AR-NEWS Digest 448

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) "Tremendously exciting" rat study on addiction
     by Andrew Gach 
  2) McDonald's to serve British beef
     by Andrew Gach 
  3) Elephants to get help
     by Vadivu Govind 
  4) (PT) Need some tips
     by Daniel Paulo Martins Ferreira 
  5) Council Approves Animal Ordinance in Tulsa, OK USA
     by Snugglezzz@aol.com
  6) (US) stray cats to be poisioned Mon. morning
     by igor@earthlink.net (Cats)
  7) RFI: Wed 6/25 USA Today article on bison
     by Mike Markarian 
  8) LIDA's Twentieth Birthday
     by "Lega Italiana dei Diritti dell'Animale" 
  9) Re: (US) stray cats to be poisioned Mon. morning
     by aliciadl@juno.com (Alicia D Lewis)
 10) Another circus in town (MI)
     by HudaKore@aol.com
 11) L.A. & S.F. Zoos Rally Around Calle When the Asian Elephant Tests Positive for TB
     by glaza@primenet.com (greater los angeles zoo association)
 12) (US) Wall Street to P&G: Stop Animal Tests
     by PrairieD@aol.com
 13) Ct. Gov. Signs Wildlife Bill
     by Mike Markarian 
 14) Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RCD)-Cuba  
     by bunny 
 15) Buffalo slaughter proposal 
     by Sandra Boss 
 16) (PH) Monkeys in danger
     by Vadivu Govind 
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 21:37:46 -0700
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: "Tremendously exciting" rat study on addiction
Message-ID: <33B3439A.7C39@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Brain Studies Tie Marijuana to Other Drugs

          By SANDRA BLAKESLEE

New York Times Interactive Edition - June 27, 1997

People who regularly smoke large amounts of marijuana may
experience changes in their brain chemistry that are identical to
changes seen in the brains of people who abuse heroin, cocaine,
amphetamines, nicotine and alcohol, scientists have found. 

The findings, based on studies of rats, are being published Friday in
the journal Science. They provide strong support for the emerging idea
that all addictive drugs corrupt the same brain circuits, although to
varying degrees, and suggest that chronic marijuana use may literally
prime the brain for other drugs of abuse, a notion known as "the gateway
effect." 

Although the studies were conducted on rats, researchers are confident
that the findings will apply directly to humans; virtually all of the
biological mechanisms known to cause drug addiction were discovered in
animal models before being established in humans. 

People who oppose the legalization of marijuana will be happy about
these findings, while those who feel that marijuana is a benign drug
will probably be upset, said Dr. Alan Leshner, director of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse in Rockville, Md., which financed the research. 

But beyond political arguments about the safety of marijuana, he said,
"the findings are tremendously exciting for they point to a deeper
understanding of how addiction arises, to a common essence of
addiction" and may ultimately lead to new ways of treating drug abuse. 

According to this new hypothesis, addictive drugs like nicotine, heroin
and cocaine all work through common pathways in the brain. One
pathway is responsible for feelings of reward, and a second pathway
underlies feelings of anxiety brought on by stress. In street drug
parlance, one system produces the "high" while the other produces
withdrawal. 

But many people thought marijuana was different because overt feelings
of withdrawal are relatively uncommon, said Dr. George Koob, a
neuropharmacologist at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. The
reason is that marijuana's active ingredient, THC, has a long half-life
-- meaning it lingers in the bloodstream -- which in turn prevents the
abrupt withdrawal symptoms seen in fast-acting drugs like nicotine, he
said. 

But this does not mean that marijuana is not addictive, Koob said. An
estimated 100,000 Americans turn to drug rehabilitation centers each
year for help in overcoming marijuana habits. 

Two experiments being reported Friday show for the first time why
marijuana can be just as insidious -- neurochemically speaking -- as
nicotine, cocaine and the other drugs of abuse. 

In one experiment, rats were injected with a potent, synthetic form of
marijuana while a brain region known to control emotions was monitored
for dopamine. Dopamine is the brain chemical responsible for feelings of
reward and is initially increased by all addictive drugs, said Dr.
Gaetano DiChiara, who carried out the study with colleagues at the
University of
Cagliari in Italy. 

