Foods subsidiary, bought a farmers cooperative here
in 1988 and spent $53 million building a hatchery, a feed mill and a
truck depot and doubling the size of the processing plant.
Wampler, the nation's seventh-largest poultry company, contracted with
240 farmers, nearly all within 25 miles of the plant. Those farmers now
raise more than 85 million birds a year.
Nearly 1,700 people -- equal to about 80 percent of Moorefield's
population -- work here at Wampler's operation, which processes chickens
16 hours a day. Inside the sprawling plant, there is relentless activity
as hundreds of workers move in rhythm with miles of conveyor belts that
carry chicken after chicken being slaughtered, cleaned, deboned, washed,
weighed, sorted, sliced, iced and packed.
Before the second shift leaves in the afternoon, 1 million pounds of
chicken have been processed that day, enough to make 3 million meals.
The packaged chickens are shipped as far as Russia and Japan.
On the roadways that lead into the nearby mountains, Wampler trucks
shuttle between farms and the plant. Around Moorefield, the small yellow
and red Wampler signs that identify contract farmers are more common in
yards than the American flag.
All the investment has been a boon for residents such as Greta and E.
Allen Crites, who have built six chicken houses in recent years.
"If you take the poultry business out of Hardy County, [the economy]
will fold," Greta Crites said. "I don't know what a lot of us would do."
Dealing With the Waste
But all of those chickens produce an enormous amount of waste.
The Potomac Headwaters area has 344 poultry farmers, and there are
several other companies besides Wampler that contract with farmers.
Together, the farmers have about 870 poultry houses.
Thousands of chickens die before they reach slaughtering age, leaving
each farmer, at times, with as much as 150 pounds of dead birds a day.
U.S. officials estimate that Potomac Headwaters farmers dispose of about
4.6 million pounds of bird carcasses a year.
A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey of the farms found that
only half were adequately handling the dead birds. Some farmers simply
bury the carcasses in unlined pits, which become cesspools of bacteria,
leaching into groundwater and, in some cases, into local streams.
Poultry litter -- a mixture of manure and the sawdust used for chickens'
bedding -- is an even bigger problem: 155,000 tons a year.
Whenever a group of 20,000 birds is sent off to slaughter, farmers end
up with about 30 tons of litter. That happens seven times a year for
most of the 870 poultry houses.
The manure can be valuable. Farmers spread it on fields as fertilizer
or, after mixing it with hay, feed it to cattle.
But about 75 percent of the region's farmers have inadequate storage
facilities for manure, the USDA survey said, and many farmers merely
stack it in piles, where it is eroded by rain and often carried into
local streams. Other farmers, overloaded with waste, spread it too
densely on fields, and rain washes it into streams.
"What are the farmers supposed to do?" asked Debbie Miller, 35, whose
father and brother and other relatives own poultry farms. "You have got
to clean out the houses."
Wampler's huge operation in Moorefield also has been an environmental
threat, West Virginia records show. The plant, the largest of 10 owned
by Wampler across the nation, uses nearly 2 million gallons of water a
day to process chickens.
West Virginia's Division of Environmental Protection fined Wampler
$2,000 last year for discharging waste water from its feed mill without
a permit. The company was ordered to stop sending excessively polluted
waste water into the town's sewer pipes.
As a result of that polluted waste water, the town's treatment plant had
been discharging water into the Potomac's South Branch that violated
state standards for fecal coliform and other contaminants. The state
fined the town $60,000.
Wampler and Moorefield officials say they recognize the need to care for
the environment.
"We have got to have a balance between the environment and the
industry," said Moorefield Town Council member Robert B. Fertig, 71.
"You could just shut everything down and take care of the environment.
But . . . you don't want everyone to starve to death."
Wampler itself has spent about $5 million to modernize its waste water
treatment system. "We certainly want to do our fair share," said David
G. Frackelton, Wampler's director of environmental affairs. Added Gail
E. Price, spokeswoman for parent company WLR: "We are not in denial.
Dealing with this makes good business sense. It makes for a healthier
environment in which we are working and living."
But state officials say there's still a problem: Even after treatment at
plants run by chicken companies and the town, the water that is poured
back into the Potomac is polluted enough to threaten aquatic life,
especially when the river is low.
The river "is overloaded" with contaminants, said Brannon, the state
environmental official. "There is a potential for it to become a real
problem."
The Growing Problem
Concern about the poultry industry's impact on the environment has been
increasing for several years in West Virginia.
A study of several local streams by the U.S. Geological Service last
year found high fecal coliform levels and prompted this warning by
federal officials:
"A high potential exists for contraction of waterborne illnesses in the
Potomac Headwaters because of the widespread presence of bacteria
throughout the watershed and heavy dependence on the streams for
drinking water and for water contact recreation."
It's unclear how often people get sick from contaminated water, Hardy
County Sanitarian Lee Thompson said, because as in Virginia, such
illnesses often are unreported or misdiagnosed.
In a recent case, a couple who live within a half-mile of nearly a dozen
Hardy County poultry houses wanted their well checked after they
experienced severe stomach problems.
Tests last year showed that their well was contaminated with fecal
coliform, as were the wells of six neighbors. Efforts to disinfect the
wells failed, leading some owners to install ultraviolet treatment
devices.
Even so, Thompson can't say poultry farms are to blame, because he does
not have the equipment or time to trace the contamination to its source.
He acknowledged that many state and local officials are reluctant to
criticize an industry that is such an economic force.
"Whenever people . . . stick their noses out, they tend to get slapped,"
Thompson said. "It is a big industry, and you have to tread lightly."
West Virginia officials, along with USDA officials, dispute any
suggestion that they are reluctant to address the environmental
problems.
The USDA is offering $2 million in grants to encourage farmers to build
storage sheds for poultry waste and build composting structures for dead
birds.
The USDA effort is just beginning. Its major flaw, federal officials
acknowledge, is that there is no money to continue monitoring area
streams, which officials say would cost $500,000 over three years.
The View From Washington
The sudden spurt in the poultry industry gained little notice in
Washington until last month, when the American Rivers group said chicken
waste from West Virginia was the main reason it put the Potomac on the
list of endangered rivers.
The billions of dollars invested to improve the region's waste water
treatment plants have dramatically improved the Potomac's water quality,
resulting in a resurgence of fish and birds along the river.
But federal officials agree that there has been less progress in
cleaning up agricultural waste, and environmentalists contend that the
animal waste threatens the river and Chesapeake Bay. Byproducts from the
animal waste eventually end up in the bay -- along with other refuse
from farms in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia -- complicating the effort
to revive aquatic life.
American Rivers also contends that the West Virginia farm run-off --
with bacteria from poultry and parasites from cattle -- eventually could
threaten Washington's tap water.
Alfred P. Dufour, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's
human exposure research lab in Cincinnati, said most of the
disease-causing bacteria from poultry, such as salmonella and
campylobacter, die during the 10 days it takes water to flow from West
Virginia to Washington.
But Joan Rose, a microbiologist at the University of South Florida, said
that when the conditions are right -- such as when the river water is
cool and fast-moving -- some bacteria can survive the journey. She and
other biologists say health-threatening parasites from the farms' cattle
waste, including cryptosporidium, stand an even better chance of making
the trip intact.
Rose and Dufour agree that a properly operating treatment plant should
be able to eliminate bacteria-based contaminants that survive.
But the dirtier the raw water, the greater the pressure on the treatment
plants, Rose said.
"We are not infallible," Rose said. "If there is any breakdown at a
[water treatment] plant . . . that means significant contamination."
The Washington Aqueduct, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
has had treatment failures, most significantly in December 1993, when a
boil-water alert was issued to residents after the plant had trouble
with its filtering system. But the plant has since installed new
equipment and reorganized its staff to prevent such problems, said
Aqueduct Chief Thomas P. Jacobus.
Jacobus agreed that residents along the Potomac have an interest in
well-managed chicken farming in West Virginia.
Added Wiggins, the biologist who studied the Shenandoah Valley: "It is a
great industry. I love to eat chicken. But the farmers must be
responsible. They must do their part."
FARM POLLUTION IN THE POTOMAC'S HEADWATERS
The poultry industry has grown rapidly in rural areas surrounding
Washington, including the headwaters of the Potomac River in West
Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Waste from the birds,
when not managed properly, washes into the Potomac. Some specialists
believe this pollution complicates the effort to clean up the river and
the Chesapeake Bay. Twenty-nine waterways (bold lines) are included in a
government tally of degraded waters, with each listing linked at least
in part to agricultural uses.
