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AR-NEWS Digest 489
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Poachers kill white rhino
by Andrew Gach
2) The brave new world of cloning
by Andrew Gach
3) King Royal Update
by PAWS
4) Carriage Horse Death
by PAWS
5) FWD: [US] MAKAH TRIBE TO USE HIGH-CALIBRE MILITARY ASSAULT
WEAPONS AGAINST MIGRATING GRAY WHALES
by David J Knowles
6) [CA] Cathy Kinsman lecture
by David J Knowles
7) (US) Bloodless Bullfight Held in Calif.
by allen schubert
8) [US] Womack Back in Business
by Debbie Leahy
9) Re: Fwd: [PT] animal rights
by erez ganor
10) (US) One More Oklahoma Anti-PETA Editorial
by JanaWilson@aol.com
11) [US] Womack Back in Business (revised)
by Debbie Leahy
12) (US) Conference @ Cornell, Oct. 24-26, Ithaca, NY
by allen schubert
13) Huntingdon:What Congress Should See
by DobieBoy2@aol.com
14) Urgent: Free call to save horses
by DobieBoy2@aol.com
15) World Farm Animals Day
by farmusa@erols.com
16) Bill Rosenberg Award
by farmusa@erols.com
17) Campaign against virus continues [Australia]
by bunny
18) Judge rejects group's calicivirus challenge[Aust]
by bunny
19) pet monkeys in Australia
by Lynette Shanley
20) (US) Greenpeace Plans Budget Cuts
by allen schubert
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 21:07:25 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Poachers kill white rhino
Message-ID: <33EBECFD.51E9@worldnet.att.net>
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Manhunt in South Africa for poachers who killed white rhino
Agence France-Presse
JOHANNESBURG (August 7, 1997 10:46 p.m. EDT) - South African rangers and
police have launched a manhunt for the poachers who killed a white
rhinoceros and cut off its horns in the country's biggest game reserve.
Poachers apparently entered the Kruger reserve from Ressano Garcia in
Mozambique overnight Monday and shot the animal with an AK-47 automatic
rifle before fleeing with the horns, police told the South African news
agency SAPA.
Last week a buffalo was killed in the same area of the reserve, which
stretches more than one million hectares (2.4 million acres). Small-time
poachers often cross into the reserve from Mozambique to
kill game for sale on neighboring markets.
Poaching of rhinoceros is much rarer, with the last case reported two
years ago, police said. Only 12,000 to 12,500 rhinoceros remain in the
wild throughout the world, compared to 70,000 in 1970.
The anti-poaching squad in the reserve, which works with South African
and Mozambique police, has helped reduce illegal hunting. Last year only
two elephants were killed in the reserve, down from 100 in 1986, and the
guards were able to find the ivory in Mozambique.
Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 21:09:13 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: The brave new world of cloning
Message-ID: <33EBED69.2C99@worldnet.att.net>
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Japanese group says it can clone cattle
Reuter Information Service
TOKYO (August 7, 1997 10:46 p.m. EDT) - A Japanese farm group said
Thursday it had developed new cloning technology that could produce up
to 200 carbon-copy cattle from a single fertilized egg.
The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations in
Japan said a cow gave birth Wednesday to a male calf produced using the
new method, Japan's first home-grown cattle cloning technology.
The technique grows cultures of a fertilized egg, from which cell nuclei
are taken and transferred to unfertilized eggs.
A federation official said cattle cloning technologies used previously
in Japan have in practice been capable of producing only three to five
head of cattle from a single fertilized egg.
"Developing cloning technology to produce cattle that can provide good
milk and beef is very important to reducing costs and improving
productivity in the livestock industry," the official said.
He added a calf has already been born in Wisconsin in the United States
using a similar technology
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 00:34:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: PAWS
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: King Royal Update
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
The following article appeared in the Albuquerque Journal on Friday,
August 8:
FEDS LOOK INTO ELEPHANT DEATH
Survivors in City Custody: 2nd Pachyderm Ailing
Heather the African elephant took her final ride Thursday, her gaunt 2400
pound body placed by forklift into a dump truck and hauled off to an
Albuquerque landfill for examination and burial.
City officials say they found the young circus elephant's body Wednesday
evening inside a hot, poorly ventilated trailer, along with eight llamas
and two other circus elephants named Irene and Donna.
Joel Warner, executive director of the Animal Humane Association of New
Mexico, said it was traumatic for Irene and Donna to be kept in a trailer
with Heather's body.
"They're the most sensitive animal concerning the death of their own.
They will mourn the loss of their own for weeks," Warner explained as he
watched the surviving elephants.
Albuquerque Biological Park director Ray Darnell said the animals have
been temporarily been placed under the care of the city.
A USDA investigator began work on the case Thursday and a spokesman said
the agency has the power to confiscate animals if their lives are in
immediate danger.
Darnell said Heather, estimated to be about 6 years old, weighed 2400
pounds. He said a healthy elephant that age should weigh at least 4,000
pounds.
Officials initially said all the pachyderms were Asian, or Indian,
elephants. But they reported Thursday that Irene is an Asian elephant,
Donna is an African elephant and Heather was AFrican.
A necropsy was being performed on Heather's body Thursday to determine
the cause of death.
Darnell added that Donna was ill. He said the cause of illness hadn't
been determined.
