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AR-NEWS Digest 549
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Animal Liberation Conference (USA)
by Dirk Anton Boeckx
2) (CN) Pandas clueless about sex
by Vadivu Govind
3) WSPA's rescue efforts for Indonesian animals
by Vadivu Govind
4) Re: (US) Endangered species list
by Dave
5) (US) Protesters arrested as officials begin poisoning lake
by allen schubert
6) (US) KFOG/KNBR Engineer Informs on Micro Radio Stations
by allen schubert
7) (TH) Thai Buffalo Population Dwindles
by allen schubert
8) Deer Kill Poll Results
by Debbie Leahy
9) (US) Sierra Club Sustainable Diet Initiative
by allen schubert
10) (US) Deformed Frogs Studied
by allen schubert
11) (US) PETA Takes On McDonald's
by allen schubert
12) New Book on Elephants
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
13) All-Mule Rodeo, Pig Pick-Up, Mule Jump, Mule Drag...
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
14) (US) Prairie Dog Sterilization Studied
by allen schubert
15) (US) Black Cats--Adoption Ban During Halloween
by allen schubert
16) Re: (US) Endangered species list
by "shadowrunner@voyager.net"
17) Children and reptiles don't go together
by Vadivu Govind
18) IDA To Continue P&G Boycott
by In Defense of Animals
19) Dawn Ratcliffe
by Heidi Prescott
20) Press Release - Makah Whaling
by BreachEnv@aol.com
21) NASA & environmental collapse
by amanda246@juno.com (amanda brown)
22) (US) Pigeon Hunger Strike Continues
by allen schubert
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 00:07:35
From: Dirk Anton Boeckx
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Animal Liberation Conference (USA)
Message-ID: <3.0.2.16.19971017000735.33b7ae84@postoffice2.mail.cornell.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Cornell Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (CSETA) are hosting
a conference entitled "Animal Liberation and Social Justice: Reconceiving
Activism and Alliances", on October 24-26, 1997, at Cornell University,
Ithaca, NY. Confirmed speakers include Carol Adams, Zoe Weil, Tom Regan,
Karen Davis, George Eisman, Jim Mason and Eric Marcus. Several workshops
will also be held. Accommodation provided. All food will be vegan.
Registration is $8.00 for low income/students and $13.00 other. For more
information about registration, and for schedules, contact Beth at
ejc6@cornell.edu or (607) 277-8219, or visit CSETA's website at
http://www.rso.cornell.edu:8000/CSETA/
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:06:57 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CN) Pandas clueless about sex
Message-ID: <199710170606.OAA10320@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Hong Kong Standard
15 Oct 97
Pandas clueless about sex
SCIENTISTS in China are toying with the idea of cloning in a desperate bid
to save the panda from extinction.
Researchers have started work on the controversial technique in an effort to
save the species.
``Technically, we have made important initial breakthroughs,'' said He
Shaohua, deputy mayor of Chengdu, capital of southwestern Sichuan province
where 80 per cent of China's last 1,000 or so pandas live.
Genetic scientists were encouraged by successful cloning of Dolly the sheep
and Polly the lamb in Scotland this year.
But sceptics caution that what worked for domestic sheep is highly unlikely
to provide the magic alternative to the seemingly hopeless task of getting
the anatomically-deficient pandas to mate more often. Despite what humans
say about themselves, one unshakeable truth emerges from studying
pandas' sex lives -- size matters. ``(The) male panda's penis is so short,
and female panda's vagina is so long relatively that the insemination rate
is low. This is one of the causes of panda's scarcity,'' reads a sign in the
panda breeding centre in Chengdu.
The penis of a 100kg adult giant panda has the proportion of a human thumb.
And, the males are clumsy lovers.
``The male giant pandas do not know where to put it. Sometimes they climb on
the females' heads and start pushing,'' said zoologist Chen.
``This irritates the females and they start to fight, often smashing each
other's heads and breaking limbs,'' he said.
At Fuzhou zoo, breeders try to teach pandas by making them watch others in
action. ``But they just don't get it,'' Chen said.
The problem with female pandas is that they are seldom in heat, a problem
exacerbated by their seeming lack of exterior signals, breeders said.
Many male pandas, therefore, do not know when to make an approach, or how,
and with whom.
Scientists at a recent panda conference in Chengdu swapped notes on ways to
save the infertile beasts. But they were not confident that pandas, which
have existed for some three million years, could survive another century in
China, the natural home of the black-and-white bears.
``Judging from current progress, we can probably extend the existence of
pandas on earth from about 40 years to 100 years or more,'' said Li
Shaochang, director of the Chengdu Research Base eof Giant Panda Breeding.
Artificial insemination has had limited success so far but new methods of
meddling with the panda's reproductive system are in the pipeline.
