AR-NEWS Digest 409

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Fwd: 142 Whalers Rescued From Ice Floe
     by LMANHEIM@aol.com
  2) Fwd: Yugoslav Leader's Elephants on Sale
     by LMANHEIM@aol.com
  3) [US] Minneapolis activists released from jail
     by David Rolsky 
  4) (KH) Bear parts trade
     by Vadivu Govind 
  5) Hog epidemic raises questions
     by Vadivu Govind 
  6) (HK) Shark emergency taskforce set up
     by Vadivu Govind 
  7) (HK) Fish farms threaten water
     by Vadivu Govind 
  8) (HK) New cholera victim found
     by Vadivu Govind 
  9) (TH) Shrimp tariff fight intensifies
     by Vadivu Govind 
 10) San Francisco's campaign against fresh kill
     by Vadivu Govind 
 11) [CA] Another rodeo protest
     by David J Knowles 
 12) [CA] More abuse at the rodeo
     by David J Knowles 
 13) [CA] 7 Arrested in Cloverdale Rodeo action.
     by David J Knowles 
 14) [UK] Honey not safe for babies, parents told
     by David J Knowles 
 15) [UK] Honey not safe for babies, parents told
     by David J Knowles 
 16) [UK] Teflon fumes blamed for pet bird deaths
     by David J Knowles 
 17) [UK] Nuclear plant seal is rescued
     by David J Knowles 
 18) [UK] Farms 'must go green to win subsidy
     by David J Knowles 
 19) Eating live monkey brains
     by Inge Skog 
 20) Mink Farmers Lie to Discredit the ALF
     by MINKLIB@aol.com
 21) Re: [US] 2 arrested in Minneapolis
     by Mike Markarian 
 22) ALF Joins Miller's Protest Weekend
     by Franklin Wade 
 23) a Report of the McCartney Interview
     by Liz 
 24) Honk if you think plan to kill Canada geese is all wet
     by BKMACKAY@aol.com
 25) I need you !
     by gveillet@alpes-net.fr (Veillet Guillaume)
 26) Seattle Fur Xchange protest
     by trap@wport.com
 27) Reminder: NYC Spay/Neuter Conference (US)
     by Marisul@aol.com
 28) (US)
     by allen schubert 
 29) (VE) Venezuela May Hunt Jaguars 
     by allen schubert 
 30) (NZ) New Zealand Rounds Up Wild Horses 
     by allen schubert 
 31) [UK] Government will fully support ban on fox-hunting
     by David J Knowles 
 32) (US) Beer company sponsors prize-winning frog
     by allen schubert 
 33) (US)  Study: Browned meat don't ensure safety from E.
     by allen schubert 
 34) Blind dolphin threatened wirh extinction
     by Andrew Gach 
Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:30:44 -0400 (EDT)
>From: LMANHEIM@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: 142 Whalers Rescued From Ice Floe
Message-ID: <970519003043_-1097079623@emout14.mail.aol.com>

Well, at least they didn't get to kill any whales (I imagine)!

In a message dated 97-05-18 22:49:07 EDT, AOL News writes:

 << Subj:142 Whalers Rescued From Ice Floe
  Date:97-05-18 22:49:07 EDT
  From:AOL News
 BCC:LMANHEIM
 
 .c The Associated Press
 
       By MAUREEN CLARK
       ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Rescue crews plucked 142 whale hunters
 from the Arctic Sea ice off northern Alaska early Sunday after the
 ice cracked and sent them drifting out to sea.
       The whalers used marine radios to notify search and rescue
 teams, which launched two helicopters to ferry the group back to
 town. The rescue took more than seven hours and was complicated by
 fog.
       The whalers used hand-held global positioning systems to guide
 the rescuers to them.
       ``Once the ice breaks you're moving,'' said David Knowles, a
 rescue team member who was on the ice when it broke. ``We kept
 punching in new coordinates on the GPS. Every time they took a load
 of people, we were in a different place by the time they got
 back.''
       The 20-mile-long break off Barrow, the state's most northern
 point, occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday. By 5:30 a.m.
 Sunday, all of the whalers had been rescued. Some of them had
 drifted seven miles from shore.
       ``They were pretty calm,'' said Randy Crosby, deputy director of
 the North Slope borough Search and Rescue department. ``Some of the
 folks wanted to stay out there with their equipment until it was
 recovered. We thought it would be prudent if they came in.''
       Search crews were trying to determine if equipment left on the
 ice could be retrieved. Crosby estimated that about two dozen
 boats, up to 80 snowmobiles and ``lots of sleds and tents and
 camping equipment'' remained on the ice.
       ``That's everyone's livelihood out there - their boats, their
 motors, their outdoor equipment,'' Knowles said.
       North Slope Borough Mayor Benjamin said his crew managed to save
 the traditional native darting guns used to strike the whales.
 ``Some have been handed down for generations. Mine was my
 grandfather's,'' he said.
       Natives on Alaska's North Slope hunt for whales every spring,
 during the bowhead's migration from the Bering Sea to the Beaufort
 Sea.
       ``Whaling is inherently dangerous because of the conditions.
 Everything changes at any given moment and we were reminded of that
 last night,'' Nageak said. >>


---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj:    142 Whalers Rescued From Ice Floe
Date:    97-05-18 22:49:07 EDT
>From:    AOL News

.c The Associated Press
By MAUREEN CLARK ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Rescue crews plucked 142 whale hunters from the Arctic Sea ice off northern Alaska early Sunday after the ice cracked and sent them drifting out to sea. The whalers used marine radios to notify search and rescue teams, which launched two helicopters to ferry the group back to town. The rescue took more than seven hours and was complicated by fog. The whalers used hand-held global positioning systems to guide the rescuers to them. ``Once the ice breaks you're moving,'' said David Knowles, a rescue team member who was on the ice when it broke. ``We kept punching in new coordinates on the GPS. Every time they took a load of people, we were in a different place by the time they got back.'' The 20-mile-long break off Barrow, the state's most northern point, occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday. By 5:30 a.m. Sunday, all of the whalers had been rescued. Some of them had drifted seven miles from shore. ``They were pretty calm,'' said Randy Crosby, deputy director of the North Slope borough Search and Rescue department. ``Some of the folks wanted to stay out there with their equipment until it was recovered. We thought it would be prudent if they came in.'' Search crews were trying to determine if equipment left on the ice could be retrieved. Crosby estimated that about two dozen boats, up to 80 snowmobiles and ``lots of sleds and tents and camping equipment'' remained on the ice. ``That's everyone's livelihood out there - their boats, their motors, their outdoor equipment,'' Knowles said. North Slope Borough Mayor Benjamin said his crew managed to save the traditional native darting guns used to strike the whales. ``Some have been handed down for generations. Mine was my grandfather's,'' he said. Natives on Alaska's North Slope hunt for whales every spring, during the bowhead's migration from the Bering Sea to the Beaufort Sea. ``Whaling is inherently dangerous because of the conditions. Everything changes at any given moment and we were reminded of that last night,'' Nageak said. AP-NY-05-18-97 2243EDT
 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: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:31:59 -0400 (EDT) >From: LMANHEIM@aol.com To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Fwd: Yugoslav Leader's Elephants on Sale Message-ID: <970519003158_-2068284899@emout16.mail.aol.com> In a message dated 97-05-18 23:19:35 EDT, AOL News writes: << Subj:Yugoslav Leader's Elephants on Sale Date:97-05-18 23:19:35 EDT From:AOL News BCC:LMANHEIM .c The Associated Press By SNJEZANA VUKIC ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - Wanted: a good home with an enormous yard, fresh air and no small animals underfoot - for two elephants bequeathed to Croatia by the late Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. The Indian elephants, one of them a gift to Tito from late Indian Premier Indira Gandhi, have since Tito's death lived in a park on the Adriatic island of Brioni. But 27-year-old Soni and his companion, 25-year-old Lenka, show increasing signs they are cramped in their 770-square-yard pen. Lenka has been infertile, and Soni knocked out a visiting veterinarian with his trunk and stepped on an antelope who was grazing too close. ``We are looking for a purchaser who could provide them with a normal elephant's life, to do them good,'' zoo official Anton Vitasovic told the HINA state news agency. ``They need much more space.'' The asking price is $24,000, but Vitasovic said, ``We may also just give them to whomever can take care of them.'' Tito also collected other exotic animals, including leopards, tigers, bears and birds. After he died in 1980, most of the animals were divvied up among the republics of then-Yugoslavia. The authoritarian ruler, who reigned for 35 years, was known for his love of luxury: Among his possessions was a 300-bed yacht. >> --------------------- Forwarded message: Subj: Yugoslav Leader's Elephants on Sale Date: 97-05-18 23:19:35 EDT >From: AOL News
.c The Associated Press
By SNJEZANA VUKIC ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - Wanted: a good home with an enormous yard, fresh air and no small animals underfoot - for two elephants bequeathed to Croatia by the late Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. The Indian elephants, one of them a gift to Tito from late Indian Premier Indira Gandhi, have since Tito's death lived in a park on the Adriatic island of Brioni. But 27-year-old Soni and his companion, 25-year-old Lenka, show increasing signs they are cramped in their 770-square-yard pen. Lenka has been infertile, and Soni knocked out a visiting veterinarian with his trunk and stepped on an antelope who was grazing too close. ``We are looking for a purchaser who could provide them with a normal elephant's life, to do them good,'' zoo official Anton Vitasovic told the HINA state news agency. ``They need much more space.'' The asking price is $24,000, but Vitasovic said, ``We may also just give them to whomever can take care of them.'' Tito also collected other exotic animals, including leopards, tigers, bears and birds. After he died in 1980, most of the animals were divvied up among the republics of then-Yugoslavia. The authoritarian ruler, who reigned for 35 years, was known for his love of luxury: Among his possessions was a 300-bed yacht. AP-NY-05-18-97 2312EDT
