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AR-NEWS Digest 450
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) (US) 22 Emus Clubbed to Death by Frustrated Owner
by millerd1@sunyit.edu (David Lee Winston Miller)
2) (JP) Murder Clues: Headless pigeons, cats with amputated legs
by millerd1@sunyit.edu (David Lee Winston Miller)
3) (TW) Over 350kg of ivory, rhino horn seized
by Vadivu Govind
4) (CA) Canada to raise salmon quotas
by Vadivu Govind
5) (AU) Animal organs may be transplanted into humans
by Vadivu Govind
6) (US) Many clone pregnancies 'end in miscarriage'
by Vadivu Govind
7) [UK/US] Leaders duck deal on global warming
by David J Knowles
8) [UK] Family is terrorised by gang of anglers
by David J Knowles
9) TARA-LA Zoo elephant is down
by igor@earthlink.net (Elephant Advocates)
10) (LK) Plan to improve fishing industry
by Vadivu Govind
11) (IN) The Elephant Situation In India
by Vadivu Govind
12) "60 Minutes" TV Show Tonight, Sunday, 6-29-97
by Snugglezzz@aol.com
13) Re: "60 Minutes" TV Show Tonight, Sunday, 6-29-97
by "A. Hogan"
14) (USA) Aggressive Police Spray Anti-McD's Demo Near DC
by Vegetarian Resource Center
15) Patten's pets grounded by French air strike
by Vegetarian Resource Center
16) Washington DC MacDonald's Protest....
by Vegetarian Resource Center
17) (MY) Taskforce to battle monkeys on rampage
by Vadivu Govind
18) (US) Firefighters Help Elephant To Feet
by allen schubert
19) Fwd: Firefighters Help Elephant To Feet
by LMANHEIM@aol.com
20) McDonald's Comes To Town, To Main Street Welcome and Worries
by allen schubert
21) (US) P&G Fires N.J. Lab for Animal Abuse
by allen schubert
22) (US) Chicken With Artificial Legs Killed
by allen schubert
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 00:16:28 -0400 (EDT)
From: millerd1@sunyit.edu (David Lee Winston Miller)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) 22 Emus Clubbed to Death by Frustrated Owner
Message-ID: <199706290416.AAA20814@demeter.sunyit.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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The following is an excerpt and is edited. For complete story, please see:
http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/970628/news/stories/emus_1.html
22 Emus Clubbed to Death by Frustrated Owner
COLLEYVILLE, Texas (Reuter) - Twenty-two emus were allegedly clubbed to death (with an
aluminum baseball bat) by a man frustrated by financial losses in breeding the once-valuable
flightless birds, police said Saturday. . . . Sgt. Clyde Davis said police responded to a neighbor's
call and found a pile of dead emus lying inside a trailer with more scattered around a pen. . . .
"There was one bird still alive which had to be euthanized," said Reed Young of the Humane
Society of North Texas. . . . "The owner told us he couldn't even take them to the slaughterhouse
in this area, because the slaughterhouse already had all the meat and oil they needed," he said. "He
told me he didn't feel like he had done anything wrong."
Davis said the men could be charged with cruelty to animals. The charge carries a maximum one
year in prison and a fine of up to $4,000. Eighty-six more emus, all alive, were found on the
10-acre property. They were taken from the owner's custody and a judge will decide next week
whether to auction them off, give them to the Human Society for placement or return them to the
owner.
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David Lee Winston Miller (a.k.a. "Winston Miller")
millerd1@sunyit.edu http://www.sunyit.edu/~millerd1
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Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 00:17:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: millerd1@sunyit.edu (David Lee Winston Miller)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (JP) Murder Clues: Headless pigeons, cats with amputated legs
Message-ID: <199706290417.AAA20823@demeter.sunyit.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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The following is an excerpt and is edited. For complete story, please see:
http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/970628/news/stories/japan_1.html
Teen Arrested in Brutal Japan Slaying of Boy
KOBE, Japan (Reuter) - A 14-year-old confessed Saturday to strangling an 11-year-old and
beheading him, police said.
The head of the boy was found on May 27 with a rambling note stuffed in his mouth that said in
part: "Well, this is the beginning of the game...it's great fun for me to kill people." . . .
Police sources said that among the strongest clues were the finding of headless pigeons and cats
with amputated legs in the neighborhood where the suspect lived.
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David Lee Winston Miller (a.k.a. "Winston Miller")
millerd1@sunyit.edu http://www.sunyit.edu/~millerd1
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Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 14:35:17 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (TW) Over 350kg of ivory, rhino horn seized
Message-ID: <199706290635.OAA01688@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>CNA Daily English News Wire
OVER 350 KG OF IVORY, RHINO HORN SEIZED
Taipei, June 28 (CNA) Over 130 kilograms of rhinoceros horn and ivory were
seized and three
suspects involved in the illegal import of products of endangered species
were arrested, police in
Pingtung, southern Taiwan, said on Saturday.
Police began a surveillance operation after being tipped off that a
smuggling ring had shipped the
products in containers from South Africa to Taiwan.
Police launched simultaneous raids in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and
Taitung on Friday, seizing
130 kilograms of ivory, ivory artifacts and semi-finished products, as well
as 5.5 kg of rhino horn,
worth a total of NT$30 million (US$1.07 million).
Police also found two sculptures weighing 300 kg which they suspected were
made of ivory. Thesuspicious sculptures were taken away by police for
identification.
Police said Wu Han-shan, 30, was the mastermind of the smuggling ring. Wu
shipped rhino horn and
ivory from South Africa to Taiwan and then contracted master sculptors in
Hong Kong and mainland
China to create curios and artifacts from it.
Two others, Liu Chien-teh, 40, and Shih Lai-mu, 43, were the suspected
buyers of the illegal
products.
The three are to be prosecuted for violation of the wildlife preservation
law. Police are still tracking
down other suspects involved in the case. (By Lilian Wu)
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 14:35:47 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CA) Canada to raise salmon quotas
Message-ID: <199706290635.OAA02017@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>CNA Daily English News Wire
CANADA TO RAISE SALMON QUOTAS
Ottawa, June 27 (CNA) Canada's Fisheries Minister David Anderson announced
new salmon
quotas for the West Coast fishery Friday. The total Canadian commercial
catch for 1997 will be 24
million fish.
Anderson's quota means the Canadian fishing fleet is allowed to catch as
many fish as they possibly
can, with only one condition: conserving the fish stock.
He said he hopes this strategy will spark a reaction from the Americans
south of the border. "I
would like to think that at the end of the season, the Americans will look
back and say, 'We would
have been better off if we had had a treaty with the Canadians at the
beginning of the season,'" he
said.
This coming season, Canada seems to have nature on its side. Current pattern
indicates that close to
80 percent of a huge run of the sockeye salmon will stay in Canadian waters.
Anderson said that could mean the Americans will end up netting far fewer
fish than Canada offered
to share in its last treaty proposal, which was rejected by the American
negotiators.