Dopamine levels doubled in animals given the drug compared with
animals injected with an inactive form of marijuana, DiChiara said. The
magnitude of the surge was similar to that seen in another group of
animals given heroin. This is the first time that researchers have shown
that dopamine levels rise sharply in response to marijuana, Leshner
said, proving that a marijuana high is no different at this most basic
level from a cocaine high. As with other addictive substances, he said,
the brain's ability to make dopamine can diminish over time, creating an
ever greater need for the drug. 

The second experiment, carried out by Koob and colleagues from
Complutense University in Madrid, looked at another brain circuit known
to be involved with feelings of withdrawal from opiates, cocaine and
alcohol. This circuit, also located in a brain region controlling
emotions, releases a small protein called corticotropin-releasing
factor, or CRF. 

When a person or animal is under stress or suddenly stops taking alcohol
or other addictive drugs, Koob said, CRF levels rise. People become
anxious, edgy and unable to cope. In other words, they enter withdrawal.

To see if marijuana could produce the same effect, the researchers
injected rats with a synthetic form of cannibis once a day for two weeks
to mimic heavy marijuana use in humans. Then they administered a second
drug, which abruptly counteracted the active ingredient in
marijuana, throwing the animals into withdrawal. 

Levels of CRF in the rats' brains were two to three times higher than in
control rats not given the counteracting drug, Koob said. Moreover, the
experimental rats showed exaggerated signs of being under stress, like
compulsive grooming and teeth chattering. 

While sudden withdrawal from marijuana is not naturally seen in most
people, Koob said, the animal experiments serve to unmask changes in
brain chemistry that are likely to affect humans who abuse the drug. 

The findings also suggest that many people who become addicted to
marijuana smoke not so much for the high as to assuage feelings of
anxiety brought on by the drug itself, Koob said. 

"It's hard to say that using one drug inevitably leads to using harder
drugs," Leshner said. "But experience with smoking makes it easier to
smoke. Pleasure with one drug makes you more likely to seek pleasure
with another drug." 

Now there is scientific support for the idea that experience with
marijuana primes the brain to be more receptive to other drugs, he said.
But it does not mean that everyone who occasionally smokes marijuana --
or drinks a few beers or smokes an occasional cigarette -- will become a
drug addict. 

"Most people do fine," Leshner said. "But every one of us knows
someone who did not do fine, and that's the worry."

=========================================================

MY worry is that some people may mistake this kind of garbage for
bona-fide science.

Andy
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 1997 21:48:35 -0700
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: McDonald's to serve British beef
Message-ID: <33B34623.726C@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

With mad cow fears reduced, McDonald's lifts ban on British beef 

The Associated Press 

LONDON (June 26, 1997 3:03 p.m. EDT) -- McDonald's lifted its 15-month
ban on British beef Thursday, saying customers appear to be overcoming
their fears of mad cow disease.

The burger giant said it asked consumers this month whether it should
resume serving British beef in its stores in the United Kingdom, and
three-fourths said yes.

"We will begin buying British beef immediately and the new supplies will
start to be served in restaurants over the next few weeks," McDonald's
managing director Andrew Taylor announced after meeting with Agriculture
Minister Jack Cunningham.

McDonald's stopped using British beef in March 1996 after the government
announced a likely connection between a fatal brain disease in humans
and meat from cows infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known
as mad cow disease.

The company, which has 760 restaurants in the United Kingdom, had been
spending more than $37.5 million a year on British beef and had been
buying 7,000 cattle a week -- or about one in every 12 British cows that
went to market for slaughter.

The ban was a severe blow to farmers and the British market. The crisis
over the disease led the European Union to ban Britain's worldwide beef
exports, a measure that still stands.

Microbiologist Richard Lacey, among the first scientists to warn of a
BSE threat to humans, accused McDonald's of placing profits before
public health.

"There are still too many risks," said Lacey, who works at Leeds
University in northern England.

National Farmers Union president Sir David Naish, responding to
speculation earlier Thursday that McDonald's would start buying British
beef again, said the company was a "hugely important"
customer.

