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AR-NEWS Digest 689
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Goats bred for "new markets"
by Andrew Gach
2) (AU-Asia) Emu eggs as aphrodisiacs
by Vadivu Govind
3) (UK) Tests on pig intellect
by Vadivu Govind
4) Request for info: "Collectors"
by Dietrich Haugwitz
5) petition for preservation of wildlife and biodiversity
by oetvtier@salzburg.co.at (oetvtier)
6) Re: Fw: VIRUS WARNING !
by Doris & Dan
7) (NZ)Did VHD/RCD kill New Zealand sea lions?
by bunny
8) Seattle wolf benefit concert - Mar. 14
by "Cari Gehl"
9) Audubon Advisory 3/6/98
by "Cari Gehl"
10) LA Times: A Dog Is Man's Most Grateful Friend
by "Cari Gehl"
11) LFAS-Mass stranding (Nature paper) (fwd)
by "Cari Gehl"
12) Court Ruling May Spell Doom for Park Wolves
by "Cari Gehl"
13) Major wolf die-off recorded on Isle Royale
by "Cari Gehl"
14) [UK] CJD destroyed my daughter, father tells inquiry
by David J Knowles
15) [UK] Vet's reference to scrapie 'was cut from speech'
by David J Knowles
16) [UK] Farmers rally in support of hotelier
by David J Knowles
17) [UK] BSE inquiry transcripts
by David J Knowles
18) [UK] Huntsman cleared over fox trampling
by David J Knowles
19) [UK] Wife wins fight to keep dog
by David J Knowles
20) [MX] Loggers blamed as millions of butterflies die in Mexico
by David J Knowles
21) Admin Note -- Inappropriate Posting
by ar-admin@envirolink.org
22) (US) Animal Trafficking In Chinatown
by allen schubert
23) President Reserves Right to Change His Mind About Neutering
by Tereiman
24) (US) Test: Wild Horses Died of Stress
by allen schubert
25) Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
26) Cincinnati P&G Action Alert!
by Tereiman
27) Vilas - Become a broken record
by paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
28) Vilas background
by paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
29) About drugs
by Daniel Paulo Ferreira
30) About AIDS
by Daniel Paulo Ferreira
31) White House Letter
by DDAL
32) Carson and Barnes Circus
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
33) (US-Seattle/Kirkland) Cruelty-free products
by SimonChai
34) Looking for Activists
by In Defense of Animals
35) Easter Bunnies and Moto Foto
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
36) RE: Virus/How to tell if hoax
by Sandy
37) (US) Oklahoma State Senate Hog Farm Debate
by JanaWilson
38) [US-WI] LEGISLATION: LRB-4985: WI Moratorium on Factory Farms
by Steve Barney
39) superintendent letter
by "Leslie Lindemann"
40) Sexual Animal Abuse in Manatee County, Florida
by SMatthes
41) Problem Pet Stores Closed [Seattle]
by Bob Chorush
42) (Ca) James Bond And the Seal Hunt
by Ty Savoy
43) Houston Livestock "Show" and rodeo
by RiotFrog
44) (Mex) Loggers fingered as butterflies die
by Ty Savoy
45) [US-WI] "Thai Entrepreneur Wants UW Monkeys" (TCT-030998)
by Steve Barney
46) [US-WI] "Animal advocates: Return zoo monkeys" (TCT-031098)
by Steve Barney
47) [US-WI] "Hog factory stinks figuratively and as matter of fact"
(TCT-031098)
by Steve Barney
48) (US) free range chickens
by allen schubert
49) [CA] Plant a tree - save a salmon
by David J Knowles
50) Canadian Sealers Are Spin Doctors
by Vegetarian Resource Center
51) Clinton To Neuter New Puppy 'Buddy'
by Vegetarian Resource Center
52) Wild horses die of stress after captured
by Andrew Gach
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 21:57:22 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Goats bred for "new markets"
Message-ID: <350627C2.43B8@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Farmers and scientists locking horns over goat ranch
Scripps Howard
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., March 10, 1998
Argueing that biotechnology and agriculture do not mix, some neighbors
and environmentalists are locking horns with a goat rancher whose herd
is being raised not for meat, mohair or milk but for production of
antibodies in cancer and other research.
John Stephenson, who has spent 25 years in the cancer research field,
including a 13-year stint at the National Cancer Institute, has 1,600
goats grazing on his land 5 miles north of Santa Cruz.
"If agriculture is going to survive, it has to seek out additional
markets," Stephenson said. "The requirement for food in this country has
long been saturated."
Others want to see the goats go, however. Some neighbors and
environmental groups argue that not only does the goat operation damage
the land, it also does not represent a real agricultural use in a county
where the leading crops are strawberries, flowers, lettuce and apples.
Save Our Agricultural Land and the national Sierra Club filed a lawsuit
over a proposed ordinance that would allow biomedical livestock
operations on agricultural land. Although the ordinance bans lab
operations, it does allow livestock to be raised for biomedical or
pharmaceutical research purposes.
The lawsuit asks that the county be required to file an environmental
impact report on the proposed measure.
Santa Cruz County supervisors approved the land use ordinance last
September.
The grappling over goats will be discussed Wednesday at a California
Coastal Commission meeting in Monterey. The commission must approve the
ordinance before it can become law.
"The main concern is that it could lead to a loss of a lot of
agricultural land," said Barney Elders, a Santa Cruz attorney who is
handling the lawsuit for the Sierra Club. "There is so much money to be
made in biotechnology. It tends to drive out traditional agriculture."
Each goat is immunized with a different synthetic peptide, a protein
part that causes their immune systems to produce antibodies within two
years. Every few months, a small amount of blood is drawn.
The antibodies are separated from the blood and purified at Santa Cruz
Biotechnology Inc. in Santa Cruz, a company Stephenson and his wife,
Brenda, started six years ago. The company sells about 600 different
antibodies, used in cancer and other medical research, to universities
and pharmaceutical companies worldwide.
Elders argues that biotechnology is not an agricultural use. "They're
more like industrial uses," because the movement of animals is limited,
he said. "It's not really farming; that's the problem. There's no
growing of food. They're not growing fiber or crops" or producing
livestock for food.
Elders said the Sierra Club also had concerns about goat manure from the
Stephenson ranch damaging the land.
Others say that times have changed and that deriving research antibodies
from goats is just a way of making a cutting-edge living off the land.
"A goat is a goat is a goat, whether you raise it for meat or raise it
for hair to make an Afghan or raise it for milk or raise it for
antibodies. It's still agriculture," says Bill Ringe, a real estate
agent and part-time apple grower. He's also a former board member of the
Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau, which supports the goat ranch.
Jonathan Wittwer, who lives a couple of miles away from the ranch and is
a founding member of Save Our Agricultural Land, disagrees.
"Nobody is saying you shouldn't be able to use agricultural land to grow
flowers or peanuts," Wittwer said. "They do not harm the soil.
"If (the Stephensons) were using monkeys to (produce antibodies), does
that make it a zoo? Using goats doesn't make it a ranch."
By EVE MITCHELL, San Francisco Examiner, distributed by Scripps Howard
News Service
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 14:04:32 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (AU-Asia) Emu eggs as aphrodisiacs
Message-ID: <199803110604.OAA22931@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>The Straits Times
11 Mar 98
SEX SELLS: Aboriginal communities are cashing in on Asia's fascination with
aphrodisiacs by exporting crushed emu eggs which are believed to contain a
powerful sexual stimulant, a community leader said yesterday.
Australia's indigenous population has traditionally carved emu eggs,
laid by the world's second-largest flightless bird, and have discovered that
hidden in the shell dust is an elixir that contains a strong stimulant. -- AFP.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 14:08:44 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (UK) Tests on pig intellect
Message-ID: <199803110608.OAA13776@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>The Straits Times
11 Mar 98
British scientists to pick pigs' brains in complex tests
LONDON -- British scientists are investigating whether pigs are the
farmyard
intellectuals they are reputed to be.
Researchers at Bristol University in south-west England are conducting
a series of
complex tests over three years, designed to tax the brains of even the
cleverest porker.
"We know that pigs are quick learners," said Mr Michael Mendl of the
university's
Animal Behaviour Department. "But it is not clear what higher levels of
cognitive ability they have.
"To what extent, for example, are they capable of understanding the
intentions of other pigs and making use of the knowledge they possess?"
In one experiment, a small pig, trained to recognise where food has
been hidden, will be put in a pen with a bigger, untrained hog.
Will the uninformed pig be clever enough to follow his colleague to the
food tray and then use his extra weight to push him out of the way and
scoff the food?
Or will the smart pig be capable of luring the heavier hog to a remote
corner of their pen, then scuttle back to the food tray without the
other realising?
About 80 pigs are taking part in the test. -- AFP.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 01:37:27 -0500
From: Dietrich Haugwitz
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Request for info: "Collectors"
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980311013727.006b47fc@pop.mindspring.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Can anyone suggest sources (books, articles, web sites) which explore
the topic of "collectors": individuals, usually well meaning but
quite impoverished, who keep 50 or 100 dogs and/or cats in inadequate
conditions. Often they are charged with animal cruelty; sometimes
psychiatric evaluations are odered.
Please send literature suggestions directly to D.v.Haugwitz -
dvh@mindspring.com
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 08:39:34 +0100
From: oetvtier@salzburg.co.at (oetvtier)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: petition for preservation of wildlife and biodiversity
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19980311073934.00686c70@pop3.salzburg.co.at>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>
>Dear friends,
>
>This petition is directed to all those who are concerned with preserving
>our planet, its wildlife and biodiversity. On behalf of the Popular
>Culture Institute (Instituto de Cultural Popular--INCUPO) and the Unions of
>Educational Workers in Corrientes and Cacho, all of which are based in
>northern Argentina, we request that you sign at the bottom and forward
>to others to sign. If you prefer not to sign please send to the e-mail
>address indicated or return to me.
>
>This petition is being passed around the internet, please keep it
>rolling.
>Please add your name to it to support the above named organizations'
>struggle against the construction of hydroelectric dams, which are displacing
>peasants and indigenous tribes, causing the disappearance of a unique
ecosystem, and destroying local economies.
>
>This list will be forwarded to the President of the United States, the
>Vice President of the United States, and Representative Newt Gingrich.
>
>Please forward this to everyone you know. Thank you.
>
>If you happen to be the 50, 100th, 150th, 200th, 250th, etc. signer of
>this petition, please forward a copy to: postmaster@incucc.org.ar. If that
>address is inoperative, please send it to: san_bonifacio@msn.com.
>
>NOTE: It is preferable that you SELECT the entirety of this letter and
>then COPY it into a new outgoing message rather than simply forwarding it.
>
>
>Here it goes:
>
>Petition Against the Construction of the Hydroelectric Dam at Rio
>Parana, Argentina
>
>WHEREAS the formation of a 750,000 hectare body of water will entomb
>islands and river valleys rich in agriculture, archeology, tourism, natural
>reserves, historical and cultural sites; WHEREAS various cities, towns
>and settlements and all of the river ports in the region will be affected;
>the associated regional economies will be exterminated or overturned, and
>the community's habitat changed for eternity; WHEREAS the PARANA MEDIO
>Project is designed specifically for the generation of hydroelectric
energy, and
>not to control the flooding which will affect the valleys, islands and islets;
>WHEREAS all the local fish which are common to the PARANA (the dorado,
>sombi, pacu, amarillo, boga and muchot) will disappear because of the change in
>their environment and transform our abundant river into a gigantic lake filled
>with stagnant waters contaminated with local and industrial waste; WHEREAS
>the touristic and recreational potential of the islands which each year
>generate $5,000,000 for local economies will be lost; WHEREAS the
experience >of the Salto Grande dam demonstrates how the dam destroyed the
river as well >as the regional economy; and WHEREAS the short term benefit
of a few extra >jobs will undermine the long term, developed economies and
leave thousands of
>people unemployed, without work, without sustenance, on the islands of
>PARANA MEDIO between the cities of Santa Fe, Entre Rios, and Corrientes.
>We the undersigned protest the construction of the DAM AT PARANA MEDIO as
>BAD BUSINESS, and urge the Argentinean and North American authorities to
>halt the development of this dam
>
>SIGNERS/FIRMADORES
>1)Lori Ramos, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>2)Nora Duran, Chicago, IL
>3)Randy Spreen Parker, University of IL, Chicago
>4)Juan Gonzalez, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>5)Oscar Garcia, Alexandria, VA
>6)Jaime Martinez, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>7)Francisco Trevino, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>8)Diana Brooke, Howard Area Community Center, Chicago, IL
>9)Paulo Taveira, CHEC, Boston, MA
>10)Christian Hansen, Autonomous Zone, Chicago, IL
>11)Martin Vazquez, Health Advocacy Project, Chicago, IL
>12)Benjamin Rosales, Health Advocacy Project, Chicago, IL
>13)Blanca Vazquez, Health Advocacy Project, Chicago, IL
>14)Ana Martinez, Howard Area Community Center, Chicago, IL
>15)Juana Gonzales, Health Advocacy Project, Chicago, IL
>16)Aminya Mohammed, National Health Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition,
>Washington, DC
>17)Luis Cavero, PROMESA Coalition, Chicago IL
>18)Cornell Goodwill, Howard Area Community Center, Chicago, IL
>19)Karynn Cavero, Centro San Bonifaico, Chicago, IL
>20)Orlando Sanchez, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>21)Samantha Bollinger, Austin TX
>22)Cynthia Bianchi, Proyecto San Cristobal, Chicago, IL
>23)Rosario Sanchez, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>24)Maribel Martinez, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>25)Aura Escobedo, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>26)Irma Pacheco, Centro San Bonifacio,Chicago, IL
>27)Maria Villanueva, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>28)Abelina Trevino, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>29)Eladia Cardenas, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>30)Tomas Lopez, Centro San Bonifacio, Chicago, IL
>31)International Rivers Network, Berkeley, CA
>32)Jorge Cappato, Fundacion Proteger, Argentina,
>33) Centro de Proteccion a la Naturaleza - Argentina
>34) Roberto Bystrowicz; La Casa de la Humanidad ONG - Argentina
>35) Dra. Lilian Corra, Fundacion Proteger, Argentina, Foro GLOBAL 500
>UNEP
>36)Asocaicion Argentina de Medicos por el Medio Ambiente
>37)Ärzte für eine Gesunde Umwelt (ÄGU, ISDE Austria)
>38) Dr. Hanns Moshammer, Vienna, Austria
>39) Angela Maschessnig, Österreichischer Tierschutzverein, Salzburg, Austria
>++++++++++Aleta Brown
>++++++++++Campaign Associate
>++++++++++International Rivers Network
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 02:47:37 -0500
From: Doris & Dan
To: civitas@linkny.com
Cc: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Fw: VIRUS WARNING !