"It's been lying down a lot. It's got diarrhea and doesn't appear as
alert," Darnell said early Thursday evening. "Those are signs of an
animal heading downhill. I think it's worse than...it looked this
morning."
Robert Hillman, city animal manager, said the animals' handler, Ben
Davenport, of Laredo, Texas, was cited on suspicion of cruelty to
animals, leaving an animal unattended in a vehicle and improper care and
feeding of an animal. Hillman said teh USDA sent an investigator to
Albuquerque to determine if the animals were being legally transported
and cared for properly.
Davenport said the animals are owned by King Royal Circus based near San
Antonio, Texas. Documents from the USDA show the circus was accused in
1996 of a long list of violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act,
including,
--having poorly maintained animal trailers;
--not providing sufficient shade for animals;
--Having poorly maintained enclosures for lions and tigers;
--Not keeping enclosures clean;
--Mishandling and physically abusing a young elephant named Mickey.
Other USDA records show King Royal was later fined $8,000, agreed to
repair its animalenclosures and agreed to fix one elephant trailer as
part of a deal in which it did not have to admit guilt.
There is no telephone listing for King Royal in the San Antonio area.
An advertisement for the circus on the World Wide Web said the circus is
"committed to the laws that regulate the treatment of animals for show."
Heather's death infuriated animal welfare workers across New Mexico and
the country. But Davenport said Heather and the other animals in the
trailer were well cared for, and he said he plans to fight the city
citations.
"The way I look at (the citations), they were thrown at me for no
reason," Davenport said as Irene, Donna, and the llamas milled around by
some trees near the Rio Grande bosque, where they were taken after
Wednesday's discovery.
"We water then six, seven times a day. They get fed well," Davenport
said of his animals. "When you work with these animals, it kind of
becomes a relative--like a brother, sister, or cousin."
Animal officials at the scene disagreed sharply with Davenport on the
animals' condition.
"It makes me angry to see animals kept in this type of situation,"
Hillman said, adding that the animals will remain in protective custody
until Davenport provides documents to prove the animals were being
properly cared for. Davenport said those documents were misplaced but
copies were being faxed to Albuquerque.
"I haven't seen one piece of paper yet," Hillman said. "there is no way
that truck (and trailer) is leaving here. I've got the keys. And I'm
keeping them."
Warner said he "was so made last night, I couldn't see straight. I
would like to see all circuses outlawed. These animals are used for
profit. I don't think that's in the best interest of the animal."
Three police officers on bicycle patrol reported they saw the trailer
swaying while parked outside a hotel near Albuauerque International
Sunport, and that aroused their suspicions. They then discovered the
trailer contained circus animals.
Hillman said the animals were part of a circus that took place several
days ago in Las Vegas. He said Davenport was on his wayt to another
show in Colorado when he noticed that Heather appeared ill. Hillman said
Davenport then called a veterinarian for King Royal and the veterinarian
instructed him to head back to Texas with the animals.
Hillman said Davenport was near the airport because he was waiting for a
relief driver who was flying in from Chicago. Hillman alleged Davenport
did not have a proper diver's license to transport the animals.
Davenport declined to comment.
*************
Please continue to contact the USDA's Assistant Secretary for Marketing
and Regulatory Affairs, Mike Dunn. Ask him to confiscate the animals
remaining with King Royal Circus and to revoke the circus' permits. Dunn
can be reached at:
Mike Dunn
Assistant Sec. for Marketing and Regulatory Affairs
USDA
14th and Independence Ave.
Box AG0109
Wash, DC 20515
(202) 720-4256 phone
PAWS will continue to post updates on this case as we receive them. Pat
Derby is currently in Albuquerque. PAWS has offered to take and/or place
King Royal's animals.
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 01:31:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: PAWS
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Carriage Horse Death
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Advocates Call for Halt to Horse Drawn Carriage Operations
Advocates of strict restrictions of the horse drawn carriage trade are
calling for the suspension of all horse drawn carriage operations in the
city of Boston until a thorough investigation is made into the accident
of August 8th. The accident occured midday Friday in downtown Boston
and resulted in the injury of the driver and the death of the horse, name
Chief.
Representatives of the Carriage Horse Action Committee filed two complaints
earlier
in the week regarding horse drawn carriages operating illegally and in
violation of state regulations. Complaints were filed with both
Department of Public Safety officials and the Animal Rescue League.
Lauretta Woods, co-founder of the CHAC, stated, "On both Monday and
Wednesday of this week, I made complaints regarding violations. My
complaints are being passed around from agency to agency and no one is
taking responsibility for enforcing state and city codes. It is amazing
that a passenger wasn't killed as well as the horse in Friday's accident."
Citing violations advocates have complained that carriages are violating
a city ordinance by operating during rush hour amid heavy construction.
Additionally, advocates have complained that horses are being worked in
temperatures that exceed the state's 90 degree maximum.
Advocates are threatening legal action, if necessary, to ensure the
safety of the public and the horses.
"These are turn of the century vehicles that don't belong in modern-day
traffic," said CHAC Co-Founder Theo Capaldo.
Massachusetts is the only state that has developed state-wide standards
and regulations for carriage horses.
Amid the current confusion of Boston's "big dig" Central Artery project,
Boston traffic and congestion is at its worst. Yet carriage horses are
still allowed to operate in close proximity to major
construction sites.