"I am delighted now that they listened to their consumers and I very
much hope they will feel able to come back into the market," he said.
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 13:28:07 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Elephants to get help
Message-ID: <199706270528.NAA07651@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Bangkok Post 
27 June 97
Elephants to get help
              New home on Trat's Koh Chang
             proposed
              Chakrit Ridmontri

              Domestic elephants that are forced to roam city streets to earn
              money for their mahouts may be given a new home on Koh
              Chang in Trat.

              The Ministry of Agriculture has been asked to set up an elephant
              rehabilitation centre on the island.

              Pittaya Homkrailert, director of the Asian Elephant Foundation
              of Thailand, said the proposed centre would be based in fertile
              forest where there is enough food for the elephants. Their
              mahouts would also be given new jobs as tourist guides.

              "There is no way to stop mahouts from bringing elephants to the
              cities if there is no food or jobs available in their hometowns,"
              said Mr Pittaya, who was speaking at a seminar on domestic
              elephants held at Kasetsart University yesterday.

              Mr Pittaya said the 10-million-baht centre would materialise only
              if the ministry gave the foundation the go-ahead to use the forest
              plot.

              "I will submit the proposal to the ministry next week," he said.

              Mr Pittaya said Chang island was chosen because of its
              prominence as a tourist spot and its forest cover. 

              The centre would consist of three sections: One for the
              rehabilitation of sick elephants; one for tourist activities
such as
              elephant trekking; and one where stronger elephants would be
              left undisturbed prior to being returned to the jungle.

              However, there will be no more than 40 elephants at any one
              time because they each eat around 200 kilogrammes of leaves
              and fruit a day, and risk damaging the ecosystem if there are
              more.

              Parawuth Waiwatchanakul, an elephant activist from Surin,
              suggested an alternative site for the rehabilitation centre on a
              forest plot in Tha Toom district. He said elephants used to be
              raised in the forest area near the Moon and Chi rivers but illegal
              logging and encroachment had forced the animals out into the
              cities where their drivers begged for donations to help feed them.

              Mr Parawuth said illegal forest occupants should be relocated
              and the land restored and used for a centre.

              He added: "If the government or society realised that the
              elephant is the country's symbol they would pay more attention
              to conserving it properly by creating jobs for mahouts and
              recovering habitats."

Article copyright Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd 1997
Reprinted for non-commercial use only.
Website: http://www.bangkokpost.net

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 12:08:38 +0000 (GMT)
From: Daniel Paulo Martins Ferreira 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (PT) Need some tips
Message-ID: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


Hi everybody.

Next Summer I'll start to prepare an exposition with some persons. The
exposition must be finished next September/October and will focus several
issues on AR (vivisection, factory farming, circus, zoos, fur, etc).
We have not much experience in doing expositions (and my personal
experience is zero) so we would appreciate any tips about how to make a 
good one. 

We have allready pictures from ARRS Picture Gallery, Peta's web site and a
few more we picked from the web. However, most of them have not enough
information (local, date, purpose of the experiment, etc) so we would
appreciate any picture you could send us with detailed information 
(specially about animal research). You can use this email adress and send
them as attachments.

I would like to ask all people who have pictures on animal exploitation in
their web sites to add more detailed information about them whenever  
possible (a short description, persons or institutions involved, local and
date). This information is very important to those who need to use them in
expositions, booklets, etc.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Daniel 



Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 08:46:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Snugglezzz@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Council Approves Animal Ordinance in Tulsa, OK USA
Message-ID: <970627084632_1544492853@emout04.mail.aol.com>

Tulsa World, USA: After six years in the making, the City Council on Thursday
approved an animal ordinance that makes it illegal for dogs and cats to roam
at large, mandates animals be spayed or neutered, and limits the number of
pets in a household.

Councilors' approval was subject to updating wording on vaccines and amending
a section addressing hobbyists.

The ordinance will be effective November 1.

"This has been quite an experience," said Councilor Darla Hall, who
spearheaded the effort to revise the ordinance.

"I will never, ever tackle an entire ordinance like I did with this one under
any
circumstances," she said.

The effort to update the city's regulations on animals in the city limits
began in 1991. At its high point, the effort involved 100 volunteers serving
on seven subcommittees.

Hearings were sometimes contentious, with participants dressing as honey bees
to campaign for the right to keep bees, and others bringing pot bellied pigs
to a council meeting.