Message-ID: <35064199.6821@alum.mit.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
I have heard repeatedly that these warnings of viruses carried in e-mail
are all hoaxes. There is no way a virus could infect your computer just
from reading an e-mail. Perhaps someone with more computer savvy could
explain this further, but this is what I've heard from reliable sources.
Peace,
Doris
Bina Robinson wrote:
>
> ----------
> > From: Gary L Krasner
> > To: Mariposa03@aol.com; Nandaya@aol.com; Momnshlby@aol.com;
> alison@ctanet.fr; BatistaJ@aol.com; MCVCHQ@juno.com; AmColbin@aol.com;
> noshots@sprynet.com; peter@duesberg.com; HEALINTL@aol.com; chirho@ime.net;
> franz@aldus.northnet.org; gargoyle@echonyc.com; werpave@yahoo.com;
> va-sk@juno.com; akarlb@aol.com; duesberg@ina.com; mmasarik@fdldotnet.com;
> noshotz@erie.net; wwithin@nccn.net; HAVENLANE@aol.com; mother@ni.net;
> cezzium@hotmail.com; prove@swbell.net; civitas@linkny.com;
> dromeo@worldnet.att.net; via@access1.net; nms5ces@mail.ggg.net;
> pattys@web.net; ilanastein@aol.com; eddawest@netidea.com; KWNVIC@aol.com;
> dkwilson@cyberramp.net; peter@netlink.co.nz; peter.mancer@teltrend.co.nz
> > Subject: VIRUS WARNING !
> > Date: Tuesday, March 10, 1998 6:14 AM
> >
> > From: COEURL
> > Subject: Fwd: VIRUS WARNING
> > Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 13:47:22 EST
> >
> > Dear Folks
> > attached a cautionary note for your interest. I'm hesitant about any
> > forwardings en masse because this in itself can be a kind of "Mail bomb"
> > calculated to exceed a server's e-mail handling capacity, so caution is
> > apropriate in more than one way. This has the stink of legitimacy, but so
> > would a well-thought-out "jammer." Equivocality of the millennilum
> > best
> > Steve f LunOff Press
> >
> >
> > From: Immkd
> > Return-path:
> > Subject: Fwd: VIRUS WARNING
> > Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 08:04:48 EST
> > Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com)
> >
> > Subject: VIRUS WARNING
> > Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 06:48:36 EST
> > Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com)
> >
> > > VIRUS WARNING !!!!!!
> > >
> > > If you receive an email titled "WIN A HOLIDAY" DO NOT open it. It
> > > will erase everything on your hard drive. Forward this letter out to
> > > as many people as you can. This is a new, very malicious virus and not
> > > many people know about it. This information was announced yesterday
> > > morning from Microsoft; please share it with everyone that might
> > access the
> > > internet. Once again, pass this along to EVERYONE in your address
> > > book so that this may be stopped. Also, do not open or even look at any
> > > mail that says "RETURNED OR UNABLE TO DELIVER" This virus will attach
> > > itself to your computer components and render them useless. Immediately
> > > delete any mail items that say this. AOL has said that this is a very
> > > dangerous virus and that there is NO remedy for it at this time.
> > Please
> > > practice cautionary measures and forward this to all your online
> > friends
> > > ASAP.
> > >
> > > Janeen A. Jones
> > > Georgia Institute of Technology
> > > George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
> > > Structural Acoustics
> > > Voice: 404.894.7404 (O)
> > > 770.319.0180 (H)
> > > Email: gt0905b@prism.gatech.edu
> >
> > _____________________________________________________________________
> > You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
> > Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
> > Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]
> >
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 16:06:46 +0800
From: bunny
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (NZ)Did VHD/RCD kill New Zealand sea lions?
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980311155836.38b70d62@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Posted for your information from the Promed mailing list by bunny.
SEA LION DIE-OFF - NEW ZEALAND (02)
***********************************
A ProMED-mail post
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 1998 00:36:02 -0500
From: Ken Coleman
I was wondering if anyone has looked for chemical accumulation in the brain
of these animals. Or for that matter, the chemical contamination in the
liver or spleen of these beasts?
Just a thought!
--
Ken Coleman
[and]
Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 23:02:48 +1300
I have no objective reason at all for suggesting this, but has the
possibility of a calicivirus been eliminated?? With the wholesale
distribution of RCV throughout much of New Zealand, there must have been
some runoff into rivers and then oceans. Only a thought.
--
Dr Paul Mason
Consultant Parasitologist
72 Rockside Road
DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND
Voice: +64 3 467 9631
Fax: +64 3 467 9631 (but phone first)
[One can perceive some problems with this suggestion starting with the fact
that the affected islands are some hundreds of miles off-shore, but there
are always defaecating scavenging seabirds. - MHJ]
[3]
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 1998 08:59:18 -0500
From: Larry Glickman
Searching for causes of mortality among the dead sea lions certainly makes
sense. However, when a potentially pathogenic virus or bacterium is
recovered from dead animals, one cannot be certain that this organism is
statistically associated with dead animals and therefore, a likely cause of
the epidemic, without also knowing its prevalence among healthy animals.
This is why case-control studies are becoming a routine tool used during
outbreak investigations. While the idea of killing apparently healthy sea
lion pups as part of the investigation is not attractive or mainstream, it
is needed to establish the prevalence of infection with bacteria and viruses
and to describe nature and frequency of background lesions in various
tissues.
This approach seems to make scientific sense and could potentially save many
more lives in the long run than it costs in the short run. Using this
case-control approach, one could calculate risk ratios for death associated
with suspected pathogens as well as the population attributable risk for
each. This would then help target future research and prevention efforts. As
with any case-control study, consideration should be given to selection
criteria for controls (e.g. age and sex matching) as well as sample size and
power. Without use of some type of controlled study, it is unlikely that
statistically valid conclusions can be reached about the cause(s) of this
epidemic.
--
Larry Glickman
Professor of Epidemiology & Environmental Medicine
[I don't think that Larry is suggesting anything revolutionary in the
routine use of case-control studies in epidemiological investigations; in
fact I believe that they have been part of their traditional design since at
least the mid-60s. However there may be problems with recovering agents from
healthy juveniles a month or longer after this epidemic, or put another way
of being confident in one's negative findings, with or without serology
(which could be obtained by darting without killing pups). Also the politics
might be overwhelming. Better done at the time if done at all. All of which
is armchair epidemiology.
There is an extraordinary silence from Massey concerning these
investigations. I wonder if someone in their pathology department would be
willing to share the rule-outs from their investigations. - Mod.MHJ]
.............................................mhj/es
--
=====================================================================
========
/`\ /`\ Rabbit Information Service,
Tom, Tom, (/\ \-/ /\) P.O.Box 30,
The piper's son, )6 6( Riverton,
Saved a pig >{= Y =}< Western Australia 6148
And away he run; /'-^-'\
So none could eat (_) (_) email: rabbit@wantree.com.au
The pig so sweet | . |
Together they ran | |} http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
Down the street. \_/^\_/ (Rabbit Information Service website updated
frequently)
Jesus was most likely a vegetarian... why aren't you? Go to
http://www.zworx.com/kin/esseneteachings.htm
for more information.
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
- Voltaire
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:38:37 PST
From: "Cari Gehl"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Seattle wolf benefit concert - Mar. 14
Message-ID: <19980311083838.20780.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain
>From alt.wolves....
SAVE THE YELLOWSTONE WOLVES 1998 BENEFIT CONCERT!
Help Us Stop Them From Killing the Yellowstone Wolves
When: Saturday, March 14 1998 8pm
Doors open at 7pm to give people time to get the best couches! All Ages
Show!
Where: Dixon¹s Used Furniture 12th & Pine Capitol Hill Seattle
All ages Smoke Free Non Alcohol
How Much: $5 at the door (suggested donation)
featuring live performances by....
LARA LAVI LONNIE ROSE DUOTONE COLORFAST
e-mail: laralavi@speakeasy.org
presented by:
Spiritwater Canadian Glacial Water
Defenders of Wildlife
Veryjuicy Records (www.veryjuicyrecords.com)
Dixon¹s Used Furniture
Please come suport wolf re-establishment to their former range!
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:40:04 PST
From: "Cari Gehl"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Audubon Advisory 3/6/98
Message-ID: <19980311084005.23295.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain
>From talk.environment....
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
T H E A U D U B O N A D V I S O R Y
National Audubon's Weekly Policy Report
March 6th, 1998
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AUDUBON MAKES THE CASE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDING
That, plus a Senate solution to massive bird die-off in Salton Sea!
INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Audubon Testifies Before Appropriations Subcommittee
On Tuesday, Dan Beard, Audubon Sr. VP for Public Policy, testified
before the
House Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations.
Audubon's testimony supported funding increases for: land acquisition,
including
the historically under-funded Land and Water Conservation Fund; refuge
operations and maintenance, which is currently severely backlogged; and
non-game
bird monitoring and management.
To these ends, Mr. Beard recommended the following: $900 million for the
Land
and Water Conservation Fund; $277 for National Wildlife Refuge System
Operations
and Maintenance; $28 million for the US Fish and Wildlife Service's
Office of
Migratory Bird Management; and $175 million for the Biological Resources
Division of the US Geological Survey.
Additionally Audubon supports the President's budget recommendations for
Everglades Restoration ($144 million), Endangered Species Programs ($113
million) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation ($6 million.)
In his testimony, Mr. Beard also requested additional funding for
maintenance
and closing of forest roads. He spoke out against the purchaser credit
program
of the US Forest Service, which encourages logging operations in
National
Forests by subsidizing the construction of logging roads.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
No News is Good News
The negotiations between the four principal sponsors of S 1180 over
weakening
amendments requested by Majority Leader Trent Lott continued this week
without
result.
Senate sources indicate that Senators Baucus (D-MT) and Reid (D-NV) are
unhappy
with Senator Lott's amendments, which include removal of a provision
that would
set strict conservation standards for including unlisted, but declining,
species
in Habitat Conservation Plans and other conservation agreements. Lott
has said
that he will not allow S 1180 floor time until these amendments are
added to
the
bill.
On Thursday March 4th Congressman George Miller (D-CA) announced the
100th
co-sponsor of the Audubon supported ESA reauthorization bill, HR 2351.
FORESTS
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Committee Approves More Money for Bad Logging
Chairman Bob Smith's (R-OR) inappropriately named "Forestry Protection
and
Recovery Act" (HR 2515) was approved by the House Agriculture Committee
on
Wednesday, March 4th, by voice vote. Similar to the 1995
salvage-logging
rider,
HR 2515 promotes logging as the solution to pest infestation and
wildfire
problems facing our federal forests. HR 2515 creates another off-budget
fund,
which would primarily be used for salvage logging and thinning. In
reality,
insects, disease, and fire appear to be at normal historic levels while
logging
and grazing cause the most damage to our forests.
Although originally scheduled to be to be referred to the House
Resources
Committee, HR 2515 now appears headed straight to the House floor,
sidestepping
opponents of the bill in the Resources Committee. It is possible a vote
could
be scheduled within a few weeks. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
issued a
statement opposing the bill.
First "State of the Forests" Focuses on (Surprise!) Conservation...
Chief Dombeck gave the first "State of the Forest" address to Forest
Service
employees last Monday, in which he laid out his Natural Resources Agenda
for
the
21st Century. Chief Dombeck laid out four major goals: watershed
restoration
and maintenance, sustainable forest ecosystem management, forest roads,
and
recreation. Chief Dombeck's agenda is a welcome change in Forest
Service
thinking. It can be read at http://www.fs.fed.us/news/agenda/.
Chief Dombeck's agenda must be carried out through the Forest Service
budget,
in
which the Administration requested $120 million in new spending on
watershed
protection and restoration.
The Administration proposed another very significant change in National
Forest
management as part of the Forest Service 1999 budget. With
Congressional
approval they will improve the way they compensate counties with federal
forests.
Currently, the Forest Service must give 25% of all receipts from timber
and
other activities to the state in which the activity occurred. The state
distributes this money to the counties in which the national forests are
located
to pay for roads and schools. Because payments are based on the amount
of
timber cut, the system encourages local governments to support more
logging.
The Forest Service would stabilize payments to states so they are not
directly
dependent on the amount of trees cut. If approved by Congress, this
change
will
remove a major obstacle to National Forest management reform.
WETLANDS
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Takings Now Moves in the House
The "Tucker Act Shuffle Relief Act of 1997" (HR 992), Representative
Lamar
Smith's (R-TX) takings bill, will probably move to the House floor
within the
next week.
The legislation would weaken wetland protection standards nationwide by
overriding "preclusive review" provisions in the Clean Water Act. Under
Smith's
legislation, litigants could challenge agency rules in several different
courts
instead of filing in a specified court within a limited period of time.
Developers and other claimants could then find the most favorable
federal judge
for their claims and could also file identical claims in two different
courts
simultaneously.
The legislation would also expand the powers of the US Court of Federal
Claims
and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, two courts that have
historically sided with developers in takings cases.
REFUGES
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Senate Bill Could Solve Bird Die-Off
In response to what Audubon President John Flicker has called an
"environmental
Chernobyl", Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
introduced
legislation on March 5th that would remedy the massive bird die-off that
currently plagues the Salton Sea Refuge. Mr. Flicker praised the bill
for
examining a "full range of possible solutions," and for carefully
analyzing the
problems before recommending a solution.
Senator Boxer and Feinstein's introduction of the "Sonny Bono Memorial
Salton
Sea Remediation Act" (S 1716) comes a week after Representatives in the
House,
including Californians Hunter, Brown and Calvert, introduced their
version, HR
3267. As reported, we believe the House version "chooses haste over
thoroughness in an effort to expeditiously honor the late congressman"
and
would
fail to solve the problem.
EVERGLADES
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Everglades Agenda Set as Florida Legislature Opens Session
While Congress slowly settles into its 1998 legislative session, the
Florida
legislature opened its annual 60-day session with a flurry of activity
related
Everglades restoration.
Topping the list of pending related issues is a decision on how to
implement a
polluter-pay ballot initiative overwhelmingly approved by Florida voters
in
1996. Known as Amendment 5, it would require Everglades polluters to
pay for
environmental clean-up, and directly effects agriculture in the area
just south
of Lake Okeechobee known as the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA).
This area
is dominated by sugarcane production.
This measure would correct the inequity of the State's Everglades
Forever Act,
which requires taxpayers to foot too much of the bill for Everglades
restoration
while allowing its polluters to not pay their fair share of the
clean-up. In a
response to this legislation, one Florida sugarcane producer has already
launched an expensive television advertising campaign designed to kill
legislation that would implement the polluter-pay amendment.
Other issues expected to receive consideration include the acquisition
of the
Talisman properties which was announced by Vice President Al Gore last
December;
extending Florida's model land acquisition and preservation program and
extending it to Everglades restoration; and authorization of an
Everglades
River
of Grass automobile license plate.