To protest the death of Chief and the ongoing danger of the carriage
horse industry to animals and the public, please call or write:
Mayor Menino
Boston City Hall
1 City Hall Plaza
Boston, Mass. 02201
(617) 635-4000
Department of Public Safety
1 Ashburton Place
Boston, Mass. 02144
(617) 727-3200
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 23:59:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: FWD: [US] MAKAH TRIBE TO USE HIGH-CALIBRE MILITARY ASSAULT
WEAPONS AGAINST MIGRATING GRAY WHALES
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970809000023.19cf2c60@dowco.com>
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Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 22:58:35 -0700 (PDT)
Sender: "Michael Kundu, ARCTURUS Adventure Communications"
Subject: MAKAH TRIBE TO USE HIGH-CALIBRE MILITARY ASSAULT WEAPONS
AGAINST
MIGRATING GRAY WHALES
CONTACTS: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 29, 1997
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society:
Pacific Northwest Coordinator Michael Kundu (360) 653-4780
International Director of Operations Lisa Distefano (310) 301-7325
MAKAH TRIBE TO USE HIGH-CALIBRE MILITARY ASSAULT WEAPONS >AGAINST
MIGRATING
GRAY WHALES
SEA SHEPHERD OUTRAGED BY MAKAH’S CONTINUED “CEREMONIAL”
WHALING ARGUMENTS
Sea Shepherd has confirmed that the Makah Band of Western Washington will
now use high-caliber military firearms against gray whales during their
planned ‘ceremonial’ whale hunt in the spring of 1998. Recent reports
indicate that members of the Makah Tribal Whaling Commission have obtained,
and are currently practising using, at least 4 of these weapons.
Sea Shepherd believes that the military-grade ordinance could also be used
to intimidate or threaten NMFS enforcement officers – and other
environmentalists -- from attempting to prevent any subsequent illegal whale
hunting. “The Makah tribe claims they will simultaneously spear gray whales
with stainless steel harpoons, while also shooting at their skulls with
these massive, .50-calibre assault rifles,” says Michael Kundu, Sea
Shepherd’s Pacific Northwest Coordinator in Seattle, “Coincidentally, these
are the weapons normally mounted on military assault helicopters and Navy
gunboats -- they can efficiently shatter a ship’s hull a mile away. There
isn’t a trace of ‘ceremonial aboriginal whaling’ in this plan -- it’s
blatant, undeniable whale warfare!” A quote from a letter by Makah tribal
Chairman Hubert Markishtum describes the bullets employed as being…
“… a .50-caliber, copper-jacketed, lead-core, hollow-point round with a
mass of 600-700 grains, fired at high velocity with a muzzle velocity of
3,000 feet-per-second and muzzle energy of 14,000 foot pounds. This has
about 10 times the energy of a standard assault rifle.”
This October, the Makah tribe, with assistance from the United States
Department of Commerce, will ask permission from the International Whaling
Commission (IWC), the world body that governs the harvest of whales, to
strike up to 34 gray whales annually. While recent reports indicate that
the Makah will not be awarded the quota by a majority of IWC signatory
nations, Sea Shepherd is concerned that the Makah tribe may violate federal
laws and proceed with a gray whale hunt regardless of the IWC decision.
“The presence of these weapons is certainly a concern for us, as it should
be for anyone who is opposed to a recommenced tribal whale hunt,” says
Kundu, who argues that the tribe does not meet the criteria established by
the IWC to receive an aboriginal quota. “If the IWC does not approve the
Makah quota in October, any subsequent tribal whale harassment will be
subject to prosecution under federal law,” adds Kundu, “That’s when we may
find these government supplied weapons being turned on citizens of the US.”
Sea Shepherd has been working to build opposition to a resumed gray whale
hunt by the Makah Tribe since 1994; maintaining regular surveillance patrols
of Neah Bay and marshaling political and tourism industry opposition to the
aboriginal hunt. Sea Shepherd maintains that the resumed killing of gray
whales is being lead by international pro-whaling nations using the
‘aboriginal’ loophole to gain ground for a new commercial whaling industry
globally. “Ben Johnson of the Makah tribe has reported that the Japanese
and Norwegian have offered them funding to support their lobbying attempts,”
adds Sea Shepherd International Director Lisa Distefano, “Norway and Japan
are shrewd: from a PR perspective, they’re acutely aware that a “traditional
native ritual’ hunt sounds more palatable than the more sinister reality of
commercial whaling.”
Led by Greenpeace co-founder Captain Paul Watson, the Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society, an international marine mammal conservation
organisation, has over 35,000 members and is renown as the most active,
on-site whale protection group world-wide.
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997 23:59:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Cathy Kinsman lecture
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970809000027.19cf9572@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Posted for WhaleSave/Coalition For No Whales in Captivity
The Canadian Marine Environment Protection Society presents:
A Lecture by Cathy Kinsman of RETURN TO THE WILD
"BELUGAS IN THE BRAS D'OR OCEAN RESERVE"
Choosing retirement and the future home for Canada's whales
Friday, September 19, 1997
at 7:30 pm
at the H.R.MacMillan Planetarium
1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver
Tickets: $8.50 - $6.00 Students & Seniors
You are invited to join Cathy Kinsman of RETURN TO THE WILD on a journey to
the Bras D'Or, Canada's east coast inland sea. Learn first hand of the plan
now in development that will allow Canada's white whales to remain in Canada
and be provided for in a pristine, natural marine environment.