Alaskan fishermen are expected to enlarge their catch of the Canadian-bound
fish. But there is little
Anderson can do to stop them.
The minister said his plan is the next best thing to a comprehensive deal
with the Americans.
Any treaty on salmon management would have to be approved by four US states
as well as several
native tribes. (By S.C. Chang)
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 14:36:24 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (AU) Animal organs may be transplanted into humans
Message-ID: <199706290636.OAA01779@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>CNA Daily English News Wire
ANIMAL ORGANS MAY BE TRANSPLANTED INTO HUMANS
Canberra, June 28 (CNA) Australian scientists are experimenting to use
animal organs in human
transplants to help save human lives, according to the National Health and
Medical Research
Council.
The council is now drafting new rules for the use of animal parts in human
transplants, said Professor
Don Chalmers, head of the council's ethics committee.
At least three major trials in Australia, including one using pig kidneys
for renal failure and another
using pig cells to help reverse diabetes, need guidelines before they can
start on humans, he said.
Australia is now facing a shortage of donor organs, and at least 1,400
patients throughout the
country are waiting for a donor kidney.
Professor Bernie Tuch, director of the Pancreas Transplant Group at the
Prince of Wales Hospital,
is likely to be the first in Australia to start trials on humans, which he
hopes could lead to the reversal
of juvenile diabetes.
Pig parts have already been used in heart valves in Australia, he added. (By
Peter Chen)
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 14:38:44 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Many clone pregnancies 'end in miscarriage'
Message-ID: <199706290638.OAA27403@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>The Sunday Times
29 June 97
Many clone pregnancies 'end in miscarriage'
WASHINGTON -- Many pregnancies involving animal cloning have already
ended in miscarriages and evidence is cropping up that many cloned
fetuses have subtle genetic alterations that affect their development in
mysterious ways, scientists reported at a two-day meeting.
The findings suggest that this month's recommendation by a US
presidential ethics panel to ban human cloning on safety grounds may be
well-founded.
"Clearly, it's important, for all the potential applications of this
technology, that we understand" these problems, said Dr Ian Wilmut of
Scotland's Roslin Institute. He led the effort to make Dolly, the cloned
sheep.
He spoke at the first international meeting on mammalian cloning to be
organised since his team in February electrified the world by announcing it
had grown a sheep from a single skin cell taken from another adult sheep.
The conference held in Arlington, Virginia, ended on Friday.
The scientists reported that cows, sheep, pigs and monkeys in research
laboratories around the United States and Europe are now pregnant with
clones created by methods similar to those used to make Dolly the sheep.
At least one pregnant sheep is carrying a clone that has been endowed
with an added gene, marking a significant step towards a long-standing goal
of cloning animals that produce medically useful drugs in their milk.
Researcher Tanja Dominko of the University of Wisconsin is one of those
who has observed the high miscarriage rate. He said a team there had taken
skin cells from the ears of adult cattle and inserted those cells into
cattle egg cells, whose genetic material had been removed. They then
applied an electric current as Dr Wilmut did with his sheep cells, to fuse
the two cells and make them start dividing into an embryo. Of the many such
embryos implanted into the wombs of cows -- all of which were genetically
identical to the cow that donated the ear cells -- about 15 are still
developing, with the oldest about 35 days old, or a quarter way through the
pregnancy, Dr Dominko said.
Past efforts by the same team suggest that few, at most, of the
pregnancies will survive to term.
In some cases, the problem appeared to be improper development of the
placenta, which provides nutrients for the developing fetus, but most of
the failures were unexplained.
"If we ever want to make this procedure work, we have to understand
why," Dr Dominko said.
In Scotland, Dolly was the sole survivor of 277 sheep embryos made from
adult cells. Dr Wilmut said she seems healthy and will be ready to mate
in the fall. Scientists want to know whether she is fertile.
But in recent studies, Dr Wilmut said, some of Dolly's chromosomes
underwent subtle structural changes, which are usually found only in
cells of older animals -- evidence, perhaps, that they have retained a
molecular memory of the fact that they came from a skin cell of a
six-year-old animal. A more pressing potential problem among cloned
animals, described by several researchers, is the tendency for them to grow
overly large in the womb, at significant risk to newborn and mother. The
phenomenon has
been noted repeatedly in clones made from embryo cells -- a cloning
technique thaeasier to perform than with adult cells and that has already
led to many live births in lambs and cows.
Veterinary physiologist Mark Westhusin of the Texas A&M University
noted that some cattle weighed in at 80 kg instead of the usual 36 kg.
He said: "I think it's pretty clear that there are differences in these
cloned embryos and the genes they're expressing."
A questionnaire circulated at the conference asked scientists whether
they thought human beings would be cloned in the United States by
researchers in the private sector, now unregulated with regard to cloning.
Of the first 37 to be returned, 36 said "yes". -- Washington Post.
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 01:18:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK/US] Leaders duck deal on global warming
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970629011925.28ff5a5a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, June 29th, 1997
Leaders duck deal on global warming
By Greg Neale, Environment Correspondent, in New York
AN eleventh-hour compromise that just keeps alive hopes of action to prevent
further damage to the world's climate was agreed at the Earth Summit II,
which ended at the United Nations in New York yesterday.
Delegates agreed a formula, drawn up by a former British civil servant,
leaving open the possibility of the industrial and developing nations
signing up to legally binding cuts in pollution when they meet in Kyoto,
Japan, in December. But they avoided committing
themselves to pollution targets to counter global warming or to taking
immediate measures to protect the world's vanishing forests or increasing
aid to the poorest countries.
While politicians greeted the new form of words in the final communique as a
means of maintaining diplomatic momentum, a British success, environmental
groups criticised it for lacking bite.
The conference had seemed doomed to deadlock on Friday evening, after
delegates from 180 countries failed to reach agreement on a concluding
statement. But a further exhausting nine hours of talks brought acceptance
of a series of texts.
The most crucial, on steps to tackle atmospheric pollution and climate
change, was drafted by Derek Osborne, a former civil servant at the
Department of the Environment, who had chaired one of the main committees.
The face-saving text calls climate change "one of the
biggest challenges facing the world", and says there is "widespread but not
universal" agreement that nations will have to agree in Kyoto to a timetable
of cuts in pollution.
Dr Osborne, who now chairs the Copenhagen-based European Environment Agency,
was praised for having "pulled a rabbit out of the hat" by persuading
countries ranging from the green-minded Netherlands to oil-producing Saudi
Arabia to accept the text.
But Tony Juniper, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth, said: "The most
frightening thing about this summit was the lack of political movement for
sustainable development. The world is blundering into deeper trouble and
this summit has done little to arrest that."
Even so, it was a relatively good conference for the British Government with
senior American sources confirming yesterday that Mr Blair's speech to the
UN last week had persuaded President Clinton to take stronger action against
atmospheric pollution, though he resisted calls for binding cuts in
greenhouse gases.