 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, 18 May 1997 23:51:45 -0400 >From: David Rolsky To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [US] Minneapolis activists released from jail Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970518235143.006ac988@gold.tc.umn.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" May 18, 1997 MINNEAPOLIS - Both of the activists arrested today at Dayton's, a department store that sells fur, have been released OR. Frank Winbigler was released at approximately 7:00 PM and Matthew Mullard at 10:00. Bullard's nose was still bloody from when the arrested officer lifted him up from the ground by his nose with a finger in each nostril. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 13:11:07 +0800 (SST) >From: Vadivu Govind To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: (KH) Bear parts trade Message-ID: <199705190511.NAA02620@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >South China Morning Post Internet Edition 19 May 97 Drive to wipe out trade in sun bears TRICIA FITZGERALD in Phnom Penh Wildlife protection officials, backed by international environmentalists, are cracking down on illegal hunters trading protected Malaysian sun bears from Cambodia's forests. Trade in the body parts, skin and bones of the bears was flourishing, officials said, with foreigners, especially from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, boosting demand. "The bear flesh is used for food and the skin, gall bladder and bone are sold and exported abroad for use in traditional Chinese medicine," said Thong Bun Than, chief of the Forestry Department's Wildlife Protection Unit. He said many Cambodians wanted to halt the trade in which bear paw soup was sold for up to US$400 (HK$3,095) a bowl to wealthy tourists and foreign businessmen. "In Cambodia there is a lot of wild life flesh sold at local markets, but now that we have the laws in place we intend to start clamping down, arresting and penalising the traders and confiscating their catches," Mr Bun Than said. He said his department wanted to set up reserves to protect Cambodia's wildlife. Backing the Government in protecting the bears are a growing number of animal rights groups who say the nation's bears are one of the most endangered in the region. Cambodia's representative in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, David Ashfield, said the country would soon become a signatory to the worldwide Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna. "This will impose a ban on the international trade which will operate alongside the bears already protected status inside Cambodia," Mr Ashfield said. Activists, based in Phnom Penh, have set up a bear sanctuary north of the capital. Wildlife protection officers said bears' paws were usually hacked off for cooking while the bear was still alive. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 13:11:14 +0800 (SST) >From: Vadivu Govind To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org Subject: Hog epidemic raises questions Message-ID: <199705190511.NAA12429@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >The Straits Times MAY 19 1997 Hog epidemic raises questions By Kao Chen THE disastrous foot-and-mouth disease, while being partially contained now, has already eaten into Taiwan's multi-billion dollar hog industry and shaved about one percentage point off its projected economic growth rate for this year. The disease, first eradicated from the island 80 years ago, had swept Taiwan like wild fire since late March, spreading quickly by mid-April and infecting a third of the island's 14 million hogs by the end of the month. But in the eyes of the island's environmentalists, at least, the dark cloud is not without its silver lining. They hope the crisis, which had led several countries to ban Taiwanese pork imports and sent pork prices plummeting, will check the irrational expansion of the island's hog industry -- one of its worst polluters. They are also hoping that political soul-searching would finally turn the tide in favour of the island's long-abused environment, as Taiwanese ponder the root causes of a recent spate of problems -- from a string of particularly savage murders to the foot-and-mouth epidemic. One immediate conclusion is that Taiwan has paid a heavy price for modernisation and prosperity. The related problems associated with its sorry state today are no different from the other tales of greed and bureaucratic paralysis that seem to plague the island: businessmen cutting corners for quick profit; politicians turning a blind eye on transgressions to protect patrons and supporters; and a government in paralysis, caught between bickering interest groups. Environment experts have long considered Taiwan ill-suited for the hog-rearing industry. According to agricultural economist Chen Ming-cheng, Taiwan could at most support a hog population of about 10 million a year without seriously straining the environment. Taiwan's CommonWealth magazine, a widely-read monthly on business and social trends, reported last year that 23 per cent of the island's potable water sampled had failed to meet safety specifications. It has a long record of pushing economic growth at the expense of environmental conservation, prompting environmental engineering professor Wen Ching-kwang to moan that the island's wealth was built on the sacrificial pile of its environment. Its rivers and streams are seriously contaminated by industrial and organic wastes. Taiwan's underground sewage system still only services 7 per cent of its population, leading to serious contamination of ground water, which is so over pumped that 10 per cent of the island has reported varying degrees of sinking, some by as much as three metres. On the bright side, industrial pollution is now showing signs of abatement, partly as a result of pressure from local environmental groups and partly due to international market forces. The island's export-oriented industries could lose as much as half of their sales if they do not meet the ISO14000 specification, which is an international environment management standard that many developed countries are beginning to require on imported goods. In its special environmental issue last year, CommonWealth described "grand canyons" made up of mountains of illegally dumped garbage on deserted river beds that are 15 storeys in height. All are eye-sores infected by rats and other pests, poisonous pollutants leaching into the ground and creeping over the rice paddies and vegetable plots nearby. Still, it took the footand-mouth epidemic to prompt questions, finally, about whether Taiwan should continue to serve happily as Japan's off-shore pig farm. For an island touted for its high per capita income (about S$17,000), is it not a bit ironic that it has to resort to making money at the expense of its environment, pundits ask? Sociologist Wu Nai-de from Taiwan's Academia Sinica told The Straits Times that the top issue on most islanders' minds now was the deteriorating quality of their life. And he predicted this would characterise and define the coming decade much as ethnic and national identity issues and the political movement did the previous one. There are no easy answers or fast solutions. As The CommonWealth publisher Diane Yin wrote: "The only hope is in raising people's awareness, so they make the politicians take responsibility and action." The Portuguese, who called Taiwan Ilha Formosa, or Island Beautiful, when they first saw its lush green hills and sparkling coastline in the 16th century, would not be able to recognise it today. Analysts are hoping that, one day, the Island of Greed, as Taiwan is now often called, would again be worthy of its old name Ilha Formosa. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 13:11:25 +0800 (SST) >From: Vadivu Govind To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: (HK) Shark emergency taskforce set up Message-ID: <199705190511.NAA09931@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >South China Morning Post Internet Edition 19 May 97 Shark emergency taskforce set up FIONA HOLLAND A taskforce to tackle sharks will be on standby this summer ready to implement emergency measures. Closing beaches, doubling up shark nets, installing repellent devices and even hunting sharks would be considered in the event of an "outrageous and unprecedented danger posed to the public". Principal assistant secretary of Broadcasting, Culture and Sport Jonathan McKinley said the team would draw on experts from outside the Government. Branch officials, fisheries officers, police and academics would be convened if a school of large sharks was confirmed. "If we had the unprecedented situation of five great white sharks hunting in a pack off the Clear Water Bay coast . . . we want to consider everything," Mr McKinley said. But experts said deploying a team once sharks were spotted was no substitute for a study of why sharks ventured into Hong Kong waters and fed on humans. The first scare of the year occurred with a suspected sighting off Silverstrand beach this month. Since 1991, there have been seven confirmed deaths by shark attack. Two years ago experts, including the director of the International Shark Attack File, Dr George Burgess, recommended an 18-month study which would track sharks using sonar. Bureaucratic wrangling and entrepreneur Harald Kvam's initiation of his own $10 million shark project have led to a delay in the government study. Mr McKinley said the Government was considering asking overseas experts to see whether they could build on the smaller studies done over the past two years. If so, the Government would combine Mr Kvam's findings with a government-funded fish study and research into oceanic currents and weather patterns. But associate professor at Hong Kong University's Department of Ecology and Biodiversity, Dr Yvonne Sadovy resigned from the shark working group in protest at the lack of progress. "It has never been clear why they could not do the proposal that we recommended in the first place." Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 13:11:32 +0800 (SST) >From: Vadivu Govind To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org Subject: (HK) Fish farms threaten water Message-ID: <199705190511.NAA15652@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >South China Morning Post Internet Edition 19 May 97 Fish farms threaten water MAY SIN-MI HON Water quality near a marine park is under threat from illegal fish farms nearby. Two illegal sets of rafts were set up on the southeast side of Crooked Island, near the Yan Chau Tong Marine Park in Mirs Bay two months ago. According to Patsy P. S. Wong, senior aquaculture fishery officer in the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, "the operators of the illegal fish rafts practising outside the designated zone have moved away after receiving a summons from the department". However, the South China Morning Post found that two illegal fish rafts had been set up at nearby Crescent Island. The Planning, Environment and Lands Department said there had been no deterioration in water quality in the park. But Dr Wong Yuk-shan, associate director at the Research Centre, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said illegal fish culture polluted nearby waters. "Fish culture uses a lot of, usually overdosed, nutrients for feeding. The nutrients dissolve and give rise to eutrophication. That allows a large amount of algal growth and hence gives rise to red tide." Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 13:11:41 +0800 (SST) >From: Vadivu Govind To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org Subject: (HK) New cholera victim found Message-ID: <199705190511.NAA04414@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Hong Kong Standard 19 May 97 New cholera victim found By Yau Wai-ping ANOTHER man has been admitted to hospital with suspected cholera, fuelling further fears of an epidemic in the territory. Separately, health officials examined staff of a Tuen Mun seafood restaurant with a poor hygiene record in a stepped-up government campaign to contain the spread of the highly infectious disease. A government spokesman said an 86-year-old man surnamed Wong was admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital as a suspected cholera case on Sunday morning. Mr Wong, a Sha Tin resident, had sought treatment at the Prince of Wales Hospital but was transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital. He was listed in stable condition. The new case broke just a day after four people were also admitted to hospital as suspected cholera victims. The territory now has 11 confirmed cases of cholera. Meanwhile, Department of Health officials examined the staff of the New Guangdong Restaurant in Tuen Mun, which was inspected by Urban Services Department officials for the second day in a row. The seafood eatery had shut down on Saturday after a surprise visit by health and department inspectors. The restaurant was ordered to close and improve its hygiene in three days. Workers were on Sunday seen cleaning and disinfecting the restaurant while a notice erected outside said decoration work was going on. The restaurant was one of the food premises patronised by cholera victims. Health officials will inspect the restaurant on Tuesday to decide whether it is fit to open again. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 13:11:46 +0800 (SST) >From: Vadivu Govind To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org Subject: (TH) Shrimp tariff fight intensifies Message-ID: <199705190511.NAA17032@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >Bangkok Post 19 May 97 Shrimp tariff fight intensifies Raisers expected to ask feed producers to boycott EU goods Woranuj Maneerungsee Shrimp raisers are seeking cooperation from animal feed producers to prevent the European Union from further cutting tariff privileges for shrimp imports from Thailand under its Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). The Shrimp Raisers Club may ask members of the Thai Animal Feed Association to stop importing ingredients from EU countries for animal feed for the local aquaculture industry, an officer of the association said. The two groups will meet today with the Thai Frozen Food Association to discuss the issue. Thai shrimp exports are set to lose more of their previous benefits under the EU's GSP programme. The EU imposed a 50% cut in the preferential tariff benefits for shrimp imported from Thailand on January 1. Tariffs are now between 8.1% and 9.7%, compared with 4% to 4.5% last year. Thailand will be removed from the programme entirely in January 1999, and tariffs will range from 12% to 14.4%. The EU claims that Thailand's economy has reached a level where it no longer needs full assistance granted to poorer nations. Other fisheries, fruit and fresh vegetable and processed food industries have also lost some of their tariff privileges. Sithichai Kraisithisirin, president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association, said that animal feed producers might be urged to stop imports of additives from EU countries. Thailand's largest conglomerate, the CP Group, is leading the boycott. It has already stopped importing additives for aquaculture feed, said to be worth more than one billion baht per year. Mr Sithichai said local industries must start preparing now to start negotiating with the European Commission, since the complete withdrawal of privileges is less than two years away. His association is taking a diplomatic approach, cooperating with the Foreign Ministry to map out a plan of assistance in terms of technology, production and promotion from EU counterparts. Mr Sithichai said the Commerce Ministry had taken the appropriate measures in its negotiations with the Commission to date. Although the ministry could not persuade the EU to restore the preferential tariffs to their original levels, exporters believe Commerce Minister Narongchai Akrasanee will make a good case when he heads a delegation meeting with the European Commission. Thai shrimp exports have been hit hard by the cuts in GSP privileges and the fall of EU currencies against the US dollar, Mr Sithichai said. The European Union is Thailand's third-biggest market for shrimp, after the United States and Japan. Thai prices are already higher than those of competitors such as India and Indonesia because the country lacks adequate raw materials to produce processed shrimp for export. As well, most Thai shrimp are farmed but diseases have taken a heavy toll on some operations in the past year. As a result, Mr Sithichai said, exports of Thai frozen shrimp to the EU fell by 10% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. But sales of value-added products could maintain growth at the same level as last year, he added. He expressed the view that problems due to the lack of raw materials would be minimised when farmers harvest the next crop in June. But the weakness in EU currencies could remain a concern. Article copyright Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd 1997 Reprinted for non-commercial use only. Website: http://www.bangkokpost.net Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 13:32:21 +0800 (SST) >From: Vadivu Govind To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org Subject: San Francisco's campaign against fresh kill Message-ID: <199705190532.NAA17691@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Those who want to write letters can write to < editor@hkstandard.com >. Note that Terry Sellards is a consultant to the Hong Kong Standard. Thanks. Vadivu _____________________________________________________________ >Hong Kong Standard 19 May 97 Fowl lawsuit about money, not race By Terry Sellards SAN FRANCISCO seems to have outdone itself recently on the Looney Tunes front. I refer to the lawsuit, racial mud-slinging and embarrassingly bizarre controversy about the cruelty of killing chickens before you cook and eat them. Sound nuts? It is. But the fact remains that 10 animal rights organisations and 75 individuals have filed a lawsuit against 12 Chinatown merchants to stop them from selling live animals _ mostly chickens _ for culinary purposes. Currently, customers have the choice of having a store employee kill the chicken on the spot or taking the ill-fated bird home alive to commit the dastardly deed in the privacy of their own kitchens. The Chicken Brigade wants this inhumane practice stopped. The animal rights activists call the Chinatown method a ``fresh kill''. Animal rightists hold that this ``fresh kill'' is particularly cruel, when compared with the supermarket way of selling a dead chicken which has been slaughtered far away from the public eye. Linguistically speaking ``fresh kill'' is a hunting term meaning a fowl or animal that has been killed quite recently and is therefore particularly suited for cooking up an especially tasty dish. The same logic applies to fresh fish. However, in their monumental arrogance (and ignorance) the animal rights activists have used the term ``fresh kill'' to prove God knows what. Linguistic logic would lead us to believe that what the activists want is meat that has been lying around dead for a long time. Talk about a raunchy testing dish. So, is cruelty to animals the issue here? I don't think so. For me, it's denial of reality, primarily the fact that most human beings are meat eaters and have always killed other animals and eaten them. Our Stone Age ancestors had some really juicy ways of achieving this. I don't have to go any further back than my childhood to remember the bloody Saturday afternoon ritual of selecting our Sunday chicken and watching the friendly, but always odiferous butcher wring the bird's neck and pluck its feathers with hot water and a crude device made from strips of rubber tires. He then wrapped the murdered bird and handed it to my father with a cheery. ``Enjoy it. There is nothing quite as good as fresh fried chicken.'' You see my dad and I always attended the ritual, as it was considered a bit too gruesome for mum and my little sister. But, I made sure they knew every gory little detail in the hope of curbing their appetites. It didn't. If the San Francisco champions of animals really cared about all this, they would pick a really big target, like say Colinga, California. Colinga is about 300 kilometres south of San Francisco in the dry, dusty, beastly hot San Joaquin Valley. The industry in Colinga is a giant feed lot where tens of thousands of cattle are kept in tight quarters so they won't lose any weight moving around, and then force fed to get them as big and fat as soon as possible, so they can be slaughtered as soon as possible, so the owners can make the most money possible. Some Chinese American politicians in San Francisco have been shouting ``racism'' from the rooftops over the fact that it was only 12 Chinese merchants who have been hit with the lawsuit. This may get them a few votes, but it misses the mark and contributes nothing to the solution. These 12 Chinese merchants were selected for court action because they are an easy target, not because they are Chinese. To attack the Colinga beef kings would be to attack the California agricultural industry. Similarly, the purveyors of live shrimp, crab, and lobster at San Francisco's famous Fisherman's Wharf brings in hundreds of thousands of tourists annually. These mostly Portuguese and Italian ``murders'' of crustaceans were not targeted by the animalists because Fisherman's Wharf represents big bucks to San Francisco. They were not passed over because of their race. It's not about race. It's about money and power. In essence, this Chinatown comic opera is about the ego-tripping of some self-righteous pretenders to animal rights concern. Many of the board members of the animal rights organisations, by the way, are vegetarians. They need to be stopped in their efforts against the 12 merchants for two reasons. First, the merchants don't deserve it. And second, if they animalists prevail, then there will be yet another story making the rounds of the world's press that San Francisco is a nutty place. We get enough of that already. * Terry Sellards is a consultant to the Hong Kong Standard and Sing Tao Group. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:13:36 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [CA] Another rodeo protest Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519001419.123752ce@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" VANCOUVER, B.C. - Today (Sunday) saw another protest against the Cloverdale Rodeo. Around 20 protestors participated in a peaceful demonstration outside the fairground, carrying picket signs and handing out leaflets about the cruelty. There were several incidences of abuse from passers-by, but some comments were more supportive and a few even offered congratulations to the protestors for doing something. Deborah Probert, of the Vancouver Humane Society, who was took part in the demo, said VHS had run a series of ads on a local radio station (CKNW), and that after each airing they had received several abusive and threatening calls to their answering machine. "We also received a lot of calls that were supportive of what we were doing. Most of the calls were supportive," Probert said. The action was organised by Voices For The Animals and Animal Allies, with the help and support of the Vancouver Humane Society and For The Love of Animals. There were no arrests and not even any police or security personal presence at the site of the demo. David J Knowles Animal Voices News Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:13:39 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [CA] More abuse at the rodeo Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519001421.12377ae6@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" VANCOUVER, B.C. - After demonstrating against the cruelty of the rodeo itself, four of us went into the fairgrounds to check out the animals in the petting zoo and the pony ride. At the petting zoo, several animals diplayed signs of overheating, and despite the area having a sign indicating that it was an "Animal Rest Period", no attempt was made to stop children continuing to pet the animals - sometines quite aggressively. The pony ride concession had been checked out the day before by someone from the Vancouver Humane Society, and several concerns were pointed out to the midway manager. Today, the same problems were still apparent: the staff contradicted each other when asked how often the ponies received rest breaks, water and food; none knew how long it had been since the last break the ponies had; and none were sure how often the ponies were replaced. During the time we were there, at least two of the ponies were staggering on their back legs; they were not rested - the children were mounted/dismounted while the ponies carried on moving around. (The ride consisted of several ponies tethered to metal poles with short chains, which in turn were attached to their bridles.) Some of the ponies were being literally dragged around the ring by their noses. Going in pairs we, together with our VHS contact and a local animal-issues columnist, went to complain about the abuse and complete lack of concern shown towards the animals. We were informed that the midway manager was busy, and couldn't talk to us (although he had talked to the first two). We were also informed that the ponies were "well -looked after," were "treated better than most children," and that the owner was regualarly inspected by the local SPCA and that they (the SPCA) were satisified with the way the ponies were treated. The adminsistrative staff that we dealt with stonewalled us when we asked for the name and address of the person responsible for the ponies and finally informed us that he could be contacted through them. (The midway operators are a firm called West Coast Amusements, but they say the pony ride is opertated by a sub-contractor). One of the staff we spoke with did admit that she had received "several complaints" about the ride, and stated that she would go check it out herself on her break. [I'll try to follow this up tomorrow morning with both the SPCA and the midway manager, and will attempt to get an "on-the-record" response from both. I also took some photographs of the above, and will be having these developed tomorrow as well] David J Knowles Animal Voices News Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:13:34 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [CA] 7 Arrested in Cloverdale Rodeo action. Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519001417.12373866@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" VANCOUVER, B.C. - 7 people were arrested on Friday evening following an attempted civil disobedience action at the Cloverdale Rodeo, in Surrey, in the Lower Mainland of B.C. The 7 arrested - 3 youths & 4 adults , according to a report in Today's Province newspaper, were released on condition they did not appear at the Cloverdale fairgrounds (site of the rodeo) again. Two of the protestors ran onto the field and tried to chain themselves to the chutes. Charges are said to be pending. [No more information is known at this time, but as soon as I find out more, I'll post something further. Sorry about the delay in posting this, but I'm having some intermittent trouble getting on-line as my ISP is upgrading.] David J Knowles Animal Voices News Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:47:55 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [UK] Honey not safe for babies, parents told Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519004837.0c57b02e@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, May 18th, 1997 Honey not safe for babies, parents told By James Hardy THE Government is to risk a political row by throwing its weight behind moves to outlaw fox hunting. Home Office officials have begun preparations to introduce a Government Bill, possibly before the end of the new session of parliament. Labour peers and backbench MPs are understood to have been pressing ministers to take the lead and improve the chances of the measure becoming law. Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, last week indicated that a Private Members' Bill was the most likely option, but The Telegraph has learned that officials are drawing up plans for the Government to put forward its own legislation. A Government Bill would remove the time constraints and stalling tactics that are routinely deployed by opponents of backbench legislation. But it would also risk provoking a confrontation with the Lords, already spoiling for a fight over moves to ban all handguns. A senior Whitehall official said: "This is certainly a runner. It is not an immediate priority but it could happen in this session because despite the weight of Government business the session will run for 18 months." Details of the proposals are unclear, but one possibility being canvassed at Westminster is a free vote on the principle of a ban followed by detailed legislative proposals from the Home Office. Another would be for the Government to adopt proposals put forward by a backbencher. Tony Blair said before the election that he opposed hunting with hounds and would vote for a ban - giving a broad signal to the 418 incoming Labour MPs of the leadership line. But any move openly to promote abolition through Government legislation could meet fierce opposition in Cabinet among senior ministers, thought to include Robin Cook and Jack Cunningham, who support hunting. The Labour manifesto pledged a "free vote in Parliament" without committing the party to adopting a Bill and when the measure did not appear in the Queen's Speech it was assumed ministers were backing away from confrontation by leaving the issue to a backbench MP. The move took pro-hunting peers by surprise. Baroness Mallalieu, a leading Labour opponent of abolition, said ministers were well aware of the complexities involved in drafting a Government Bill. "Some of the things said during the general election by a variety of people were indicative of the need for a proper inquiry," she said. "Even in a reformed House of Lords there is undoubtedly a majority among life peers for making fox hunting a criminal offence and a free vote is a free vote in both Houses." Many pro-hunting peers are unlikely to be deflected by the threat of bringing forward legislation to abolish the voting rights of hereditary peers. One pro-hunting peer said: "The hereditaries who face going out of business would use it as one final opportunity to kick the Government in the teeth." Successive polls have suggested that a majority in the country favour abolition but supporters of hunting predict a heavy backlash when the full effects of a ban became apparent. Janet George, of the British Field Sports Society, said: "There will be an almighty fight over this. Labour has a mandate from the urban majority but not the rural minority. The countryside does not trust Labour and an anti-hunting Bill would bring out a damaging divide that would set town against country." The BFSS claims that up to 20,000 of the 60,000 horses involved in the sport could be destroyed along with 15,000 of the 20,000 hounds. Around 300 ancient hunts would disappear and point-to-point racing, which is heavily dependent on amateur enthusiasts, would be devastated. It claims that in some areas there are few other viable methods of controlling the fox population. Kevin Saunders, of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: "The Lords can filibuster as much as they want and might even succeed in rejecting it, but the Government can still have the final say once it is back in the Commons." © Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:47:58 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [UK] Honey not safe for babies, parents told Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519004840.0c57ceae@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, May 18th, 1997 Honey not safe for babies, parents told By Andrew Gilligan HONEY, regarded as one of the purest foods in existence, has been declared unsuitable for babies and there are also fears that honey made from the pollen of genetically-engineered crops could endanger people's health. Warnings that babies under 12 months should not be given honey are beginning to appear on commercially-produced brands. The Government and honey trade associations said last week that the warning was issued as a precaution against infant botulism, a serious form of food-poisoning. "There has been a number of cases overseas - though none in Britain can be pinned down to eating honey," said Walter Anzer, secretary of the British Honey Importers' and Packers' Association. "The risk is small and it is purely a precautionary measure," he said. A Ministry of Agriculture newsletter gave more details: "Very occasionally, honey may contain low numbers of naturally-occurring bacterial spores. Young infants' intestines may not have developed sufficiently to cope with them, which can lead to illness." The Telegraph has also obtained details of a study funded by the Ministry which warns of a second danger. Botanists