1. Chicken production has increased by more than 200 percent in the last
decade in the area of West Virginia known as the Potomac Headwaters, a
boom tied to expansion of a processing plant in Moorefield, where
340,000 chickens are slaughtered every day. The 155,000 tons of waste
from 90 million birds a year at 870 poultry houses has been blamed in
part for polluting local streams, most of which feed into the Potomac
River, which provides tap water for metropolitan Washington.
2. In Virginia, the poultry industry is concentrated in the Shenandoah
Valley and is even larger than West Virginia's, producing 260 million
birds a year. The environmental damage there is also more severe: Tests
show farm-related contamination in wells and in streams, many of which
flow eventually into the Potomac River. Virginia officials have proposed
tougher rules than West Virginia's to improve water quality.
3. It takes about 10 days, on average, for water to travel from the
Potomac Headwaters area of West Virginia to Washington. Some scientists
believe that disease-causing bacteria can survive that trip, putting
greater pressure on treatment plants that provide drinking water for the
District and for Montgomery, Prince George's, Fairfax and Arlington
counties. The plants filter the water and use chlorine to sanitize it.
* Although these waterways are fed by tributaries that are designated as
degraded because of agricultural uses, they do not carry that
designation themselves.
** Most of the Potomac is designated as degraded, but there are places
in the river that do not carry the designation.
A LIST OF THE 29 WATERWAYS
WEST VIRGINIA
Lunice Creek
Mill Creek
Anderson Run
North Fork South Branch Potomac River
South Fork South Branch Potomac River
South Branch Potomac River
Lost River
VIRGINIA
Middle River
Lewis Creek
Moffett Creek
Christians Creek
Polecat Draft
North River in Rockingham Co.
Mossy Creek
Muddy Creek
North River
(Augusta and
Rockingham Cos.)
Long Glade Run
Cooks Creek
Pleasant Run
Naked Creek
Mill Creek
South River
Hawksbill Creek
Holmans Creek
North Fork Shenandoah River
Linville Creek
Smith Creek
South Fork Catoctin Creek
North Fork Catoctin Creek
@CAPTION: Chickens are processed in a Moorefield, W.Va., plant -- part
of an industry that produces tons of food and tons of waste.
@CAPTION: A truckload of chickens rolls along Route 55 near Moorefield,
W.Va. The birds are bound for a Wampler Foods plant, which processes
chickens 16 hours a day.
@CAPTION: Cattle stand in the rain along the South Branch of the Potomac
River. Environmentalists say cow manure, along with increasing amounts
of chicken manure, in the watershed miles upstream can affect the tap
water supply for much of the Washington area.
@CAPTION: Two stops along the poultry process in West Virginia are the
chicken house -- a long building where about 20,000 birds at a time
typically are raised -- and the cold storage area at the Wampler-
Longacre processing plant, above, where Peyton Umstot is plant manager.
@CAPTION: Two chicks, about two weeks old, are housed at the farm of
Dennis Zirk, who raises about 140,000 birds at a time, part of West
Virginia's poultry boom.
(c)Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 10:57:00 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Cuba clones rabbits
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970601105700.00c223dc@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: 21 May 1997 07:09:08 -0600
From: martin.rickinger@apis.com.br (Martin Rickinger)
Subject: Cuba clones rabbits
Brazilian papers repeated on Monday a story by the Cuban magazine 'Juventud
Rebelde' about the Chief of the transgenic department of the Cuban Centre
for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology saying:
Cuba is about to complete cloning of rabbits, using the same techniques as
the cloning of Dolly. The cientists hope to stimulate with cloning animal
production and milk + milk products production in Cuba.
Well, for sure they work on other projects as well. Good to know: Cuba is
today in South America what Russia used to be: the defender of comunism;
often seen as the ideal country. They and China still support financially
heavily opposition parties and all the trade unions. The US normally support
the other parties heavily.
The actual Brazilian President for instance came to power only because
Clinton had one of his man in the White House organize the whole election
campaign and US businesses financing it. This changed in months the opinion
polls. His opponent, a friend of Fidel Castro, had more than 55% popularity,
the actual president only had 25%. But within 2 months, of CIA starting to
work, the story turned completely upside down.
In this sense, whatever Cuba does will influence South American countries a
lot as well.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 12:54:53 -0400 (EDT)
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Weekly Outdoor News
Message-ID: <970601125451_-1162751465@emout05.mail.aol.com>
Oklahoma's free fishing days will be next Saturday and Sunday.
During these two days anyone can fish in any state waters without
a fishing license or trout stamp. However, some cities may
charge a fee for fishing in a city lake. Free fishing days are the
climax of National Fishing Week which occurs June 2 thru the 8th.
This week recognizes the importance of fishing and the contributions
anglers make to the economy.
The Oklahoma Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge will conduct
public "Wildlife Tours" on June 7,8, 14 and 21. Participants will
have an opportunity to search for wildlife on a bus tour of Pinchot
Loop in the Special Use Area. Reservations are required. They
can be made by calling the refuge headquarters at (405) 429-3222
this coming Monday.
For the Animals,
Jana, OKC
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 13:01:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Quail/Deer Hunting Conflict
Message-ID: <970601130150_320493920@emout15.mail.aol.com>
According to local Okla. hunting news:
The Oklahoma wildlife management areas will open for quail hunting
this next Nov. 1, but the Okla. Wildlife Dept.l plans to prohibit bird
hunting on all public lands during the deer gun season and also during
any controlled hunts that might create a conflict between deer and
quail hunters. Private land bird hunting will continue as usual between
Nov. 1 thru Jan. 31.
The new policy, which is needed because of an earlier quail season
this current year, will require Wildlife Commission approval which
is expected to come during a 9:30 am meeting Monday morning.
The Assistant Chief of the Game Division, Mr. Alan Peoples, said
getting commission approval is not a sure thing. "This is pretty
controversial. "It's not a little deal; it's a big deal."
If the proposed rule change passes, public lands will be open for quail
hunting when the season begins on Nov. 1, but will be closed to bird
hunting from Nov 22 thru 30 which is the date the gun deer season
ends. The areas will reopen after gun season and remain open for
public hunting thru Jan 31 which is the last day of the quail season.
In the past, the 67 game management areas remained closed to bird
hunting until after the Thanksgiving Week deer hunt, but with the
earlier quail season, following that policy would have deprived bobcat
hunters of almost a month of hunting on public lands, a/w Peoples.
He said that while the Wildlife's Dept.'s primary concern is safety,
deer hunters are not pleased by the prospect of quail hunters disturbing
game before the nine-day season, muchless while the hunt is
in progress. "They don't want bird dogs, shotguns and whistles out
there while they're deer hunting. There could be some conflicts."
But Peoples also added that bird hunters may actually improve
deer hunting by flushing out the animals from their hiding places and
getting them on the move.
"Big bucks didn't get that way by being stupid. They are nocturnal
and nobody ever sees them except during the rut. Quail hunters
and bird dogs might stir up some of those big bucks. It's something
to think about," a/w Peoples.
Altho the dept. is taking steps to prevent problems during gun season,
primitive-firearms deer hunters are on thier own. The final two days
of the black-powder season overlap the first two days of quail season.
A no. of controlled deer hunts are held on game management
areas during the gun season, but nine areas will host controlled hunts
before the gun season. Those areas will be closed to bird hunters
during the controlled hunt periods, usually just two days.
For the Animals,
Jana, OKC
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 13:01:00 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) "Rats" (CNN-American Edge)
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970601130049.006879e0@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
----------------------------------
"Rats"
Producer/Correspondent: Bruce Burkhardt
They are one of nature's greatest ironies. One of
man's most unwanted, yet constant companions, rats
are tenacious survivors in a world out to get
them.
--------------------
"You have to think like a rat."
-- Hal Coleman, Exterminator
--------------------
Routing rats is a battle that began centuries ago
and is still being waged. Rats are blamed for
destroying 20 percent of the world's annual food
crops. Rat-born diseases like the bubonic plague
have killed more people throughout history than
all wars combined. Wars may have killed a few rats
as well, but the persistent rodents are tough
rivals even for nuclear weapons. When the United
States tested nuclear bombs on the South Pacific
Islands, the rat was one of the few living things
to climb out of the aftermath.
The people who stalk rats may be just as
stubborn as the pesky rodents
themselves. Just ask exterminator Hal Coleman, who
has been tracking rats for most of his adult life:
"I can find their burrows and the feeding areas. I
know where to look. It just comes with 25 years of
chasing rats."
Roger Pardo-Maurer hunts rats with his Jack
Russell Terrier, Toby. It's become a hobby of
sorts. "He caught nine mice one summer and buried
them in my bed, and I figured out that he had a
natural talent that needed developing."