British-backed proposals for policies to conserve water and prevent "water
wars" in drought-afflicted regions were also accepted. But EU calls for an
anti-pollution tax on aviation fuel, and a British-backed plan for an
international forests convention were rejected.
Relations between the industrial nations and poorer countries were further
strained when the conference failed to agree to reverse the decline in
overseas aid spending.
Andrew Simms, a spokesman for Christian Aid, commented: "Failure to address
basic economic injustice is as insulting to the environment as shooting pandas."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 01:18:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Family is terrorised by gang of anglers
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970629011929.28ff1db4@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
[And they accuse animal-rights people of being violent !!]
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, June 29th, 1997
Family is terrorised by gang of anglers
By Tim Reid
A GANG of anglers has subjected a former fishing bailiff and his family to a
year-long hate campaign that is forcing them from their home.
Ray Allen says he is too scared to leave his house and constantly fears for
the safety of his wife and five children. He is still recovering from a stab
wound he received in November. The letters "RIP" have been painted on the
fence outside the family home in Purley, Reading, and notes threatening to
"execute" Mr Allen have been put through the door.
Paint has also been splashed over his car, hot fat poured over the garden
shed, and last week Mr Allen's 14-year-old son suffered cuts and bruises
when he was beaten and pushed into the road on his way home from school. A
brick has also been thrown through their
front window.
Mr Allen, 43, says problems began last year when an unruly gang of anglers,
including Graham Buckthorpe, the man who later stabbed him, were asked for
their permits by another bailiff. They refused to comply, claiming Mr Allen
had "shopped" them. He had patrolled the river two days earlier in his role
as a bailiff with Reading and District Angling Association.
That incident culminated in a mob confronting him on his doorstep, during
which Mr Buckthorpe - who lives near Mr Allen on the same council estate -
punched him in the face. He was later fined £100.
Last week, however, Buckthorpe was jailed for 18 months at Reading Crown
Court for stabbing Mr Allen in the leg, during a second incident last November.
"I'm terrified," Mr Allen said. "I don't even fish any more. I can't go out
on my own. I'm on tranquillisers. My nine-year-old daughter, who saw me
after I was stabbed, is seeing a child psychologist. I've had to fit smoke
alarms, because you never know what they are going to do.
Ninety nine per cent of the fisherman are okay. It's this one per cent idiot
element. They idolise Buckthorpe. I'm dreading it when he comes out, which
they reckon will be by Christmas."
Mr Allen believes Buckthorpe, who has nine children living in his home,
should be forced to move. But the Sovereign Housing Association, which owns
both their homes, has so far only offered Mr Allen a transfer. "I don't want
to move, but I think I am going to have to," he said. "We can't live like
this much longer."
John Chapman, a parish councillor, said the whole estate was being
"absolutely terrorised" by three or four families in the area. "Nobody is
prepared to stand up in court or make statements to the police - they are
too frightened," he said. "The police seem absolutely
powerless."
Mr Allen's plight has also been taken up by his local MP, Martin Salter.
"I'm not at all happy with the attitude of the housing association," he
said. "It is the assailant that should be threatened with eviction. They
should not be in the business of moving the victims. Sovereign said they
would do something if Buckthorpe was convicted."
Sovereign said last night: "There is no question of Mr Allen being forced to
move. In the light of the judgment made in court we will now be able to
review the situation and determine whether action can be taken."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 09:08:13 -0700
From: igor@earthlink.net (Elephant Advocates)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: TARA-LA Zoo elephant is down
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Tara the LA Zoo elephant has just gone down. She has TB. The news crew is
on the way. She is on exhibit.
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 02:09:56 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (LK) Plan to improve fishing industry
Message-ID: <199706291809.CAA30373@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>The Sunday Observer
29 June 97
In order to improve fishing industry
Ocean Univ.to be set up shortly
By Chamikara Weerasinghe
FISHERIES AND Aquatic Resources Development Minister Mahinda Rajapakse said
that by establishing an Ocean University he would improve the country's
fishing industry by enabling those who are engaged in this business to
acquire the necessary technical knowledge. He said he would
expedite work to establish an institute for that purpose, and for a
prolonged fisheries industry.
Minister Rajapakse who was on an excursion to listen to fishery problems in
the country was speaking at a welcome gathering when he visited the southern
region recently.
Reminding those gathered of an election pledge made by the PA Government,
the Minister added it will establish a Fisheries University.
He said, he has already given instructions to authorities concerned in his
Ministry to prepare Cabinet papers to make the existing National Fisheries
Training Institution, which has been restricted to a
Department of the Ministry, to an independent body.
The authorities have also been directed to prepare Cabinet papers for the
establishment of an Authority for Freshwater Fish Culture Development, which
is expected to streamline inland fisheries in a proper manner.
He said his basic plan was to make the fishing industry a vocationally proud
one, and also an industry that can create a great deal of employment.
He promised fisherfolk of the South to expedite work on his behalf to
provide funds without a delay to improve the fisheries harbours in Dodanduwa
and Hikkaduwa. He was also looking forward to extend Government support to
stop sea erosion in Seenigama area, which has been a big problem for a
considerable period.
The Minister asked residents to refrain from splintering limestone of the sea.
Vocational Training and Rural Development Minister Amarasiri Dodangoda,
Deputy Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera, and Housing and Urban Development
Deputy Minister Mahinda Wijesekara were among those who participated in this
excursion.
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 02:19:46 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (IN) The Elephant Situation In India
Message-ID: <199706291819.CAA26935@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>The Hindu
29 June 97
As the elephant saunters to the brink
Forest fragmentation, loss of
habitat and the killing of male
elephants have endangered the
genetic viability of these
mammals. Updated laws and
improved patrolling can go a long way in protecting these
pachyderms, says A. RANGARAJAN.
THE elephant holds a unique place of pride in our heritage,
both cultural and natural. Not only does this magnificent mammal mean much
to our religious and mythological moorings, along with the tiger, it is
also the symbol of our forests. Since time immemorial, the image of
the elephant has been vividly etched on the canvas of wild India.
Today, as our impoverishment continues in myriad forms and the onslaught on
our forests
and wilderness reaches frightening intensities, the future of these
pachyderms is at crossroads.
If things continue in the same way, sooner or later India's
wild elephant will become a thing of the past. Twentieth Century men, in
their atomised existence, remain obsessed with their own lives and pursuits
while none seems to care or give a damn to the fate of a great animal that
shared an
age and an era with us on this planet. Protecting these elephants is not a
mere act of altruism but something that is extremely relevant to our own
survival.
The factors that have threatened the survival of the Indian
elephant (elephas maximus) are many. These are not only complex
but inter-related as well. To begin with habitat destruction has been an
obvious element which has taken a heavy toll. Alarming loss in forest cover
and ever
expanding human presence has robbed the elephant of much of its habitat.