POPULATION AND HABITAT
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
..And They Don't Let Up
Anti-family planning members of Congress continue to hold UN arrears and
IMF
credit hostage until the Administration accepts unrelated "global gag
rule"
restrictions on international population assistance. Representative
Chris Smith
(R-NJ) and the Republican leadership have vowed to attach the
restrictions as
part of the supplemental appropriations bill. Movement on the bill is
expected
as early as next week. Look for updates as the situation develops on the
population listserv (to subscribe, send a message to:
listserv@list.audubon.org
and in the body, write: SUB audubon-population).
The Audubon Advisory is published weekly, only when Congress is in
session.
Action@
Find Your Representative's Email Address!
http://www.audubon.org/net/congress.html
Find out how your Representative and Senators score on the environment!
http://scorecard.lcv.org
Call Congress (202) 224-3121
How To Reach Us
National Audubon Society
1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 861-2242 (unless noted)
Policy Division
Dan Beard,
Senior Vice President, Public Policy
dbeard@audubon.org
Eric Draper,
Senior Vice President, Campaigns and State Policy
904-222-2473 edraper@audubon.org
Advisory Editor
Steve Daigneault sdaigneault@audubon.org
Human Population and Habitat
Rhonda Schlangen rschlangen@audubon.org
Refuges
Lora Wondolowski lwondolowski@audubon.org
Wetlands
Mac Blewer mblewer@audubon.org
ESA
Mary Minette mminette@audubon.org
Agriculture
Maureen Hinkle mhinkle@audubon.org
Forests
Mike Leahy mleahy@audubon.org
Everglades
Tom Adams tadams@audubon.org
Interior Appropriations
Mark Lovett mlovett@audubon.org
Press Secretary
Perry Plumart pplumart@audubon.org
Posted by:
________________________________________________
| |
| Steve Daigneault, sdaigneault@audubon.org |
| Grassroots Communications Specialist |
| National Audubon Society |
| 1901 Pennsylvania Ave., #1100 |
| Washington, DC 20006 |
| ph (202)861-2242 fx (202)861-4290 |
| |
| To subscribe to Audubon-News and receive |
| timely press releases, action alerts and |
| other news items, send a message to: |
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Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:42:47 PST
From: "Cari Gehl"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: LA Times: A Dog Is Man's Most Grateful Friend
Message-ID: <19980311084247.25800.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain
I really enjoyed this one! :-)
Cari
Wednesday, March 4, 1998
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/LIFE/t000020959.html
The LA Times
By CHRIS ERSKINE
The dog and I are watching TV, one of those real-life cop shows where
they arrest real people and dish out real justice.
In this segment, the police are pursuing a suspect under a house.
Instead of crawling under the house themselves, the cops send in the
police dogs, who really seem to enjoy chasing bad guys under houses.
"One of these days," I tell my cocker spaniel, "I'm taking you on a
police raid."
This fills the fluffy little dog with excitement. He's watched a lot of
these cop shows, seen a lot of police raids, but he's never seen a
cocker spaniel chase a suspect under a house.
"Yep," I tell him, "I think the police could use a cocker spaniel like
you."
The dog looks at me. This really pumps him up, hearing that one day he
could become a police dog. He is so grateful, he is almost in tears.
"Hey, police dogs don't cry," I warn him.
Two years ago, the dog was a reject, an outcast puppy in need of a home.
Neighbors offered him to us when he "didn't quite work out."
"We don't really need a dog," I told my wife at the time.
"Everybody needs a dog," she said.
In weeks, the dog and I became best buddies. Not just friends, but
buddies, the kind of pals who can laugh about anything, especially each
other.
And I soon found that he believes everything I say. One day I convince
him I'm a cop. The next day, a neurosurgeon. He even believes I once
played fullback for the Green Bay Packers.
"That Lombardi was a heck of a coach," I tell him. "And a darned good
dancer as well."
He loves it when I tell stories about my football career. Can't get
enough of them. He sits on my lap and looks up at me, encouraging me to
tell him more.
"Really enjoyed the NFL," I tell him. "Might even make a comeback."
The dog's eyes get real big when I mention comeback. He'd like to see me
play, would love to sit right here on the couch on Sunday afternoons and
watch his 155-pound owner run the ball up the middle against the Chicago
Bears, dragging gigantic defenders into the end zone.
"Dad, you spend too much time with that dog," my lovely and patient
oldest daughter says, shaking her head in disbelief. "You treat him like
. . . like a person."
My daughter is probably right. I do spend a lot of time with the dog.
He's good company. Everything I do seems to interest him. When I stir my
coffee he waits and watches, his head going round and round with each
rotation of the spoon. One day he spent four hours just watching me make
soup.
"This dog's grateful for every little thing," I tell her.
"And I'm not?" she asks.
There is a long pause. I try to think how to phrase my response. She's a
good daughter. Lovely. Patient. And, generally, pretty darned grateful.
"Dad?"
"You're grateful," I say. "But not as grateful as he is."
The cocker spaniel is grateful in ways that kids seldom think of. He's
grateful that there's always food in the house. He's grateful when the
furnace kicks on in the middle of a chilly night. He's grateful when I
accidentally drop a piece of bacon off the counter.
"I'm grateful, too," says the little red-haired girl.
"Me too," says her brother.
Suddenly, everybody in the house is grateful. I guess that's all you
have to do sometimes is bring up the word "grateful," and sure enough,
they'll all line up and nod their little heads.
"Yep, we're grateful," they'll say.
"I know you're all grateful," I assure them. "Everybody here is
grateful. And I'm grateful for it."
As this fine display of gratitude comes to a close, I go to the closet
and grab my old sweater.
The dog knows this is his cue, that when I grab my old sweater, it's
time for our nightly walk, a stroll up the road, where I will entertain
him with stories of cop life and the difficulties of performing an
arterial bypass.
He stands by the door like a live mop, all jumpy and wiggly, doing a tap
dance on the tile floor, hoping we're on our way to catch our first
criminal.
"Want to come along?" I ask my patient and lovely oldest daughter.
"I don't know," she says.
"Oh, come on," I say. "We might catch a criminal."
The teenager looks at me. Then down at the dog. Apparently, the two of
us look like a comedy act. Or at least a couple of guys in need of some
decent company.
"I'll get my coat," she says.
* * *
* Chris Erskine's column is published on Wednesdays. His e-mail address
is chris.erskine@latimes.com.
Search the archives of the Los Angeles Times for similar stories. You
will not be charged to look for stories, only to retrieve one.
Copyright Los Angeles Times
______________________________________________________
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Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:45:29 PST
From: "Cari Gehl"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: LFAS-Mass stranding (Nature paper) (fwd)
Message-ID: <19980311084530.5027.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain
The following is a post that was made to alt.animals.whales as well as
to other groups. This paper has been referenced in various recent
articles on the subject.
Cari
--------------start forwarded post---------------------
Dear all,
Most of you are aware of the Low Frequency Active Sonars (LFAS) issue
and
the dramatic impact this military project can cause on marine mammals.
During summer 1996, a two-month discussion regarding LFAS occured in
Marmam and Bioacoustics-L lists. I think that the following paper which
was published today (5 March 1998) in Nature (Scientific Correspondence)
can be of your interest. Below you can read the entire text (Nature's
copyright).
As no aknowledgements exist for this kind of paper, I would like to
address my thanks to H. Whitehead, J. Potter and J.C. Goold. Their help
through advices, information and comments on the review of the
manuscript
was really precious. I would also like to thank D. Ketten, J. Mead, M.
Simmonds and all others who contributed through Marmam and
Bioacoustics-L.
I close this message hoping that the following article could be a
"useful
tool" in the hands of specialists who are discussing with the US navy,
in
order to convince them to stop their dangerous games.
DOES MILITARY ACOUSTIC TESTING STRAND WHALES?
Mass strandings of live whales have been explained by proposing
many 'natural' or human related factors. I found that a recent stranding
of Cuvier's beaked whales coincided closely in time and location with
military tests of an acoustic system for submarine detection that were
being carried out by the North Atlantic Treaty Org anization (NATO).
Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) seems to be abundant
in the East Ionian Sea (Mediterranean Sea), as indicated by strandings
and
sightings, record ed there from 1992 to 1997. This species is a
deep-diving pelagic cetaceans that rarely mass strands; only seven cases
of more than four individuals have been recorded since 1963 worldwide
---
the individuals on these occasions numbering 5, 6, 6, 10, 12, 15, and 19
respectively. In the Kyparissiakos Gulf specifically, the average number
of indi vidual whales stranded every half-year is 0.7 (sd=0.9, n=11),
with
the exception of a mass stranding that occured on 12-13 May 1996.
From the morning of the 12 until the afternoon of the 13 May
1996,
were corded 12 Cuvier's beaked whales stranded alive along the coasts of
Kyparissiakos Gulf. The whales were spread along 38.2 kilometres of
coast
and were separated by a mean distance of 3.5 km (sd=2.8, n=11). This
spread in time and location was atypical , as usually whales mass strand
at the same place and at the same time. And two weeks later, one more
animal was found decomposing on a remote beach of the neighbouring
Zakynthos Island, 57 km away from the closest stranding on the mainland.
Necropsies of eight stranded animals were carried out, but no
apparent abnormalities or wounds were found. Many of the stomach
contents
that were colle cted contained cephalopod flesh, indicating that recent
feeding had taken place.
After looking for possible causes of the mass stranding, we
discovered that 'sound-detecting system trials' had been performed by
the
NATO research vessel Alliance, from 24:00 11 May to 24:00 15 May 1996
(Warning to mariners 586 of 199 6, Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service)
---
a period that encompassed the mass stran ding. Also, the officially
declared area where the sea trials had been carried out enclosed all the
coordinates of the stranding points.
The tests that RV Alliance performed were for Low Frequency
Active
Sonar (LFAS), a system for the detection of quiet diesel and nuclear
submarines. This system generates extremely loud, low frequency sound
(maximum output >=230 dB re 1 micropascal, broadband waveforms centered
at
frequences which range from 250 to 3000 hertz), which enables long
detection ranges. Research on LFAS began in 1981 and a statement on its
environmental impact was formally initiated in July 1996 by the US navy.
The adverse effects of low frequency sound on whales are poorly studied,
b
ut many specialists warn that at high levels, as occurs with LFAS, they
could be dr amatic.
The proximity of military manoeuvres has been suspected of
causing
three previous atypical mass strandings of Cuvier's beaked whales,
spread
over wide areas of the Canary Islands. On most of the extremely rare
occasions that mass strandings are seen in this species, they show
characteristics unlike those that occur with oth er whales. This
suggests
that the cause has a large synchronous spatial extent and a sudden
onset.
Such characteristics are shown by sound in the ocean. Also deep-diving
whales seem to be especially affected by low-frequency sounds, even at
quite low receiv ed levels. We know that LFAS was used in Kyparissiakos
Gulf. We also know that no other LFAS tests or mass strandings have
occured in the Greek Ionian Sea, since 1981. Taking the past 16.5-year
period into account, the probability of a mass strandi ng occuring for
other reasons, during the period of the LFAS tests is less than 0.0 7%.
Although pure coincidence cannot be excluded, it seems improbable that
the
two e vents were independent. Little is known about whales' reactions to
LFAS to obtain defi nitive answers. More information needs to be
gathered.
but unfortunately, most of the d ata about the use of LFAS are subject
to
military secrecy.
(References have been omitted. Please see Nature)
Dr. Alexandros Frantzis
Zoological Laboratory
Dept. of Biology
University of Athens
Panepistimioupolis
GR-157 84 ATHENS
GREECE
tel : ++301 / 7284634
fax : ++301 / 7284604
--------------end forwarded post-----------------
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Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:53:46 PST
From: "Cari Gehl"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Court Ruling May Spell Doom for Park Wolves
Message-ID: <19980311085347.15477.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain
Press release from the NPCA (National Parks and Conservation
Association) located at:
http://www.npca.org:80/np/98-03/ma98-ne02.html
WILDLIFE
Court Ruling May Spell Doom for Park Wolves
Complex case threatens restored biodiversity in Yellowstone
By Katurah Mackay
CASPER, WYO.—Wolves in the greater Yellowstone region are running for
their lives once again because a federal judge in Wyoming ruled recently
to eliminate
more than 150 canines from the park and parts of central Idaho. Other
than some livestock owners and the American Farm Bureau, very few are
celebrating the
judge's decision.
The basis for Judge William Downes' complex ruling is the Endangered
Species Act and the environmental impact statement (EIS) prepared in
1995 that examines
wolf recovery efforts for Yellowstone and Idaho. Prior to
reintroduction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a rule that
wolves introduced to Yellowstone and
central Idaho would be given "experimental nonessential" status as
opposed to being fully protected as an endangered species. This approach
was taken to address
ranchers' concerns: they wanted the authority to shoot any wolves that
preyed on livestock.
There is evidence that some wolves have migrated from Canada into
northwestern Montana. These wolves normally would be classified as
endangered but may have
mixed with Idaho wolves that were reintroduced. The judge's concern was
that these naturally occurring wolves would then be mistaken for
"experimental
nonessential" wolves and run the risk of being shot. Downes found that
potential confusion between the two types of wolves could undermine the
protections that
naturally occurring wolves should receive, and he ordered the removal of
the "experimental nonessential" wolves.
To adhere to the order of the district judge, biologists must relocate
all of the wolves to other areas, an option that is not viable. Two more
breeding seasons will
have passed by the time the appeal is settled, and by then, biologists
may face capturing as many as 300 wolves--a daunting and nearly
impossible task.
Canada cannot accept the wolves back because they would disrupt
established packs. Olympic National Park in Washington could be
considered, but in other
parks, such as Isle Royale National Park in Michigan and Voyageurs
National Park in Minnesota, aggressively territorial timber wolf packs
would likely kill any
newcomers, especially those of a different sub species. With few options
available for relocation, the park could be forced to kill hundreds of
wolves to fulfill the
order. Fortunately, the judge has ordered a stay on wolf removal until
the appeal from environmental groups and the Interior Department is
heard.
Absent from Yellowstone for more than 60 years, gray wolves were the
only known species missing from the park's historic ecosystem. Today
Yellowstone hosts
approximately 90 wolves in seven packs--a remarkable wildlife success.
According to park officials and to Mark Peterson, NPCA's Rocky Mountain
regional
director, wolves have replaced grizzly bears in the last two years as
the park's number one wildlife attraction. (For more information, see
'The Music of the Woods,"
January/February, 1998.)