Recent events such as the Vancouver Park Board considering the phasing out
of the whale exhibits, the beluga whales being warehoused for over two
years in the aquarium's small reserve tank, and the publicized export of the
beluga "Nanuq" to Sea World in San Diego, have prompted the development of a
proposal to retire some of Canada's captive beluga whales to a natural sea
pen in eastern Canada. This timely proposal offers a wide range of benefits
for the whales, the Vancouver Aquarium, the Bras D'Or region of Cape Breton
and all Canadians.
For tickets and information, please phone (604) 736-9514 or e-mail
.
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 10:58:34 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Bloodless Bullfight Held in Calif.
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970809105832.006e28d4@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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from AP Wire page:
-----------------------------------
08/09/1997 05:28 EST
Bloodless Bullfight Held in Calif.
By MATTHEW YI
Associated Press Writer
ESCALON, Calif. (AP) -- The crowd cheers as a young matador leads a
charging bull through his cape, ending the show by piercing the animal
with a spear.
Unlike in Mexico or Spain, however, the spear has Velcro at the end and
attaches to a patch on the animal's back.
This bloodless form of a sport usually banned in the United States is a
popular pastime for the large Portuguese-American population in the San
Joaquin Valley.
``It's a passion, it's an adrenaline rush, it's my profession,'' said
Dennis Borba, who has a plaque that reads ``California's First Matador de
Toros'' and dates to 1986. ``You have to have it in your blood.''
His family has been organizing bloodless bullfights for about 30 years.
It began with his father, Frank, who raised bulls for rodeos and
bullfights in the 1960s.
By the mid-1970s, Borba was inviting amateur and professional matadors
from Mexico, Spain and Portugal. They performed in his 1,100-capacity
bullring on the outskirts of Escalon, about 80 miles east of San
Francisco.
There are now at least nine bullrings in California, eight of which are
in the San Joaquin Valley where many Portuguese dairy farmers emigrated
generations ago. The other is at Artesia in Southern California.
Bullfights are only allowed as part of a religious festival like the
recent Portuguese Holy Ghost Fiesta. Spectators paying $15 nearly filled
Borba's stands for the event that included a performance by him and three
teen-agers from Portugal who are training to be professional matadors.
``In places like Spain, besides the president, the most popular people
are matadors and soccer players,'' Borba said.
One of the bullfighters, 14-year-old Luis Filipe, mesmerized the crowd as
he twirled his pink and yellow cape, fell on his knees and taunted the
bull, ``Ya! Ya!''
After the bull was ``killed,'' cattle were herded through the ring to
mingle with the bull and help ease it into a gate. Luis had a more
glorious victory march. He walked around the ring acknowledging the
crowd, which threw hats, flowers and bouquets.
``Do you know how old he is?'' asked spectator Frank Silva of Ceres.
``He's 14. That little guy is going to be something else. He's going to
be a super bullfighter.''
There are roughly a dozen such events a year at Borba's, with about six
bullfights each time. Borba said more non-Hispanic people are attending,
and a few of the bigger bullrings will gather 3,000 people.
The finale of the bull death is avoided because it is illegal to pierce
or kill bulls for sport in the United States. But Borba said fans still
thrill at watching the matador, which in Spanish means the killer of the
bulls.
``It's more than a sport; it's an art, it's culture,'' Borba said. ``It's
to control the bull and to make that into a ballet and art -- where
there's danger, movement and action -- and to make it do what you want it
to do by using a cape.''
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 11:23:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debbie Leahy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] Womack Back in Business
Message-ID: <01IM8FRO0M7S8ZEP66@delphi.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
WOMACK BACK IN BUSINESS
On July 2, 1997, the USDA issued a press release announcing WOMACK'S OUT OF
BUSINESS FOR 10 YEARS. The release went on to say Lorin Womack, a licensed
animal exhibitor doing business as Land OLorin in Batavia, Illinois had his
license
suspended for a decade. Womack is a chronic, serious violator of the Animal
Welfare
Act and has caused the suffering and death of many animals.
The USDA press release failed to mention a new license was to be issued to
Womacks
zoo under the name of a newly created non-profit organization with a board of
directors
consisting of Womacks friends and supporters.
After failing two pre-licensing inspections, Land OLorinnow called Deerpath
Animal
Havenwas issued a new license on Tuesday, July 29, 1997 after finally passing
the
third inspection. Lorin Womack was exhibiting animals (reportedly a tiger,
baby bear,
and snake) at a fair in Woodstock, Illinois the following Sunday, August 3,
1997. He was
again exhibiting as Land OLorin.