The immediate next step is embryo transfer -- fertilising extracted eggs of
dead pandas and implanting the ``test tube'' embryo in healthy females. This
method was expected to be used within five years, scientists said.
``This wastes no resources,'' Mr Zhang said.
Some scientists see this approach as laying the foundation for cloning,
which would involve implanting the artificially nurtured embryo in a female.
But Mr Zhang himself was less optimistic.
``We may next look at cloning, but more as technical research than a way of
saving the species,'' he said.
Some scientists argue that cloning could help, despite the danger of
interfering with the cuddly animal's genes.
``Despite all its problems, if cloning works at least we can boost the
number of giant pandas,'' Chen Yucun, director of the Fuzhou Zoological
Society, said in an interview.
Cloning involves removing an egg cell's nucleus, which contains genetic
material, and replacing it with the nucleus of an adult cell carrying a
complete set of genes.
This makes the hybrid egg cell act like an embryo, which with electric
stimuli may start growing into an animal identical to the one that donated
the nucleus.
Preservation of pandas through cloning may only work if a related species,
for example black bears, could be induced to foster their embryos. Sceptics
say that is a long shot.
``If I had to pick a species that would benefit least from cloning, then I
have to pick pandas,'' said Oliver Ryder, who chairs the Genetics Centre for
Reproduction of Endangered Species in San Diego.
``There is nothing else we can use as a surrogate mother,'' said Mr Ryder.
``You can have a domestic sheep have the baby of an endangered wild sheep,
but you can't do that with the giant panda.'' Even if -- and that's a big if
-- cloning works, many scientists said the technique could do more harm than
good by limiting genetic diversification.
``Cloning is not useful for saving a species because it is essentially a
form of asexual reproduction which will shrink the gene pool,'' said Zhang
Anju, a prominent biologist working on panda embryo implantation.
It has reached the point where campaigners to save China's national emblem
will try almost anything.
Even the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has banned human gene cloning
and warned of the environmental dangers of cloning animals and plants, has
dropped its ethical objections when it comes to pandas.
``What the British achieved this year is the highest level of cloning. We
may do something at a lower level,'' said Jiang Zhigang, chairman of the
academy's department of conservation biology.
Nevertheless, the academy is deeply concerned that some pandas may be
sacrificed in the experiments.
``We don't have many pandas, we must take them as national treasures, not as
experimental animals,'' Mr Jiang said. _ Reuters
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:06:43 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: WSPA's rescue efforts for Indonesian animals
Message-ID: <199710170606.OAA15115@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Dear All,
WSPA is also involved in rescue efforts at the forest fires tragedy in
Indonesia. Their press release (which I posted on 14/10/97) is appended below.
~They need our support as well.~
from private email with Victor Watkins, Director of Wildlife, WSPA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[snip]
I visited Balikpapan a week ago and found there was a need for funds to help
with the rescue of wildlife brought in to the Wanariset Orangutan
Re-introduction Centre. Here they normally take in rescued or confiscated
animals and put them through a quarantine programme, then a socialisation
programme and eventually some are released back into protected forest areas
where their survival is monitored.
In the past 4 years they have released over 100 apes back into the forest
and they have around 200 orangutans there at the moment. The problem is
that more animals are being brought in because of the fires. They also have
some sun bears and gibbons. They need funds to continue to care for the
animals, to build more cages and to plan the release of animals into safe areas.
[snip]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
Any funding should state it is for the rescue and care of wildlife affected
by the forest fires. They (cheques, money transfers, visas etc)can be sent
to either WSPA, 2 Langley Lane, London SW8 1TJ, UK
and it should be accompanied by a fax or letter to say what the funds are for.
Or send the funds direct to the Balikpapan Orangutan Society, P.O. Box 319
Balikpapan, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia.
Thank you!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
WSPA PRESS RELEASE
8 Oct 97
Indonesia's Fires Drive Endangered Orang-utans into the Arms of Wildlife Traders
Many endangered species, including the orang-utan, are being driven straight
into the arms of illegal wildlife traders by the forest fires that are
raging across Indonesia. Thousands of animals in Borneo and Sumatra have
already died in the fires and over a million acres of prime forest habitat
has been destroyed. An animal rescue team from the World Society for the
Protection of Animals (WSPA) is now on standbay to assist with the recue of
orang-utans from the
fires.
Victor Watkins, WSPA's Director of Widlife, said, "Sadly, much of the forest
has been destroyed by the fire, driving orang-utans straight into the arms
of hunters and widlife traders. Efforts to control the fires have come too
late to prevent them from wrecking havoc on Indonesia's widlife."
Orang-utans are being killed as they come out of the burning forest seeking
safety from the fires. Any orphan babies that are found are usually taken
and sold on to animal dealers. Some end up as exotic pets, but most die of
stress and disease.