Despite federal protections, wolves in some areas still suffer from
human assault. Recently, an injured timber wolf, still alive but unable
to walk, was found in
northeastern Minnesota, a victim of hit and run snowmobilers. According
to conservation officers on the scene, the tracks indicate chat the
snowmobilers hit the wolf
once, circled back, and hit it again in the head as it tried to crawl
away. Extensive damage to the wolf's head and legs left it maimed beyond
recovery and the animal
was shot by game wardens. Incidents such as this indicate that wolves
require every measure of federal protection.
The fear among members of the ranching community that wolves regularly
attack their herds is deeply ingrained but lightly supported by facts.
There have been fewer
interactions between wolves and livestock outside of Yellowstone--only
nine since reintroduction--than were expected by the federal EIS
completed for the 1995
wolf release. According to Deb Guernsey, assistant on the Yellowstone
gray wolf restoration project, scientists have found that most wolves
prefer wild game as
their food source rather than domestic livestock. One theory is that
wolves kill what they are taught to kill as pups.
Ben Cunningham, a fourth generation rancher living 20 miles north of
Yellowstone, helped the wolf project in 1995 by hauling meat to the
animals in acclimation
pens. "The wolf is the real victim here," says Cunningham. "Yellowstone
just isn't big enough." Although Cunningham does not necessarily agree
with a compensation
fund for lost livestock, he also says, "You can't put a price on finding
a wolf and her pups outside their den in the wild. There just isn't a
prettier picture than that."
TAKE ACTION: Sign up for Yellowstone's Park Watcher Network for the
latest information on wolf activities in the park Call 1 800 NAT PARK,
ext. 229,
or email Stephany Seay at sseay@npca.org.
Return to National Parks Table of Contents
Return to NPCA Home Page
Copyright 1998, National Parks and Conservation Association
URL: http://www.npca.org
E-Mail: npca@npca.org
Posted: 2/27/98
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Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 01:02:42 PST
From: "Cari Gehl"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Major wolf die-off recorded on Isle Royale
Message-ID: <19980311090243.22823.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain
>From CNN at:
http://cnn.com:80/EARTH/9803/06/wolves/
Major wolf die-off recorded on Isle Royale
March 6, 1998
Web posted at: 7:11 p.m. EST (0011 GMT)
By Environmental News Network staff
Officials at Isle Royale National Park near
Houghton, Michigan, reported Thursday
that more than half of the timber wolves
that were present on the Lake Superior
island park last year have died.
Park Superintendent Douglas Barnard said
that 13 of the 24 wolves seen in the park during a survey held
during the winter of 1997 have since succumbed. He said it was
one of the steepest declines recorded since wolves first migrated to
the island during the winter of 1947-48.
"We had anticipated a modest increase in wolf numbers this year,"
said Barnard. "Mother Nature is unpredictable."
Barnard said this winter's survey showed 14 wolves in the park,
including three pups born since the completion of the 1997 survey.
Biologists aren't certain what caused the decline, but suspect it may
be tied to a sharp drop in the available food supply, since the
island's moose population suffered a major die-off in 1996
because of a severe winter and a very late spring. Many of those
animals were older moose that normally provide the main food
source for wolves.
Could be 'aftershock' of a moose die-off
"This year's wolf decline could just be an
aftershock of the moose die-off in the
spring of '96 when we lost nearly 2,000
animals -- almost 80 percent of the herd,"
said Dr. Rolf Peterson, a wildlife biologist at
Michigan Tech University who heads the park's annual wolf-moose study.
"Many of the animals that died then were old and weak -- the kind wolves
love to prey on.
"Those animals are no longer available, so wolves have had to rely
on calves they could kill, since healthy adult moose are quite able
to defend themselves against attack under most circumstances."
Peterson said Isle Royale's moose herd is up to about 700 this
year, an increase of almost 200 from the 500 animals recorded last
year. He said the island's moose are in good shape because
competition for food is not nearly so fierce as it was when the herd
numbered 2,500.
"One thing that has happened is that we've moved to a completely
new generation of wolves," he said. "All of the wolves in the park
now are less than five years old. Their reproductive performance
will be of great interest, since they are even more inbred than their
parents."
Peterson said there were 10 wolf pups alive on the island last
summer and only three have survived to this winter. That leads
biologists to wonder if perhaps canine parvovirus is again present
in the population. "We plan to live-capture some of the wolves this
spring and take some blood samples to see if that's the case," said
Peterson.
Major funding for the Isle Royale study is provided by the National
Park Service, the National Science Foundation and Earthwatch.
Copyright 1998, Environmental News Network, All Rights
Reserved
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:34:26
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] CJD destroyed my daughter, father tells inquiry
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980311003426.09cf1f16@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, March 11th, 1998
CJD destroyed my daughter, father tells inquiry
By David Brown, Agriculture Editor
THE father of Clare Tomkins, who is dying from the human form of mad cow
disease, said yesterday that his daughter had been destroyed by the illness.
Roger Tomkins gave a harrowing description of the 18 months of "hell"
endured by his 24-year-old daughter since the disease took hold in 1996.
His account reduced officials and members of the public to tears on the
second day of the BSE inquiry in London.
Mr Tomkins, managing director of an engineering company from Tonbridge,
Kent, said that Clare had become a vegetarian in 1985 because she loved
animals. He blamed the food
system for reducing his daughter to an emaciated wreck who cowered in fear
from her own family, cried constantly and "howled like a sick, injured
animal".
He said: "She looked at you as though you were the devil incarnate. Her
eyes filled with fear." For many months doctors treated her as a
psychiatric case because they did not recognise the symptoms of
Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease.
The inquiry is investigating the origins of BSE and its connections with a
new variant of CJD, which has killed 23 people. Mr Tomkins said that the
Government measures to protect public health had "not worked for Clare". He
said that, as a layman, he did not know the technical route taken by the
disease. He asked: "Why did it happen to my daughter? I ask that question
every day. I believe there was an element of risk-taking and my daughter
and other cases are the result of that risk. It is maybe a minimal risk but
it has happened. The results are terrible. She has lived a hell for 18
months now. No, the system has not worked for her."
Mr Tomkins said that before Clare became a vegetarian in 1985 she ate all
meats including burgers and hot-dogs. She was happy, engaged to be married
and had everything to live for.
She enjoyed working in the pet section of a local garden centre.
Then, in October 1996, after Clare returned from a week's holiday in
Norfolk with her fiance, Andrew Beale, her family noticed that she was
unwell. She told her mother, Dawn, that she had cried most days for no
apparent reason and had not enjoyed the break. She had also developed a
nasty taste in her mouth which has never been explained. Her weight fell from
seven to six stones.
One morning she drove her car out of the garage to go to work as usual but
ran indoors in tears, saying she could not face it. She never worked again.
Clare became increasingly
depressed. She gave up horse-riding and refused to socialise.
Her fiance thought their relationship was to blame, so he tried to end it.
She was "devastated". Mr Tomkins said that he challenged Mr Beale the next
week and "gave him a very hard time". He pleaded with her fiancé to be
patient. "They reconciled their differences and I am proud to say that
Andrew has supported Clare from that day."
During Christmas 1996, Clare complained of numb lips, pains in her knees
and double vision. She became unsteady on her feet and her depression
worsened. Her memory began to fade.
On the advice of a psychiatric nurse, Mr Tomkins persuaded her to keep a
diary. Between January and March 1997 her "flamboyant" handwriting was
reduced to a quarter of its usual
size until it became an "indecipherable scrawl". Despite stronger
anti-depressant drugs prescribed by her GP, Clare's condition worsened.
A psychiatrist said that she was suffering from acute anxiety and suggested
it was caused by conflicts about leaving a secure home to be married. By
the end of February 1997, Clare
was thrashing her head from side to side and hallucinating. She was
admitted to a clinic. By May 27, there were serious concerns for her
health. She was exhausted and bruised on her
arms and hands. There were cuts around her elbows, knees and ankle joints -
inflicted when she hid in fear under her bed. She kicked at anyone
approaching her. After treatment for her injuries she was given
electric-shock treatment. Her mother agreed to have her sectioned under
the Mental Health Act.
Cranial scans showed nothing amiss but a lumbar puncture indicated an
illness. On Aug 5, 1997, after Clare had been sent to St Mary's Hospital,
Paddington, for a biopsy of her tonsils,
doctors confirmed that she had new variant CJD for which there was no cure.
Mr Tomkins said: "We were devastated by the news".
After that, her parents decided she must be looked after at home. Mr
Tomkins praised the standard of support the family received from their
local health authority after his private health
insurance company refused to make a contribution. Clare is now
deteriorating slowly. She is at home and receiving round-the-clock
professional care plus the constant attentions of her family and her fiancé.
Mr Tomkins, his voice breaking at times, said Clare's illness had a
"devastating effect" on the family. He believed that it triggered, or
exacerbated, his wife's ovarian cancer. She wanted to look after Clare
herself. He said: "We have had Clare at home for five and a half months and
my wife has been in hospital for four. Without Andrew, I don't know what I
would have done."
He said he tried to be strong, "as the anchor for the family". But he cried
when he was alone out of frustration at being unable to help his daughter
recover and the knowledge that she would die an untimely death. The public
gallery burst into spontaneous applause as Sir Nicholas Phillips, the
Appeal Court judge heading the investigation, told Mr Tomkins how much the
inquiry team admired his courage for giving evidence.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
[Notes:
1 - For those unfamiliar with British terms, a stone is a unit of weight
which equals 14 lbs.
2 - "Sectioned" means commited and refers to one of several sections of the
MHA which allows for involuntary detention in a psychiatric hospital. These
still include sections which allow for a registered nurse or police
officers to detain someone for up to 8 hours without the authority of a
doctor.
3 - The pet sections of garden centres generally sell pet supplies but not
animals.]
Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Electronic Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, and may
not necessarily agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or those connected with
'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide further information, where
possible, but comments about the content should be addressed to the ET and
not myself.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:38:55
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Vet's reference to scrapie 'was cut from speech'
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980311003855.09cf313a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, March 11th, 1998
Vet's reference to scrapie 'was cut from speech'
By David Brown
THE first vet to recognise BSE as a new disease in cattle claimed yesterday
that the Ministry of Agriculture had a comparison of the illness with
scrapie in sheep withdrawn from a scientific paper.
Colin Whitaker told the BSE inquiry that he had produced a scientific paper
on the disease, which he described as "a new scrapie-like syndrome," for a
British Cattle Veterinary Association conference in Nottingham in July, 1987.
Scientists now believe that BSE was caused when cattle were given food
containing the contaminated rendered remains of sheep infected with scrapie.
He found the cattle suffering from disease at Plurendon Manor Farm, High
Halden, Kent, during 1986 and concluded that the symptoms were similar to
those of scrapie.
But when he prepared the paper, with Carl Johnson, a local ministry
veterinary investigation officer at Wye, "someone senior in MAFF" asked to
see a copy before it was presented and requested that the words
"scrapie-like" were not used.Mr Whitaker said: "I do not know who it was
was. You will have to ask Carl Johnson. [He] came to me and said, look,
we've been asked not to use this. It came down the line. We discussed it at
length as I was reluctant to cross it out. But in the end, in deference to
Carl Johnson whohad given me a great deal of help, I agreed. I had never
come across this interference before or since."
The Veterinary Investigation Centre at Wye was closed in July 1987. Mr
Whitaker said that it would have taken longer to establish the existence of
BSE without the laboratories. But David Bee, a vet from Hampshire, told
how BSE could have been identified nearly two years earlier when he was
called to Pitsham Farm, Midhurst.
There were several cases of "downer cows" which suffered from tremors, a
staggering gait, loss of appetite and aggression. On one occasion, a sick
cow chased a fellow vet while on its knees. Peter Stent, the farmer,
"donated" a sick animal for post-mortem tests in September 1985. Carol
Richardson, a pathologist at the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Surrey,
tested the brain and diagnosed a "spongiform encephalopathy" - a brain
illness in the scrapie family.
Mr Bee said: "I recall my disbelief at this statement at the time".
The condition was known to him and ministry investigators as Pitsham Farm
Syndrome because nothing like it had been seen in cattle. He felt that the
disease had something to do with animal food contaminated with toxins. The
disease died out on the farm after the cattle food store was cleaned when
traces of a toxin were found in food samples.
Mr Bee said organophosphate warble-fly treatments, blamed by some for BSE,
were not used on the farm. He agreed with the inquiry team that some
BSE-infected cattle may have escaped detection before 1984 because the
symptoms were confused with hypomagnesaemia, a shortage of magnesium in the
blood. In 1981 a cow had shown similar symptoms to the animals at Pitsham
Farm.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Electronic Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, and may
not necessarily agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or those connected with
'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide further information, where
possible, but comments about the content should be addressed to the ET and
not myself.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:45:01
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Farmers rally in support of hotelier
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980311004501.09cf22d2@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, March 11th, 1998
Farmers rally in support of hotelier
By Richard Savill
LIVESTOCK farmers demonstrated noisily outside a court in the Scottish
Borders yesterday in support of the first person to be prosecuted under the
Government's beef safety regulations.
James Sutherland, 44, a hotelier, who is alleged to have served beef on the
bone at a dinner for farmers, was cheered as he left Selkirk Sheriff Court
after the case against him was adjourned until next month.
Sutherland, the owner of the Lodge Hotel, Carfraemill, Berwickshire, was
reported by environmental health officers after he held a well-publicised
"prohibition dinner" on Dec 22, five days after beef on the bone was
outlawed. He is alleged to have served beef on the bone to 170 guests.
Sutherland's case looks set to become a cause célèbre for the farming
community. He is accused under the Beef Bones Regulations 1997 of supplying
beef which had been roasted "while still attached to the bone". If
convicted, he could face a fine of £5,000 and/or a six-month jail term.
His lawyer, David Kidd, said that he would argue that ministers were acting
"illegally and irrationally" when they created the regulations banning the
supply of beef on the bone for
consumption. The risk of harm was "negligible" and the regulations were
"manifestly absurd".
Sheriff James Paterson adjourned the case to April 6, when five days have
been set aside for a preliminary hearing into the legality of the regulations.
As he left court Sutherland was applauded by a crowd of 100 farmers,
butchers, publicans and other local people carrying placards denouncing the
Agriculture Minister, Jack Cunningham.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Electronic Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, and may
not necessarily agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or those connected with
'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide further information, where
possible, but comments about the content should be addressed to the ET and
not myself.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 00:52:32
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] BSE inquiry transcripts
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980311005232.0fc7275e@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Transcripts for the BSE inquiry, which started in London yesterday are
available on the web at the following site.
www.bse.org.uk/transcripts/
Transcripts are available as either *.txt files or *.zip files. They are,
due to their nature, long so I will not be posting them to the list.
If anyone, however, does not have access to the web and would like a copy,
please forward me a mailing address via private e-mail.
Thanks,
David J Knowles
Animal Voices News
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 01:00:11
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Huntsman cleared over fox trampling
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980311010011.0fc70ec4@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, March 11th, 1998
Huntsman cleared over fox trampling
By Nigel Bunyan
A HUNTSMAN was cleared yesterday of causing unnecessary suffering to a fox
which was trampled by his horse.