Where National Parks, Sanctuaries and Reserve Forests were created as
a last ditch effort to save our forests and wildlife, other problems have
taken control making elephant conservation a very difficult proposition.
Today elephants are scattered across the country and are
clinging on to the last of their homes. At present their numbers are
restricted to the South
Western Ghats and the tail portion of the Eastern Ghats in the South, an
island population of about 700 animals in Uttar Pradesh in the Rajaji and
Corbett parks and in the eastern and north-eastern parts of the country.
And in the forests in the East, elephants occur in South West Bengal,
South Bihar and Orissa along a contiguous region shared by these three
states. This too is an island population with a not-so-bright future. The
elephants in the forests of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and
Nagaland face severe poaching and hunting pressures. Their future seem
extremely bleak.
In the South with about 5500 elephants in the Nilgiri
Biosphere Reserve seem to hold the largest Asian elephant population in the
world. The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve includes the Nagerhole National Park,
the Bandipur
Tiger Reserve, the Wynad Wildlife Sanctuary, the Mudumalai Wildlife
Sanctuary and Silent Valley National Park, besides a number of Reserve
Forests rich in wildlife. These include the Nilgiri North Division, the
Sathyamangalam Forest division, Benne RF, Attapadi, Nilambur, Pillur and
others. In fact the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve has the thorn forests where
both the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats meet. Against the backdrop of
forest fragmentation and habitat loss, continuous poaching and killing of
males has endangered the genetic viability of the elephant population. The
ivory trade has led to rampant poaching. Specially fabricated muzzle guns
weighing up of 15 kg are used to mercilessly kill the animal. Iron rods are
used as projectiles in these weapons giving the hapless elephant no chance.
Patrolling the vast stretches of these forests is difficult. The forest
departments are poorly staffed, neither properly equipped nor well trained.
Offenders crisscross state boundaries evading the law effectively.
Outdated anachronistic laws make it very difficult to apprehend an
offender if he commits the crime in one state and enters another. These
forests are situated at the junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
Even if apprehended, they can be remanded only for one week. Since
prosecution takes a long time, the poacher roams freely bringing down more
elephants. All these laws have to be toughened to act as a deterrent.
Patrolling has to improve by leaps and bounds if any significant
improvements are to be noticed.
Males are also killed when they raid crops. They tend to
enter fields with standing crops and feed on standing crop. There are two
theories to
account for this male crop-raiding behaviour. One has it that males go after
highly nutrient crops to get maximum energy to mate and breed (a kind of
``high risk high gain'' philosophy) and the other speculates that crop-raiding
is the direct consequence of habitat loss, forcing them to seek their feed
elsewhere. This implies that crop raiding may not have any direct
association with the breeding of male elephants and is only a question of
compulsions.
These animals are shot or poisoned. Farmers trying to save
their crops often use guns. The animal may not die but is wounded. Elephants are
known to have gone about with several bullets lodged in their bodies, living
in obvious agony. For instance when a 50-year-old male, 11 feet tall and
weighing seven tonnes, in Wynad turned a habitual raider, the department
decided to capture it and in the process the animal died. It had 10 bullets
lodged on one side of its body.
The third interrelated issue is the threat to the ecological
integrity of vital linking corridors between existing habitats. As the
number of breeding
males declines, surviving bulls, capable of breeding, should be able to
move about to impregnate females in various forests within the Nilgiri
Biospehere Reserve. Bulls have to move between, say, the northern forests
of Mudumalai and Silent Valley in the south. Naturalists and
environmentalists complain that the forests are being fragmented and that
certain corridors have to be preserved to ensure the long term survival of
wildlife, particularly the elephant. Human activities, construction,
agriculture
and mining are impinging on many of these well established corridors and
some have been cut off causing immense pressure on the rest. For instance
an international school costing eight crore rupees is being built by a
spiritual
foundation on the crucial Kallar corridor in the foothills of the Nilgiris near
Mettupalayam.
Eventually when elephants are unable to move about, more so
in the case of bulls, there is a possibility that these populations will
break up into small
groups that may no longer be viable. Perhaps they are already heading to
such a doom, if timely measures are not taken. The 10 year study by the
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) on the home range and ranging
behaviour of elephants in the Nilgiri Biosphere using radio collar technique
established that the home range of an elephant herd is around 600 sq.km.,
and many times, parts of these ranges fall outside protected areas.
Providing sanctuary to the elephant necessarily means protecting the entire
home range.
A careful look at the scheme of things in the dry deciduous
forests and thorn forests in the Nilgiri Biosphere will give a clear
picture of the ground
reality. The region where the two ghats meet are the thorn forests of
Thengumaradada, Thalamai, Mangalapatti, Bhavanisagar etc. Since these
are vast stretches of arid country with scrub jungle all over, close patrolling
difficult. And elephant poachers have a field day.
One of the studies conducted by the Salim Ali Centre for
Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), Coimbatore, threw up interesting
information.
It showed how several species of plants are dispersed through the elephant
dung and how seeds germinate vigorously after passing through the
alimentary canal of these pachyderms. It also went on to highlight how
other plants have their habitats restored by elephants.
Finally an impressive gamut of beneficiaries insects, birds,
other wildlife, amphibians and fishes whose ecology is shaped and sustained
by these
gentle giants have been recorded. Some telling instances are: during acute
summers elephants dig out small water-holes which are then used by other
animals for drinking. Elephants open out salt licks which also benefits other
animals. While it might be beyond the scope of this article to go into
technicalities, it would suffice to mention here that when elephants are
doomed these thorn forests are condemned. Fragmentation of elephant
population means a similar fate for these forests. Therefore this process will
jeopardise the viability of both the wildlife and the forests, which in reality
is one complex entity.
The ecological balance of the thorn forests hangs on a
slender thread and singularly it is these dry tracts which sustain the
Moyar. Any tinkering with
the ecology of these vegetation types would hasten the desertification
process, threatening all associated hydrological factors. The direct lesson is
- no elephants means no thorn forests, no rivers and no water. Such
relationships exist in other kinds of forests as well and that is why
conservation has great survival value for humans. And as our fresh water
resources become scarce this lesson should be appreciated better and that
should constitute our guiding wisdom while planning. Forests and wildlife
are an interrelated whole and water is the prime resource from ecologically
sound bio- geographic zones. There is a strange symbiosis which does not
seem to be appreciated.
Ironically as the dry season progresses and elephants start
moving closer to Moyar, along the Sujjalkottai-Bannari Corridor in these
dry parts,
poaching also rises. Tuskers become easy targets and the spate of killings
this year has shocked environmentalists, nature lovers and concerned
individuals alike.
Immediate steps have to be taken if the elephants and their
habitat are to be preserved. The Government should strengthen its protection
machinery
immediately. This means induction of more communication equipment,
better arms, vehicles and imparting proper training for the forest
department personnel. Crucial ranges like Hassanur don't have any vehicle
or communication equipment. Anti-poaching camps should be established
in remote areas of the forests to accord better protection to our elephants.