Victor Watkins recently took part in a raid to confiscate one such victim, a
baby orang-utan which had been taken by a farmer in a small village north of
Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The farmer was planning to sell it to an animal
dealer, having killed its mother with a machete when she fled the flames and
entered his land. Luckily, WSPA was able to help confiscate the orang-utan
and take it to the Wanariset Orang-Utan centre before it was sold.
Although once spread throughout South East Asia, orang-utans are now only
found on Sumatra and Borneo. There are estimated to be around 30,000
orang-utans left in the wild . This endangered species is already
threatened with habitat loss due to deforestation from the logging and
mining industries. In addition, hundreds are taken each year for the
illegal widllife trade.
WSPA funds the Wanariset Orang-Utan rescue and re-introduction project in
Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on Borneo where orphaned young apes are cared
for and prepared for eventual release into 100,000 acres of protected forest
in the south of the island. The centre is currently taking in new casualties
from the fires every week, including sun bears and gibbons as well as
orang-utans. WSPA is sending urgent supplies of veterinary materials to the
Wanariset Orang-Utan Rescue Centre.
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 02:03:39 -0700
From: Dave
To: Bailey2@ix.netcom.com
Cc: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: (US) Endangered species list
Message-ID: <344729E9.7DB975D9@goodnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Elisa Bob wrote:
> Q:> What I was wondering is if you could possibly tell me where I could
> get a complete list of endangered species?
>
> A: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publishes these official lists:
> "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants," and "CITES: Appendix
> I,II, and II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
> Species of Wild Fauna and Flora." I have the following phone number for
> U.S.F.W.S.: 202/208-5634.
You might also search their web site: http://www.fws.gov/
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 05:16:37 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Protesters arrested as officials begin poisoning lake
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017051634.00683c58@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
--------------------------------
Protesters arrested as officials begin poisoning lake
October 15, 1997
Web posted at: 10:57 p.m. EDT (0257 GMT)
LAKE DAVIS, California (AP) -- After arresting protesters chained to a
buoy, state agents dumped fish poison into a lake on Wednesday, hoping to
kill rapacious northern pike before they migrate downstream and devour the
state's trout and salmon.
Seven people were arrested as agents in nearly two dozen state Fish and
Game Department boats took to the water to pour 16,000 gallons of liquid
and 60,000 pounds of powder into Lake Davis.
State officials said the operation, which they hoped to finish by Thursday,
would kill all the fish in the 7-mile-long lake within 48 hours. The poison
will take four to eight weeks to dissipate; then officials will begin
restocking the water with 750,000 trout.
"It's not going to work. It (the poison) is going to get into the food
chain, and the pike will be back," said protester Bill Miller, spokesman
for a group called Hands Around the Lake.
State wildlife officials said poisoning the lake was safe and the only
certain way to kill thousands of northern pike, a non-native variety that
ultimately could migrate downstream and destroy the state's salmon and
trout populations.
But virtually all of Plumas County's 20,000 residents opposed the plan,
claiming that the poison could eventually go into the groundwater beneath
the lake, contaminating scores of wells. The lake, about 175 miles
northeast of San Francisco, is a source of drinking water for more than
4,000 people.
The poisoning will make the water undrinkable for up to two months, state
biologists said. Until then, the city of Portola will rely on backup wells
and other sources for drinking water.
The poison includes cancer-causing trichloroethylene, or TCE. The amount of
TCE, about 10 gallons in all, is diluted to about 0.5 parts per billion --
about a tenth of the amount legally allowed in a municipal water supply,
state biologist Patrick Foy said.
Four people wearing wet suits and floating on inner tubes chained
themselves to a buoy for nearly two hours. They were picked up by state
agents, brought to shore and booked on charges of illegally entering the
lake. Three were brought to the hospital for possible hypothermia.
Three other protesters were arrested for moving markers on the shore that
the boats used for the poisoning operation, authorities said.
Officials conducted a similar, though smaller, poisoning at nearby
Frenchman's Lake in 1991. State authorities said that poisoning
successfully eradicated the pike, but local residents say pike were caught
there as recently as two weeks ago.
Residents said a safer and equally effective method of killing the pike
would have been to draw down the reservoir's water level and then net and
electroshock the fish.
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 05:19:38 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) KFOG/KNBR Engineer Informs on Micro Radio Stations
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017051935.006e68a0@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
originally posted to talk.politics.animals
---------------------------------------------------------------
KFOG/KNBR Engineer Informs on Micro Radio Stations
Below is a press release that appears on the Web site of San Francisco
Liberation Radio at http://www.slip.net/~dove/
It details our response to the clandestine actions of Bill Ruck, chief
engineer of KFOG/KNBR against our station.
We are posting this notice to the Animal Rights newsgroups because both
San Francisco Liberation Radio and Free Radio Berkeley feature shows
devoted to animal rights. Insofar as we know, we are the only
broadcasters in the SF Bay Area with AR shows.