Alex Sneddon, 61, a veteran of the Holcombe Hunt, had been accused of
deliberately steering his mount towards the animal. But a stipendiary
magistrate at Rawtenstall, Lancs, yesterday ruled that the trampling had
been an accident, exacerbated by the activities of animal rights protesters.
The private prosecution, brought by Edmund Shephard, 26, a hunt saboteur
from Bolton, Greater Manchester, was the first to be directed against a
huntsman under the Protection of Wild Mammals Act 1996.
The hunt was on moorland near Rawtenstall on Nov 16, 1996, when a vixen was
caught by the hounds and Mr Sneddon, from Tottington, Lancs, moved in to
push them off the kill.
Mr Shephard said the huntsman deliberately allowed his horse to trample the
fox, but Mr Sneddon said his mount accidentally caught the animal with a
hoof after becoming overexcited by the "shouting and screaming". Mr
Sneddon, who has worked for the hunt for 32 years, said: "If I had
deliberately trampled the fox I would have been sacked."
The injured vixen was handed to protesters who took it to a vet where it
died. The magistrate, Jonathan Finestein, said he did not believe that Mr
Sneddon had deliberately allowed his horse to trample the fox. Mr Sneddon
was awarded costs, estimated at several thousand pounds, out of central funds.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
[Note: A stipendary magistrate is one who is fully paid for their work.
Most magistrates in the UK are lay persons who are only paid expenses]
Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Electronic Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, and may
not necessarily agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or those connected with
'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide further information, where
possible, but comments about the content should be addressed to the ET and
not myself.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 01:03:42
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Wife wins fight to keep dog
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980311010342.0fc75346@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, March 11th, 1998
Wife wins fight to keep dog
By Sean O'Neill
A MAN lost his best friend to his former wife yesterday after a court was
asked to rule on a custody battle over a dog.
A judge settled the dispute between Chris Dyson, 48, and Lesley, 43, his
former wife, by deciding that Billy, a two-year-old springer spaniel,
should live with Mrs Dyson.
Billy stayed with Mr Dyson at the Burtle Inn, Burtle, near Bridgwater,
Somerset, when he and his wife separated in January 1997 after 20 years of
marriage. Mrs Dyson moved to nearby
Edington with two of their three daughters and Shona, another spaniel. She
was Billy's registered keeper, but Mr Dyson claimed she had given the
animal to him as a birthday present.
Shortly after the separation Mr Dyson returned home to find Billy missing
from the pub and learned that his former wife had him at her new home. He
accused her of abducting the dog and issued a summons for its return. But
after a hearing behind closed doors at Bridgwater county court, Judge Carol
Crowdie ruled that Billy should stay with Mrs Dyson.
After the hearing Mrs Dyson said: "I am just so relieved he is staying with
me and the children. My daughters are going to be so pleased." But Mr Dyson
was "very disappointed". He said: "As in a lot of divorce cases and custody
battles the judge sided with the woman."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Electronic Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, and may
not necessarily agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or those connected with
'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide further information, where
possible, but comments about the content should be addressed to the ET and
not myself.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 01:08:03
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [MX] Loggers blamed as millions of butterflies die in Mexico
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980311010803.0fc7391a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, March 11th, 1998
Loggers blamed as millions of butterflies die in Mexico
By Jeremy McDermott, Latin America Correspondent
CARPETS of dead Monarch butterflies have prompted intellectuals to denounce
widespread logging that, combined with freak weather conditions, has
created an ecological disaster in Mexico.
Millions of the butterflies have been found dead, in layers up to 12in deep
in some places, as a result of unseasonal low temperatures and forest
fires. Now many more are at risk because traditional wintering grounds in
western Mexico are being lost to the logging industry, say protesters.
Writers, painters, poets and photographers are among the "Group of 100"
that is campaigning to protect areas to where the butterflies migrate from
Canada and the United States. Mexico's greatest living writer, Octavio Paz,
83, winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for literature, is among the group.
They have called on President Ernesto Zedillo to declare the San Andres
reserve in western Mexico, where many Monarchs winter, a federally
protected area, and halt the logging. Other
environmental groups and politicians are also opposing the deforestation in
the area. "It's not moderate logging, they are razing the mountains," said
Ramiro Duarte, president of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party in
the town of Maravatio.
A spokesman for the Colombian NGO Nature Foundation said: "The Monarchs
need the cover of the woods, for the protection and food they provide, to
be able to survive their migration. Without that cover, the chances are
slim." Biologists have also warned that the traditional Monarch migration
phenomenon will disappear in 20 years if the rate of timber clearing
continues.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Electronic Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, and may
not necessarily agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or those connected with
'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide further information, where
possible, but comments about the content should be addressed to the ET and
not myself.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 06:45:02 -0500
From: ar-admin@envirolink.org
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Admin Note -- Inappropriate Posting
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980311064502.0069b858@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
This is in support of the new "posting policy" to AR-News (11/11/97). Now,
"Bina Robinson" will be banned from direct posting for
a minimum of 2 weeks for the post: Fw: VIRUS WARNING !
Virus warnings are not to be posted to an entire e-mail list. Almost
always, virus warnings of this type are hoaxes. Posting to the list only
perpetuates a hoax. Plus, such matters do not fit in the category of
animal rights.
Do not pursue this thread further on AR-News!
Allen Schubert
AR-News Listowner
----------------------------------------------------
Due to the sudden surge of inappropriate postings to AR-News, the Listowner
(me) will implement a new policy in dealing with such postings. At the
_earliest_possible_convenient_time_, I will ban the offending individual
from posting to AR-News for a minimum of two (2) weeks. An individual who
repeatedly posts inappropriate material _may_ be banned from posting
permanently.
***NOTE: If you are banned from posting, be sure to remind me when the two
weeks are up. The process to REMOVE the person from a "banned" status does
not always work well. A potential side effect of the process is that it
may "lock" the AR-News list, meaning that no one may post or
subscribe/unsubscribe.
If you have questions as to the appropriateness of a post, DO NOT HESITATE
to contact the Listowner ( ar-admin@envirolink.org ) concerning the
appropriateness of a news item. I have supported this in the past, though
these discussions did not make it to the list.
I am avoiding making this a "moderated" list (one in which the Listowner
approves/releases posts to the list) as such action will reduce the speed
of posting -- plus, it puts the decision of what is considered "animal
rights" in the hands of one person. My goal here is to eliminate non-news,
discussion/opinion posts to AR-News and not to decide what is/isn't *animal
rights* and to allow news items to be posted as rapidly as possible.
Further, a "moderated" list would punish the many for the infractions of
the few. (Something that I found highly offensive since childhood.)
***If you have problems with this policy, please feel free to e-mail me
_privately_ to discuss this. (Posting to the list would be inappropriate.)
allen
-------------------------------
Please do not post commentary or personal opinions to AR-News. Such posts
are not appropriate to AR-News. Appropriate postings to AR-News include:
posting a news item, requesting information on some event, or responding to
a request for information. Discussions on AR-News will NOT be allowed and
we ask that any
commentary either be taken to AR-Views or to private E-mail.
Continued postings of inappropriate material may result in suspension of
the poster's subscription to AR-News.
Here is subscription info for AR-Views:
Send e-mail to: listproc@envirolink.org
In text/body of e-mail: subscribe ar-views firstname lastname
Also...here are some websites with info on internet resources for Veg and
AR interests:
The Global Directory (IVU)
http://www.ivu.org/global
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 07:12:52 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Animal Trafficking In Chinatown
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980311071250.0068ce50@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN http://www.cnn.com
----------------------------------------------
New York State News
Reuters
11-MAR-98
Animal Trafficking In Chinatown
(NEW YORK) -- The owner and manager of a New York City trading company are
under arrest for trafficking live animals. State environmental officials
seized 50 turtles, ten rattlesnakes, 90 largemouth bass, a box of razor
clams, and 700 pounds of Ramid frogs from Ocean King Trading in Chinatown.
The company owner, 45-year-old Bill Huynh Lam, and its manager, 58-year-old
Gau Kwong Lui, were charged for the offense and will be arraigned next month.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 07:18:46 EST
From: Tereiman
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: President Reserves Right to Change His Mind About Neutering
Message-ID: <1d473794.35068129@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
Clinton To Neuter New Puppy
.c The Associated Press
By SONYA ROSS
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sorry, Buddy, it's for your own good.
After consulting with his vet - and hearing an appeal from actress Doris Day -
President Clinton has decided to neuter his new puppy.
But the reluctant president reserved the right to change his mind. In
announcing Clinton's decision Tuesday, White House spokesman Barry Toiv said
Clinton was ``inclined'' to allow the procedure.
The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal
protection group, applauded Clinton's decision, saying he was doing the right
thing by his pet.
``Neutering or spaying dogs and cats is one of the most important acts a
responsible pet owner can take,'' said Martha Armstrong, a society vice
president. ``It promotes better physical and behavioral health for dogs and
cats, and it helps to address the pet overpopulation crisis.''
Clinton set no immediate date for putting Buddy under the knife, leaving some
to wonder whether the 7-month-old chocolate Labrador retriever has been told
of his fate.
``Buddy's a little too young to understand,'' Toiv said.
Indeed, Buddy, seemed blissfully unaware of any pending surgery as he played
fetch with Clinton on the South Lawn with a green tennis ball Tuesday.
Toiv said Clinton's decision was driven by concerns for Buddy's health. He
denied that it was motivated by the more than a few salty confrontations the
dog has had with Socks the family cat - who, for the record, is neutered too.
Dr. Jacqueline Suarez, a veterinarian with the Alexandria (Va.) Animal
Hospital, said neutering can help curb dogs' aggression toward other animals
and tendency to urinate in unwelcome places.
``Although, if we have people questioning if they should or shouldn't, those
health reasons are good reasons to neuter as well, so we'll use them as part
of the case for neutering,'' Suarez said.
Miss Day, president of the Doris Day Animal League, sent Clinton a letter in
December expressing concern that Buddy would suffer health problems if he were
left intact. Among them was a risk of testicular cancer and prostate
infections that could lead to problems with urination.
In January, Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry said there were no plans to neuter
Buddy, who had moved into the White House in mid-December.
However, Clinton physician Connie Mariano has now told Miss Day in a letter
that the Clintons had decided to neuter the dog on the advice of their
veterinarian.
Armstrong said Buddy need not worry about losing his procreative abilities.
``Pets don't have any concept of sexual identity or ego. Neutering a male dog
or cat will not change his basic personality,'' she said. ``He doesn't suffer
any kind of emotional reaction or identity crisis when neutered.''
Got that, Buddy?
AP-NY-03-11-98 0252EST
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 07:51:04 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Test: Wild Horses Died of Stress
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980311075102.0068c2d0@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
BLM horses
from Associated Press http://wire.ap.org
----------------------------------------------------------
MARCH 11, 07:00 EST
Test: Wild Horses Died of Stress
By SANDRA CHEREB
Associated Press Writer
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Nine young mares that survived the barren deserts of
the West died of stress induced by their capture and a 1,000-mile truck
ride to Colorado.
The horses died of ``capture myopathy,'' a condition in wild animals
triggered by anxiety of capture, according to test results released
Tuesday by the Bureau of Land Management.
Forty mares and 10 studs were loaded into a truck Feb. 17 at the BLM's
center in Palomino Valley north of here for the 24-hour trip to a similar
facility south of Denver.
Nine horses arrived showing signs of distress. None survived.
Handling of the animals is a topic being addressed by a new advisory board
looking into issues surrounding the estimated 44,000 wild horses and
burros that roam free across 11 Western states.
``The advisory board will be looking into ways to minimize stress, whether
on the range, during gathers or as they move through the adopt-a-horse
program,'' said Robin Lohnes, a board member and the executive director of
the American Horse Protection Association in Washington, D.C.
The 26-year-old adoption program was intended by Congress to reduce the
number of animals competing with ranchers' cattle for scant forage on
federal lands. Horses are rounded up into corrals and put up for adoption.
The establishment of the advisory panel followed reports last year by The
Associated Press that thousands of animals adopted through a federal
program were sold for slaughter with BLM employees among those who
profited.
The AP also reported that the BLM lost track of about 32,000 adopted
animals and that agency officials gave false information to Congress.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 98 08:14:21 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Message-ID: <199803111417.JAA18365@envirolink.org>
(Houston Chronicle, TX, USA): Lifestyles and Entertainment, by Ken Hoffman
Here's how the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo can draw fans back inside
the Astrodome, where attendance was down this year.
Cut some events from the rodeo. Just call it the Houston Livestock Show
and Country Music Festival. That's what the fans really come for, anyway,
the music. Everything else, can stay. The same amount of scholarship money
would be raised.
I'm convinced that if they held a rodeo, and didn't invite country stars
like Tanya Tucker, practically nobody would buy a ticket.
I've never seen them put a cowboy's name on a ticket to the Houston
Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Who really wants to see a 200-pound bully jump on a frightened barnyard
animal, snap its neck, and kill it? That's exactly what happened at the
rodeo this year.
Steer wrestling and calf roping are not sports. They're cruelty to animals.
The SPCA was all over the rodeo's case this year.
It's not even an "accident" or a "fluke" when an animal is killed or
injured during these events.
I'm also convinced these events eventually will be outlawed. Houston could
show its heart and ban steer wrestling and calf roping now. That way, the
country superstars could sing for 30 minutes longer. They'd be able to give
real concerts instead of the greatest hits medley they currently rush through.
Rodeo officials always insist that rodeo animals are treated with loving
care. They're treated better than most household pets, they say.
Oh, really? I have a 15-year-old Cairn Terrier named Lilly who sleeps in
bed with me. Somehow, I've resisted the urge to jump on Lilly, slam her to
the ground, and tie her up.
Despite my fondness of sports, I have never broken Lilly's neck and
killed her.
I guess I just don't treat her with the same tenderness as the rodeo.
If rodeo cowboys think steer wrestling is a harmless sport, let them
beat the heck out of each other. Now, that I'd buy a ticket for.
Even without Tanya Tucker.
www.houstonchronicle.com
-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 09:44:54 EST
From: Tereiman
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Cincinnati P&G Action Alert!
Message-ID: <90fc3015.3506a368@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
P&G Action Alert
We need your help to stop Procter & Gamble from poisoning animals
in unnecessary and cruel product tests.
Please join People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
and In Defense of Animals (IDA) on Global Day of Action against
P&G for a death march in Cincinnati on Saturday, March 28. The
march will begin at Fountain Square, on 5th between Vine and
Walnut Streets at 11:45 AM and end at P&G's headquarters on
Broadway between 5th and 6th Streets. Please bring friends
and family for an even stronger showing of support and please
wear all black for the event.