More poachers traverse these far flung parts than our
protection personnel today. This has emboldened these elements.
Effective intelligence reports on people and agencies
involved in the Ivory trade should lead to a crackdown on these operations.
While the number
of officers who sit behind desks increase, there are not enough field
personnel. Tribal youth with sound knowledge of the terrain and possess
endurance should be recruited as forest guards and watchers.
Vital linking corridors have to be acquired and restored as
forests. One of the vital linking corridors in the Singara Region
adjoining Mudumalai was identified as a crucial patch nearly seven years
ago and the BNHS had
made a recommendation to that effect to the Government. Yet nothing has
been done. The Government has to act on information being thrown up by
scientific efforts. Later when private constructions come upon such
unacquired corridors much energy is drained countering the damages that
result.
Handling of man-elephant conflicts is a sticky affair. Study
and assessment would be the first phase of this effort. Often interference
with the natural movements of elephants leads to these problems. On highway
that runs
through Mudumalai and Bandipur Sanctuaries, due to the frequency of
vehicles on the road, elephants and calves have to wait for over two hours
to cross over for a drink from the river. Restoration of corridors would
ease the crop raiding problem to an extent. Where needed and feasible,
relocation of human settlements should be done (to ensure the safety of
both), if where this is not possible elephant proof trenching and other
protective structures have to be resorted.
The whole legal and policy frame-work has to be quickly over
hauled with a contemporary orientation, if many of these problems are to be
successfully addressed. There is no room for lethargy or indifference.
Above all great pressure of public opinion must prevail on the Government
to act quickly and firmly. The three States have to co-ordinate the legal
and policy matters. Boundaries are of little relevance, hence a common
conservation strategy has to be evolved. This was what perhaps was
intended when all these inter-state forests and regions, covering an area
5520 sq.kms., were declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1986. Sadly beyond
inducting new nomenclature, precious little has happened.
The elephant is revered as a God in India. This is a clear
acknowledgement of their unique place amongst life-forms including humans.
And in many strange ways elephants resemble humans. Their life-span
childhood, adolescence, youth and old age are strikingly similar in their
periods. They however remain in their mothers' wombs, after conception, for
twice as
long as us.
Childhood frolic and play extending into adulthood are
behavioural traits that make us feel very close to them. It is deeply
saddening that we should be finishing off this innocent fellow creation of
ours. And India without the elephant would be unimaginable, poor and would
be hardly Indian.
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 14:28:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: Snugglezzz@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: "60 Minutes" TV Show Tonight, Sunday, 6-29-97
Message-ID: <970629142845_-2045907012@emout02.mail.aol.com>
"60 Minutes" on CBS Network (USA) is supposed to have a segment on about
people who are extremely anxious to kill deer. It didn't say where or who,
just that one sentence.
--Sherrill
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 17:35:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: "A. Hogan"
To: Snugglezzz@aol.com
Cc: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: "60 Minutes" TV Show Tonight, Sunday, 6-29-97
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
This may be a rebroadcast of a late November 1996 anti-deer segment about
CBS News "60 Minutes" Correspondent Steve Kroft's Long Island NY hometown
and its response to a deer "problem."--ar
On Sun, 29 Jun 1997
Snugglezzz@aol.com wrote:
> "60 Minutes" on CBS Network (USA) is supposed to have a segment on about
> people who are extremely anxious to kill deer. It didn't say where or who,
> just that one sentence.
>
> --Sherrill
>
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 18:19:37 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: (USA) Aggressive Police Spray Anti-McD's Demo Near DC
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970629181937.01358e98@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Some 150 pro-animal protesters attending Animal Rights '97 in Arlington
VA demonstrated for almost three hours Sunday afternoon (29 June 1997)
in front of and near a U.S. Route 1 two-story McD's as local cops wearing
riot gear, holding clubs, and spraying noxious gas eventually ended the
event. Several people, including Elliot Katz of
In Defense of Animals, were arrested. More details to come.--ar
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 20:30:45 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: Patten's pets grounded by French air strike
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970629203045.00d90b24@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Subject: Patten's pets grounded by French air strike
Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 6:40:36 PDT
From: C-afp@clari.net (AFP)
ClariNet story HONGKONG-PETS from AFP
Patten's pets grounded by French air strike
Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse / Sat, 28 Jun 1997 6:40:36 PDT
HONG KONG, June 28 (AFP) - Whisky and Soda, the pet dogs of
Hong Kong's last British governor, could not leave the territory
because of a French air dispute, reports said Saturday.
The Norfolk terriers were to have been flown Friday to France,
where Governor Chris Patten has a home, but a strike threat by
Air Inter Europe Cabin staff disrupted the flight plans,
the South China Morning Post said.
The Air Inter flight would have taken the dogs on the last leg
of their journey from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport to Toulouse.
But had the strike gone ahead they would have risked
spent up to three days in a Paris animal warehouse.
"We've had absolute confirmation that they'll be out on Sunday night,"
the daily paper quoted Export a Pet spokesman Lindsey Ward as saying,
adding that there was no question of the dogs being stuck in Hong Kong
after the handover to China on Monday night.
Patten and his wife Lavender sail out on the royal yacht just
after midnight Monday, with Prince Charles.
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 20:42:02 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: Washington DC MacDonald's Protest....
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970629204202.0116c514@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 18:41:41 -0800
From: Mark Sutton
Subject: Washington DC MacDonald's Protest....
.....had about 100+ people with signs and chanting at the MacDonald's
across from Hyatt Regency (Animal Rights '97) in Crystal City today. I
arrived around 130pm and left around 2pm, but police were there in riot
gear and things were getting dicey. I ran out of film and left, thinking
the protest was over. Wrong. I'd underestimated the attendance from going
to the protest in downtown DC last week (or week before, whatever).
Just watched the first "feature" on Channel 4 (DC) (6pm) and it covered the
protest as first story (showing people being arrested, pepper gas, person
being carried away, protestor complaining that she got gassed for just
standing outside, and saying that protesters did damage in the restaurant
and harassed customers). Channel 7, surprisingly enough, made it their
second story (after Ear Chompin' Tyson). Little of the reasons for the
protest were mentioned (if any), but people interviewed indicated that
there will be more such protests across the country. MacDonald's had no
comment. Arrests were for "trespassing" (one jackbooted policeman refused
to let me step into the PUBLIC parking lot to get a better picture of the
protestors/police). Managed to find some other angles to shoot a roll.
Bet there's A LOT more that went on and I'm anxious to hear from the
protestors the details of what went on.
However, I'm uncomfortable with (a) seeing people doing damage in the
restaurant (if that occurred) and (b) harassing customers. As a admirer of
Gandhi, I can't help wondering if this kind of approach, rather than
getting the facts out, is appropriate. Where were the FACTS to the media?