Please write to the USDA and demand that Womack have no affiliation with
Deerpath
Animal Haven, no contact in any way with the animals he has abused and
neglected for so
many years, and an immediate investigation into the illegal Land OLorin
exhibit in
Woodstock, Illinois. Contact:
Dr. Elizabeth Goldentyer, Sector Supervisor
USDA-APHIS-AC
2568-A Riva Road, Suite 302
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone) 410/571-8692
Fax) 410/571-6279
Email) BGoldentyer@aphis.usda.gov
=====================
Illinois Animal Action
P.O. Box 507
Warrenville, IL 60555
630/393-2935
=====================
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 21:29:08 +0300
From: erez ganor
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Fwd: [PT] animal rights
Message-ID: <33ECB6F4.F59FFF92@netvision.net.il>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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AR-News list,
I am PURPOSELY PUTTING my opinion on h ere in response to the below
item:
How does these opinion pieces, usully if not always, ANTI-animal rights,
make it on this list, when it is supposed to be news only, and no
opinion.
My thought is that WHEN these do get on, no matter what "side" sends
them,
that the other side can respond.
Either that or the offending body (I guess HSUS) should be banned from
the
list for a short period, 30 days or so, and then banned permanently.
Jeez.
cres
At 08:40 AM 8/8/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>X-Primate-Talk-Id: 08/07/97 15:51:16
>
>(from rlrichar@ouray.cudenver.edu [ REBECCA LYNN RICHARDSON ])
>
>Through all of the debate on animal rights I have tried to stay out of
>this but just today I was given a copy of a flyer to announcing a
>"rally"
>to protest the research being done at the facility where I am working.
>The information that is handed out to the public is false. The picture
>shows a rhesus baby named Britches - we do not house rhesus monkeys,
>much
>less have a monkey by that name. The flyer states that we take the
>infants from their mothers and put them in single barren cages for the
>rest of their lives. WRONG!!!!!!!! The animals are in social groups -
>and
>we do whatever we can to provide enrichment for each and every animal.
>Our facility has received awards and high praise from the USDA on the
>enrichment program that we have.
>I understand the need for voices to be heard in protest because
>there is useless research being done. I understand the need for
>regulations and control - I am hoping to eventually work in primate
>conservation. I love primates - they are my world. But presenting
>false
>and accusatory information will not get proper results - it only
>exacerbates the problem. It maintains a terrible cycle of neither the
>public nor the researchers being able to trust one another. The AR
>people
>can't be trusted b/c they twist the truth to incite public attention -
>and
>as a result the researchers will not release information thus causing
>them
>to be untrustworthy at the same time. It's very frustrating to be
>labeled
>by the public and not be able to be open about my job with people for
>fear
>of being verbally assaulted by ignorant strangers. I took this job
>first
>as an enrichment volunteer and have loved being able to provide new and
>interesting ideas to the entertain the animals. Let's face it
>captivity
>is not a choice - but releasing captive animals is not one either.
>
>This will be my only submission - if anyone out there feels like
>attacking me - do so at your own expenditure of energy. There will be
>no
>responses.
>
>
>
>
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 14:42:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: AR-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) One More Oklahoma Anti-PETA Editorial
Message-ID: <970809144221_261569725@emout11.mail.aol.com>
This appeared in today's Oklahoma City news. Note that
this paper will not print any rebuttals to the anti-PETA
diatribes that have appeared in the last few months:
Rights vs. Wrongs
Troubles continue for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
The animals rights group may be "good people", but "in their
zealousness they sometimes forget that (other) people and
institutions have rights too."
So said a federal judge in ruling July 29th that PETA used
fraudulent methods in an undercover investigation of a research
lab. The judge blocked PETA from publicizing any material collected
inside the lab, a/w the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
PETA is increasingly under fire these days for its overzealousness.
The good that the group does is being overshawdowed by evil,
including overt support of terrorism. In the fraud case, US District
Judge Rober G. Doumar rejected PETA's claims that its
investigator Michele Rokke did no wrong by infiltrating Huntingdon
Life Sciences' New Jersey lab last fall.
The Times-Dispatch said the judge also ruled that Huntingdon had
a "great" likelihood of success with a pending lawsuit accusing
PETA of economic espionage. The lawsuit is scheduled for trial next
December in Norfolk, Va., where PETA is located.
Rokke admitted she hid her status as a PETA employee when she
applied for a job cleaning cages at Huntingdon. While there she
secretly photocopied thousands of documents and used concealed
cameras to shoot film and videotape. PETA claims the lab
mistreats animals, an allegation Huntingdon denies.
Incredibly, Rokke testified she did not know she was being secretive
in gathering the information. That, said the judge, strained credulity.
But he also said the investigator was guilty not so much of lying
but of "rationalizing" her deeds out of a zeal to protect animals.
"She has so convinced herself that she had the absolute right
take everything she saw that she believed it," said the judge.
And that has become the PETA pattern: Extremism, even terrorism,
in defense of animal rights is no vice.
Now PETA contributors will see their donations go to defend a
lawsuit and, most likely, pay sizable damages instead of helping
animals. In the past few years PETA donors have helped defend
terrorists, including Rodney Coronado, who was convicted of fire-
bombing a Michigan research facility in 1992.
Yet its apologists continully defend PETA, believing the group's
good deed outweigh any transgressions. That kind of
rationalization is dangerous. Sooner or later, terrorism directed
against an animal lab could claim a human victim.
As we noted in the "Front for Terrorism?" on July 10th, violence
-- whether directed against animal researchers or abortion doctors--
is always the wrong way to redress grievances. The same goes
for fraud and deceit.