Toby has been developing his "natural talent" in
Washington D.C.'s Lafayette Park, right across
from the White House, one of many national
treasures known to be infested with rats. The
nation's capital is an urban hunting ground where
the bounty is plentiful. Rats are one of the least
likely candidates to make the nation's endangered
species list. They reproduce so quickly and so
often that one pair can give rise to 15,000 rats
in a year.
Shadowy, sneaky and creepy, rats can conjure up
hatred even from normally sane animal lovers, but
not from everyone. While many people are trying to
rid the world or at least their homes of rats, Liz
Fucci is hosting 26 of them in the dining room of
her Reston, Virginia apartment.
"They're sweet," says Fucci, who claims
the rat has taken on an undeserved
reputation, that should have been awarded to the
flea. "It's because they happened to carry the
flea that carried the plague and wiped out a lot
of Europe in the Middle Ages. They got a bad rap."
While most of the U.S. is out to eradicate rats,
they are revered in other parts of the world. In
some Hindu temples in India, rats are believed to
be the reincarnation of departed ancestors. In
China, rats are working their way up the food
chain as a popular menu item.
But whether you like rats or hate them, get used
to sharing the planet with them for a long time to
come. And if they gnaw their way into your home,
be prepared for a lengthy, hard-fought battle to
get rid of them. You may have an intellectual edge
over the creatures, but rats have a physical
advantage. Just try squeezing your body through a
space the size of a quarter or working your way
through a dryer vent. And if that's not enough,
they can also swim. So keep your toilet lids
closed.
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 13:09:24 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Bostonian Moves To Protect Whales
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970601130922.00687c0c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
-----------------------------------
06/01/1997 12:01 EST
Bostonian Moves To Protect Whales
By MICHAEL TIGHE
Associated Press Writer
BOSTON (AP) -- Richard Max Strahan speaks in contradictions.
He says he's a pauper. He says he's a prince: the ``Prince of Whales.''
He describes the animals he is crusading to protect -- northern right
whales -- as ``abandoned babies'' nobody else wants. But he also admits
he'd abandon those babies to play guitar for the American rock band Guns
N' Roses.
He proclaims he is widely known because of his efforts to give the 300
remaining whales a slim chance of survival. But then he refuses to talk
about himself -- where he's from, where he's been.
Yet, there is Richard Max Strahan, the enigmatic person who almost
single-handedly forced the state of Massachusetts, the National Marine
Fisheries Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, whale-watching vessels and New
England fishermen and lobstermen to protect right whales.
``Max, despite what some people say, is at the helm of the issue and is
steering the feds and the state on this,'' said Jay McCaffrey,
conservation director of the state chapter of the Sierra Club.
But the targets of Strahan's lawsuits accuse him of focusing attention on
less common threats to the whales. Meanwhile, the major threats --
collisions with tankers, freighters and barges -- remain.
``His accusations, tactics and proposed remedies should be cause for
great alarm,'' Peter Borrelli, executive director of the Center for
Coastal Studies in Provincetown, said in a recent newsletter. ``He is
filing nuisance suits in federal court that have done more to obscure the
real issues than to save the whales.''
Andrew Rosenberg, NMFS regional director, said Strahan hasn't raised any
issues not already addressed by the Endangered Species Act and Marine
Mammal Protection Act, both of which the agency is required to enforce.
Instead, he said, Strahan simply has sped up some of the timetables for
enforcement.
``I think you would be hard pressed to say the whales are better off,''
Rosenberg said. ``It's not always best to do things at kind of a
breakneck pace and under enormous pressure.''
Strahan has quite a different opinion, and he often expresses it in
off-color language. In fact, some say he takes the bumper sticker
approach too close to heart.
At least one state agency has a restraining order against Strahan for
alleged harassment, the New England Aquarium has banned him and NMFS
avoids his calls because of previous vitriolic attacks.
During a recent conversation, Strahan lambasted several politicians,
fishermen, lobstermen, environmental groups and even some of those
scientists devoting their professional lives to the right whales.
The charcoal-colored animals have been on Earth at least 10 million
years, long before humans. Usually identified by the series of small
bumps on their heads, the whales can reach a length of 55 feet, weigh 70
tons and live more than 50 years.
Once numbering in the thousands, they were hunted nearly to extinction
during centuries of American whaling to create corsets, parasols, lamp
oil, lubricants and soaps.
Despite international protections, only about 300 northern right whales
remain. That's why anyone perceived as impeding the whales' recovery
earns a tongue-lashing from Strahan.
``When this whale is in trouble, there's a spiritual connection that says
I'm in trouble,'' he said. ``That's what motivates me.''
Strahan said he comes from a family of environmentalists and has worked
on campaigns to protect spotted owls, salamanders and butterflies.
He won't reveal anything about his life prior to 1985. He is believed to
be in his late 30s or early 40s.
``I just want to keep the focus on the whale,'' he said. ``I'm the
`mystery man.' This is the `mystery campaign.'''
Strahan enrolled in Boston University's Metropolitan College in 1983 but
didn't earn a degree. He also has a lengthy criminal record -- including
trespassing, larceny and fraud -- earned while national campaign director
for GreenWorld, an environmental group that today has only one member:
him.
Newspapers in Springfield and Boston have reported that Strahan spent
GreenWorld money on lingerie, camera equipment, a health club and courses
at the University of California at Berkeley. He also hasn't filed the
mandated annual fund-raising reports with the state.
Strahan appeared on the environmental radar screen in the 1980s when he
petitioned the federal government to list the spotted owl as an
endangered species, setting off heated debate in the Pacific Northwest.
In 1994, he sued the Coast Guard in federal court in Boston for allegedly
violating international and federal laws by killing right whales with
their vessels. The Coast Guard last year was ordered to change its
operations to accommodate the whales.
In 1995, Strahan sued state Environmental Affairs Secretary Trudy Coxe,
claiming Massachusetts was responsible for fishing activities in state
waters that threatened right whales. The state since has curtailed
fishing in Cape Cod Bay when the whales are there.
In 1996, he sued the Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Commerce,
claiming they weren't enforcing prohibitions against the whales'
entanglement in fishing gear. Recently, NMFS proposed the use of fishing
gear that ``breaks away'' when tugged.
``For better or worse, he's done a pretty good job of accomplishing his
mission,'' said John Rodman, Massachusetts' assistant secretary of
environmental affairs.
But Strahan wants more, including limiting access to lobstering and
fishing along the New England coast.
``We need the fishermen zero,'' he said. ``These are the killers of these
whales.
``Gillnetting is going bye-bye,'' he said.
However, scientists like Scott Kraus of the New England Aquarium document
only two right whale deaths from entanglement in the last two decades.
They also say the whales may go extinct anyway because of genetic
problems from inbreeding.
Armed with those facts, beleaguered fishermen say they again are being
unfairly targeted.
``The plan from the National Marine Fisheries Service ... proposes gear
modifications that are at best prohibitively costly and lacking in
practicality and at worse impossible to follow and still fish at all,''
the Commercial Fisheries News editorialized this month.
In Maine, Strahan is a public enemy for saying he wants to shut down that
state's $100 million lobster industry.
``Literally, whole communities are dependent on these fisheries,'' said
Robin Alden, Maine's commissioner of marine resources. ``To be facing
this is very hard to take.''
Alden said Strahan has been instrumental in getting NMFS to adhere to
marine mammal protection timetables, but said his lawsuit has led to an
unworkable solution.
``What this is going to do is either get fishermen off the water or put
them out of the business without definitely having an impact on the right
whale's future,'' she said.
Alden, too, has had heated discussions with Strahan in the past. But the
``Prince of Whales'' said he talks tough to get politicians to listen to
his lone voice for the whales.
``When I picked up this right whale, I found out that nobody else wanted
it,'' he said. ``You just can't put it down when you know you're the only
one between it and extinction.''
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 10:51:17 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Elephants poisoned in Thailand?
Message-ID: <3391B695.36AA@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Thai team struggles to save sick wild elephants
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Veterinarians are racing against time to try
to save the lives of wild elephants dying from an unknown cause.
The team began its relief efforts after two elephants
from a herd of about 100 were found dead near a watering hole in a
district of Prachuab Khirikhan province, officials said.
There were outcries from wildlife conservation groups, whose
members suggested that area pineapple growers may have
poisoned the elephants in an effort to protect their crops.
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 11:00:03 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Rats on CNN
Message-ID: <3391B8A3.55D6@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
"Rats"
Producer/Correspondent: Bruce Burkhardt - CNN June 1, 1997
They are one of nature's greatest ironies. One of man's most
unwanted, yet constant companions, rats are tenacious survivors in a
world out to get them.