It was fascinating to note that one of the reporters and film crew got a
strong whiff of pepper gas and said (somewhat of a quote): "reminds me of
my college days" (giggle giggle). Guess they see it as "okay", but WHERE
WAS THE MESSAGE in the media? Yeah, it was "60ish", but WHY was there a
protest? The message DID NOT make the media in time for dinner.
Furthermore, I walked several blocks to where traffic was being re-routed
AROUND the event, which has me wondering, who saw what happened? Not many
people, just those watching tv (like me later). I think someone needs to
re-think how these protests are staged as very few people saw what
happened, and I don't like depending upon tv talking heads to get the story
straight.
Anyway, some quick comments and thoughts. Anyone involved or seeing
coverage of this elsewhere in the country are welcome to send me their
thoughts/observations. I noted that "Burger King" (a block away) had no
similiar protest. Is this observation pertinent?
The conference, FYI, was great and even handed. Pity that the tv coverage
implied tha the conference was for "MacDonald's protests" and didn't
mention "Animal Rights" at all.
"wishing I had more film and had stayed longer" Mark
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 08:48:21 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (MY) Taskforce to battle monkeys on rampage
Message-ID: <199706300048.IAA01426@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>South China Morning Post
Monday June 30 1997
Taskforce to battle monkeys on rampage
IAN STEWART in Kuala Lumpur
Thousands of monkeys have invaded urban areas to scavenge for food
following the destruction of their forested habitats by rapid development.
Responding to increasing complaints of primates attacking children and
stealing food, the National Forest and Wildlife Protection Department has
set up a taskforce to find a solution to what the media is calling the
"monkey menace". Monkeys have become a common sight in many areas of Kuala
Lumpur, rummaging through bins or darting across busy highways. They can
often be seen strolling nonchalantly along suburban streets eating stolen fruit.
Officers tracked down and shot dead a monkey which had reportedly been
terrorising residents in Ulu Klang, a Kuala Lumpur suburb.
The monkey had attacked a maid, a child of two and a seven-year-old
girl, who required three stitches for bites on the head.
An official, Shariff Daim, said shooting monkeys was inhumane and the
department was charged with protecting rather than killing animals.
However, efforts to capture them with the use of traps had "met with limited
success".
The taskforce would study the habits of monkeys in four populated areas
where they were most heavily concentrated.
These were the Klang Valley, including Kuala Lumpur, an area of
neighbouring Selangor State, Penang's botanical gardens and an army camp
near Sungai Udang in Malacca State, where up to 600 monkeys are causing a
problem.
The boldest primates have been entering the camp's hospital wards and
stealing patients' food.
Other wildlife, including snakes, have also been sighted in increasing
numbers in urban areas but they are less of a problem.
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 21:33:48 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Firefighters Help Elephant To Feet
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970629213333.006dd91c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
-----------------------------------
06/29/1997 19:25 EST
Firefighters Help Elephant To Feet
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Tara the elephant fell down, and she couldn't get up.
It took a crane, six firefighters and veterinarians several hours to help
the 7,500-pound elephant onto her feet Sunday.
Tara was discovered on her side, stuck between a wall and a small incline
in her Los Angeles Zoo compound. Her feet were facing up a hill.
The 30-year-old African elephant was unhurt and did not appear to be ill,
said Dr. Ramiro Isaza, a zoo veterinarian.
Isaza said Tara may have fallen or simply got stuck while sleeping. That
predicament, called ``casting,'' is common among horses and elephants.
The rescue crew put a few straps under her chest and lifted her.
``It took a few tries and some shifting ... but eventually on the last
try she had just enough lift to get her legs under her. As soon as she
did that, she was able to stand,'' Isaza said.
Tara was taken to a roomier barn for several days of observation.
An animal rights group renewed calls to close the zoo's elephant exhibit,
home to three other elephants. It said 11 elephants had died in the zoo's
care over the years. Isaza did not confirm that figure.
One elephant there recently was infected with tuberculosis, and another
died in March from salmonella.
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 22:13:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: LMANHEIM@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: Firefighters Help Elephant To Feet
Message-ID: <970629221316_-1058984406@emout07.mail.aol.com>
In a message dated 97-06-29 19:29:37 EDT, AOL News writes:
<< Subj:Firefighters Help Elephant To Feet
Date:97-06-29 19:29:37 EDT
From:AOL News
BCC:LMANHEIM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tara the elephant fell down, and she couldn't
get up.
It took a crane, six firefighters and veterinarians several
hours to help the 7,500-pound elephant onto her feet Sunday.
Tara was discovered on her side, stuck between a wall and a
small incline in her Los Angeles Zoo compound. Her feet were facing
up a hill.
The 30-year-old African elephant was unhurt and did not appear
to be ill, said Dr. Ramiro Isaza, a zoo veterinarian.
Isaza said Tara may have fallen or simply got stuck while
sleeping. That predicament, called ``casting,'' is common among
horses and elephants.
The rescue crew put a few straps under her chest and lifted her.
``It took a few tries and some shifting ... but eventually on
the last try she had just enough lift to get her legs under her. As
soon as she did that, she was able to stand,'' Isaza said.
Tara was taken to a roomier barn for several days of
observation.
An animal rights group renewed calls to close the zoo's elephant
exhibit, home to three other elephants. It said 11 elephants had
died in the zoo's care over the years. Isaza did not confirm that
figure.
One elephant there recently was infected with tuberculosis, and
another died in March from salmonella.
AP-NY-06-29-97 1924EDT >>
---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj: Firefighters Help Elephant To Feet
Date: 97-06-29 19:29:37 EDT
From: AOL News
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Tara the elephant fell down, and she couldn't
get up.
It took a crane, six firefighters and veterinarians several
hours to help the 7,500-pound elephant onto her feet Sunday.
Tara was discovered on her side, stuck between a wall and a
small incline in her Los Angeles Zoo compound. Her feet were facing
up a hill.
The 30-year-old African elephant was unhurt and did not appear
to be ill, said Dr. Ramiro Isaza, a zoo veterinarian.
Isaza said Tara may have fallen or simply got stuck while
sleeping. That predicament, called ``casting,'' is common among
horses and elephants.
The rescue crew put a few straps under her chest and lifted her.
``It took a few tries and some shifting ... but eventually on
the last try she had just enough lift to get her legs under her. As
soon as she did that, she was able to stand,'' Isaza said.
Tara was taken to a roomier barn for several days of
observation.
An animal rights group renewed calls to close the zoo's elephant
exhibit, home to three other elephants. It said 11 elephants had
died in the zoo's care over the years. Isaza did not confirm that
figure.
One elephant there recently was infected with tuberculosis, and
another died in March from salmonella.