For the kind caring people in Okla. who work
without
money and recognization to help the suffering
animals so badly abused in Oklahoma,
Jana, OKC
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 14:43:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debbie Leahy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] Womack Back in Business (revised)
Message-ID: <01IM8MR8KSTU8ZETIK@delphi.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Apologies for the re-post ... there were some formatting problems with the
original message.
WOMACK BACK IN BUSINESS
On July 2, 1997, the USDA issued a press release announcing " WOMACK'S OUT OF
BUSINESS FOR 10 YEARS." The release went on to say Lorin Womack, a licensed
animal exhibitor doing business as Land O'Lorin in Batavia, Illinois had his
license suspended for a decade. Womack is a chronic, serious violator of the
Animal Welfare Act and has caused the suffering and death of many animals.
The USDA press release failed to mention a new license was to be issued to
Womack's zoo under the name of a newly created non-profit organization with a
board of directors consisting of Womack's friends and supporters.
After failing two pre-licensing inspections, Land O'Lorin--now called Deerpath
Animal Haven--was issued a new license on Tuesday, July 29, 1997 after finally
passing the third inspection. Lorin Womack was exhibiting animals (reportedly
a tiger, baby bear, and snake) at a fair in Woodstock, Illinois the following
Sunday, August 3, 1997. He was again exhibiting as "Land O'Lorin."
Please write to the USDA and demand that Womack have no affiliation with
Deerpath Animal Haven, no contact in any way with the animals he has abused
and neglected for so many years, and an immediate investigation into the
illegal "Land O'Lorin" exhibit in Woodstock, Illinois. Contact:
Dr. Elizabeth Goldentyer, Sector Supervisor
USDA-APHIS-AC
2568-A Riva Road, Suite 302
Annapolis, MD 21401
Phone) 410/571-8692
Fax) 410/571-6279
Email) BGoldentyer@aphis.usda.gov
=================
Illinois Animal Action
P.O. Box 507
Warrenville, IL 60555
630/393-2935
=================
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 18:07:35 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Conference @ Cornell, Oct. 24-26, Ithaca, NY
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970809180733.006cadb0@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from private e-mail:
----------------------------------
ANIMAL LIBERATION & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Reconceiving Activism and Alliances
Speakers Include:
Carol Adams
Tom Regan
Karen Davis
Zoe Weil
George Eisman
October 24-26
Cornell University
This conference addresses the ways in which animal liberation intersects
with other liberation and social justice movements and how those
intersections generate diverse, creative forms of activism and alliance
building.
For more information contact: ALSJ c/o Beth Conrey 3D Vista Ln. Ithaca,
NY 14850 (607) 277-8219 ejc6@cornell.edu
sponsored by Cornell SETA, NALITH, and Ithaca area activists
Please cross post to any other relevent lists.
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 20:04:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: DobieBoy2@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Huntingdon:What Congress Should See
Message-ID: <970809200408_1249498657@emout01.mail.aol.com>
Some activists are sending the following article to Congress along with their
requests that their two Senators and one Representative call for hearings in
Congress which will subpoena the video and all written materials relating to
Huntingdon Life Sciences treatment of animals. A relevant question, many
activists note, is "how many other labs have similar problems that USDA is
not uncovering?" Why not download this with your letter?
"Thursday, June 5, 1997
P&G Drops Animal-Test Lab
The Cincinnati Enquirer
PETA Tape spurs firm's suspension
by Jeff Harrington
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Procter & Gamble Co. Wednesday suspended a contract with an East Coast animal
testing laboratory following allegations that monkeys were abused and
unnecessarily killed in a P&G-sponsored study at the site.
The decision came within hours after Procter repesentatives viewed a
videotape-purportedly taken by an undercover animal-rights activist-which
showed monkeys being tossed into cages, verbally abused and dangled in midair
while undergoing tests. The tape, first described in an Enquirer article
Wednesday, also shows a technician apparently conducting a necropsy on a live
monkey.
"We're very concerned about what we saw," P&G spokeswoman Mindy Montgomery
Patton said. "The uncaring and unprofessional attitude of the lab technicians
is not acceptable to us and inconsistent with our principles."
Ms. Pattons said the suspension at Huntingdon Life Sciences in East
Millsone, N.J., will continue until Procter completes an internal probe,
probably within the next two weeks.
Huntingdon released a statement Wednesday evening saying the PETA
allegations were "completely false and serve only to further PETA's
anti-science agenda."
As The Enquirer first reported Wednesday, People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals (PETA) filed a federal complaint alleging that Huntingdon Life
Sciences provided inadequate care of animals and inadequate training to
workers and repeatedly violated the federal Animal Welfare Act.
At the core of the complaint is the nine-minute videotape that PETA said
was secretly recorded during an eight-month undercover investigation-the
first time that the animal rights groups has been undercover in a P&G
contract lab.
The investigator, who would identify herself only as Michelle, described
her experiences in the lab at length in a news conference Wednesday in
Cincinnati.
"What I saw still gives me nightmares," she said. "They treated the
animals like dirt."
She said she saw workers mistreat animals on a daily basis in "some of
the most egregious" animal abuse she has seen in three years as a PETA
investigator.
A copy of PETA's videotape shows technicians dangling monkeys, yelling at
the primates, throwing some of them into cages and threading tubes down their
noses for tests. At one point, a monkey displays some movement and a
quickened heartbeat when a technician starts cutting into the animals chest.