Do you think that commercial stations should be fingering micro radio
stations to the government and giving out people's home addresses to
trade show audiences?
If you don't: Please call KFOG and KNBR and protest to the stations'
General Manager Tony Salvatore. He is GM for both stations. The phone
book listing for KFOG is 415-817-5364. KNBR's number is 415-995-6800.
We suggest that you also tell him to:
1. Resign membership in the National Association of Broadcasters
2. Issue a joint public statement supporting SFLR's right to share the
airwaves in this city.
Thanks for your support.
For more information about the government's attack on micro radio check
our web site for a revealing editorial that ran in Radio World and
Stephen Dunifer's (Free Radio Berkeley) response to that editorial.
Here is the Press Release:
Radio Wars: SFLR plans response to NAB, KFOG engineer's attacks
For information contact: Richard Edmondson, 415/750-1714
Oct. 2, 1997--San Francisco Liberation Radio, a 40-watt micro station
broadcasting on the city's west side, will air a series of responses to
attacks on micro radio by the National Association of Broadcasters
(NAB).
"We and Free Radio Berkeley were specifically singled out at the NAB
convention in Las Vegas earlier this year," said SFLR co-founder Richard
Edmondson. "Someone at FRB obtained a tape of that convention and passed
it along to us. "He said the tape reveals that Bill Ruck, chief engineer
for two prominent San Francisco commercial radio stations--KFOG and KNBR
--attended the NAB convention, giving a slide presentation during a
panel discussion on "pirate radio."
"What this tape shows is that Mr. Ruck is essentially an informant for
the FCC (Federal Communications Commission)," Edmondson said. The
presentation, in front of a high-ranking FCC official, included
photographs clandestinely made of the building fronts of both SFLR and
FRB. The NAB, a trade organization representing commercial broadcast
outlets, has taken a strong position against micro radio, calling upon
its member stations to seek out "pirate" broadcasters in their areas and
turn information as to their identities and whereabouts over to the FCC.
"We feel that the NAB is a very warped, very possessive organization
with a we-own-the-airwaves mentality," Edmondson said.
Sitting on the panel with Ruck were Beverly Baker, chief of the
Compliance and Information Bureau of the FCC, and Jack Goodman, vice
president of the NAB's Policy Council. "This tape makes very clear the
intentions of the corporations and the government with regard to micro
radio," Edmondson said. KFOG and KNBR are owned by the Susquehanna Radio
Corp., a Dallas Ft. Worth-based corporation which also owns stations in
Texas, Georgia and Ohio.
The NAB tape, along with SFLR's response, will air during SFLR's
week-long fund raising marathon October 13-19. The marathon begins at 4
pm Monday the 13th.
SFLR's signal can be heard mainly on the west side of San Francisco,
from the beach east to Masonic--7 days a week from 4 p.m. To 10 p.m.
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 05:57:05 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (TH) Thai Buffalo Population Dwindles
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017055702.006ec024@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
------------------------------------
10/17/1997 01:38 EST
Thai Buffalo Population Dwindles
By PATRICK McDOWELL
Associated Press Writer
CHON BURI, Thailand (AP) -- When the giant Asian buffalo named Korn was
born 19 years ago, Thailand's rice farmers had 10 million of the stout
beasts working their fields.
But tractors have taken over farm labor and an industrial revolution has
drawn peasants to city jobs. The buffalo is being put out to pasture or
slaughtered for meat, with only 2 million left in Thailand.
The future looks grim for a lowly beast that rivals the elephant as a
national symbol. Except, maybe, for those like Korn, stars at an
occupation buffalo are not bred for -- racing, with money on the line and
a jockey on the back.
Korn is to his ungainly sport what Triple Crown winner Secretariat was to
horse racing -- peerless. In 11 heavyweight finals in Chon Buri, buffalo
racing's Kentucky Derby, Korn won seven times.
Weighing in at nearly a ton with a horn spread of one yard, Korn was the
reigning star Wednesday at the annual buffalo festival in Chon Buri, a
seaside farming town 45 miles south of Bangkok.
The festival belongs to a centuries-old tradition of farmers racing
buffalo for a bit of fun at the end of Buddhist Lent. Chon Buri, better
known these days for organized crime and polluting factories, even has a
Buddhist temple featuring buffalo statues.
``The racing tradition might be the only thing that keeps the water
buffalo alive,'' said Adul Boran, 33, Korn's jockey. ``If the racing
goes, maybe there won't be any more buffalo. People will just kill them
and eat the meat.''
The Chon Buri contest plays out over a dirt track -- soon littered with
dung -- in the town square. There are no curves: a jockey would never be
able to steer his mount around one.
This year, more than 300 buffalo were entered by owners competing for a
top prize of $138 and a water pump. Organizers joke that hundreds of
thousands of baht are believed to change hands in illegal gambling.
The contestants range from youngish lightweights under 650 pounds to
heavies like Korn tipping the scales at more than 1,100 pounds.