If you have any questions, please call Jason Baker at 757-622-
7382, ext. 490 or lauren Sullivan at 415-388-9641, ext. 29. We
hope to see you on the 28th. Thank you for all you do for
animals.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 09:49:58 -0600
From: paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
To: "AR-News Post"
Subject: Vilas - Become a broken record
Message-ID: <19980311095405374.AAA221@paulbog.jefnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
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The Vilas monkeys have been in solitary confinement now for five or six
days. Most of these monkeys have never been away from their large families.
More social than humans, one can only begin to imagine their anguish. They
have 85 more days of solitary confinement to go. This punishment is
routinely reserved for only the most intractable human criminals.
As long as only one of these monkeys remains alive, the University of
Wisconsin will be continuing to break its pledge not to harm these animals
or disrupt their lives.
I intend to make it part of my daily routine to remind university and
county staff that they are continuing to break their promises. Perhaps some
of you will do the same.
R
Contact:
David Ward, Chancellor (he has the authority to return them)
University of Wisconsin Chancellor's Office
161 Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Dr., Madison 53706
telephone 608-262-9946.
[E-mail: WARD@MAIL.BASCOM.WISC.EDU]
Joseph Kemnitz, Interim-director (strawdog, but might whine to Hinshaw)
Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center
1223 Capitol Court, Madison 53715
telephone 608-263-3500.
[E-mail: KEMNITZ@PRIMATE.WISC.EDU]
Kathleen Falk, County Executive (could be embarrassed into some sort of
legal action)
County Executive's Office
Room 421, City-County Building
210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Madison 53709
telephone 608-266-4114
[E-mail: falk@co.dane.wi.us]
Dean Virginia Hinshaw (the villain, her decisions have been the driving
force all along)
Bascom Hall
500 Lincoln Drive
Madison, WI 53706
Ph: 608-262-1044Fax:608-262-5134
[E-mail: hinshaw@mail.bascom.wisc.edu]
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 09:50:19 -0600
From: paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
To: "AR-News Post"
Subject: Vilas background
Message-ID: <19980311095405374.AAD221@paulbog.jefnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Background information relating to why the Vilas monkeys should be saved
from Tulane:
>From a letter to Zoo Director, David Hall dated June 15, 1989:
More than a few of the monkeys housed at [the zoo] facility have lived
their entire lives there, and animals are removed from their natal groups
only to prevent overcrowding.
. . . . As a matter of policy, no invasive physiological studies are
carried out on these animals. In addition, the Center’s policy regarding
animals removed from these established groups ensures that they will not be
used in studies at our facility involving invasive experimental procedures.
Such animals will be assigned to the Center’s non-experimental breeding
colony, where they are exempt from experimental use.
This policy on the uses of monkeys at the WRPRC Vilas Park Zoo facility
has the endorsement of my administrative council as well as the staff
veterinarians and animal care supervisors responsible for the care and
humane use of all Center animals. As evidence of this, their signatures are
also affixed.
Let me take this opportunity to point out that the Center has long taken a
leadership role in the humane treatment of research animals. . . . and our
assistant veterinarian [Viktor Reinhardt] has developed a highly regarded
program of pairing caged monkeys to enhance their psychological well-being.
Yours Truly,
Robert W. Goy, Director
Administrative Council
Then on April 18, 1990 the new director wrote to Zoo Director Hall again:
Dear Dr. Hall:
I confirm that the existing and future policies of the Wisconsin Regional
Primate Research Center are that any animals bred at the zoo are used in
non-interventive behavioral research or for breeding purposes only. . . .
. . . My predecessor, Dr. Goy wrote to you last year on June 15 and on
July 17. Our policies were spelled out in detail in those letters and
these policies will remain in place. In particular, Dr. Goy’s letter of
June 15 addresses this topic.
Sincerely yours,
John Hearn [Director]
And on Feb. 1, 1995 Director Hearn said in another letter to Zoo Director
Hall:
. . . These animals are studied in non-invasive research or assigned to
our breeding colony. Investigative procedures include those, with no
damage or consequence to the animal . . .
After it was reported on Aug.9 in the local newspaper that this agreement
had been breached hundreds of times the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research
Center Web Page reported that:
A number of factors contributed to the breach, Hinshaw, [UW Graduate School
Dean], says. Hinshaw plans to meet soon with the directors of the center .
. . noting that UW-Madison is committed to following the spirit of the
[1989] agreement.
And then on March 3, 1998 Dean Hinshaw ordered that 147 (? the total number
is unclear) rhesus monkeys from the zoo be sent to Tulane to be used in any
way Tulane wishes.
R
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 16:04:15 +0000 (WET)
From: Daniel Paulo Ferreira
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: About drugs
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Hello!
Does anyone know how much different drugs are in the market worldwide?
It's important.
Thanks in advance.
Daniel
______________________________________ ________________________________
| || |
| Daniel Paulo Martins Alves Ferreira || "The vivisector is either a |
| || morally pathologically |
| || disposed individual, or else, |
| dmartins@alumni.dee.uc.pt || if he is normal, a complete |
| || criminal; in the first case, |
| Rua de Angola, 5-2º || his place is in a mental |
| 3030 Coimbra || institution; in the second |
| Portugal || case, it is in jail." |
| || |
| 0943 912 602 || Dr. Johannes Ude |
|______________________________________||________________________________|
"Economics and politics simply intertwine in shaping conventional
medicine's approach to cancer. Very simply put, treating disease is
enormously profitable, preventing disease is not."
-- The British Cancer Control Society, Outrage, Oct/Nov, 1986
"In a deliberate effort to expand the market for their products, drug
companies are literally creating new diseases."
-- Dr. Joel Lexchin, "The Real Pushers"
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 16:42:59 +0000 (WET)
From: Daniel Paulo Ferreira
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: About AIDS
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
I think you might be interested in the following site:
http://www.virusmyth.com/aids
It deals, once again, with the great medical fraud.
Daniel
______________________________________ ________________________________
| || |
| Daniel Paulo Martins Alves Ferreira || "The vivisector is either a |
| || morally pathologically |
| || disposed individual, or else, |
| dmartins@alumni.dee.uc.pt || if he is normal, a complete |
| || criminal; in the first case, |
| Rua de Angola, 5-2º || his place is in a mental |
| 3030 Coimbra || institution; in the second |
| Portugal || case, it is in jail." |
| || |
| 0943 912 602 || Dr. Johannes Ude |
|______________________________________||________________________________|
"Economics and politics simply intertwine in shaping conventional
medicine's approach to cancer. Very simply put, treating disease is
enormously profitable, preventing disease is not."
-- The British Cancer Control Society, Outrage, Oct/Nov, 1986
"In a deliberate effort to expand the market for their products, drug
companies are literally creating new diseases."
-- Dr. Joel Lexchin, "The Real Pushers"
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 11:44:20 EST
From: DDAL
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: White House Letter
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
DORIS DAY ANIMAL LEAGUE RECEIVES LETTER FROM
WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMING BUDDY TO BE NEUTERED
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 9, 1998 - The Doris Day Animal League today received
a letter from The White House indicating that the First Family plans to have
Buddy, their new Chocolate Labrador puppy, neutered. Miss Day, President of
the Doris Day Animal League, recently wrote to President Clinton urging him to
have Buddy neutered as a sign of responsible pet ownership as well as to make
a statement that all Americans can help eliminate the tragedy of pet
overpopulation. An estimated 8 to 10 millions dogs and cats are killed each
year in our shelters and pounds, simply because there are not enough good
homes for them.
The Doris Day Animal League asked that Buddy be neutered in conjunction with
Spay Day USA, the annual, national event during which humane Americans are
asked to take action against pet overpopulation by having one dog or cat
altered. The fourth annual Spay Day USA took place two weeks ago on Tuesday,
February 24th. While final numbers are still being tallied, the League is
optimistic that at least 100,000 companion animals were spayed or neutered in
conjunction with Spay Day USA 1998.
Joining Miss Day in writing to President Clinton were Tony La Russa, Manager
of Major League Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals and noted animal advocate, as
well as the heads of five leading national animal protection organizations.
Holly Hazard, Executive Director of the League, stated "I am thrilled to see
the Clinton family set such a fine example of responsible pet ownership for
all Americans. It truly shows that we can all be part of the solution to end
the tragedy of pet overpopulation."
###
Contact: Holly Hazard/Margaret Carpenter
202-546-1761
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 98 12:35:34 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Carson and Barnes Circus
Message-ID: <199803111828.NAA29744@envirolink.org>
Does anyone have any info. on the Carson and Barnes Circus? It's going
to the Houston area this month. Thanks for anything you can give me on
them.
-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 13:52:43 EST
From: SimonChai
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, esavers@scn.org
Subject: (US-Seattle/Kirkland) Cruelty-free products
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
(If you live or shop in the Seattle/Kirkland area and can spare a few minutes,
please send a thank-you note to Puget Consumers Co-op for recently approving a
cruelty-free product policy.)
.......
GOOD NEWS!
The Board of Trustees at Puget Consumers Co-op, one of the largest food
cooperatives in the United States, recently voted to support the cruelty-free
product initiative a group of concerned members brought forward last fall.
This means that PCC will no longer purchase household products, personal care
items, and cosmetics from companies that still conduct or commission any non-
required tests on animals.
If you live in the Seattle or Kirkland area and can spare a few minutes,
please write PCC and THANK THEM for their decision. You do not need to be a
member to send a thank-you note; PCC's customer base is much larger than its
membership base.
The reason we suggest you send a letter of support is that once PCC stops
carrying certain products, there are bound to be some customers who will
complain because they can't get this or that favorite item. If management has
just as many letters on file complimenting them for passing this new policy,
it will help validate their decision and confirm they've done the right thing.
PCC staff wants to be responsive to their customers and to their members.
Please e-mail, fax, or mail your thank-you notes to either:
Kathy Blackman
Board Administrator
Puget Consumers Co-op
4201 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
Fax (206) 545-7131
kathyb@pcc.pccsea.com
or
Bridgette Boudreau
Member Services Coordinator
Puget Consumers Co-op
4201 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105
Fax (206) 545-7131
bridge@pcc.pccsea.com
* * *
More history on the Initiative:
A group of concerned PCC members gathered more than 700 signatures in less
than two weeks to qualify this issue for the May ballot. (For anyone who's not
a member, PCC is a cooperative and members have the ability to vote for
trustees and on issues raised by members.) Rather than waiting until May for
the membership vote, the Board voted in January to support the initiative.
Over the next few months, they will begin implementing the purchasing policy
we laid out in our petition. Apparently, PCC merchandisers were already
considering such a policy. PCC will be using the list of companies that don't
test compiled by PETA.
PCC will use our initiative wording as a basis for writing their purchasing
policy guidelines. The one change we agreed to gives PCC the flexibility to
purchase from companies that currently have a moratorium on testing.
Exemptions will also be made for any products for which no cruelty-free
product currently exists and for those products required by law to be tested
on animals such as pharmaceuticals.
Although the new policy does not address household products, cosmetics, or
personal care items with animal ingredients or PCC's merchandising of meat, it
does represent a positive policy change by PCC. Staff have told us they will
be replacing some 70 products within the next few months.
If anyone has any questions about the initiative, please call Simon Chaitowitz
in Seattle at (206) 784-1479 or e-mail simonchai@aol.com.
Please pass this message along to anyone you know who shops at PCC and might
be willing to send a quick note saying "Thank-you PCC." This is one case where
our voices will definitely be heard!
Thanks so much; I know you're all busy!
Simon Chaitowitz
Seattle/Washington
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 13:04:21 -0600 (CST)
From: In Defense of Animals
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Looking for Activists
Message-ID: <199803111904.NAA27164@dfw-ix10.ix.netcom.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Posted for lauren Sullivan, National Campaign Director
In Defense of Animals
131 Camino Alto, Suite E
Mill Valley, CA 94941
415/388-9641 x29
ida@idausa.org
In Defense of Animals is looking for activists who can organize events in
the following areas:
Louisville, KY
Detroit, MI
St. Paul, MN
Lincoln, NB
Tulsa, OK
Myrtle Beach, SC
If you are interested in helping an IDA campaign, please contact lauren
Sullivan at the phone or email listed above.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 98 14:26:19 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Easter Bunnies and Moto Foto
Message-ID: <199803112023.PAA22726@envirolink.org>
Moto Foto in Tulsa, OK (USA) is advertising using live rabbits for "props"
with children for Easter. We have been told they get the rabbits from breeders.
Please call the owner, Jim Brown, at 918-492-0076 and ask that he please not
use live rabbits for props. The rabbits are very stressed doing this, and
he could get sued if the rabbits bite the children. If he wants props for
Easter photos with children, he can use toys.
-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 12:47:55 -0800
From: Sandy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: RE: Virus/How to tell if hoax
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
If you get a warning of a virus, you can check it out on the web to find
out if it's really something you need to worry about...
This web page has very useful information about which virus warnings are
hoaxes:
http://kumite.com/myths/
It's recommended by the CIAC, linked to from their web page on Hoaxes,
which is also useful but less easy to navigate:
http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
(CIAC is the US Dept of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability)
*Sandra
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 15:45:55 EST
From: JanaWilson
To: AR-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma State Senate Hog Farm Debate
Message-ID: <4c27cd78.3506f805@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
A/w local Okla. City news:
A bill which imposes tougher standards on Oklahoma's rapidly
growing hog industry sailed thru the Okla. Senate on Tuesday,
but some other legislators reportedly are working behind closed
doors to undo some of its features. Senate Bill 1175 by Sen.
Paul Muegge, D-Tonkawa, passed 45 to 1, with only Sen. Gene
Stipe, D-McAlaster, opposing it. It now goes to the House
and ultimately to a House-Senate conference committee that will
write the final version of the legislation.
Meanwhile, a special House-Senate task force is reveiwing the same
bill in "closed session". The group meant twice this week. Two
Republican members said Rep. Jim Glover, D-Elgin, is leading a move
gut any provisions unfavorable to the hog industry. Some members
are "systemically moving to gut the bill and Glover is leading the
charge," said Sen Own Laughlin, R-Woodward, who objects to closed
meetings.
Sen. Muegge said on the Senate floor, "I hope we don't let some
lobbyist tell you what the bill needs to be." Muegge said later the
was referrring to Clem McSpadden, lobbyist for several hog corporations
and the Okla. Pork Producers. Muegge added the Legislature will
pass a bill with strong regulations because the legislative leadership
wants it.
The bill passed on the Senate floor contains a provision that would
require all hog farms with more than 2500 swine to be licensed. Now,
only farms with more than 5000 hogs must be licensed.
Other major features now in the bill are:
1. A requirement for hog farms to develop a plan to reduce odor
coming from the farms.
2. A requirement that hog farms contribute to a fund to clean up
any land damage caused by hog operations.