The technician remarks, "This guy could be out a little bit more," as he
contiues to slice through the skin.
According to PETA's complaint, the technician was conducting a necropsy on
a live monkey.
As the tape was aired during the news conference, one TV reporter was
prompted to temporarily walk out during a particularly graphic scene. Two P&G
representatives and a company-hired videographer were among those attending
the conference.
P&G said it used a colony of monkeys at the Huntingdon lab to test a new
class of drugs being developed as a combination migraine/respiratory therapy.
Mary Beth Sweetland, PETA director of research, investigations, and
rescue, welcomed P&G's suspension as "a great first step." Animal-rights
groups want P&G to eliminate all animal testing except when required by the
government. P&G says it has reduced use of animals for non-drug consumer
testing by 90 percent since 1984 but still must rely on some animal tests as
the safest and most accurate measurement.
P&G does not disclose any specifics on its testing program, including the
number and nature of tests conducted by contract labs compared to those
conducted at company-owned operations.
PETA officials repeatedly tried to deflect attention on to P&G and away
from Huntingdon, refusing to discuss other work Huntingdon did for companies
or refer to the lab by name. Ms. Sweetland acknowledged a concern of being
sued since the undercover investigator had not disclosed her connection with
PETA when she was hired last fall.
A jury recently penalized ABC's PrimeTime Live $5.5 million for
hidden-camera tactics used to investigate meat handling at Food Lion stores."
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 1997 21:07:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: DobieBoy2@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Urgent: Free call to save horses
Message-ID: <970809210702_-1707115903@emout20.mail.aol.com>
This weekend is the Omak, Washington "Suicide Race" (self-described by
organizers) in which horses and riders run down a steep embankment into the
river. Numerous horses have died or been killed after sustaining injuries.
The organizers can be reached at 800/933-6625. Horses will run (and fall)
down this hill Saturday (9:30 pm PT is next) and Sunday.
Please call and express your opinion.
dobieboy2
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 20:58:06 -0700
From: farmusa@erols.com
To: Veg-News , AR-News
Subject: World Farm Animals Day
Message-ID: <33ED3C4E.2D65@erols.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
We would like to remind all animal and vegetarian activists that the
15th annual observance of World Farm Animals Day on October 2nd
(Gandhi's birthday) is approaching rapidly. This is the one day a year
when every one of us is conscience-bound to mourn, memorialize,and
publicize the abuse and slaughter of billions of innocent, sentient
animals for food. Thousands of caring folks just like you will be
holding memorial services, vigils, street theater, civil disobedience,
exhibits, and/or information tables at slaughterhouses, stockyards, meat
markets, fast food restaurants, USDA offices, and public parks.
For a free WFAD Action Kit, contact FARM at 1-888-FARM-USA,
farmusa@erols.com, or PO Box 30654, Bethesda, MD 20824.
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 21:27:34 -0700
From: farmusa@erols.com
To: Veg-News , AR-News
Subject: Bill Rosenberg Award
Message-ID: <33ED4336.615E@erols.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
We would like to advise all young animal rights and vegetarian
activists that September 19th is the deadline to apply for the annual
Bill Rosenberg Award. The Award, consisting of a plaque and a $250
savings bond, is presented each year by FARM on World Farm Animals Day
(October 2nd) to an activist who has made an outstanding contribution to
ending farm animal abuse. It memorializes a young FARM activist who died
in 1990.
To apply, send a letter (1-2 pages) listing your applicable
accomplishments to Bill Rosenberg Award, PO Box 22213, Alexandria, VA
22304. For additional information, call Riki at 703-823-8951.
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 09:47:55 +0800
From: bunny
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Campaign against virus continues [Australia]
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970810094048.2c8ff01e@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Campaign against virus continues
*********************************
[Canning Community Newspaper, Western Australia, 5th August 1997]
Also has large picture with caption "Marguerite Wegner, pictured with her
pet rabbit Tammy, is fighting to end the use of rabbit calicivirus as a
form of biological control."
A windcheater bearing a picture of a dying rabbit is not pleasant,
but it is certainly confronting.
And that's what Marguerite Wegner has set out to do - confront people.
Ms Wegner of Riverton, unsuccessfully fought to stop the release of
the rabbit calicivirus disease (RCD) in Australia. She is now lobbying to
end its use.
Ms Wegner regularly corresponds with international scientists and says many
claimed Australian authorities were wrong to release RCD.
The scientists believed testing of the virus was inadequate and were
concerned it could spread to other animals and humans.
Ms Wegner said she circulated a pamphlet about RCD to local politicians.
She also has prepared a letter addressed to primary industries minister John
Anderson which calls for RCD to be deregistered as a veterinary product.
"I am doing this because I think there is a real need for public awareness about
rabbit haemorrhagic disease," Ms Wegner said.
"I also want people to know that New Zealand authorities recently decided
not to adopt RCD as a form of biological control because of risks to human
health."
People interested in the RCD issue can contact Ms Wegner on 015 447 023.