Getting buffalo behind the line long enough to begin a race can take 20
minutes marred by false starts and careening charges that send spectators
fleeing from flying hooves.
At the whistle, the beasts can cover the 120 yards in a surprisingly
quick 12 seconds. The jockeys ride bareback on the rump -- the only place
their knees can get a grip on a buffalo's broad back.
Many fail to stay on. Occasionally, one is badly hurt under hooves as
wide as dinner plates. But Adul says the beasts are gentle and only step
on people by accident.
Thais regard the buffalo as good-natured but stupid. Calling a person one
is a fighting insult. A popular music video shows a traditional Thai --
honest peasant -- losing his girl to a newer ideal of maledom -- urban
gangster -- who shoots the poor man's buffalo.
A star racer like Korn, however, gets respect. Owner Chukrit Taopuchong
says admirers will ask him, ``How is Khun Korn?'' using a Thai honorific.
Two months before the big race, the buffalo go into training. The diet of
grass is supplemented with milk, boiled rice and a dozen eggs a day.
Light plow pulling keeps muscles firm, but real farm work is relegated to
lowlier beasts.
On race day, tanker trucks wet the buffalo down between heats under the
tropical sun. When finals in the three weight classes are run at last,
spectators crowd the track, risking getting trampled for a better view.
Before his 12th Chon Buri final, Korn left a calling card on the finish
line as if to mark territory before taking his place, slow and calm, at
the starting line.
At the whistle, he transformed into a charging juggernaut, steaming down
the track as jockey Adul flailed with a bamboo whip.
But this year, Korn wasn't fast enough -- an eight-year-old youngster
named Rung pipped the old veteran by half a length.
Owner Chukrit admitted that his champion may be past his prime but vowed
never to sell -- he's been offered $4,000 -- and to race Korn two more
years.
``I hope this festival lasts forever,'' Chukrit said. ``If we don't have
it, people will be too lazy to raise buffalo anymore.''
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 07:17:47 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debbie Leahy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Deer Kill Poll Results
Message-ID: <01IOWLABQA428X6U2Y@delphi.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Results from yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times phone-in poll:
Should deer at the west suburban Fermilab physics research center be shot to
reduce their population?
Yes 29%
No 71%
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 07:29:47 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Sierra Club Sustainable Diet Initiative
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017072945.006ec3e8@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
posted for geo7@ix.netcom.com (Andrea Wilson)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Hello! The Sierra Club Sustainable Diet Initiative petition (below) is
due Friday October 24th!! We are within reach of getting our
signatures, but still need more, so please take a moment to print it
out and get the signatures of any Sierra Club members you will come in
contact with through next week. Even if you can only send it back with
one or two signatures, every signature helps at this point!! Please
mail them out by Monday October 20th or fax them back anytime up to
Friday October 24th if you have Sierra Club meetings/events later in
the week where you can get signatures. Also, please feel free to
forward this email on to other members (but not via Sierra Club
ccmail). I would greatly appreciate it if you could email me the
number of signatures you are sending when you put them in the mail.
Thanks so much! Andrea
PS I apologize if you have already been called or have already sent
back the petition.
Send petitions (1,305 needed) to: Andrea Wilson (SDI National
Coordinator), PO Box 719, Redwood Estates, CA 95044 408 353-2096
(1346 fax), geo7@ix.netcom.com www.webcom.com/geos/ Deadline -
October 24, 1997 Please also fax if mailed after 10/18/97.
SIERRA CLUB SUSTAINABLE DIET INITIATIVE
According to a Worldwatch Institute report written by then-senior
researcher Alan B. Durning in 1991, "the prospect of 5 billion people
eating the way Americans do is an ecological impossibility, requiring
more grain than the world can grow and more energy, water and land than
the world can supply" (Worldwatch Magazine, May/June 1991, P11).
Given that the world's current human population of 5.8 billion
continues to grow by more than 80 million people every year, the
impossibility of this prospect has only become more apparent. Since
then, Worldwatch researchers have calculated that "if everyone in the
world required as much grain for their diet as the average American
does, the global harvest would need to be 2.6 times greater than it is
today ---a highly improbable scenario" (Sandra Postel, State of the
World 1994, P6). Given these statements, we must recognize that the
typical American/Canadian grain-fed animal-based diet is another
expression of wasteful overconsumption, akin to driving a gas-guzzling
auto with no emissions-control equipment. And, just as we recommend
that people bicycle, carpool, use mass transit and drive efficient
cars, it is time the Sierra Club made comparable recommendations
regarding our food choices. It is this need for change which is the
impetus behind the following petition.