AP-NY-06-29-97 1924EDT
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, 29 Jun 1997 23:13:35 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: McDonald's Comes To Town, To Main Street Welcome and Worries
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970629231332.006dd3fc@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Long post...part of the McDonaldization of America...
from AP Wire page:
-----------------------------------------
Date: Sunday, June 29, 1997
McDonald's Comes To Town, To Main
Street Welcome and Worries
By TED ANTHONY
COUDERSPORT, Pa. (AP) -- The day it opened, it seemed all
Potter County streamed in.
Children jostled for Happy Meals. The judge visited the
drive-thru (Quarter Pounder, apple pie and Diet Coke,
scuttlebutt had it). Downtown merchants sent flowers.
"Now," said 15-year-old Matt Seeley, "we don't have to drive 40
miles for a Big Mac anymore."
-----------
On that day last September, two American institutions -- one the stuff of
tradition, the other the stuff of all-beef patties and sesame-seed buns --
converged. On that day, McDonald's met Main Street.
There are fewer and fewer towns in the land where "Would you like fries
with that?" is not a familiar refrain. Until McDonald's No. 20,160 arrived
with its 57 seats, three outdoor tables and golden-arch architecture scaled
down to minimum obtrusiveness, this Allegheny River Valley town of 3,200
souls was one of them.
Coudersport is the sort of unblemished town that late-20th-century
Americans dream about -- full of mom-and-pop businesses, public spaces and
first-name greetings. Until last year, there were two diners, an old-time
hotel-restaurant, a couple of pizza places and three family restaurants,
but no national fast-food chains for miles around.
Many citizens were ready for the McDonald's that opened on the edge of
their downtown. It meant a spot on the map. It meant that they were plugged
into the modern American goulash of advertising, commerce and popular
culture.
It also meant apprehension -- about what might come next.
----------
"Some of the merchants here are deathly afraid of this McDonald's," Jeff
Kazimer was saying last summer, a few months before the Golden Arches
arrived.
Kazimer (one of Coudersport's two barbers) and five companions were eating
lunch in the Crittenden Hotel, considered the borough's classiest
restaurant. But conversation veered to the town's new eatery.
"Teen-agers -- all they do is walk the streets here. This'll give them some
self-esteem," said Shirlee Leete, a writer and state police photographer.
"This will give jobs to a lot of people who haven't been hired in a lot of
places."
"It's a sign that we're making progress," said Mavis Macklem, who runs
Coudersport Insurance.
Even Walter Baker, the president of Coudersport's Chamber of Commerce and
owner of the Crittenden, concurred. "It'll bring more people into town," he
said. "That can only be good."
When McDonald's came calling, concerns surfaced: Would gaudy signs and
car-culture architecture push Coudersport toward garishness? Would traffic
be unbearable? Would kids loiter and make trouble, straining the borough's
four police officers?
More ominously, would Burger King, Pizza Hut, even Wal-Mart
follow, taking business from downtown? Would Coudersport lose
its uniqueness?
"When the first franchise comes to town, it's generally a
wake-up call for the community. People begin to ask: 'What do
we want?"' says Kennedy Smith, director of the National Main
Street Center, part of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation.
------------
"This is exactly the time to look at it," she says. "In 10
years, when there's the Pizza Hut and the strip mall out
there, it's simply too late."
----------
Pennsylvania has the nation's largest rural population; in 1990, 31.1
percent of its 11.8 million people lived in rural areas, according to the
U.S. Census. Research by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania tells a familiar
story -- small-town retailers fleeing to the strip malls, older downtowns
struggling, new development in outlying areas.
Many Main Streets have withered or tapered off into netherworlds of chain
motels, chain restaurants, chain muffler shops, chain minimarts.
"You can airdrop yourself into some places in the United States and not
know where you are," says Carol Truppi, director of programs for Scenic
America, a preservation group.
That may not be desirable, but it is understandable. An estimated 95
percent of Americans have eaten at McDonald's, and marketers work so hard
to make standardized fast food an integral part of the adscape that
consumer-citizens start seeing a gap when it isn't there.
"Consumerism is the future. It's how we're going to be tied to each other,"
says Bill Caldwell, just retired as Potter County's jobs officer.
But the sentiment doesn't come easy. Self-reliance -- especially the
culinary variety -- is ingrained in this region.
Coudersport, carved from a pine-hemlock forest 192 years ago, has always
been defined by the outdoors. Hunting -- deer, turkey, grouse, bear -- is
front-page news. Local histories brim with tales of dinner killed in the
woods or pulled from the streams.
Even today, 40 percent of the county's homes are hunting cabins, and
McDonald's sits a few yards from the place where Nelson Goodsell caught the
county's largest speckled trout in June 1876.
Those very hunters, though, helped entice McDonald's. On weekends, they
come from all Pennsylvania's corners to camp, hunt, fish, go snowmobiling.
Lately, they want modern amenities: Hot tubs are supplanting fireplaces;
elaborate TV-stereo systems are being installed.
And in the morning, they line up at McDonald's.
Downtown Coudersport, meanwhile, remains strong, and not
because of the kitschy gift shops that have reinvigorated so
many historic small communities. This Main Street is real;
residents use it for daily business. Thus far, aside from a
small J.C. Penney, a Sears that closed years ago, several gas
stations and a Sheetz convenience store that opened in 1989,
virtually all business activity has been independent.
Coudersport once faced the same fate as many of its
neighbors: population drift, fading industry, a youth exodus.
But in the mid-1980s, entrepreneur John Regis' company, Adelphia Cable
Communications, began growing rapidly. He kept its headquarters in
Coudersport; Adelphia's increasing success brought a growing base of
skilled labor -- today, about 500 jobs -- to the region.
Potter County has a vigorous economy. Add that to increased traffic along
scenic U.S. 6, and McDonald's -- with nearly 60 jobs, culled from 150
applications -- seems a natural addition, another indication of
Coudersport's survival.
"McDonald's knows where to locate," Truppi says. "If they locate there,
it's probably going to work. And that's a good indicator for this small
town."
----------
Since 1978, Gene Walsh, whose GIW Enterprises is the McDonald's franchisee
in this chunk of Pennsylvania, has dedicated his career to making a
national corporation work on a local level. To Walsh, McDonald's is a
family business.
His son, Bob, runs the McDonald's in Towanda, 70 miles east; his daughter,
Debbie, runs the one in Mansfield, 30 miles away. GIW also operates the
McDonald's in Wellsboro, another nearby Route 6 town.
"It's just an amazing company," says Walsh, a former driver for UPS.
"There's always somebody who wants to bad-mouth it, but it's like a
family."
McDonald's has long encouraged this approach. Eighty-five percent of its
U.S. stores are franchises, granted to businesspeople who in many cases
live in the communities where they operate.
"Some people saw us as displacing the local mom and pop," says Chuck
Ebeling, a spokesman for McDonald's Corp. "I think the transformation in 40
years is that we are mom and pop now. We're not an unknown entity coming to
town."