3. A requirement that operators planning to establish new hog farms
notify neighbors within a two-mile radius of the proposed farm.
Current law requires notification of neighbors in a one-mile
radius, Muegge said.
4. A requirement that the bottom of hog sewage lagoons be 10
feet from the water table. (Current law requires the lagoon
bottoms to be just 4 ft from the water table.)
The bill was amended by Laughlin to requre new farms to install
a leak detection system or monitoring wells around the perimeter
of each hog structure used for storage of liquid waste. Laughlin
also got an amendment passed changing the 1993 law that now
exempts licensed hog farms from nuisance complaints.
Hog farms would not be exempted from nuisance complaints
involving odors, water contamination, flies or other pestilence
from farms using a liquid animal waste management system.
For the Animals,
Jana, OKC
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 14:40:42 -0600
From: Steve Barney
To: AR-News
Subject: [US-WI] LEGISLATION: LRB-4985: WI Moratorium on Factory Farms
Message-ID: <3506F6CA.8C39EC47@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------41D374FDED947393E97CF46E"
The following is the text of a draft of legislation (LRB-4985 or
"Legislative Reference Buruea draft #4985") calling for a moritorium on
factory farms (i.e. farms with 750 or more 'animal units;) in the state
of Wisconsin. A copy of this draft was sent to me today, Feb. 11, 1998,
by Senator Alice Clausing's office.
-- Beginning --
State of Wisconsin
1997 - 1998 LEGISLATURE
LRB-498511
RCT:jlg:hmh
1997 BILL
1AN ACT to create 281.165 of the statutes; relating to: limiting the
establishment
2 or expansion of certain livestock operations.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Current law requires the department of natural resources (DNR) to
promulgate rules containing performance standards and prohibitions
designed to limit water pollution from agricultural facilities and
agricultural practices that are nonpoint (diffuse) sources of water
pollution. The law also requires the department of agriculture, trade
and consumer protection (DATCP) to promulgate rules containing
conservation practices to implement the performance standards and
prohibitions established by DNR. This bill prohibits the establishment
of new livestock operations with 750 or more animal units and the
expansion of existing livestock operations so that they have 750 or more
animal units until DNR and DATCP have promulgated these rules. An
animal unit is a measure developed by DNR. A beef cow weighing 1,000
pounds or more is one animal unit. Each kind of farm animal is assigned
a value relative to a beef cow. A livestock operation is a feedlot or
other facility where animals are fed or maintained.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and
assembly, do
enact as follows:
3 SECTION 1. 281.165 of the statutes is created to read:
1997 - 1998 Legislature- 2 -LRB-4985/1
RCT:jlg:hmh
BILLSECTION 1
1281.165 Moratorium on certain livestock operations, (1) In this
section:
2(a) 'Animal unit' has the meaning given in s. NR 243.04 (3), Wis. Adm.
Code.
3(b) 'Livestock operation' has the meaning given in s. 281.16 (2).
4(2) No person may establish a livestock operation with 750 or more
animal
5units or expand a livestock operation that has fewer than 750 animal
units on the
6effective date of this subsection .... [revisor inserts date], so that
the livestock
7operation has 750 or more animal units until rules required under s.
281.16(3)(a)
8and (b) are in effect.
9 (END)
-- End --
Attachment Converted: "C:\EUDORA2\Attach\vcard7.vcf"
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 16:28:41 -0500
From: "Leslie Lindemann"
To: "AR-news postings"
Subject: superintendent letter
Message-ID: <19980311212831.AAA10659@oemcomputer>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Could someone please send me the letter written by a school superintendent
to a student regarding dissection? I accidentally deleted it.
Thanks!
Leslie
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 16:39:13 EST
From: SMatthes
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, EnglandGal@aol.com, chrisw@fund.org,
Pandini1@prodigy.net, RonnieJW@aol.com, dawnmarie@rocketmail.com,
Chibob44@aol.com, OneCheetah@aol.com, Ron599@aol.com, nbgator@ibm.net,
jdanh@worldnet.att.net, GAK97@webtv.net, anmlpepl@whidbey.com,
alf@dc.seflin.org, connie@mack.senate.gov,
bob_graham@graham.senate.gov, miller13@mail.house.gov,
MChasman@aol.com, vice.president@whitehouse.gov
Subject: Sexual Animal Abuse in Manatee County, Florida
Message-ID: <379b7258.35070483@aol.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
Sarasota In Defense of Animals is in receipt of an arrest report from the
Bradenton Florida Police Department, Case No: 98-4939, and Probable Cause
Affidavit, Manatee County, Florida, on defendant Juan J. Alonzo, charging
cruelty to animals under Florida Statute 828.12.2.. The documents indicate a
court date of March 13, 1998.
The arrest documents describe a witnessed incident of the defendant, Juan
Alonzo, having anal sex with a 50 pound black dog who was yelping with pain
when police were called. The investigating police officer found Alonzo in the
process of pulling his pants up and was with the dog. He was arrested and is
being held at the Manatee County jail unable to post the $500 bond.
Contact the State Attorney for prosecution to the full extent of the law:
(Note that court date is set for March 13, 1998)
State Attorney Earl Moreland, 12th Judicial Circuit
Criminal Justice Center
P.O. Box 880
Sarasota, FL 34230
Fax: (941) 951-5449
Telephone: (941) 951-5400
no email address
Some of you may recall that Manatee County, Florida is the same county where
Bruiser, the Rotweiller, was murdered in his own yard in view of his owner and
her young daughter several months ago. The defendant in that animal cruelty
case was prosecuted by the same state's attorney's office. The judge handed
down a sentence of 20 days in jail --- served on week-ends!
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 15:54:27 -0800
From: Bob Chorush
To: "'ar-news@envirolink.org'"
Subject: Problem Pet Stores Closed [Seattle]
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March 10, 1998
Contact: Stephanie Bell / sbell@paws.org
Dolphin Aquarium and Pets in Alderwood Mall closed about two weeks ago.
Dolphin has regularly been importing and selling puppies purchased from
Midwest puppy mills.
In 1995, PAWS documented purchases of puppy mill dogs by Dolphin Pets
and filed charges with Consumer Affairs since Dolphin had a sign in
their store that said "We do not buy puppy mill dogs." Rather than
contest the charges, Dolphin agreed to remove the sign; although they
continued to purchase and sell puppy mill dogs.
Dolphin Aquarium and Pets in Alderwood Mall accounted for almost half of
all pet store complaints received by PAWS. Following our expose of their
puppy mill purchases, many owners came forward to report problems with
their "purebred" dogs purchased at Dolphin.
Dolphin Pets used to operate four stores in the greater Seattle area.
Following a divorce, ownership of the stores was divided. The husband's
two stores have already gone bankrupt. Nadine Finley, the wife, still
maintains one pet store in Redmond. This is Dolphin Aquarium and Pets,
15230 NE 24th, Redmond, WA 98052
Dolphin Pets has been looking for another location on the Eastside. They
recently applied to rent space at Crossroads but management there
contacted PAWS and we were able to provide Crossroads with enough
information about Dolphin Pets so that they were unwilling to lease to
them.
Although we have not checked USDA or King County records recently, there
is every reason to believe that this Redmond store continues to sell
puppy mill dogs.
----------
Seattle Pet Center, 15009 Aurora N, Shoreline, WA 98133 - also a problem
pet store for selling puppy mill dogs and for filthy conditions, went
out of business about five months ago shortly after intense protests by
local groups.
----------
Bob Chorush, Web Administrator
Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
15305 44th Ave W. Lynnwood,WA 98046
425-787-2500 ext 862 fax 425-742-5711
bchorush@paws.org
to
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 20:43:33 -0400
From: Ty Savoy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (Ca) James Bond And the Seal Hunt
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19980312004333.00818708@north.nsis.com>
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James Bond joins celebrities in attempt to stop seal kill
By TERA CAMUS / Cape Breton Bureau
Sydney {Nove Scotia} - Bond, James Bond is hoping to take away Canadians'
licence to kill seals.
Pierce Brosnan is joining several other stars, including William Shatner,
Brigitte Bardot, Linda Blair and Jackie Chan on ice floes near Prince Edward
Island on Friday to protest the seal hunt.
They will sail with Paul Watson on board the conservationist's Sea Shepherd,
which stopped Tuesday in Sydney to pick up film crews from Australia,
Austria, Germany and France.
"For Canada to be involved in that (hunt) is deplorable," said Mr. Watson,
who made news in 1993 after ramming several ships off the coast of
Newfoundland for similar reasons.
"The hunt has been escalating in numbers and it was done for political
reasons, not scientific reasons, mainly so Brian Tobin could become premier
of Newfoundland."
The hunt this year has a quota of 275,000 coats.
"This is the largest slaughter of wildlife anywhere in the world," he said.
"These seals are not just threatened by the hunt but they're threatened by
lack of fish, distraction of habitat, heavy metal poisoning. ... There's so
many factors that we have to take a long-term look at what's happening to
the populations."
More than a half-million seals are on melting ice near P.E.I. to whelp their
young.
"I would say there will be a high natural mortality rate (this year)."
The stars will film public service announcements condemning the hunt and the
uses of seal carcasses, such as the sales of seal penises to cure impotence,
something Mr. Watson referred to as "voodoo medicine."
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 19:56:45 EST
From: RiotFrog
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Houston Livestock "Show" and rodeo
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There were two protests at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo this
year. The first had an astounding 7 participants and second had a much nicer
13. Favorite comments from pseudo-cowboy passers by were, "Eat sh@! you commie
bastards" and "rope this bitch". A few of the news media showed up, asked a
few questions, and never aired their footage.
The apathetic behavior of so called "activists" in Houston is quite
depressing indeed. For a city so huge with so much abuse going on (furriers,
dog track, horse track, slaughterhouses, research labs, and inadequate
shelters etc...) one would think that there would be an amazing number of
humans trying to further the cause.
"But what can one person do anyway.......nothing will ever
change.....they aren't going to stop the killing....."
What a load of bullocks.
Frog
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 21:23:22 -0400
From: Ty Savoy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (Mex) Loggers fingered as butterflies die
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19980312012322.0081d610@north.nsis.com>
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Loggers fingered as butterflies die
BOGOTA - Carpets of dead monarch butterflies have prompted intellectuals to
denounce widespread logging that, combined with freak weather conditions,
have created what they describe as an ecological disaster in Mexico.
Millions of the butterflies have been found dead, in layers up to a third of
a metre deep in places, as a result of unseasonal low temperatures and
forest fires. Now many more are at risk because traditional wintering
grounds in western Mexico are being lost to the logging industry, protesters
say.
Writers, painters, poets and photographers are among the "Group of 100" that
is campaigning to protect areas to where the butterflies migrate from Canada
and the United States.
Mexico's greatest living writer, Octavio Paz, 83, winner of the 1990 Nobel
Prize for literature, is among the group.
They have called on President Ernesto Zedillo to declare the San Andres
reserve in western Mexico, where many monarchs winter, a federally protected
area, and to halt the logging. Other environmental groups and politicians
also oppose the deforestation in the area.
"It's not moderate logging - they are razing the mountains," said Ramiro
Duarte, president of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party.
- The Daily Telegraph
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 18:20:50 -0600
From: Steve Barney
To: AR-News
Subject: [US-WI] "Thai Entrepreneur Wants UW Monkeys" (TCT-030998)
Message-ID: <35072A62.D6ADDD3B@uwosh.edu>
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"Thai Entrepreneur Wants UW Monkeys"
The Capital Times
Madison, Wisconsin
United States
Monday, March 9, 1998
Pape 2A
-- Beginning --
THAI ENTREPRENEUR WANTS UW MONKEYS
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - A meeting of government officials and animal
rights activists could clear the way for moving 51 Monkeys to Thailand
from Madison 's Henry Vilas Zoo.
The meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, will include in its agenda the
offer of a flamboyant hotel entrepreneur - who hosts an annual feast for
wild monkeys - to provide land for a sanctuary for the animals.
Yongyuth Kitwatananusont told the Associated Press that he is willing to
construct an open-air sanctuary surrounded by a moat on 12 acres of land
in Lopburi province, 70 miles north of Bangkok.
He said he would grow fruits and vegetables - bananas, papayas and beans
- on the land for the monkey's food supply,
"I love monkeys. I will take good care of them," Yongyuth said.
Lopburi town is home to a colony of several hundred wild monkeys who
congregate around an old Buddhist temple. Each year, with great
fanfare, Yongyuth hosts an elaborate banquet for them. It's not a
completely selfless gesture - the event attracts tourists to the town,
where he owns the major hotels.
The Wisconsin monkeys - stump-tailed macaques - are mostly descendants
of a group that was sent to the United States in the mid-1970s, shortly
before Thailand passed a law prohibiting the export of monkeys for
medical research.
The monkeys are housed at the Vilas Zoo, but actually belong to the
Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, which had been using them for behavioral research.
The research ended in June, however, and the U.S. National Institutes of
Health later announced termination of funding for the zoo monkeys,
leaving no funds for their upkeep.
Animal rights activists in Thailand were concerned enough to write the
U.S. Ambassador to Thailand, William Itoh, to ask for his help in having
the monkeys sent to Thailand.
"This colony, the largest of its kind in the world, is in effect a
Thailand national environmental treasure," the leaders of three
organizations wrote in the letter.
The letter contended that "the only alternatives open to the animals are
for them to be killed or sold to a commercial venture for potentially
painful and lethal product testing and research."
Their quest acquired some urgency last week when scores of the UW's
rhesus monkeys, also housed at the zoo and affected by the same budget
cutbacks, were transferred to the Primate Research Center at Tulane
University in Louisiana. Under the conditions of the transfer, they
could eventually be subjected to invasive laboratory testing.
A large number of hurdles remain before the stump-tailed macaques could
possibly come to Thailand.
Montana's U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, asked for his assistance during a trip
last year to Thailand, has agreed to help in arranging transportation
for the monkeys.
But few concrete plans have been made, said Jordana Lenon, a
spokesperson for the UW primate center.
Under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species,
permits are needed before the monkeys can be exported, but so far the
center has been unable to obtain the information necessary for applying
for a permit, despite requests to Thai officials.
"This will delay the possible transfer of the animals by some time,"
Lenon said by e-mail to the Associated Press.
Lenon said the UW center had also received a letter last week from the
Thai Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals, expressing concern
that there are no places in Thailand "with either the facilities,
resources or the expertise to manage these macaques."
"We will not send the stump-tail colony to any facility that does not
have appropriate housing and the ability to properly care for this
threatened species," Lenon said.
Issues to be discussed at Wednesday's meeting at the national forestry
department in Bangkok include a possible waiver of a legal requirement
that private individuals cannot own endangered species, as well as a
request that the finance ministry grant an exemption from import duties
should the animals be sent here.