Routing rats is a battle that began centuries ago and is still being
waged. Rats are blamed for destroying 20 percent of the world's annual
food crops. Rat-born diseases like the bubonic plague have killed more
people throughout history than all wars combined. Wars may have killed a
few rats as well, but the persistent rodents are tough rivals even for
nuclear weapons. When the United States tested nuclear bombs on the
South Pacific Islands, the rat was one of the few living things to climb
out of the aftermath.
The people who stalk rats may be just as stubborn as the pesky
rodents themselves. Just ask exterminator Hal Coleman, who
has been tracking rats for most of his adult life: "I can find their
burrows and the feeding areas. I know where to look. It just comes with
25 years of chasing rats."
Roger Pardo-Maurer hunts rats with his Jack Russell Terrier,
Toby. It's become a hobby of sorts. "He caught nine mice one
summer and buried them in my bed, and I figured out that he had a
natural talent that needed developing." (799K/16 sec.
QuickTime movie)
Toby has been developing his "natural talent" in Washington D.C.'s
Lafayette Park, right across from the White House, one of many national
treasures known to be infested with rats. The nation's capital is an
urban hunting ground where the bounty is plentiful. Rats are one of the
least likely candidates to make the nation's endangered species list.
They reproduce so quickly and so often that one pair can give rise to
15,000 rats in a year.
Shadowy, sneaky and creepy, rats can conjure up hatred even
from normally sane animal lovers, but not from everyone. While
many people are trying to rid the world or at least their homes of rats,
Liz Fucci is hosting 26 of them in the dining room of her Reston,
Virginia apartment.
"They're sweet," says Fucci, who claims the rat has taken on an
undeserved reputation, that should have been awarded to the flea. "It's
because they happened to carry the flea that carried the plague and
wiped out a lot of Europe in the
Middle Ages. They got a bad rap."
While most of the U.S. is out to eradicate rats, they are revered in
other parts of the world. In some Hindu temples in India, rats are
believed to be the reincarnation of departed ancestors. In China,rats
are working their way up the food chain as a popular menu item.
But whether you like rats or hate them, get used to sharing the
planet with them for a long time to come. And if they gnaw their way
into your home, be prepared for a lengthy, hard-fought battle to get rid
of them. You may have an intellectual edge over the creatures, but rats
have a physical advantage. Just try squeezing your body through a space
the size of a quarter or working your way through a dryer vent. And if
that's not enough, they can also swim. So keep your toilet lids closed.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 14:01:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: No1BadGrl@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Proctor & Gamble to acquire Tambrands (Tampas tampons)
Message-ID: <970601140153_1376004445@emout19.mail.aol.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=unknown-8bit
(I just rejoined ar-news. Forgive if this has already been posted).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------
Procter & Gamble to Acquire Tambrands; Tampax, #1 Brand in Tampons,
Gives P&G Opportunity to Expand into New Market Wednesday, April 09, 1997
6:23:00 AM EDT
Global Scale and Efficiencies will Maximize Growth Potential
CINCINNATI and WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., April 9 /PRNewswire/-- The Procter &
Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) (P&G) and Tambrands Inc. announced that P&G will
acquire Tambrands and its market-leading tampon brand, Tampax.
Under the terms of the definitive agreement unanimously approved by the
boards of directors of both companies, Tambrands shareholders will receive
$50 per share in cash for each Tambrands share, for a total equity value of
$1.85 billion. P&G plans to fund the acquisition with cash and short-term
borrowings.
P&G will acquire all aspects of Tambrands' business, including
manufacturing, technical and other facilities. The transaction is subject to
certain conditions, including approval by Tambrands' shareholders and
regulatory clearance.
Tampax Stands for Trusted Protection
"This acquisition provides a unique opportunity for P&G to enter the tampon
category with an established brand," P&G Chairman and Chief Executive John E.
Pepper said. "Tambrands began selling Tampax more than 60 years ago and today
it's still the market leader. It is the most trusted tampon brand in the
world."
"Tampax helps us reach consumers around the world who prefer tampons,"
Pepper added. "This acquisition will allow us to take the expertise we've
gained in the feminine protection business with Always and Whisper, our
global pad brands, and apply it to a new market with Tampax."
P&G is the Best Possible Partner
"P&G is the ideal partner for Tambrands," said Edward T. Fogarty, Tambrands
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Becoming part of P&G -- a
world-class company with global marketing and distribution capabilities --
will accelerate the global growth of Tampax and enable the brand to achieve
its full potential. In today's intensely competitive market, where global
scale and efficiencies are increasingly critical, we believe this transaction
is in the best interest of Tambrands shareholders. P&G's belief in the brand
is also a tribute to all of the Tambrands people around the world who have
worked so hard to build this business."
Opportunities for Growth
"Near term, P&G intends to grow the Tampax business through broader retail
distribution and new marketing programs as well as geographic expansion. In
fact, countries which account for over half of the world's population,
principally in Latin America and Asia, account for less than 5 percent of
Tampax volume," continued Pepper.
"Longer term, we will look to improve existing products and develop new
ones. We will do this by combining our research expertise with our in-depth
knowledge of consumers, and by engaging the best medical and scientific
experts to ensure women's health is enhanced by our efforts."
Dr. Mary Lake Polan, Professor and Chair of Stanford University School of
Medicine's Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, will lead P&G's
scientific advisory board on matters relating to feminine hygiene and product
research, as part of P&G's overall efforts to advance women's health.
"This transaction is good for both P&G and Tambrands shareholders. We will
pay a fair price for Tambrands shares," said Pepper. "P&G shareholders will
benefit from growth of the Tampax brand as well as efficiencies in a number
of areas including selling and administration, raw materials sourcing and
integration into P&G's distribution and logistics systems."
P&G will begin to assess the best way to integrate Tambrands. In the
interim, Tambrands' employees will continue to operate the business.
"We're very pleased to welcome Tampax into P&G's family of leading personal
care products, which includes Pampers, Pantene, Oil of Olay and many others,"
concluded Pepper. "We will work closely with Tambrands to complete this
transaction as quickly as possible."
Background on Procter & Gamble and Tambrands
Procter & Gamble markets more than 300 brands to nearly five billion
consumers in over 140 countries. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, P&G has
on-the-ground operations in over 60 countries and employs more than 103,000
people worldwide. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1996, P&G had worldwide
sales of more than $35 billion.
Tambrands has manufactured Tampax tampons for more than 60 years and is
headquartered in White Plains, NY. In 1996, Tambrands reported global sales
of $662 million, representing a 44 percent share of the worldwide tampon
market. Tampax is marketed in over 150 countries, and over 90 percent of its
current business is in North America and Europe. Tambrands employs 2,600
people around the world.
This news release discusses historical information and includes
forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties
regarding the consummation of this transaction and the development,
production and distribution of tampon products. These include, among other
things, the satisfaction of a number of conditions to closing the
transaction; determinations by regulatory and administrative government
authorities; the likelihood of increased competition in key markets; the
success of technological developments; the reduction in the costs of
developing, producing and selling tampon products; P&G's ability to integrate
successfully Tambrands' business in an Efficient Consumer Response
environment; and the risk factors listed or described from time to time in
Tambrands' and P&G's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission, including their reports on Form 10-K for their current fiscal
years and on Form 10-Q for the most recent quarterly period for which such
forms were required to be filed. Any of these risks or uncertainties may
cause actual results or future circumstances to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements contained in this news release. SOURCE Procter &
Gamble Company
© PR Newswire. All rights reserved.
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 11:10:34 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Golf course or hunting grounds?
Message-ID: <3391BB1A.3E3F@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
June 1, 1997 - New York Times Online
Wildlife Refuge Systems Faces Uneasy Future
T. MARKS, Fla. -- As he studied the submerged alligator trailing
thick fishing line from its jaws, and as his eyes took in the trash
littering this corner of his beloved refuge, Joe Reinman shared a
thought.
"I need to put those 'No Fishing' signs back up," said Reinman, a
biologist who drove to the pond in St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
after worried tourists reported that an alligator -- one of thousands in
this coastal swamp along Apalachee Bay in northern Florida -- appeared
to be dangerously entangled.
Reinman satisfied himself that the alligator would soon work free of the
line left by a crabber. But the future of the refuge system, a
collection of 509 federal preserves spread across 92 million acres
nationwide, is not so secure.
Underfinanced and underappreciated, the system is crumbling beneath a
$500 million repair and construction backlog, and is beset by conflicts
over land use and whether the public's longing for a taste of the great
outdoors should cause refuges to be more people-friendly.
At St. Marks, a 70,000-acre estuarine haven for waterfowl and wading
birds, Reinman said the refuge was only now able to replace a
disintegrating 35-year-old water control structure because of a grant
from Ducks Unlimited. He says money has been so short that the refuge
could not afford fuel to operate pumps.