Pursuant to Bylaw 11.2 and in accordance with Standing Rule 11-1-1 of
the Sierra Club, the undersigned members of the Club instruct the
Board of Directors to certify the following resolution to the Secretary
for a vote by the Club's membership:
Shall the Sierra Club (1) replace Paragraph G.2. of the Agriculture
Policy with the following: "Food consumption choices in the United
States and Canada cause excessive damage to the environment. In
particular, diets high in animal foods (i.e., meat, poultry, seafood,
dairy products and eggs) require much greater quantities of land, water
and energy to produce than do diets high in plant foods (i.e., fruits,
vegetables, grains and legumes), and also contribute
disproportionately to global environmental problems (e.g., water
pollution, climate change, deforestation, desertification, soil
erosion, loss of species, collapse of ocean ecosystems, and
agricultural chemical pollution). Therefore, plant-based diets are
recommended as the most environmentally sustainable dietary choice.
Those who choose to include animal foods in their diets should make
such foods no more than a small part of their total food consumption.
It is also recommended that all foods be organically and sustainably
produced, and that all animal foods be produced under humane,
free-range conditions, with due consideration given to the needs and
well-being of the animals.", and (2) actively educate its members and
the public on the environmental benefits of such diets?
Paragraph G.2. of the Agriculture policy (Food Policy) currently reads:
"Particularly in developed countries, there should be a reduction in
excessive food consumption and waste patterns to allow maintenance of
diet quality at lower environmental cost. An important first step
would be to develop a greater reliance on vegetable protein."
ONLY SIERRA CLUB MEMBERS MAY SIGN!
Signature Printed Name Address Date Member # if known
Email/telephone number (optional)
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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 07:42:15 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Deformed Frogs Studied
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017074212.006ede2c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
----------------------------------------
Minnesota State News
Reuters
17-OCT-97
Deformed Frogs Studied
(STATE-WIDE) -- Researchers from the National Institutes of Health are
studying malformed frogs at 20 locations across Minnesota. Doctor George
Lucier (lew-SEAR) says scientists expect to have more information within
two months even if they have not reached final conclusions on what is
causing the deformities. Researchers say they're quite certain it's
something in the water but it's too early to tell whether there's a hazard
to humans. Residents near two locations in northern Minnesota where
deformed frogs were found have been offered bottled water as a precaution.
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 07:45:21 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) PETA Takes On McDonald's
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017074519.006ecef8@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
---------------------------------
Virginia State News
Reuters
17-OCT-97
PETA Takes On McDonald's
(NORFOLK) -- The people who make and sell ``Big Macs'' have more to worry
about than rival fast-food shops. A Norfolk- based animal rights group is
traveling across the state in an effort to turn up the heat on McDonald's.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals want McDonald's restaurants
to diversify their menu. PETA's Bruce Freedrick is trying to get the
hamburger chain to add vegetarian fare as an alternative. Virginia is a
major producer of poultry, beef, and port and many Virginia farms generate
animals used in the fast-food industry.
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 97 07:17:15 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: New Book on Elephants
Message-ID: <199710171216.IAA20316@envirolink.org>
"Elephants: The Deciding Decade" (Firefly Books, $27.50) is a beautifully
illustrated book which captures the splendor of the elephant and
highlights the urgent need for its protection. Featuring text by some
of the world's leading authorities and more than 100 color photographs,
the book is a celebration of the magnificent animal, a warning of its
possible destruction, and a plea for its preservation.
The demand for ivory over the last century decimated the herds. By 1989,
poaching claimed as many as 300 elephants a day. Now, only remnant
populations exist, concentrated primarily in the least accessible central
regions of Africa. Human encroachment on elephant habitat continues to
threaten their survival. The late 1990s will decide the fate of elephants.
Copies are available at Barnes and Noble and Borders bookstores. Or, to
order a copy call (800) 387-5085.
-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 97 07:25:33 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: All-Mule Rodeo, Pig Pick-Up, Mule Jump, Mule Drag...
Message-ID: <199710171223.IAA21125@envirolink.org>
Wilburton, OK, USA: More than 65,000 people are expected to attend the
11th annual Robbers Cave Festival from Friday through Sunday, officials
said.
The park is six miles north of Wilburton on Oklahoma 2.
An all-mule rodeo is scheduled Friday and Saturday at the Wilburton
arena. Events will include a pig pick-up, a mule jump, a mule
stampede, team roping, and a mule drag.
____________________________________________________________________
Does anyone on here live near there who can document the animal abuse?
-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:02:56 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Prairie Dog Sterilization Studied
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017110254.006f3904@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
--------------------------------
Colorado State News
Reuters
17-OCT-97
Prairie Dog Sterilization Studied
(FORT COLLINS) -- Researchers at Colorado State University in Fort Collins
want to know if chemical sterilization is a good non-lethal way of
controlling the prairie dog population. Colorado is home to more than five
million of the rodents, largely controlled by poisoning and relocating.
Researchers plan to castrate up to 50 prairie dogs and monitor their
behavior within the colony. Females reproduce at an alarming rate,
increasing a colony size by 30-percent each year.