===========================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148
Email> rabbit@wantree.com.au
http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)
/`\ /`\
(/\ \-/ /\)
)6 6(
>{= Y =}<
/'-^-'\
(_) (_)
| . |
| |}
jgs \_/^\_/
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 10:22:05 +0800
From: bunny
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Judge rejects group's calicivirus challenge[Aust]
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970810101456.2c8fc76e@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Judge rejects group's calicivirus challenge
*******************************************
By Carmello Amalfi [West Australian Newspaper 8th August 1997 ]
A WA [West Australian] group opposed to the release of the rabbit
calicivirus has failed to get a Federal Court injunction to stop the
deliberate spread of the disease.
Justice Robert French dismissed an action yesterday by Don Fuller, director
of the Defence Coalition Against RCD (rabbit calicivirus disease).
The group had been fighting the national release of the deadly calicivirus
since it escaped in 1995 from an island test site off the South Australian
coast, two years ahead of its scheduled release.
Justice French said the group failed to set out the grounds on which it
wanted a review into Primary Industries Minister John Anderson's September 1996
declaration of the imported virus as a biological agent.
It also had not showed why there should be a review into the virus'
registration as a chemical product by the National Registration Authority.
Justice French said it was beyond the court to consider merits of the
authority's investigation into RCD's effect on people or the environment.
Outside the court, Mr Fuller said the decision far from ended action against
what he described as monumental foolishness on the part of authorities.
In February, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal granted standing to the group
to apply for a review of the NRA's decision to release the virus.
Agriculture WA released RCD on October 18, 1996, a week after Australia's
first official release of diseased rabbits in New South Wales.
Peter Thompson, Agriculture WA manager in charge of the release program,
said the virus had been quiet in summer.
===========================================
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148
Email> rabbit@wantree.com.au
http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)
/`\ /`\
(/\ \-/ /\)
)6 6(
>{= Y =}<
/'-^-'\
(_) (_)
| . |
| |}
jgs \_/^\_/
Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 12:37:17 +1000
From: Lynette Shanley
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: pet monkeys in Australia
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19970810123717.006be640@lisp.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The New South Wales (NSW) government has declared another amnesty for
people holding primates as pets. It was illegal to keep monkeys as pets in
all states except NSW and Victoria (Vic). We have fought a long battle but
it is finally illegal to keep primates as pets in all states except NSW and
Vic where people who had them as pets when the legislation was changed can
keep them. However they cannot sell them, give them away etc. In March 96
the NSW declared an amnesty lasting to Sept 96. However very few people
have come forward. In an attempt to get them to come forward without
penalty they have declared another amnesty lasting to 2.12.97. As it stands
at the moment anyone who has not declared ownership of pet primates should
be fined and have the animals taken from them. However, if the primates are
to be taken from them there is nowhere for them to go. The RSPCA is not
equipped to handle primates and there is no primate sanctuary here in
Australia even though we have been working on this. Once the people come
forward they will be paid a visit by the Dept of Agriculture staff and will
be advised that there are now strict new laws regarding the keeping of
primates as pets. It also gives the Dept of Ag a chance to improve the
living conditions of these animals as there are now strict new housing and
environmental enrichment guidelines for keeping these animals as pets. IPPL
would love to hear from anyone who has pet primates or anyone who knows of
anyone with pet primates. Pet primates are a problem here in Australia (NSW
and Vic) even though it has been kepts under wraps. IPPL is liaising with
authorities in Vic as there is no doubt they will have the same problems.
IPPL knows of people with more than 20 pet primates.
Thanks to anyone who can help.
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 23:40:23 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Greenpeace Plans Budget Cuts
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970809234020.0069d9ec@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
(just a heads up to everyone)
from AP Wire page:
------------------------------------
08/09/1997 17:52 EST
Greenpeace Plans Budget Cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Greenpeace plans to cut its U.S. budget by nearly a
third and close its 10 regional offices outside Washington next year.
The 25-year-old environmental protest group will reduce its U.S. staff
from 400 to 65 employees, cut its $29 million budget to $21 million, and
focus on only a few issues in this country -- primarily global climate
change and logging.
Founded in 1971 in Vancouver, British Columbia, when Canadian activists
took to the seas to protest nuclear-weapons testing in the Aleutian
Islands, Greenpeace has built its reputation on splashy protests in the
woods and on the water against whaling, nuclear-weapons testing, nuclear
power, the international hazardous-waste trade, logging and drift-net
fishing.
The organization disclosed intentions to make cuts in a little-noticed
statement issued several days ago. Details were first reported in
Saturday editions of The Seattle Times.
Now headquartered in the Netherlands, Greenpeace claims a worldwide
membership of 2.9 million.
U.S. membership and fund raising grew when Republican Presidents Ronald
Reagan and George Bush favored what environmentalists considered an
anti-green agenda, then slipped with the election of Democrat Bill
Clinton.
Greenpeace also lost thousands of members when it strongly opposed U.S.
involvement in the Persian Gulf War of 1991.
U.S. membership has tumbled from a high of nearly 1.2 million in 1991 to
about 400,000 today and the organization plans to end door-to-door
canvassing to raise money and support, Greenpeace officials told the
Seattle paper.
Current Greenpeace USA projects include deployment of the vessel ``Arctic
Sunrise'' off the north coast of Alaska to document visible effects of
climate change and protest new oil exploration.
Greenpeace is also urging American consumers to boycott products made
from old-growth timber to prevent further logging destruction.
The cutbacks will not directly affect Greenpeace International, which has
affiliates in 32 countries and a budget this year of $145 million.
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