In Hawaii, the Navy is bartering with the financially strapped Fish and
Wildlife Service, which oversees the refuge system, offering to repair a
sea wall on a remote island refuge that is home to endangered seals and
turtles in return for a missile test site.
Along the Potomac River in Northern Virginia, developers promise to
build an interpretative center in exchange for refuge land that would be
used as a golf course.
"There are significant threats to the system coming from people who are
using and abusing land near the refuges," said Daniel Beard, senior vice
president for public policy at the National Audubon Society.
Hoping to defuse yet another controversy, the Interior Department,
members of Congress, environmentalists and hunting groups recently
reached a delicate compromise aimed at enacting a substantial overhaul
of refuge legislation.
Under a deal brokered by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, advocates of
refuge recreation would get a commitment that "wildlife-dependent"
activities like hunting, fishing and wildlife observation would be
priority uses of the refuges as long as they were found compatible with
conservation.
In return, environmental groups get a long-sought mission statement
declaring conservation to be the overriding purpose of the system, which
was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903.
Sporting groups and lawmakers have joined the Interior Department in
embracing the plan, but conservation groups are reserving judgment.
Jim Waltman, refuges director of the Wilderness Society, says he
believes the measure still places an undue emphasis on recreation.
Sporting groups contend that some want to restrict any recreation in the
refuges. "These are not sanctuaries and were never meant to be
sanctuaries," said Bill Bragg, director of national wildlife affairs for
the Wildlife Legislative Fund of America.
Babbitt said an end to the fight over recreation would allow sportsmen
and environmentalists to attack other pressing problems of the refuges,
which he conceded are the "stepchild" of the agency, particularly when
compared with the national park system, the crown jewel of federally
owned lands.
The recreation-intensive park system, encompassing 83 million acres,had
an operations and construction budget of more than $1.3 billion this
year, in contrast to $212 million for the refuge system.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 16:50:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: LMANHEIM@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: Bostonian Moves To Protect Whales
Message-ID: <970601165044_-1364164998@emout18.mail.aol.com>
Here's an interesting character, and a very well written article about him...
In a message dated 97-06-01 12:15:36 EDT, AOL News writes:
<< Subj:Bostonian Moves To Protect Whales
Date:97-06-01 12:15:36 EDT
From:AOL News
BCC:LMANHEIM
c. The Associated Press
By MICHAEL TIGHE
BOSTON (AP) - Richard Max Strahan speaks in contradictions.
He says he's a pauper. He says he's a prince: the ``Prince of
Whales.''
He describes the animals he is crusading to protect - northern
right whales - as ``abandoned babies'' nobody else wants. But he
also admits he'd abandon those babies to play guitar for the
American rock band Guns N' Roses.
He proclaims he is widely known because of his efforts to give
the 300 remaining whales a slim chance of survival. But then he
refuses to talk about himself - where he's from, where he's been.
Yet, there is Richard Max Strahan, the enigmatic person who
almost single-handedly forced the state of Massachusetts, the
National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Coast Guard,
whale-watching vessels and New England fishermen and lobstermen to
protect right whales.
``Max, despite what some people say, is at the helm of the issue
and is steering the feds and the state on this,'' said Jay
McCaffrey, conservation director of the state chapter of the Sierra
Club.
But the targets of Strahan's lawsuits accuse him of focusing
attention on less common threats to the whales. Meanwhile, the
major threats - collisions with tankers, freighters and barges -
remain.
``His accusations, tactics and proposed remedies should be cause
for great alarm,'' Peter Borrelli, executive director of the Center
for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, said in a recent newsletter.
``He is filing nuisance suits in federal court that have done more
to obscure the real issues than to save the whales.''
Andrew Rosenberg, NMFS regional director, said Strahan hasn't
raised any issues not already addressed by the Endangered Species
Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, both of which the agency is
required to enforce.
Instead, he said, Strahan simply has sped up some of the
timetables for enforcement.
``I think you would be hard pressed to say the whales are better
off,'' Rosenberg said. ``It's not always best to do things at kind
of a breakneck pace and under enormous pressure.''
Strahan has quite a different opinion, and he often expresses it
in off-color language. In fact, some say he takes the bumper
sticker approach too close to heart.
At least one state agency has a restraining order against
Strahan for alleged harassment, the New England Aquarium has banned
him and NMFS avoids his calls because of previous vitriolic
attacks.
During a recent conversation, Strahan lambasted several
politicians, fishermen, lobstermen, environmental groups and even
some of those scientists devoting their professional lives to the
right whales.
The charcoal-colored animals have been on Earth at least 10
million years, long before humans. Usually identified by the series
of small bumps on their heads, the whales can reach a length of 55
feet, weigh 70 tons and live more than 50 years.
Once numbering in the thousands, they were hunted nearly to
extinction during centuries of American whaling to create corsets,
parasols, lamp oil, lubricants and soaps.
Despite international protections, only about 300 northern right
whales remain. That's why anyone perceived as impeding the whales'
recovery earns a tongue-lashing from Strahan.
``When this whale is in trouble, there's a spiritual connection
that says I'm in trouble,'' he said. ``That's what motivates me.''
Strahan said he comes from a family of environmentalists and has
worked on campaigns to protect spotted owls, salamanders and
butterflies.
He won't reveal anything about his life prior to 1985. He is
believed to be in his late 30s or early 40s.
``I just want to keep the focus on the whale,'' he said. ``I'm
the `mystery man.' This is the `mystery campaign.'''
Strahan enrolled in Boston University's Metropolitan College in
1983 but didn't earn a degree. He also has a lengthy criminal
record - including trespassing, larceny and fraud - earned while
national campaign director for GreenWorld, an environmental group
that today has only one member: him.
Newspapers in Springfield and Boston have reported that Strahan
spent GreenWorld money on lingerie, camera equipment, a health club
and courses at the University of California at Berkeley. He also
hasn't filed the mandated annual fund-raising reports with the
state.
Strahan appeared on the environmental radar screen in the 1980s
when he petitioned the federal government to list the spotted owl
as an endangered species, setting off heated debate in the Pacific
Northwest.
In 1994, he sued the Coast Guard in federal court in Boston for
allegedly violating international and federal laws by killing right
whales with their vessels. The Coast Guard last year was ordered to
change its operations to accommodate the whales.
In 1995, Strahan sued state Environmental Affairs Secretary
Trudy Coxe, claiming Massachusetts was responsible for fishing
activities in state waters that threatened right whales. The state
since has curtailed fishing in Cape Cod Bay when the whales are
there.
In 1996, he sued the Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of
Commerce, claiming they weren't enforcing prohibitions against the
whales' entanglement in fishing gear. Recently, NMFS proposed the
use of fishing gear that ``breaks away'' when tugged.
``For better or worse, he's done a pretty good job of
accomplishing his mission,'' said John Rodman, Massachusetts'
assistant secretary of environmental affairs.
But Strahan wants more, including limiting access to lobstering
and fishing along the New England coast.
``We need the fishermen zero,'' he said. ``These are the killers
of these whales.
``Gillnetting is going bye-bye,'' he said.
However, scientists like Scott Kraus of the New England Aquarium
document only two right whale deaths from entanglement in the last
two decades. They also say the whales may go extinct anyway because
of genetic problems from inbreeding.
Armed with those facts, beleaguered fishermen say they again are
being unfairly targeted.
``The plan from the National Marine Fisheries Service ...
proposes gear modifications that are at best prohibitively costly
and lacking in practicality and at worse impossible to follow and
still fish at all,'' the Commercial Fisheries News editorialized
this month.
In Maine, Strahan is a public enemy for saying he wants to shut
down that state's $100 million lobster industry.
``Literally, whole communities are dependent on these
fisheries,'' said Robin Alden, Maine's commissioner of marine
resources. ``To be facing this is very hard to take.''
Alden said Strahan has been instrumental in getting NMFS to
adhere to marine mammal protection timetables, but said his lawsuit
has led to an unworkable solution.
``What this is going to do is either get fishermen off the water
or put them out of the business without definitely having an impact
on the right whale's future,'' she said.
Alden, too, has had heated discussions with Strahan in the past.
But the ``Prince of Whales'' said he talks tough to get politicians
to listen to his lone voice for the whales.
``When I picked up this right whale, I found out that nobody
else wanted it,'' he said. ``You just can't put it down when you
know you're the only one between it and extinction.''
AP-NY-06-01-97 1201EDT >>
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj: Bostonian Moves To Protect Whales
Date: 97-06-01 12:15:36 EDT
From: AOL News
By MICHAEL TIGHE
BOSTON (AP) - Richard Max Strahan speaks in contradictions.
He says he's a pauper. He says he's a prince: the ``Prince of
Whales.''