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:07:12 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Black Cats--Adoption Ban During Halloween
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017110710.006f3904@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
--------------------------------
AP
17-OCT-97
LOS ANGELES (AP) Play all the tricks you want on Halloween, just keep black
cats out of the line of fire.
Like humane societies and animal shelters across the nation, the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles will ban adoptions of
black cats between Oct. 18 through Oct. 31 at its two shelters in Los
Angeles and Hawthorne.
"Because some people consider them good luck or bad luck, things tend to
happen to them by pranksters on Halloween," said Madeline Bernstein,
president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los
Angeles.
The Halloween ban has been in place for a number of years in order to
prevent adoptions that have ulterior motives, Bernstein said.
"We don't want any of our adoptions to be insincere," she said.
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 97 11:41:38 -0000
From: "shadowrunner@voyager.net"
To:
Cc:
Subject: Re: (US) Endangered species list
Message-ID: <199710171540.LAA12574@vixa.voyager.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
You can also obtain a complete list by region by going to
http://www.nceet.snre.umich.edu/EndSpp/species.map.html
>
>Elisa Bob wrote:
>
>> Q:> What I was wondering is if you could possibly tell me where I could
>> get a complete list of endangered species?
>>
>> A: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publishes these official lists:
>> "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants," and "CITES: Appendix
>> I,II, and II to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
>> Species of Wild Fauna and Flora." I have the following phone number for
>> U.S.F.W.S.: 202/208-5634.
>
> You might also search their web site: http://www.fws.gov/
>
>
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 03:29:27 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Children and reptiles don't go together
Message-ID: <199710171929.DAA30681@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>The Straits Times
16 Oct 97
Warning: Children and reptiles don't go together
LONDON -- Exotic pets, particularly iguanas, snakes, lizards and
turtles, pose a serious health risk to infants and young children,
doctors warned yesterday. Reptiles are carriers of salmonella infections
which are transmitted easily and can cause gastro-enteritis, an
inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
"Exotic reptiles are unsuitable pets to share the home environment with
infants," said Dr Debasis Sanyal of the Booth Hall Children's Hospital
in Manchester, in a report in the Archives Of Disease In Childhood.
Adults get most salmonella infections from eating contaminated food,
especially chickenand eggs, but there are many species of the bacterium that
are found in reptiles.
Even seemingly healthy reptiles can pass on the infection to young
children, particularly if they shared the same home.
"Young infants are at particular risk of acquiring salmonella in these
circumstances.
"Often these infections are invasive, leading to complications such as
salmonella meningitis and septicaemia, a type of blood poisoning," said
Dr Sanyal.
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:09:06 -0700
From: In Defense of Animals
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: IDA To Continue P&G Boycott
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
News Release
Date: October 16, 1997
Contact:lauren Sullivan
415-388-9641 x 29
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS TO CONTINUE PROCTER & GAMBLE BOYCOTT
Mill Valley, CA...In Defense of Animals (IDA) announced today that it will
continue its international boycott against the Procter & Gamble Co., even
though P&G is to donate $1 million toward developing computer biological
models. IDA feels that this is a positive, but not an adequate, step in
ending the unnecessary torture and killing of thousands of animals.
"Clearly P&G is responding to our boycott and the growing consumer demand
for products not tested on animals," said lauren Sullivan, National
Campaign Coordinator for IDA.
"The development of computer models as an alternative to animal testing of
pharmaceuticals is important. However, it does not excuse P&G's continued
animal testing of cosmetics and household products," Sullivan continued.
"These tests are not required by law. P&G could eliminate them immediately
without impacting consumer safety."
P&G uses thousands of rabbits, ferrets, guinea pigs, mice and rats each
year in tests of cosmetics and household products. Concern about P&G's
treatment of animals has heightened recently with the release of undercover
video footage showing the abusive treatment of monkeys used in tests of a
P&G product at a contract laboratory in New Jersey.
According to Sullivan, the boycott of P&G products is expanding. "Scores
of animal protection groups in the U.S. and abroad are educating thousands
of people in communities around the globe about the suffering P&G
unnecessarily inflicts upon animals," she said.
Groups in the following countries have joined the global campaigning
against P&G: Australia; South Africa; Brazil; Canada; England; Finland;
France; India; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; New Zealand; Scotland; Sweden
and Wales.
IDA, a national, California-based animal advocacy organization, launched
its boycott of P&G products in 1989. IDA has helped to organize more than
100 demonstrations against the company this year.
- end-
IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS - 131 CAMINO ALTO, SUITE E - MILL VALLEY, CA 94941 -
415/388-9641
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 14:21:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Heidi Prescott
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Dawn Ratcliffe
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971018183139.241feeae@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Dawn can now receive faxes in jail. Anyone wishing to contact Dawn can fax
letters or articles to (717) 628-1015. Just put her full name at the top.