at Leicester University have found that bees can pick up mutant pollen from "transgenic" crops - crops altered to carry foreign genes - with potentially serious effects on human health. Millions of pounds have been spent over the past decade by companies "reinventing nature" - mixing plants' natural genes with others to boost yields or increase resistance to insects and disease. Some of these added genes are toxic to humans as well as insects; others can cause violent allergic reactions. Genetically-altered pollen "could pose problems to man who consumes honey as a food", the study says. The paper's authors, Colin Eady, David Twell and Keith Lindsey, warn: "As ever-increasing numbers of genetically-engineered crop plants are being approved for release experiments, it is vital that the potential problems associated with the expression of transgenic products in pollen are addressed." Until recently, most planting of genetically-modified crops was for small-scale experimental purposes, but now licences are being issued for commercial planting and production. In their paper, the scientists warn that the transgenic pollen proteins could remain active in honey for several weeks. Though their concentration was "expected to be very low", even "vanishingly small quantities" of the proteins could cause illness in allergic individuals. Professor Lindsey, now professor of plant molecular biology at Durham University, said last week: "It is essential that genetically-modified plants are scrutinised very carefully before any release to take into account any potentially adverse effects on the environment. If the industry wants to use transgenic plants, they have to generate the confidence of the consumer." But he said that there was no evidence that anyone had been harmed. He said: "What we trying we were trying to do was represent the worst-case scenario." Currently, "in insect-resistant crops, the proteins that have been produced are non-toxic to humans". "They are highly specific to insects," he said. "The scenario we constructed is an extremely unlikely scenario, though there is still an element of risk." © Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:48:04 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [UK] Teflon fumes blamed for pet bird deaths Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519004847.0c57e324@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, May 18th, 1997 Teflon fumes blamed for pet bird deaths By Tim Reid and Roger Todd PET birds are being killed by toxic fumes from Teflon-coated products such as frying pans and ironing-board covers, vets claimed last week. Thousands of owners are unwittingly risking the lives of their pets by using the non-stick products, which carry no warning of the dangers of Teflon. In the most recent case, Louisa Henry, from Nottingham, who was cooking with a new Teflon-coated baking sheet, saw all her four birds die in three weeks. Two vets, Neil Forbes, a bird expert, and Dennis Jones, wrote to the Veterinary Record last week to try to raise awareness among bird owners about their concerns over Teflon, and to force manufacturers to issue warnings on products. Mr Jones had been contacted by Mrs Henry, whose cockatiel Chester collapsed while she cooked chops. Mr Jones did an autopsy which he said convinced him that Teflon poisoning was to blame. Mr Forbes stressed that Teflon-coated products posed a hazard only when they became overheated. DuPont, the manufacturers of Teflon, and Mrs Henry's baking sheet, deny that their product caused the death of her birds. A spokesman said: "Fumes from overheated non-stick coatings can be deadly to birds. But many other products, such as butter and cooking oil, can be hazardous to birds at much lower temperatures. We subscribe to the view that birds should not be kept in the kitchen. We do not put warnings on our products. It would be inappropriate to single out one product from so many." © Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:48:06 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [UK] Nuclear plant seal is rescued Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519004849.0c5775f2@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >From The Electronic Telegraph - Monday, May 19th, 1997 Nuclear plant seal is rescued A SEAL that threatened to close down a nuclear power station has been rescued. There was concern that the Atlantic grey seal could have got into difficulties as it swam around a reservoir at the Dungeness B nuclear power station in Kent. But it was hoisted to safety on Saturday from a platform which had been lowered into the reservoir. The animal was taken to a seal sanctuary for a medical check-up and, if all was well, would be released into the sea, said a spokesman for the power station. The seal arrived in the reservoir nine days ago, sucked in through an intake pipe from the English Channel after a protective grille was knocked off by a trawler. Although trapped in the concrete reservoir, the animal was in no danger from the power station operations. However seals need a place to rest out of the water when they are tired. The platform was lowered by crane in the hope that the seal would rest on it and then be hoisted to safety. If the operation had not gone to plan, management at the plant were prepared to consider shutting down the power station, at an estimated cost of £125,000 a day, so divers could rescue the seal. © Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 00:48:08 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [UK] Farms 'must go green to win subsidy Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519004850.0c574a26@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" >From The Electronic Telegraph - Monday, May 19th, 1997 Farms 'must go green to win subsidy' By David Brown, Agriculture Editor ALL farm subsidies in future should be paid only in return for measures to protect the environment, the Council for the Protection of Rural England said last night. In a package of proposed farm reforms which it will submit to the Government, the CPRE said the "power of the supermarkets" should also be harnessed to pressurise farmers to improve techniques and protect the look of the countryside. It also called for controls to be extended to cover major farming operations including the ploughing of moorland and chalk grassland. Statutory protection for important landscape features such as walls and ponds was also needed. Tony Burton, who will set out the CPRE strategy at a conference of international agricultural journalists today, said: "The Government spends twice as much on farm support as it does on urban regeneration but the public has virtually no say on the way this is used." He will tell the conference, to be attended by the Princess Royal, that agricultural policy "still over-compensates farmers for controlling production and undervalues everything else we want from our farmed landscape". The Government "must put flesh on the bones of its manifesto commitment to put concern for the environment at the heart of policy-making". © Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 12:52:48 +0200 >From: Inge Skog To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Eating live monkey brains Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" In Southeast Asia, I have often heard the story about live monkey brains being eaten as a delicacy. It was told by people from all ethnic groups, and the alleged actors were most often Chinese (but invariably from some other province than the informant, if he himself was a Chinese). However, I never found anybody who could give me first-hand evidence on this. In the West, you can hear these stories being told by "knowledgeable" people, popular books tell you that 'the Chinese have been eating live monkey brains for thousands of years' (sensational, since the sources tell us preciously little about Chinese food a few thousand years ago), and this kind of meals are even featured in movies. The stories fall into two different groups. In one, you use a saw to remove the upper part of the scull, and then you eat the brain with a spoon. In the other, you suck the brain up with a straw. Now, let us distinguish betwen three possibilities. First, it has really happened that somebody, somewhere, has eaten live monkey brain. This possibility cannot be ruled out, of course. Individuals are capable of the most horrible crimes and atrocities. Second, the eating of live monkey brains is an established cultural tradition somewhere. I have never heard, or read, any reliable evidence of this. Third, the eating of live monkey brain is a myth. Anthropologists and folklorists have studied this kind of phenomena extensively. Cannibalism is a case in point. Stories about cannibalism abound, but when the alleged cases are subjected to a critical, scholarly examination very little is left. (This is not to say that cannibalism has not ocurred. But there is not much similarity between the sensational stories and the actual cases. ) Instead, it turns out that this kind of stories normally have a very specific function: to stress the difference between 'us' (normal, decent people) and 'them' (uncivilized, cruel, primitive, morally underdeveloped). Lots of modern 'urban legends' convey this message on 'the others'. Today, the many refugees from Latin American countries and Southeast Europe to many European countries (including my own, Sweden) have caused a renaissance of this kind of stories. ('I have heard that...'; 'A cousin of colleague of mine told him that...'; 'I read in the paper that...'; 'Everybody knows that...'; 'How can you deny these well-established, well-know facts?') The result is another obstacle to mutual understanding between the new immigrants and the citizens of the host country. - Another example is the stories told in any country at war about the enemy (what stories were told in the US about the Japanese? In Japan about the Americans?) It is worthwile to reflect for a moment upon the function of all these stories about exotic strangers eating live monkey brains. (It is sad to see that they have, for instance, been used by vegetarians/vegans to strengthen the 'don't-eat-meat' and 'meat-eaters-are-cruel' messages. We have much better arguments than that.) My question is, then: does anybody have any *reliable evidence* of the eating of live monkey brains as an established cultural practice, a feature of any society or sub-culture anywhere? Inge Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 10:28:48 -0400 (EDT) >From: MINKLIB@aol.com To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Mink Farmers Lie to Discredit the ALF Message-ID: <970519102848_-1197082163@emout13.mail.aol.com> If you subscribed to ar-news about 2 months ago you may have seen the posts about 5 animal rights activists that have been charged with breaking into a mink farm in Ont. and releasing 1,500 mink. The fur trade was claiming that 400 of the released mink had died as a result of being released. In court the fur farmer was ordered to verify this statistic under oath, and supply some sort of proof that any had died, such as a corpse. At this point the fur farmer lowered the death toll to 300, then 200, and eventually to 20! So 1,500 mink were released, 1,000 supposedly recovered, 480 free, and 20 dead that would have been dead at the end of the year anyway. The point to all of this is that the fur trade has been lying after every mink farm raid, in an obvious attempt at discrediting the ALF, and other groups that have liberated fur farm animals. This, however, was the only time a fur farmer has been put in a position where he had to verify the numbers. Sadly, many animal rights people have fallen for the fur trade propaganda hook, line, and sinker, and have repeated many of these lies about mink die offs. The message? Look beyond the fur trade for any sort of reliable news. Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 08:14:38 -0700 (PDT) >From: Mike Markarian To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Re: [US] 2 arrested in Minneapolis Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970519111703.29e70f14@pop.igc.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" >As they were leaving, one activist, Matthew Bullard, was pushed to the >ground and put in a pain hold by a police officer for no apparent reason. FYI -- The new issue of Earth First Journal has an interesting article about how police are now being trained to use "pain compliance holds" on peaceful protestors. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 12:43:09 -0400 (EDT) >From: Franklin Wade To: Ar-News Subject: ALF Joins Miller's Protest Weekend Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII On Saturday, May 3rd, 5 Compassion Over Killing activists were arrested at Miller's Furs in DC. They were falsely accused of "simple assault" by Jo Fisher-Hall(a customer) and Duane Walker(a Miller's Furs employee). Today the charge was dropped against the juvenile activist. As a tribute to Manny-boy's pathetic attempt to keep COK from protesting, we designated this past weekend as "Miller's Furs Protest Weekend"! There was a protest on Saturday May 17 at the DC Miller's from 1-3 pm. The cops, as usual, showed their bias towards the fur customers. One activist was pushed by a customer and even though the police saw this, they said the customer was provoked and would not arrest her. There was also a home demo at Manny Miller's house on Sunday May 18th from 9-11am. Reporters from the Montgomery Journal and the Potomac Alamanac were present. Not surprisingly, the ALF joined in on the weekend of fun. An artistic masterpiece was created at the Miller's Furs in Chevy Chase, MD. The front of the store was covered with the following slogans: STOP OR BE STOPPED MURDERERS ALF(3 times) The art continued onto to the side of the building: FUR IS DEAD ALF STOP NOW! KILLERS KEEP THE PRESSURE ON MILLER'S! _____________________________________________________________________ franklin@smart.net Franklin D. Wade United Poultry Concerns - www.envirolink.org/arrs/upc Compassion Over Killing - www.envirolink.org/arrs/cok Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 13:08:59 -0500 >From: Liz To: ar-news Subject: a Report of the McCartney Interview Message-ID: <33809739.297E@earthlink.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit What is missing from this "picture"?. 04:24 PM ET 05/17/97 McCartney reveals almost all in Internet session LONDON (Reuter) - Sir Paul McCartney took to the Internet Saturday for a live chat with some of the three million fans who bombarded him with questions ranging from his tastes in modern music to his preferred underwear. The former Beatle, knighted by Queen Elizabeth earlier this year for his services to pop music, revealed that the Fab Four would probably have got together again if John Lennon had not been murdered in 1980. Getting through 200 questions in a 90-minute session, the cheeky lad from Liverpool said his greatest achievement was his four children and said he kept his medal from the queen by his bed. Much of the Internet chat session was broadcast live on satellite television, but it would have taken McCartney an estimated six years to answer all three million of the questions submitted. President Clinton filmed a recorded tribute, telling McCartney that the 1966 hit ``Eleanor Rigby'' was ``the most powerful song I have ever heard.'' Asked if the Beatles 1996 Anthology album would have spurred the Liverpool band to reunite if Lennon had not been killed, McCartney said: ``It's highly likely we would have been reunited before the anthology. We have had lots of offers, but without John there is no Beatles.'' McCartney said he liked the British rock band Oasis -- who have acknowledged being inspired by The Beatles -- and said his favorite guitarist of all time was Jimi Hendrix. The only question he refused to answer was whether he wore briefs or boxer shorts. Someone called Rosie asked him about his favorite underwear. He said: ``You would not believe the answer, so I will stay enigmatic about that.'' Another questioner wanted to know if the knighthood had changed his life. ``It's a huge honor. We carry on as if before but I get to make my girlfriend a lady.'' McCartney said he cherished his wife Linda and their children. ``It's not easy to bring up kids when you are in show business. Me and Linda consider we have good kids.'' A spokesman for McCartney said the three million questions submitted made the former Beatle ``the most questioned man in history.'' ``We did not imagine there would be so many questions. We thought there would be only around 300,000. No one has been questioned on this scale before,'' the spokesman told reporters. ^REUTER@ Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 15:11:53 -0400 (EDT) >From: BKMACKAY@aol.com To: Ar-News@envirolink.org Cc: OnlineAPI@aol.com, CFOXAPI@aol.com Subject: Honk if you think plan to kill Canada geese is all wet Message-ID: <970519151148_-1365519131@emout11.mail.aol.com> The Toronto Sunday Star. May 18, 1997 Honk of you think plan to kill Canada geese is all wet Nature Trail. by Barry Kent MacKay "If a student did this, it would fail," the university professor said, tossing the report aside. "It's a piece of excrement," mumbled a nature columnist (although "excrement") might not be the word he used." Thus went the conversation over a round of beers after a meeting of the Canada Goose Committee at Mississauga City Hall, last Monday. I attended on behalf of the Animal Protection Institute. The offending document is entitled A Strategy For The Management Of The Canada Goose In The Greater Toronto Bioregion. Absent from the table but present at the meeting was a federal wildlife biologist who has been dealing with urban Canada geese for many years. He kept his silence throughout the meeting, except for a terse and precise response to one direct question. I suspect he also recognized the futility of part of the solution suggested in the document. The problems many of us have with the report, prepared by Garner Lee Ltd., are too numerous and complex to be adequately discussed here. I will review some of them in future columns. Essentially, the document seems to me more political than scientific. It undoubtedly meets many of its terms of reference. It contains some useful data and ideas. It explains something many people do not realize: our local Canada goose summer population is made up mostly of birds that are part of migrant populations. These "molt migrants" don't nest here but spend a few summers in the region before maturing and rejoining the flocks that migrate over eastern North America. This is the very goose population the Canadian and American governments have pledged to increase as a resource for sport hunters. Habitat modification, though necessary, may even reduce the numbers of migrant birds that northern aboriginal people depend on for subsistence, and "our" pre-breeding birds may migrate as far north as James Bay. There has been a five-fold increase in local Canada goose in the summer (when the birds molt) since 1983, when there were still lots of complaints. At least 200,000 would have to be physically removed to get down to the 1983 level. That assumes that other geese from the depleted migrant population don't take their palce, and ignores the fact that young birds would reproduce earlier. Garner Lee has a controversial plan to slaughter an as-yet unidentified number of our geese at $30 a head to reduce the population of summer birds to an as-yet unidentified total. That idea may help appease municipal councillors who can tell complaining constituents that something is being done to resolve their not necessarily valid concerns. It may buy time to implement remedial plantings to reduce the attractiveness of open grasslands to geese. But it won't actually end the problem or the complaints. As for the smaller part of the population made up of breeding birds, even slaughtering 40 per cent of the adult birds may not reduce the resulting population over-all. -30- Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 22:04:30 +0200 >From: gveillet@alpes-net.fr (Veillet Guillaume) To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: I need you ! Message-ID: <199705192004.WAA11577@vienna.alpes-net.fr> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" (This has already been posted on vegan-l and ar-views. I have been told since that requests for info were allowed on this list, so here it is again. Sorry for those who have already read it) >Hi ! >I've been around for more than a year now, but this is my first posting to the list > >I'm a 22-year-old French vegan (I got the disease last year in Oxford). >I'm studying Politics in Grenoble, France. > >I'm currently writing a thesis about the "Animal Rights Movement in Britain" (if there is such thing). >Nothing has ever been written about the topic in France (to my knowledge) so it needs to be perfect ! > >I'd like to interview people who are involved in the AR movement in Britain. > >I'll be in England in two weeks time and it would be great to meet you then (I'll be in the London and Oxford areas). Do not hesitate to contact me by private e-mail. >Furthermore, if you know of any AR-related events taking place in Britain in >June, please let me know (even street stalls !) > >BTW, I can also interview you by e-mail (well, at least I can ask you a few questions). >Thank you in advance. > >Guillaume >(gveillet@alpes-net.fr) > Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 14:08:57 -0700 >From: trap@wport.com To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Seattle Fur Xchange protest Message-ID: <3380C169.566C@wport.