He describes the animals he is crusading to protect - northern
right whales - as ``abandoned babies'' nobody else wants. But he
also admits he'd abandon those babies to play guitar for the
American rock band Guns N' Roses.
He proclaims he is widely known because of his efforts to give
the 300 remaining whales a slim chance of survival. But then he
refuses to talk about himself - where he's from, where he's been.
Yet, there is Richard Max Strahan, the enigmatic person who
almost single-handedly forced the state of Massachusetts, the
National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Coast Guard,
whale-watching vessels and New England fishermen and lobstermen to
protect right whales.
``Max, despite what some people say, is at the helm of the issue
and is steering the feds and the state on this,'' said Jay
McCaffrey, conservation director of the state chapter of the Sierra
Club.
But the targets of Strahan's lawsuits accuse him of focusing
attention on less common threats to the whales. Meanwhile, the
major threats - collisions with tankers, freighters and barges -
remain.
``His accusations, tactics and proposed remedies should be cause
for great alarm,'' Peter Borrelli, executive director of the Center
for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, said in a recent newsletter.
``He is filing nuisance suits in federal court that have done more
to obscure the real issues than to save the whales.''
Andrew Rosenberg, NMFS regional director, said Strahan hasn't
raised any issues not already addressed by the Endangered Species
Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, both of which the agency is
required to enforce.
Instead, he said, Strahan simply has sped up some of the
timetables for enforcement.
``I think you would be hard pressed to say the whales are better
off,'' Rosenberg said. ``It's not always best to do things at kind
of a breakneck pace and under enormous pressure.''
Strahan has quite a different opinion, and he often expresses it
in off-color language. In fact, some say he takes the bumper
sticker approach too close to heart.
At least one state agency has a restraining order against
Strahan for alleged harassment, the New England Aquarium has banned
him and NMFS avoids his calls because of previous vitriolic
attacks.
During a recent conversation, Strahan lambasted several
politicians, fishermen, lobstermen, environmental groups and even
some of those scientists devoting their professional lives to the
right whales.
The charcoal-colored animals have been on Earth at least 10
million years, long before humans. Usually identified by the series
of small bumps on their heads, the whales can reach a length of 55
feet, weigh 70 tons and live more than 50 years.
Once numbering in the thousands, they were hunted nearly to
extinction during centuries of American whaling to create corsets,
parasols, lamp oil, lubricants and soaps.
Despite international protections, only about 300 northern right
whales remain. That's why anyone perceived as impeding the whales'
recovery earns a tongue-lashing from Strahan.
``When this whale is in trouble, there's a spiritual connection
that says I'm in trouble,'' he said. ``That's what motivates me.''
Strahan said he comes from a family of environmentalists and has
worked on campaigns to protect spotted owls, salamanders and
butterflies.
He won't reveal anything about his life prior to 1985. He is
believed to be in his late 30s or early 40s.
``I just want to keep the focus on the whale,'' he said. ``I'm
the `mystery man.' This is the `mystery campaign.'''
Strahan enrolled in Boston University's Metropolitan College in
1983 but didn't earn a degree. He also has a lengthy criminal
record - including trespassing, larceny and fraud - earned while
national campaign director for GreenWorld, an environmental group
that today has only one member: him.
Newspapers in Springfield and Boston have reported that Strahan
spent GreenWorld money on lingerie, camera equipment, a health club
and courses at the University of California at Berkeley. He also
hasn't filed the mandated annual fund-raising reports with the
state.
Strahan appeared on the environmental radar screen in the 1980s
when he petitioned the federal government to list the spotted owl
as an endangered species, setting off heated debate in the Pacific
Northwest.
In 1994, he sued the Coast Guard in federal court in Boston for
allegedly violating international and federal laws by killing right
whales with their vessels. The Coast Guard last year was ordered to
change its operations to accommodate the whales.
In 1995, Strahan sued state Environmental Affairs Secretary
Trudy Coxe, claiming Massachusetts was responsible for fishing
activities in state waters that threatened right whales. The state
since has curtailed fishing in Cape Cod Bay when the whales are
there.
In 1996, he sued the Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of
Commerce, claiming they weren't enforcing prohibitions against the
whales' entanglement in fishing gear. Recently, NMFS proposed the
use of fishing gear that ``breaks away'' when tugged.
``For better or worse, he's done a pretty good job of
accomplishing his mission,'' said John Rodman, Massachusetts'
assistant secretary of environmental affairs.
But Strahan wants more, including limiting access to lobstering
and fishing along the New England coast.
``We need the fishermen zero,'' he said. ``These are the killers
of these whales.
``Gillnetting is going bye-bye,'' he said.
However, scientists like Scott Kraus of the New England Aquarium
document only two right whale deaths from entanglement in the last
two decades. They also say the whales may go extinct anyway because
of genetic problems from inbreeding.
Armed with those facts, beleaguered fishermen say they again are
being unfairly targeted.
``The plan from the National Marine Fisheries Service ...
proposes gear modifications that are at best prohibitively costly
and lacking in practicality and at worse impossible to follow and
still fish at all,'' the Commercial Fisheries News editorialized
this month.
In Maine, Strahan is a public enemy for saying he wants to shut
down that state's $100 million lobster industry.
``Literally, whole communities are dependent on these
fisheries,'' said Robin Alden, Maine's commissioner of marine
resources. ``To be facing this is very hard to take.''
Alden said Strahan has been instrumental in getting NMFS to
adhere to marine mammal protection timetables, but said his lawsuit
has led to an unworkable solution.
``What this is going to do is either get fishermen off the water
or put them out of the business without definitely having an impact
on the right whale's future,'' she said.
Alden, too, has had heated discussions with Strahan in the past.
But the ``Prince of Whales'' said he talks tough to get politicians
to listen to his lone voice for the whales.
``When I picked up this right whale, I found out that nobody
else wanted it,'' he said. ``You just can't put it down when you
know you're the only one between it and extinction.''
AP-NY-06-01-97 1201EDT
Copyright 1997 The
Associated Press. The information
contained in the AP news report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without
prior written authority of The Associated Press.
To edit your profile, go to keyword NewsProfiles.
For all of today's news, go to keyword News.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 17:51:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: No1BadGrl@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: More Than 8,000 Minks Released
Message-ID: <970601175122_171359598@emout01.mail.aol.com>
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj: More Than 8,000 Minks Released
Date: 97-06-01 17:33:10 EDT
From: AOL News
MOUNT ANGEL, Ore. (AP) - Vandals released thousands of minks
from their cages on a fur ranch, and many of the animals then died
of exposure and fighting with each other.
An estimated 8,000 to 9,000 animals were freed in what may have
been the largest ``eco terrorism'' attack on the U.S. mink
industry, said Marsha Kelly, spokeswoman for Fur Commission U.S.A.,
an industry group for mink and fox farmers.
``The number of incidents seems to be escalating,'' she said.
Militant animal-rights activists say the multimillion-dollar fur
industry raises fur-bearing animals inhumanely and kills them only
to satisfy human vanity.
No arrests had been made and no one had claimed responsibility
for Friday's vandalism at the farm near Mount Angel, FBI special
agent Pat Geonetta said Sunday. A 1992 federal law bans ``animal
enterprise terrorism.''
Ranch owner Rick Arritola and others were able to retrieve about
1,300 of the female minks after the raid, but he said many of them
and their babies, most less than two weeks old, had died or soon
would die.
Many of the hot-tempered animals died from fighting with each
other, others died of exposure and some were stepped on, officials
said.
Marion County Sgt. David Hussey said Friday's loss could amount
to several hundred thousand dollars.
Arritola said the intruders got past his alarm system.
``They were professionals. It took a lot of people to do what
they did,'' he said.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office sent extra patrol cars to
protect the county's eight mink farms on Saturday. There are about
80 mink farms in Oregon.
It was the 25th such incident in the United States in the past
18 months, said Kelly, of St. Paul, Minn.
Kelly said the most costly previous attack on the industry was a
March pipe bomb attack on the Utah Fur Breeders Agricultural
Cooperative in Sandy, Utah, which produces feed for mink raised in
Utah and southern Idaho. Damage was estimated at $1 million.
A group calling itself the Animal Liberation Front has claimed
responsibility for a number of attacks in the past several years in
Utah and Oregon.
Mount Angel is about 33 miles south of Portland.
AP-NY-06-01-97 1722EDT
Copyright 1997 The
Associated Press. The information
contained in the AP news report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without
prior written authority of The Associated Press.
To edit your profile, go to keyword NewsProfiles.
For all of today's news, go to keyword News.
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 17:51:40 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: Many overestimate rabies danger in U.S.
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970601175140.00694c74@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Subject: Many overestimate rabies danger in U.S.
Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 6:42:11 PDT
From: C-upi@clari.net (UPI)
Many overestimate rabies danger in U.S.
Copyright 1997 by United Press International /
Sat, 31 May 1997 6:42:11 PDT
UPI Science News
BOSTON, May 31 (UPI) -- Panic about a rise in rabid wild animals is driving
too many
people in the United States to get treated for the brain destroying virus,
even though the
risk of getting it is slight, says an expert in infectious diseases.
On the other hand, Americans abroad are underestimating the chance of
getting the
disease in countries where there are a lot of wild dogs -- sometimes with
tragic results.
Dr. Nesli Basgoz, the director of infectious diseases outpatient practices at
Massachusetts General Hospital, says that since 1980, there have been only
32 deaths
from rabies in the United States.
In nearly all cases, the disease was contracted from an obvious bite. The
exception is
rabies from bats, which have such small teeth that it is impossible to tell
if they have
bitten.
But the dramatic increase in the number of infected wild animals in the
United States,
which has risen by about 50 percent from the 1980s, has raised some
unreasonable
fears about exposure, she says.
While she believes that it is appropriate to be cautious, ``it's not
appropriate to be
hysterical.'' Dr. Basgoz says that only one out of every 10 or 20 calls she
gets about
possible rabies exposure is a real cause for concern.
In one case, a woman asked for the vaccine after bathing her pet dog, which
had been
sprayed by a skunk that may or may not have been rabid, says Dr. Basgoz,
who spoke
this week at a conference in Boston on infectious diseases.
Worldwide about 50,000 people die from the disease a year, mostly in
countries where
wild dogs are allowed to roam free. Americans who travel to these areas,
such as
vacationers to Nepal, are taking a great risk by petting local dogs, she
says. One
American woman who died from rabies got it in just that way.
Dr. Basgoz suggests that most rabies problems can be avoided by following two
common sense rules: keep away from bats and other wild animals and don't pet
strange dogs.
She also says that the vaccine should be considered when there is reason to
suspect a
bat bite, such as a case where a parent finds a bat in a child's room in
the morning.
(Written in New York by Mara Bovsun)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 1997 18:23:03 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: Are houseflies giving us ulcers?
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970601182303.0074e650@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Subject: Are houseflies giving us ulcers?
Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 15:01:28 PDT
From: C-upi@clari.net (UPI / UPI Science Writer)
ClariNet story US-ULCERFLY from UPI / UPI Science Writer
Are houseflies giving us ulcers?
Copyright 1997 by United Press International / Thu, 29 May 1997 15:01:28 PDT
WASHINGTON, May 29 (UPI) -- People may be catching ulcers from houseflies.
Researchers at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston published a study
today
(Thursday) showing the bacteria that cause most ulcers and some stomach
cancer can
survive up to 12 hours on the skin of a housefly. The flies were still
excreting the
bacterial villain, called H. pylori, up to 30 hours after crawling over a
contaminated
source.
Peter Grubel and colleagues suggest in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology
that flies
could pick up the bacteria while buzzing around human excrement and then
spread the
contamination by settling on human food.
Grubel points out the adult housefly can travel as far as 20 miles from a
source of
contamination.
The researchers tested the idea by letting flies cluster on a laboratory
culture of the
bacteria, then removing the flies and periodically checking them for
contamination.
Grubel emphasizes that the work shows only that flies in theory could
spread the
bacteria. The researchers are now tackling the question of whether flies
actually do play
a role in ulcers outside the laboratory.
Scientists have come to recognize the importance of ulcer bacteria only
since the early
1980s. The bacteria can survive the acid bath of the stomach but do not
cause trouble
in everyone they infect. Researchers blame the bacteria for most duodenal
ulcers and
up to 80 percent of gastric ulcers. Stanford University researchers have
also linked H.
pylori to certain kinds of stomach cancers.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 18:39:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: LMANHEIM@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: AIDS Vaccine Protects Chimps
Message-ID: <970601183953_1923388359@emout18.mail.aol.com>
In a message dated 97-06-01 17:08:17 EDT, AOL News writes:
<< Subj:AIDS Vaccine Protects Chimps
Date:97-06-01 17:08:17 EDT
From:AOL News
BCC:LMANHEIM
c. The Associated Press
By MALCOLM RITTER
NEW YORK (AP) - Chimps got lasting protection against AIDS virus
infection after they were given a combination of two experimental
vaccines, researchers report.
Three chimps resisted infection when they were injected with HIV
about a year after their last booster shot.
``I think it's an important early step toward the goal of a
vaccine,'' said Marjorie Robert-Guroff of the National Cancer
Institute, one of the study's authors.
But scientists unconnected with the work cautioned that the
animals were exposed to an HIV strain that's relatively easy to
block in chimps. So it's hard to tell what the protection means for
the prospects of an AIDS vaccine in people, said one scientist,
John Moore of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York.
Robert-Guroff said scientists used a high dose of HIV because of
the strain involved.
Previous studies in chimps also have shown protection against
HIV, using other vaccine strategies.
The new work is reported in the June issue of the journal Nature
Medicine.
For the initial vaccine, researchers put some HIV genes into a
virus called an adenovirus. That made the adenovirus produce an HIV
protein, in order to prime the chimps' immune systems to attack
HIV.
The booster shots, which didn't involve a virus, contained a
different HIV protein.
Chimps got one, two or three adenovirus inoculations over 24
weeks. Then they got one or two booster shots in the next 24 weeks.
Four chimps were protected from a low dose of HIV given a month
after the last booster shot, while an unvaccinated chimp became
infected.
Three of the vaccinated animals were also protected from a high
HIV dose given 50 weeks after the last booster.
The strategy of priming the immune system against HIV with a
virus-based vaccine and then giving boosters is already being
tested in people. Results suggest it is safe and that it provokes a
promising degree of immune response, but whether it will protect
people against HIV is not known.
AP-NY-06-01-97 1700EDT >>
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj: AIDS Vaccine Protects Chimps
Date: 97-06-01 17:08:17 EDT
From: AOL News
By MALCOLM RITTER
NEW YORK (AP) - Chimps got lasting protection against AIDS virus
infection after they were given a combination of two experimental
vaccines, researchers report.
Three chimps resisted infection when they were injected with HIV
about a year after their last booster shot.
``I think it's an important early step toward the goal of a
vaccine,'' said Marjorie Robert-Guroff of the National Cancer
Institute, one of the study's authors.
But scientists unconnected with the work cautioned that the
animals were exposed to an HIV strain that's relatively easy to
block in chimps. So it's hard to tell what the protection means for
the prospects of an AIDS vaccine in people, said one scientist,
John Moore of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York.
Robert-Guroff said scientists used a high dose of HIV because of
the strain involved.
Previous studies in chimps also have shown protection against
HIV, using other vaccine strategies.
The new work is reported in the June issue of the journal Nature
Medicine.
For the initial vaccine, researchers put some HIV genes into a
virus called an adenovirus. That made the adenovirus produce an HIV
protein, in order to prime the chimps' immune systems to attack
HIV.
The booster shots, which didn't involve a virus, contained a
different HIV protein.
Chimps got one, two or three adenovirus inoculations over 24
weeks. Then they got one or two booster shots in the next 24 weeks.
Four chimps were protected from a low dose of HIV given a month
after the last booster shot, while an unvaccinated chimp became
infected.
Three of the vaccinated animals were also protected from a high
HIV dose given 50 weeks after the last booster.
The strategy of priming the immune system against HIV with a
virus-based vaccine and then giving boosters is already being
tested in people. Results suggest it is safe and that it provokes a
promising degree of immune response, but whether it will protect
people against HIV is not known.
AP-NY-06-01-97 1700EDT
Copyright 1997 The
Associated Press. The information
contained in the AP news report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without
prior written authority of The Associated Press.
To edit your profile, go to keyword NewsProfiles.
For all of today's news, go to keyword News.
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 20:40:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: MyPetsPal@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Militant P.E.T.A
Message-ID: <970601204050_253415550@emout07.mail.aol.com>
Please do not support any of P.E.T.A's activities or the organization itself.
Under the guise of animal rights, they are killing many animals, believe
that domesticated animals should be eliminated and deceive the public in
general. Their agenda is self-serving and I am urging everyone to be
responsible and research this group prior to giving them your support. Thank
you
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 20:42:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: MyPetsPal@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Unsubscribe
Message-ID: <970601204218_-2032423257@emout01.mail.aol.com>
Immediately
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 21:27:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: Franklin Wade
To: Ar-News
Subject: UPC Alert: Protest Student Cruelty to Hens
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Protest to High School Principal
Hen Beaten Up and Killed by Students
On Friday afternoon, April 11, 1997, high school students
released 50 chickens at Horizon High School in Phoenix, Arizona.