Protestors mainly argued that cats should be allowed to roam outside and that
the city should not mandate animals be spayed or neutered.

Lois Sanford said pets are personal property. (That mentality is what makes
people think they can do anything they want to the animals.) 

"I don't think a government body should be telling citizens what to do with
private property," she said.

A section addressing hobbyist exemptions allows owners to buy a $25 permit
that would exempt them from having to spay or neuter their animals. It also
addresses provisions for breeders, field trials for hunting dogs and rescue
dogs.

City Attorney David Pauling said the hobbyist exemption will be difficult to
enforce because many factors are inconsistent.

The legal department has been directed to amend the section to make it
enforceable.



-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 08:56:50 -0700
From: igor@earthlink.net (Cats)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) stray cats to be poisioned Mon. morning
Message-ID: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

-Norwalk, California

On Mon. morning, June 30, 25 kittens and 75 cats are scheduled to be
painfully poisioned at:

Metropolitan State Hospital
11400 Norwalk Blvd.
Norwalk, CA  90650

The poision is planned to be put in the cat food.

FAX & CALL:

Bill Silva, Executive Director
Metropolitan State Hospital
Ph:     (562) 863-7011
Fx:     (562) 864-4560

TELL HIM TO HALT THE UNLAWFUL & PAINFUL POISIONING

If you can help trap:
6/28 SATURDAY at 7:00 a.m. sharp
meet at the entrance on Imperial & Bloomfield Aves.


Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 09:57:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: RFI: Wed 6/25 USA Today article on bison
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970627130535.5c4f6636@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Does anyone have a copy of the Yellowstone bison article in Wednesday's
(6/25) USA TODAY? I'm having trouble tracking down a copy, and would
appreciate if someone could either post it to the list or send me a copy.

Thanks.

Mike Markarian
The Fund for Animals
850 Sligo Avenue, Suite 300
Silver Spring, MD 20910
fax 301-585-2595

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 19:34:47 -0700
From: "Lega Italiana dei Diritti dell'Animale" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: LIDA's Twentieth Birthday
Message-ID: <33B47847.3F1C@mclink.it>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1


The annual meeting of the Italian League for Animal Rights - LIDA (Lega
Italiana dei Diritti dell’Animale) was held in Rome on
22 June 1997, exactly twenty years from its foundation.
With the presentation of the CHARTER OF ANIMAL RIGHTS in Brussels and
Paris in October 1978, LIDA began its
non-violent struggle against anthropocentric injustice in order to
affirm a biocentric ethic, aiming at quality rather than increasing
its members at any cost, and rejecting any kind of party sponsorization,
thus maintaining its autonomy and freedom.
Acknowledgement of the importance of its aims arrived in 1986 with the
decree of the Ministry of the Environment, including it
among the associations for environmental protection, and with the decree
of the Ministry of Health, with its appointment as
member of the national technical commission for stock breeding and
slaughterhouses.
Since 1995 LIDA has entered INTERNET with its own We bsite (on MC-link),
receiving much praise and awards for the
quality of its site.
For the past three years, it has published the magazines "l'animalista"
and "l'animalista dei ragazzi" and is currently busy with
environmental education.
In this connection, the Meeting officialy set up:
- the LIDA COMMITTEE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, comprising teachers,
under the leadership of
Domenica PRESTI (Messina) and
- the CENTRE FOR INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION (tel & FAX +39 761 612075 -
Viterbo).
Other committes include the following: against the corrida (SCHIO),
agains pehnomenon of strays (CATANIA), against the
trade in dogs (PADOVA).
Local branches: SASSARI, ORISTANO, PORTO TORRES, OLBIA, FIRENZE, GENOVA,
PADOVA, OLIVERI (ME).
Auditors: Margherita ISNARDI PARENTE, May MULLER, Antonello CARBONI.
National Coordinator: Dr. Laura GIRARDELLO.
(ideological) Chairman: Dr. Giovanni PERONCINI [biologist and
information technology operator, since twenty years
committed to the fight for every form of human and non-human life and
respect
for every kind of language and communication, breaking down the wall of
silence with which he has lived from the age of two
(due to an anti-smallpox vaccination)].
LIDA's initiatives for the Third Millennium will include arousing public
opinion via INTERNET on the subjects of environmental
ethics, veganism, struggles against violence and injustice (current
topics: against the “silence-consent” law, investigations into the
trade in dogs, struggles against phenomenon of stray animals).