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sunday morning, about 15 activists from the Seattle and Portland area visisted the Seattle Fur Exchange. The plan was for 4 activists to blockade the front gate with lockboxes, and 4 more of us to lock down at the back entrance. Security and police were already at the front gate when we arrived, but not at the back. We all locked down, and awaited the arrival of the SFX murdere, uh, participants. Unfortunately, police simply dragged the 4 front gate activists across the parking lot out of the way within 15 minutes. After seeing the ease in which police re-opened the gates, we decided to unlock and leave the back gate. We went back to the front to join the rest of the protestors. Eventually the media arrived, although at that point there was little left. Those arrested were not realized OR, and bail was set at $250 apiece. All 4 refused bail, and awaited arraignment on Monday morning. We did still manage do disrupt that SFX for a short time, and while I missed the news, I beleive we did recieve some airtime. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.... -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt Leonard trap@wport.com http://www.wport.com/~trap/index.htm ------After all is said and done, more is said than ever done------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 17:49:31 -0400 (EDT) >From: Marisul@aol.com To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Reminder: NYC Spay/Neuter Conference (US) Message-ID: <970519174907_2086033377@emout17.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: Mon, 19 May 1997 18:58:04 -0400 >From: allen schubert To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: (US) Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970519185802.006879d4@clark.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" from AP Wire page: --------------------------- 05/19/1997 17:52 EST U.S. Official Defends Mussel Beds By KATHERINE RIZZO Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wildlife protectors are trying to get Congress interested in the issue of poaching freshwater mussels, whose shells are valuable raw material for cultured pearl factories in Asia. Marauding state-protected mollusk beds along the Ohio River and its tributaries can bring a determined trafficker $30,000 for just a few days' work, said Andrew J. Pierce, a special agent with the law enforcement division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ``It can be more profitable than drugs and the penalties are less,'' Pierce said Monday after describing for congressional staffers the issues surrounding poaching of freshwater mussels. ``We need a real strong law enforcement presence,'' said Pierce, who chases pilfered critters that have crossed state lines. ``We've got to impress upon Congress that we need more of a presence.'' He said the poachers tend to have little fear of capture because it's difficult to catch them, particularly along the Ohio River, where mussel harvesting is virtually banned on the Ohio side and legal on the Kentucky side. Those who do get caught tend to get off lightly. A typical sentence is probation and a few hundred dollars' fine, he said. Poaching became a problem in Ohio and West Virginia around 1991, when the commercial mussel beds of Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas started to become depleted of all but the smallest shells. The protected Ohio River mussels, in contrast, can grow shells as large as seven or eight inches across, with thick walls that enhance pearl production. The Ohio Division of Wildlife now has full-time officers on mussel enforcement throughout the summer and fall, and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources just began its first routine mussel enforcement operations. Alabama shell exporter Lonnie Garner said about 6,000 tons of U.S. shells are exported each year to Korea, China and Japan. The industry view, he said, is that states could stop poaching by making musseling legal. ``Shells are a renewable resource,'' he said, estimating that Ohio alone could support a mussel industry worth $5 million to $8 million a year. Ohio, however, is moving in the opposite direction; a bill passed in the state House and pending in the state Senate would end a small-fisherman exception to Ohio's musseling ban. It now is legal there to possess up to 15 mussels a day to be used for bait, but the legislation would outlaw that entirely. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 19:18:19 -0400 >From: allen schubert To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: (VE) Venezuela May Hunt Jaguars Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970519191816.0069c974@clark.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" from AP Wire page: ---------------------------- 05/19/1997 14:22 EST Venezuela May Hunt Jaguars By BART JONES Associated Press Writer CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- To save the jaguar, Venezuela says it has to kill some first. The government has approved a plan to allow jaguars to be legally hunted, despite a worldwide ban on killing the endangered species. Proceeds from hunting licenses would be used to move remaining jaguars to protected areas. ``To a lot of people this plan may seem cruel, but it's the only way we have found to finance our relocation program, avoid clandestine hunting and resolve the problem with the ranchers,'' said Environment Minister Rafael Martinez. Environmentalists and animal rights activists were outraged. ``It's a barbarity,'' Stevie Borges, an eco-tourism guide, said. ``It's absurd and crazy.'' Venezuela has about 4,000 jaguars, leopard-like animals with black spots that once prowled plains and jungles from the southwest United States to Argentina, but have vanished in many countries. Three decades ago, Venezuela's jaguar population was 10 times larger, but development has encroached on much of their habitat, Martinez said. About 100 jaguars a year are killed in Venezuela, mainly by farmers and ranchers whose livestock have been attacked by the cats, environmentalists say. Scientists put the global jaguar population at under 100,000. Government officials say hunting would be limited to several weeks a year when the animals are not breeding. Fees and hunting limits have not yet been established. The National Wildlife Council approved the plan last week by a 5-4 vote. The council is comprised of government officials and private environmental and animal rights groups. Venezuela plans to present the plan for approval at the June meeting of member nations of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Martinez said he thinks the group will approve the plan, but even if it doesn't Venezuela will go ahead with the program within three years. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 19:20:24 -0400 >From: allen schubert To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: (NZ) New Zealand Rounds Up Wild Horses Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970519192022.0069c974@clark.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" from AP Wire page: ----------------------------- 05/19/1997 13:07 EST New Zealand Rounds Up Wild Horses WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Eight people were arrested for trespassing on army land Monday while protesting the roundup and impending slaughter of 1,200 wild horses. The protests are part of widespread opposition to the Department of Conservation's plan to cull all but 500 of the country's biggest wild horse herd. Most of the horses will be slaughtered for pet food. Outraged horse lovers forced a halt to the government's plans prior to last year's election, but the government has rejected the protests since. The herd, descended mainly from military horses released early this century after the Boer War and World War I, has roamed thousands of acres of army training land in the Kaimanawa Ranges of the North Island, 150 miles north of the capital, Wellington. Conservationists' claims that the horses were destroying rare native plants prompted the six-week roundup. Smaller roundups in the past have ended with a few dozen horses being bought by horse lovers and the rest being killed for pet food or for export horse meat. Only about 50 people so far have registered to buy horses from this latest, largest roundup. On Sunday, two members of the Kaimanawa Horse Trust were issued with trespass notices after handcuffing themselves to rails in a yard at the muster site in the Kaimanawa Ranges, Department of Conservation spokeswoman Nicola Patrick said. The horse trust opposes the muster and wants the horses to be left to roam the Tongariro National Park, which the animals have made their natural habitat. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 17:07:47 -0700 (PDT) >From: David J Knowles To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: [UK] Government will fully support ban on fox-hunting Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970519170832.3adf4f04@dowco.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" [Sorry, I originally sent this out with the wrong header - guess I'd been out in the sun too long at the rodeo protest. I am now reposting with the correct header. David] >From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, May 18th, 1997 THE Government is to risk a political row by throwing its weight behind moves to outlaw fox hunting. Home Office officials have begun preparations to introduce a Government Bill, possibly before the end of the new session of parliament. Labour peers and backbench MPs are understood to have been pressing ministers to take the lead and improve the chances of the measure becoming law. Jack Straw, the Home Secretary, last week indicated that a Private Members' Bill was the most likely option, but The Telegraph has learned that officials are drawing up plans for the Government to put forward its own legislation. A Government Bill would remove the time constraints and stalling tactics that are routinely deployed by opponents of backbench legislation. But it would also risk provoking a confrontation with the Lords, already spoiling for a fight over moves to ban all handguns. A senior Whitehall official said: "This is certainly a runner. It is not an immediate priority but it could happen in this session because despite the weight of Government business the session will run for 18 months." Details of the proposals are unclear, but one possibility being canvassed at Westminster is a free vote on the principle of a ban followed by detailed legislative proposals from the Home Office. Another would be for the Government to adopt proposals put forward by a backbencher. Tony Blair said before the election that he opposed hunting with hounds and would vote for a ban - giving a broad signal to the 418 incoming Labour MPs of the leadership line. But any move openly to promote abolition through Government legislation could meet fierce opposition in Cabinet among senior ministers, thought to include Robin Cook and Jack Cunningham, who support hunting. The Labour manifesto pledged a "free vote in Parliament" without committing the