Walsh, too, while realizing that the Route 6 location is crucial -- "We
can't be on a back road and attract just locals," he says -- wants most
business to come from the community, not drivers-through.
And he makes a point of buying everything he can locally, from hardware to
topsoil. Still, corporate structure limits him. Potter County is famous for
potatoes -- a once-giant farm, Potato City USA, is six miles east -- but
none of McDonald's fries are made from local crops. Everything comes off a
McDonald's supply truck.
Historically, fast food has inhabited highway strips, interstate exit ramps
and edge cities. Now, it is expanding into untapped locales: historic
areas, campuses, airports, hospitals -- and small-town business districts
like Coudersport's.
"They have to just keep pushing out and getting into these places. It's
where the bodies are," says Mike Kennedy, an American Express analyst.
"They'll downsize and create on a smaller scale to get new bodies to buy
their hamburgers and not somebody else's."
----------
Perhaps surprisingly, the very things Americans so treasure about Main
Street -- Victorian and Greek Revival architecture that evokes grand
democracy -- are themselves the 19th-century version of standardization.
"Years ago, these facades they love so much were being cranked out, too,"
says Richard Francaviglia, who spent two decades studying small-town
business districts for his book, "Main Street Revisited."
"Main Street itself embodies standardization and the whole concept of
assimilation into a nationally held system of beliefs and values."
Today, those values often include the corporate brand names that are just
now making their way to Coudersport. Besides McDonald's, says Borough
Manager Marlin Moore, Burger King has expressed interest, Pizza Hut has
poked around and the Super 8 motel chain has looked at property on the edge
of town.
And then there's Wal-Mart. Moore says the discount heavyweight once took an
option on property near here but never built a store; Jack Halloran says
he'd simply close Halloran Hardware if a Wal-Mart opened.
"This is a town of generations, of businesses passed on," says Linda
Russell, who works at Hauber's Jewelers on Main Street. "And all of a
sudden, up shows McDonald's and Sheetz, and it's a very visual reminder
that those days you so loved aren't there anymore."
So the people of Coudersport are wary, and perhaps rightly so.
"There is no place in America today that will remain special by accident,"
says Edward McMahon, director of the American Greenways Program at the
Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization.
"Without exception, the places that are considered outstanding have taken
charge of their destiny," he says. "If Coudersport does nothing, in 10
years there will be seven fast-food restaurants and the whole place will go
down the tubes. They have to say: 'We want to stand out."'
----------
On a cold February morning, months after McDonald's arrival, Jack Halloran
arrives at his hardware store with a steaming cup of coffee. Underneath the
Crittenden, Jeff Kazimer is bibbing up the day's first trim.
At Mickey's Diner, Shirlee Leete takes a seat and lights the first in a
succession of Misty Menthols. Behind her, the police chief sips coffee. An
acquaintance returns a dime borrowed for parking.
The tables are full, and Leete knows each occupant. The omelets, jammed
with fresh stuff, spill over plates and are never the same shape. "Curb
your tongue," warns a sign, "or you might be tonguing the curb."
Finally, there is 78-year-old Mickey Goodwin herself, who for three decades
has risen at 4 a.m., made doughnuts and taken no guff -- and who has never
set foot in McDonald's.
"Regulars are very loyal," says her daughter, Nancy Giannone. "McDonald's
is affecting everyone a little bit, but they'll always come in for Mom's
fry cakes and glazed Danish."
Meanwhile, at McDonald's, people queue up for Egg McMuffins, where the eggs
fit the McMuffins perfectly and there is no ordering "the usual."
"At McDonald's," laments Halloran, "the cook doesn't come out and talk to
you."
McDonald's will always be clean, quick, and -- with a few regional
variations -- the same. Main Street may not be so unchanging; the arrival
of the fast-food behemoth could signal the start of a civic deathwatch.
Then again, maybe not.
"You see a lot of towns die. Somehow, Coudersport hangs on," says Caldwell,
the retired jobs officer. "Diversity has been the lifeblood of the town. If
something fell through, there was something else to fall back on. And I
think this is an evolution -- something a little more diverse that might
help us hang on a little bit longer."
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 23:37:14 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) P&G Fires N.J. Lab for Animal Abuse
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970629233711.006f802c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
-------------------------------
06/27/1997 22:51 EST
P&G Fires N.J. Lab for Animal Abuse
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Procter & Gamble Co. said Friday it fired a laboratory
where animal-rights activists have alleged technicians tortured monkeys.
Procter & Gamble began its investigation of technicians at Huntingdon
Life Sciences after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said an
undercover investigator videotaped alleged animal abuses at the lab in
East Millstone, N.J.
P&G said its investigation showed that Huntingdon had proper procedures
and policies but lacked adequate supervision, spokeswoman spokeswoman
Mindy Montgomery Patton said.
Huntingdon President Alan Staple defended his company.
``P&G and ourselves are concerned about the appearance of unprofessional
behavior exhibited by one or two technicians,'' he said Thursday. ``But
the allegation that numerous violations of the Animal Welfare Act had
been documented is clearly not true.''
Staple said two handlers have been placed on job probation.
The animal rights group said its tape showed technicians yelling at and
dangling monkeys, throwing some of them into cages and threading tubes
down their noses for tests. The group claimed one technician cut into a
monkey before it was dead.
The group filed a federal complaint alleging that Huntingdon provided
inadequate care for animals and training to workers and repeatedly
violated the federal Animal Welfare Act.
Last week, Huntingdon sued PETA, accusing the investigator, who worked at
the lab for eight months, of lying about her background, illegally taping
fellow employees and disseminating trade secrets.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture was investigating.
Huntingdon's East Millstone lab is a subsidiary of Huntingdon Life
Sciences Group Plc, based in London.
P&G, based in Cincinnati, makes a range of personal care, laundry, food
and beverage products.
Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 23:40:34 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Chicken With Artificial Legs Killed
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970629234032.006f7ed4@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
----------------------------------
06/27/1997 17:45 EST
Chicken With Artificial Legs Killed
JACKSON, Mich. (AP) -- Mr. Chicken died with his artificial legs on,
defending his hens to the end, and that's the way he'll be buried.
Veterinarian Tim England said his plucky rooster was mauled to death,
probably by a raccoon, as he tried to protect the chickens who shared his
pen.
``Something chewed him up real good,'' England said Friday. ``The other
chickens were OK, though. He was very protective of them.''
Mr. Chicken was rescued last December, his feet frozen beyond repair.
England adopted the bird and had a physical therapist make Mr. Chicken a
new pair of legs.
The plastic legs fit snugly over the stumps, with squarish ``feet'' that
curved up at the toe like skis. As with most prosthetics, Mr. Chicken's
were removed at night to prevent pressure sores.
Mr. Chicken was featured in national magazines including Newsweek and in
newspapers from South Africa to Hawaii.
``It's a glum day,'' England said. ``We will bury him in the flower
garden with his legs on. He will get a headstone because he was a famous
little guy.''
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