Heidi
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 17:47:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: BreachEnv@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Press Release - Makah Whaling
Message-ID: <971017174524_1789280137@emout18.mail.aol.com>
October 17, 1997
For Immediate Release Contact: D.J. Schubert (202-588-5206) (US)
Jon Lovvorn (202-588-5206)
(US)
Sue Arnold -
arnolds@om.com.au (Aust)
David Smith -
BreachEnv@aol.com (UK)
CONGRESSMAN METCALF LEADS CHARGE IN LAWSUIT TO
HARPOON GRAY WHALE HUNTING BY MAKAH TRIBE
Today, in federal district court in Washington, D.C., Congressman
Jack Metcalf, Australians for Animals, Breach Marine Protection, a
Makah tribal elder, and others filed suit against Commerce Secretary
Daley and other government officials to stop the government from
allowing the Makah Tribe to slaughter whales. The lawsuit claims that
the U.S. governmentth ongoing efforts to facilitate Makah whaling in or
near the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary violates several
federal environmental laws, including the National Environmental
Policy Act, the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and the Whaling
Convention Act.
A U.S. government delegation is currently attending the
International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Monaco in order to
solicit an IWC quota of gray whales for the Makah. The quota would
permit the Makah to kill or maim up to 34 gray whales over the next
four years. The diverse coalition of Plaintiffs contend that the
government, through the National Marine Fisheries Service, has failed
to properly evaluate the environmental impacts of this action as
required under both U.S. and International law. Several Plaintiffs,
including Congressman Metcalf, have joined a cadre of animal and
environmental protection organizations, and several Makah Tribal
elders, who have traveled to Monaco to oppose the government's plan.
"The U.S. Government has made a whale of a mistake in pursuing
this ludicrous proposal," claims Congressman Metcalf. "It is shameful
that the United States would endorse a proposal which is not only
illegal but which flies in the face of the values, interests, and
desires of the majority of U.S. citizens who believe that whales
should be protected not persecuted," Metcalf added.
Opposition to the proposal is not limited to the U.S., but
includes individuals and organizations from around the world,
including many members of the Makah Tribe. Indeed, out of 71 comments
submitted to NMFS on this proposal, 69 were strenuously opposed to
allowing the Makah to begin whaling.
Alberta Thompson, a Makah Tribal elder, who is also a plaintiff
in the lawsuit, is staunchly opposed to her own Tribe's actions and
claims that there is no traditional basis or subsistence need for
Makah whaling in 1990s. In her comments to NMFS, Ms. Thompson stated
that, "All that remains is the desire to kill. Not for subsistence,
we do not need the whale meat to survive. We have become pawns in the
global struggle to resume commercial whaling operations by countries
like Norway and Japan. Our culture will be the mask behind which the
Japanese and Norwegian whalers will profit."
Sue Arnold, President of Australians for Animals, asserts "Whales
are not inanimate objects who are there for human use and
exploitation." "These magnificent and highly intelligent animals
deserve our compassion, sympathy, and complete protection, not to be
chased, harpooned, shot with military rifles, and ultimately cut up
into parts for human consumption," states Arnold.
"Whaling is inherently brutal, inhumane, and unethical," adds
Dave Smith, Director of Breach Marine Protection, a U.K. based whale
protection organization. "If whales die as a result of this proposal
then their blood and their immense suffering and pain is on the hands
of the Clinton Administration and the federal agency bureaucrats who
endorse this brutal slaughter," concludes Smith.
Congressman Metcalf, who traveled to Monaco at his own expense,
will participate in a press conference on October 18 in Monaco, along
with musician and songwriter Julian Lennon, to express their
opposition to the Makah whaling proposal and to deliver a letter,
signed by 43 of Metcalfths Congressional Colleagues, urging the IWC to
reject the proposed whaling quota.
Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 19:53:21 -0400
From: amanda246@juno.com (amanda brown)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: NASA & environmental collapse
Message-ID: <19970929.195322.15102.0.amanda246@juno.com>
There was a post on here about 6months ago dealing with NASA and
environmental collapse. Does anyone still have it? And if so would you
kindly send it to me.
Thanks
Amanda
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 23:59:26 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Pigeon Hunger Strike Continues
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971017235923.006f1848@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
--------------------------------
Pennsylvania State News
Reuters
17-OCT-97
Pigeon Hunger Strike Continues
(POTTSVILLE) -- The North Carolina woman imprisoned in a Schuylkill County
jail for attempting to disrupt last Labor Day's Hegin's pigeon shoot is
entering the second week of her hunger strike today. The Fund for Animals
says 24-year- old Dawn Ratcliffe is promising to continue her hunger
strike... until lawmakers adopt legislation banning live bird shoots in the
state. She is serving a 45-day sentence in prison. The animal rights group
says her condition is good.
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