Hotelier Yongyuth said he will consult with authorities over the
ownership issue, and if he cannot hold title to the monkeys, he will
donate the land regardless and let it be staffed by government
employees.
"But staying with me would be better, because I love monkeys and will
take good care of them," he said.
-- End --
More information about the UW-Madison monkey scandal is available at:
http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/Issues.html
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 18:38:10 -0600
From: Steve Barney
To: AR-News
Subject: [US-WI] "Animal advocates: Return zoo monkeys" (TCT-031098)
Message-ID: <35072E72.E2BB04CD@uwosh.edu>
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"Animal advocates: Return zoo monkeys"
By Paul Norton
The Capital Times
Madison, Wisconsin
United States
Tuesday, March 10, 1998
Page 2A
-- Beginning --
ANIMAL ADVOCATES:
RETURN ZOO MONKEYS
By Paul Norton
The Capital Times
A Louisiana animal rights group is calling for the return to Madison of
71 Vilas Zoo monkeys that have been moved to a primate research center
in New Orleans.
On Monday, 10 members of the Coalition of Louisiana Animal Advocates
collected 40 signatures on a petition asking Tulane University President
Emon Kelly to return the rhesus monkeys to Madison.
The 71 monkeys, which were owned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
were shipped to Louisiana last Wednesday with 66 monkeys from the UW's
Regional Primate Research Center. Earlier reports saying that 101
monkeys were sent from the zoo were incorrect, according to UW primate
center veterinarian Christine O'Rourke.
The monkeys all now live in a primate center where some of them could be
subject to research on infectious diseases such as leprosy and simian
AIDS, said Debbie Grant, Tulane public relations director.
In the petition mailed to Kelly Monday, the animal rights coalition
asked him to order the monkeys removed from the Tulane Regional Primate
Research Center and returned to the zoo in Madison, coalition spokesman
Pinckney Wood said in an interview this morning from New Orleans.
The Tulane president's office said that they could not respond to the
petition because it had not been received in the mail yet.
"I've been to a lot of these kinds of things, and this is the most
positive event of this kind that I've ever been a part of," Wood said.
It's really something."
Dr. Peter Gerone, director of the Tulane primate center, could not be
reached for comment this morning.
-- End --
More information about the UW-Madison monkey scandal is available at:
http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/Issues.html
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 19:14:27 -0600
From: Steve Barney
To: AR-News
Subject: [US-WI] "Hog factory stinks figuratively and as matter of fact"
(TCT-031098)
Message-ID: <350736F3.E2C00CF1@uwosh.edu>
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"Hog factory stinks figuratively and as matter of fact"
Letter to the Editor
By Nancy Harvell
The Capital Times
Madison, Wisconsin
United States
Tuesday, March 10, 1998
Page 7A
-- Beginning --
HOG FACTORY STINKS FIGURATIVELY AND AS MATTER OF FACT
Dear Editor: How would you like it if your family had to live 1,000 feet
from a hog factory?
The simple fact is hogs stink and the greater the number of hogs the
stronger the odor.
Maybe people are not aware of the fact that this facility has to have
fans running 24 hours to take the gases the mature emits out of the
building. There is even a backup system where canvas panels drop if
electric problems occur.
This is because the pigs will die within a few hours if they are trapped
in these gases.
Yet, it doesn't appear to be a problem that these same gases will be
blown onto six neighboring families within a quarter mile of this site.
In a study done at Duke University Medical Center, it was reported that
"those who lived downwind suffered from a variety of illnesses including
increased tension, depression, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, dizziness,
blackouts, loss of appetite, and sleep disturbances.
This was a mile or more from the direct source of the odors, not a mere
1,000 feet! To have such close contact 24 hours a day is more than any
family should have to endure.
There are further health risks to area residents as well. Wastes
threaten well water with parasites, bacteria and viruses.
The nitrates from hog waste have been linked to "blue baby syndrome,"
which is fatal to infants and can cause miscarriages. And then there is
the problem of flies - swarming and breeding in a two-mile radius.
Another sad fact is Badgerland Family Farms, which is building this hog
factory, is a LLC. This limited liability corporation formed by
Blumers, Hobson, Amolds, and others in LaFayette County can only lose
the amount of money they put into the operation.
If our neighborhood creek is polluted when manure is spread right beside
it, or our wells are contaminated, or we become ill from the hog
factory, who will be responsible?
The members of the LLC will only have limited liability. Small farmers
are certainly responsible for their farms. Why aren't they?
The citizens of Green County may be forced to pick up the cost if
pollution occurs. Do you want to be taxed to do this?
Board of Adjustment was asked to put some conditions on the conditional
use permit. They considered none and put none on. They left residents
of Green County responsible instead of the farmers who should be.
I still believe if this is such a wonderful idea, then one of the
members of this LLC should build it on their farm. Their neighborhood
would be as suitable as mine. And why not make it a partnership, so LLC
members are financially responsible for it, too? If it is as state of
the art as they claim, this should not be a problem.
Nancy Harvell
Albany
-- End --
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 22:36:33 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) free range chickens
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980311223630.0072ae4c@pop3.clark.net>
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from Associated Press http://wire.ap.org
--------------------------------
OPEN-DOOR POLICY: Free-range chickens conjure up in some consumers' minds
pictures of contented fowl strolling around the barnyard, but the truth
is, all a chicken grower needs to do is give the birds some access to the
outdoors. According to Consumer Reports magazine, whether the chickens
decide to take a gambol or stay inside with hundreds or thousands of other
birds, under government rules growers are free to label them free-range.
Chickens sold as free-range supposedly taste better than the cooped-up
variety, but Consumer Reports testers said there isn't necessarily any
difference between the two.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 19:48:27
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Plant a tree - save a salmon
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980311194827.19c7ad6c@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Plant a tree - save a salmon
By David J Knowles
BURNABY, BC - Students at Stoney Creek School are getting a hands-on
experience about the local environment.
Students from the school are busy planting the first of 700 sapplings on
the banks of Stoney Creek, Burnaby's only salmon-bearing stream.
The creek has been subject to severe damage during recent years after
development above the stream on Burnaby Mountain have led to the
destruction of the banks. It has also meant the loss of shade from the
stream, leading to a warming of water temperatures.
The end result has been a significant decrease of salmon returning to spawn
in the creek.
The students say they are glad of the opportunity to particpate in helping
to save their local environment.
David J Knowles
Animal Voices News
Animal Voices News is a news service of "Animal Voices" - an animal
advocacy radio show airing weekly on Vancouver's Cooperative Radio.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 23:26:28 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@Envirolink.Org
Subject: Canadian Sealers Are Spin Doctors
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Canadian Sealers Are Spin Doctors
.c The Associated Press
By DAVID CRARY
ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland (AP) - Weary of being branded vicious thugs, Canada's
seal hunters are fighting back with a slick marketing campaign touting such
products as seal pepperoni and cure-almost-anything seal-oil pills.
It's a new tactic for the sealers, who face a high-decibel transatlantic
protest campaign as the seal-hunting season moves into full swing over the
next few weeks.
The anti-sealing lobby is recruiting celebrities to help oppose what it calls
``the largest slaughter of marine mammals in the world.'' Rallies are planned
in London and Ottawa this month to protest the federal government's
willingness to raise the seal quota to its highest level in years.
``The seal hunt will be shut down - make no mistake about it,'' said animal-
rights activist Paul Watson, the cofounder of Greenpeace. ``If we have to drag
the Canadian flag through the mud to do it, we'll do so.''
But in Newfoundland, base of the sealing industry, there is equally strong
determination to keep the hunt going - even to expand it by finding markets
for virtually every part of a seal carcass.
Public-relations kits being prepared by the sealing industry contains no
images of seals, but plenty of glossy photos of appetizing dishes prepared
with seal meat.
Samples of seal sausage and seal pepperoni are being offered at food fairs
across Canada. Newfoundland's first seal-leather tannery recently opened. And
Canadian and Asian health stores are stocking seal-oil pills which allegedly
ease arthritis pain, unclog arteries and relieve symptoms of diabetes.
Seal penises are sold in Asia for use in aphrodisiacs - something more quietly
noted by the sealing industry.
``We've been carrying on the seal hunt in Newfoundland for 200 years,'' the
provincial fisheries minister, John Efford, said in an interview. ``There's no
group in the world that's ever again going to stop it.''
The hunt almost was stopped in the 1980s. Protests resulted in a European ban
on the import of seal pelts, driving large commercial sealing ships out of the
business.
Newfoundlanders continued small-boat hunting, but the market was so poor by
the early 1990s that only about 50,000 seals were taken annually.
Starting in 1996, the annual kill rose to more than 200,000. Government
officials decided to back the industry with temporary subsidies in hopes of
partly offsetting the loss of 27,000 jobs when Newfoundland's vital codfish
industry collapsed in 1992.
This year's quota is 285,000, and Efford said it could increase if markets for
seal products are strong.
Efford says animal-rights activists are more concerned about seals than
Canadians struggling to survive in a province with 18 percent unemployment.
``Why are these so-called humanitarians not concerned about 400 communities in
Newfoundland left without work?'' he asks.
Anti-sealing activists have tried to counter the economic argument by
suggesting that sealers shift to eco-tourism, serving as guides for tourists
wanting to view the seals close-up on their ice floes.
But mostly, the anti-sealing campaign depicts the sealers as vicious.
The industry's most vocal antagonist, the London-based International Fund for
Animal Welfare, alleges that many seals are skinned alive and abandoned on the
ice after their penises are removed for export to Asia. It contends that
white-coated baby seals continue to be killed, even though the practice was
banned a decade ago.
Last year, the group sent federal fisheries officials a videotape that it
claimed showed sealers committing 140 violations of hunt regulations.
The government charged seven sealers with 17 offenses, including failure to
kill a seal quickly and using improper instruments.
Tina Fagan, a former radio host who heads the Canadian Sealers Association,
says the issue of cruelty is pivotal. Her group has enlisted a national
veterinarian watchdog panel to help ensure that the 6,000 licensed sealers use
the most humane methods possible.
Efford, however, admits that the hunt is inherently bloody.
``Who would suggest that killing is pretty?'' he asked. ``You can go into any
slaughterhouse in the world - who'd want to take pictures?''
One argument the anti-sealing lobby cannot use is that the seals are
endangered. The last government count, in 1994, estimated there were 4.8
million harp seals in the region. Efford says today there are about 6 million,
posing a threat to already dwindling fish stocks.
The IFAW says there is no proof that seals are responsible for the codfish
shortage. The group also disputes claims that the seal industry is worth
nearly $20 million a year, saying its net value is minimal if costs of
enforcement and government subsidies are deducted.
AP-NY-03-10-98 1440EST
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 23:27:05 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@Envirolink.Org
Subject: Clinton To Neuter New Puppy 'Buddy'
Message-ID:
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Clinton To Neuter New Puppy
.c The Associated Press
By SONYA ROSS
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sorry, Buddy, it's for your own good.
After consulting with his vet - and hearing an appeal from actress Doris Day -
President Clinton has decided to neuter his new puppy.
But the reluctant president reserved the right to change his mind. In
announcing Clinton's decision Tuesday, White House spokesman Barry Toiv said
Clinton was ``inclined'' to allow the procedure.
The Humane Society of the United States, the nation's largest animal
protection group, applauded Clinton's decision, saying he was doing the right
thing by his pet.
``Neutering or spaying dogs and cats is one of the most important acts a
responsible pet owner can take,'' said Martha Armstrong, a society vice
president. ``It promotes better physical and behavioral health for dogs and
cats, and it helps to address the pet overpopulation crisis.''
Clinton set no immediate date for putting Buddy under the knife, leaving some
to wonder whether the 7-month-old chocolate Labrador retriever has been told
of his fate.
``Buddy's a little too young to understand,'' Toiv said.
Indeed, Buddy, seemed blissfully unaware of any pending surgery as he played
fetch with Clinton on the South Lawn with a green tennis ball Tuesday.
Toiv said Clinton's decision was driven by concerns for Buddy's health. He
denied that it was motivated by the more than a few salty confrontations the
dog has had with Socks the family cat - who, for the record, is neutered too.
Dr. Jacqueline Suarez, a veterinarian with the Alexandria (Va.) Animal
Hospital, said neutering can help curb dogs' aggression toward other animals
and tendency to urinate in unwelcome places.
``Although, if we have people questioning if they should or shouldn't, those
health reasons are good reasons to neuter as well, so we'll use them as part
of the case for neutering,'' Suarez said.
Miss Day, president of the Doris Day Animal League, sent Clinton a letter in
December expressing concern that Buddy would suffer health problems if he were
left intact. Among them was a risk of testicular cancer and prostate
infections that could lead to problems with urination.
In January, Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry said there were no plans to neuter
Buddy, who had moved into the White House in mid-December.
However, Clinton physician Connie Mariano has now told Miss Day in a letter
that the Clintons had decided to neuter the dog on the advice of their
veterinarian.
Armstrong said Buddy need not worry about losing his procreative abilities.
``Pets don't have any concept of sexual identity or ego. Neutering a male dog
or cat will not change his basic personality,'' she said. ``He doesn't suffer
any kind of emotional reaction or identity crisis when neutered.''
Got that, Buddy?
AP-NY-03-11-98 0252EST
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 1998 21:03:34 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Wild horses die of stress after captured
Message-ID: <35076CA6.1AD8@worldnet.att.net>
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Wild horses died of stress after capture
The Associated Press
RENO, Nev., March 11, 1998
Nine young mares that survived the barren deserts of the West died of
stress brought on by their capture and a 1,000-mile truck ride to
Colorado.
The horses died of "capture myopathy," a condition in wild animals that
is triggered by anxiety of capture, according to test results released
Tuesday by the Bureau of Land Management.
Forty mares and 10 studs were loaded into a truck Feb. 17 at the BLM's
center in Palomino Valley north of here for the 24-hour trip to a
similar facility south of Denver.
Nine horses arrived showing signs of distress. None survived.
Handling of the animals is a topic being addressed by a new advisory
board looking into issues surrounding the estimated 44,000 wild horses
and burros
that roam free across 11 Western states.
"The advisory board will be looking into ways to minimize stress,
whether on
the range, during gathers or as they move through the adopt-a-horse
program," said Robin Lohnes, a board member and the executive director
of the American Horse Protection Association in Washington, D.C.
The 26-year-old adoption program was intended by Congress to reduce the
number of animals competing with ranchers' cattle for scant forage on
federal lands. Horses are rounded up into corrals and put up for
adoption.
The establishment of the advisory panel followed reports last year by
The Associated Press that thousands of animals adopted through a federal
program were sold for slaughter with BLM employees among those who
profited.
The AP also reported that the BLM lost track of about 32,000 adopted
animals and that agency officials gave false information to Congress.
By SANDRA CHEREB, Associated Press Writer
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