party to adopting a Bill and when the measure did not appear in the Queen's Speech it was assumed ministers were backing away from confrontation by leaving the issue to a backbench MP. The move took pro-hunting peers by surprise. Baroness Mallalieu, a leading Labour opponent of abolition, said ministers were well aware of the complexities involved in drafting a Government Bill. "Some of the things said during the general election by a variety of people were indicative of the need for a proper inquiry," she said. "Even in a reformed House of Lords there is undoubtedly a majority among life peers for making fox hunting a criminal offence and a free vote is a free vote in both Houses." Many pro-hunting peers are unlikely to be deflected by the threat of bringing forward legislation to abolish the voting rights of hereditary peers. One pro-hunting peer said: "The hereditaries who face going out of business would use it as one final opportunity to kick the Government in the teeth." Successive polls have suggested that a majority in the country favour abolition but supporters of hunting predict a heavy backlash when the full effects of a ban became apparent. Janet George, of the British Field Sports Society, said: "There will be an almighty fight over this. Labour has a mandate from the urban majority but not the rural minority. The countryside does not trust Labour and an anti-hunting Bill would bring out a damaging divide that would set town against country." The BFSS claims that up to 20,000 of the 60,000 horses involved in the sport could be destroyed along with 15,000 of the 20,000 hounds. Around 300 ancient hunts would disappear and point-to-point racing, which is heavily dependent on amateur enthusiasts, would be devastated. It claims that in some areas there are few other viable methods of controlling the fox population. Kevin Saunders, of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: "The Lords can filibuster as much as they want and might even succeed in rejecting it, but the Government can still have the final say once it is back in the Commons." © Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 23:16:16 -0400 >From: allen schubert To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: (US) Beer company sponsors prize-winning frog Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970519231614.006e0cc8@clark.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" from CNN web page: ------------------------------- Beer company sponsors prize-winning frog May 19, 1997 Web posted at: 4:04 p.m. EDT (2004 GMT) ANGELS CAMP, California (CNN) -- A beer brewer provided inspiration and financial backing for the winning contestant in this year's annual Calaveras County frog-jumping contest. "Bud-Weiser" the frog out-hopped 72 competitors to take first place at the Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee. Its owner, Butch Alves, said it looked like one of the frogs that ride aboard an alligator in a Budweiser television commercial. Alves disclosed that the beer company sponsored his frog, but wouldn't say how much he was paid. His prize in the contest, which is based on a Mark Twain short story, was $750. "Bud-Weiser" jumped 20 feet, 4 inches, in three hops -- at least, that was the ruling by the contest judges. The second- place finisher, Bill Guzules of Santa Clara, California, spoke out in protest. "There's no doubt about it. He had four jumps," Guzules said. The controversy didn't dampen the enthusiasm of Alves, who found his frog last week in a Los Banos, California, pond. "We've been out seven nights a week for 9 o'clock at night to 3 or 4 in the morning," Alves said. "We went through about 500 frogs." In the end, Alves chose his champion based on its froggy physique. "It looked strong," he said. "It was a long, thin frog." "Bud-Weiser" failed to beat the record of 21 feet, 5-3/4 inches set in 1986 by a frog named "Rosie the Ribeter." Alves would have won $5,000 if his frog had broken the record. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 23:17:15 -0400 >From: allen schubert To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: (US) Study: Browned meat don't ensure safety from E. Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970519231713.006daca4@clark.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" from CNN web page: -------------------------------- Study: Browned meat don't ensure safety from E. May 19, 1997 Web posted at: 10:36 p.m. EDT (0236 GMT) From Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen (CNN) -- After the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak four years ago, the United States Department of Agriculture spread the word to cook hamburgers thoroughly -- until brown in the middle. But now studies indicate that a browned burger is not necessarily a safe burger. At least that's what Melvin Hunt, a food scientist at Kansas State University, concluded after extensive research on the matter. Hunt cooked ground beef and found that about 40 percent of the burgers looked brown on the inside, but still hadn't reached the temperature that kills E. coli. "I really don't think that visual color is our best indicator of doneness," Hunt said. That's why Hunt doesn't like campaigns like "Browny the Burger." Browny is a creation of the Allegheny County Health Department in Pennsylvania. She tells kids to eat only browned burgers. And the USDA has a coloring book that says: "Color the middle of the hamburger brown then you'll know it's safe to eat." The USDA also has delivered that message by distributing T-shirts that read: "I would like a hamburger cooked until it's brown in the middle." Now, the USDA agrees that Hunt's research is sound -- and that the best way to test a burger is to spend a few dollars on a meat thermometer, something few Americans are willing to do. "We think that the message of looking for the brown center is helping the public. We think it may have saved lives, at least prevented some illnesses," Kay Wachsmuth of the USDA said. The USDA and the meat industry say another good sign for safe burgers is to look for clear juices seeping from the meat. But Hunt says that's not good enough. His solution: Do as he does in the lab. Measure the temperature of the burger to ensure that it is at least 160 degrees inside . That may not be practical, but Hunt says it's a lot more reliable than the eyeball method. Date: Mon, 19 May 1997 20:59:13 -0700 >From: Andrew Gach To: ar-news@envirolink.org Subject: Blind dolphin threatened wirh extinction Message-ID: <33812191.57BF@worldnet.att.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Endangered blind dolphin in Pakistan nears extinction Agence France-Presse KARACHI (May 18, 1997 9:55 p.m. EDT) - The endangered blind dolphin in Pakistan's Indus River is on the verge of extinction under the threat of environmental degradation and fishermen who believe its oil can impart sexual strength. Excessive hunting of the blind dolphin, whose habitat used to stretch over 1,750 miles covered by the mighty Indus river, has forced the marine mammal into a 106-mile section of the river between the Sukkur and Guddu dams. Although the stretch of water has been declared a dolphin reserve, wildlife conservationists fear the blind dolphin may be facing its last years before being driven to extinction. "There are only around 400 blind dolphins all over the world and all of them are found in the Indus River," said conservationist Najam Khursheed. "They are facing serious threat of extinction." "If the situation does not improve the species may vanish altogether," warned Khursheed, a conservation director with the Worldwide Fund for Nature. Water pollution, a general decline in their habitat, including the construction of dams, are contributing factors to the demise of the species, dolphin watchers say. "Pollution of the Indus River is a great threat to the Dolphin Reserve area, especially since dolphins are mainly restricted in this reserve due to construction of barrages," Khursheed said. However, a greater threat lies in people's ignorance about the pinkish-grey to dark-grey blind dolphin, named for its tiny vestigial eye which appears as a deep fold just above the corner of its mouth. While the blind dolphin is able to perceive light through the eye, it is believed that it relies mainly on having evolved a sophisticated echo-location system in the murky waters of the Indus. Local folklore has lead many fishermen to flout a ban on hunting the water mammal, known locally as "bhulan" meaning a woman with a small head but large breasts and hips, with some believing that oil from the endangered dolphin can improve their sex lives. "Local fishermen even use these dolphins for sex as if they were women," said fisherman Arab Mallah. "They would go even for dead dolphins believing their act gives them extra power." Legend says that the dolphin originated in the Indus when a lactating woman from Manghopir, near Karachi, refused to give her milk to a saint who punished her by pushing her into the river and turning her into a blind dolphin. The Mohanas and Kelle tribes, living along the banks of the Indus river, believe that oil from theblind dolphin is good for protecting their boats, said Aged Mallah, president of the Taraqqipasand Mallah Tanzeem (progressive sailors' organisation). "We fishermen apply all sorts of lubricants to boats: fish oil, even ghee (fat derived from milk). Sometimes we pour blood onto our boats as a sacrificial act. But it is the dolphin oil that is thought to be the most protective." "This oil gives a longer life to boats." A ban has been imposed by Sindh provincial authorities on hunting the dolphin, but it is commonly violated, environmentalists said. "Hunters catch blind dolphins mostly to sell its oil," Khursheed said. Aged Mallah said: "Dolphin oil is said to be very warm. If somebody took it in shivering January, he can easily feel it to be scorching June." He confirmed that the blind dolphin's numbers were dwindling, recalling having seen "thousands" of them during his childhood. The ones he sees nowadays are usually dead, floating in the water or washed up on the Indus' banks. The dolphin is also under threat from Hindu fishermen who eat its meat, although Moslems consider the meat as a prohibited food. However, commerce in dolphin oil makes hunting the marine mammals lucrative for all fishermen. Khursheed knows he and other conservationists are fighting an uphill battle to save the blind dolphin, and says efforts must be carefully carried out. "We are trying to launch a conervation project with the help of the Sindh Wild Life Department," he said. "The project will be aimed to create awareness among local fishermen and to minimise the pollution factors." The project has not yet been launched, the conservationist said, adding that "it takes time as we do not want to do it in a haphazard way." --By OWAIS TOHID, Agence France-Presse
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