In the words of a Phoenix activist, "It was outright cruelty
carefully preplanned which resulted in the death of some 36
gentle egg-laying hens. I know because our organization rescued
14 survivors on school property, one of whom didn't survive.
Eyewitness accounts from many horrified students said the hens
were beaten, kicked like footballs, hurled through the air,
stuffed into student lockers, thrown into unlocked parked cars
which were then locked, and run over by cars. Bloodied bodies
were found dumped in school garbage cans and videotaped by TV 15
and TV 3 News Teams. A couple of years ago it was a cow, last
year it was pigeons, this year it was hens."
According to a student eyewitness, the students threw the
birds over the fence. That's when their legs broke" (Mesa Tribune
April 13).
Although 21 students were reportedly suspended, Horizon High
School Administrators are not showing leadership and students
have made a t-shirt boasting their viciousness: "The Great
Horizon Chicken Massacre of 97" and "I choked a chicken at
Horizon."
What Can I Do?
*Express your views and request a reply in a courteous but
firm manner to Mr. John Stollar, Principal, 5601 East Greenway
Road, Scottsdale AZ 85254. Ph: 602-953-4104; fax: 4144. The
students at Horizon are getting a message from the school that
cruel treatment of innocent birds is on a par with spraying
shaving cream on cars. Horizon High School needs to draw up a
strong Code of Ethical Behavior to be passed out to every student
at the beginning of each term stating that animal abuse is a
punishable crime, not a "prank." Violation of this School Code
for amusement or ceremony in connection with any school function
or activity shall be grounds for immediate suspension, repeating
of an entire school year, postponement of graduation, and filing
of criminal charges.
*Arizona Statute 13-2910, Cruelty to Animals or Poultry,
makes it a Class 1 Misdemeanor to recklessly subject any animals
or poultry to cruel mistreatment. The filing of a complaint by
local activist Dee Kotinas, who rescued the surviving birds, is
being treated by local authorities as "frivolous." Demand that
the law be upheld and request a reply. Contact:
Commander Bruce Knappenberger Mayor Skip Rimza
Desert Horizon Police Precinct City of Phoenix
16030 North 56th Street 200 W. Washington St. 11th Fl.
Scottsdale AZ 85254 Phoenix AZ 85003-1611
Ph: 602-495-5006 Ph: 602-262-7111; fax: 495-5583
For further information contact Dee Kotinas, Executive
Director, Animals Benefit Club of Arizona, PO Box 26627, Phoenix,
AZ 85068 (ph: 602-943-1707 or 602-867-2169).
_____________________________________________________________________
franklin@smart.net Franklin D. Wade
United Poultry Concerns - www.envirolink.org/arrs/upc
Compassion Over Killing - www.envirolink.org/arrs/cok
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 21:29:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: Franklin Wade
To: Ar-News
Subject: UPC Alert: Mesa State College Professor Abuses Chickens
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
ACTION ALERT
MESA STATE COLLEGE PROFESSOR ABUSES CHICKENS, STUDENTS CHARGE
"Dr. Bruce Bauerle is a professor who teaches Outdoor
Survival (Biology 113), a class that supposedly teaches people to
survive nuclear war, etc., in the outdoors. For this class, a
student must kill, by hand, a live chicken, gut the bird, prepare
and eat it. Failure to do so results in course failure, though
this cannot be found in the 1997-1997 Catalog. Dr. Bauerle also
teaches Ornithology (Biology 412, 412L), in which students must
kill, by hand, a live chicken, clean the bird, and then mount it
with taxidermy techniques.
To try to kill the chickens, the students were told to
smother and/or choke them. Both methods were unsuccessful. Some
of the poor birds had their heads stuck in jars containing ether,
in hopes that the fumes would kill them. This occurs every spring
in this class."
What Can I Do?
*Demand that the killing of animals as required by the above
courses be removed from the curriculum. In 1997 the National
Guard Bureau of the U.S. Departments of the Army and the Air
Force announced the cancellation of the use of live animals in
survival training courses: The Infantry Unit "is shifting
emphasis in the program to include more confidence-building
exercises and physical fitness drills. While rigorous and
innovative training will remain the hallmark of the curriculum,
live animals will no longer be used as part of the food
preparation demonstration." Requiring students to kill chickens,
when our country's own armed services have eliminated this
activity, teaches nothing but crudeness and cruelty.
Send complaints and request a reply, to:
Dr. Michael C. Gallagher, President
Mesa State College
PO Box 2647
Grand Junction, Colorado 81502-2647
Ph: 970-248-1498; fax: 970-248-1903
(You will probably get a letter saying everything is done
"humanely" and Dr. Bauerle is a popular instructor, etc. Do not
accept this dismissal of your complaint. Demand that Professor
Bauerle eliminate the killing of birds from his courses.)
_____________________________________________________________________
franklin@smart.net Franklin D. Wade
United Poultry Concerns - www.envirolink.org/arrs/upc
Compassion Over Killing - www.envirolink.org/arrs/cok
Date: Sun, 1 Jun 1997 21:32:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Franklin Wade
To: Ar-News
Subject: UPC Wants to Stop Forced Molting of Layings Hens
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
FORCED MOLTING OF LAYING HENS:
TELL THE EGG INDUSTRY TO STOP IT
We passed through the egg barn. When the lights came on, the
cackling and clucking rose to a cacophony, accompanied by
the sound of thousands of beaks pecking on metal.
Kathy Geist, Letter, "Visit to a Pennsylvania hen factory"
"withdrawal of feed from commercial egg production hens . .
. a conventional molt with a 10-day feed withdrawal. . . ."
Journal of Applied Poultry Research, Vol. 2, 1993, p. 107
Molting refers to the replacement of old feathers by new
ones. In nature, birds replace all of their feathers in the
course of a year to maintain good plumage at all times. A natural
molt frequently happens at the onset of winter, when nature
discourages the hatching of chicks. The hen stops laying eggs and
concentrates her energies on staying warm and growing new
feathers.
The egg industry artificially manipulates this natural
process by forcing an entire flock to molt simultaneously,
normally after 10 months of relentless egg production. This is
done to impose uniformity of production and reduce the amount of
time the hens are not laying eggs. It is used as an economic tool
to renew shell quality in exhausted hens when it is deemed
cheaper to "recycle" them rather than immediately slaughter them
after 40 or so weeks of constant egg-laying on a calcium-
deficient diet.
To force the hens to molt, their food is entirely removed or
nutritionally reduced for an average of ten days. Donald Bell,
the University of California architect of forced molting, urges
complete feed removal for no less than five days. Water removal,
drugs, and artificial dark-light manipulation may also be used.
The hens abruptly shed their feathers and stop laying eggs for
one or two months, instead of the normal three or four. The
survivors may be force-molted two or three more times, based on
economics. This is a major method of regulating supply and demand
and reducing the cost of feeding the hens. At any given time over
6 million hens in the U.S. are being systematically starved in
their cages (98% of U.S. laying hens are in battery cages) and in
"free-range" confinement sheds.
Dr. Peter Dun, a researcher from Scotland, said hens are
force molted in the U.S. "until their combs turn blue"--or they
die.
What Can I Do?
*DEMAND A BAN. In 1994, Joy Mench, a poultry researcher, warned a
meeting of the Egg Association of America that "in terms of
public sentiment," the U.S. industry needs to look at forced
molting. She noted that "in Europe, feed restriction is limited
to one day because of stress to the birds."
Contact: United Egg Producers
1303 Hightower Trail. Suite 200
Atlanta, Georgia 30350
Fax: 770-587-0041
E-mail: www.unitedegg@mindspring.com
U.S. Poultry & Egg Association
1530 Cooledge Road
Tucker, Georgia 30084-7303
Fax: 770-493-9257
E-mail: www.poultryegg.org
Egg Industry Magazine
Attn: David Amey, Editor
Watt Publishing Co.
122 South Wesley Avenue
Mt. Morris, Illinois 61054-1497
Fax: 205-739-6945
amey@wattca.mhs.compuserve.com
Request replies.
*In addition to targeting the industry and educating others in
daily life and through media contacts, the single most important
thing each of us can and must do is to stop purchasing poultry
and eggs, including processed foods that include poultry and egg
ingredients--"chicken broth," egg whites, and other hen horrors.
Forced molting is not confined to battery hens. So-called "free-
range" hens and breeder fowl are subjected to the practice, as
well. Wash your hands of eggs, egg whites, and poultry products.
_____________________________________________________________________
franklin@smart.net Franklin D. Wade
United Poultry Concerns - www.envirolink.org/arrs/upc
Compassion Over Killing - www.envirolink.org/arrs/cok
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