Laura Girardello
National Coordinator

LIDAmatic, il sito Internet della LIDA
http://www.mclink.it/assoc/lida

(English Version) 
http://www.mclink.it/assoc/lida/lidaen.htm
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 16:13:02 -0400
From: aliciadl@juno.com (Alicia D Lewis)
To: igor@earthlink.net
Cc: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: (US) stray cats to be poisioned Mon. morning
Message-ID: <19970627.161304.4342.4.AliciaDL@juno.com>

FYI.....
I received a voice mail message Bill Silva, Executive Director of
Metropolitan Hospital after sending him a fax. He has promised that this
is a rumor! They are absolutely not planning to poison the cats. He has
assured me that an animal organization is coming Monday to pick up the
cats. He said since he was in California, even though he wouldn't - he
couldn't harm animals without facing prosecution. 
Please let me know if you hear of anything different.
aliciadl@juno.com


On Fri, 27 Jun 1997 08:56:50 -0700 igor@earthlink.net (Cats) writes:
>-Norwalk, California
>
>On Mon. morning, June 30, 25 kittens and 75 cats are scheduled to be
>painfully poisioned at:
>
>Metropolitan State Hospital
>11400 Norwalk Blvd.
>Norwalk, CA  90650
>
>The poision is planned to be put in the cat food.
>
>FAX & CALL:
>
>Bill Silva, Executive Director
>Metropolitan State Hospital
>Ph:     (562) 863-7011
>Fx:     (562) 864-4560
>
>TELL HIM TO HALT THE UNLAWFUL & PAINFUL POISIONING
>
>If you can help trap:
>6/28 SATURDAY at 7:00 a.m. sharp
>meet at the entrance on Imperial & Bloomfield Aves.
>
>
>
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 16:52:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: HudaKore@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Another circus in town (MI)
Message-ID: <970627164836_1689440264@emout16.mail.aol.com>

Hi list members,

A small, family-run circus is coming to Clarkston, MI.  This is the
Kelly-Miller Circus.  They will be setting up tent at the Clinton-Wood Park
this coming Tuesday, July 1st at 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.  Please come out to
help us protest this circus  If you want directions and/or a ride, call the
HARE hotline at 810-853-5933.  If you can't make it ,even if you're not from
MI, please write polite, informative letters to Ms. Ann Conklin,  Director of
Parks & Recreation, 90 N. Main St., PO Box 69, Clarkston, MI, 48347.  Ms.
Conklin has apparently bought into the whole circus rhetoric and defended the
circus by stating that she (get this!) asked the family that runs this thing
if they mistreat their animals!!!!  Of course they said "No" and she is naive
enough to believe them!  Let's educate this poor misinformed woman whose
bottom line is likely the bottom line, i.e. $$$$$$.  Call 810-625-8223 and
ask her not to allow ANY circus (unless all human) to be invited back or
allowed to come back to Clarkston.  Let's send her any info, videos, etc. you
have.  Maybe we have to work on eliminating these small travelling circuses
by informing these equally small-minded but instrumental people.

Thank you for the animals,
Hilma

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 13:53:00 -0700 (MST)
From: glaza@primenet.com (greater los angeles zoo association)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: L.A. & S.F. Zoos Rally Around Calle When the Asian Elephant Tests Positive for TB
Message-ID: <199706272053.NAA03672@primenet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

LOS ANGELES ZOO PRESS RELEASE
June 27, 1977

LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO ZOOS RALLY AROUND CALLE 
WHEN THE ASIAN ELEPHANT TESTS POSITIVE FOR TB

A former L.A. Zoo elephant is diagnosed with Mycobacterium tuberculosis at
the Francisco Zoo.  L.A. Zoo concerned about the possibility of TB in their
elephants.   

      Calle, the 30-year-old Asian elephant that was transferred to the San
Francisco Zoo from Los Angeles in March 1997, to be a companion for
Tinkerbell, a lonely Asian elephant,  has tested positive for Mycobacterium
tuberculosis (the human form of tuberculosis). 

      Calle came to the Los Angeles Zoo in 1994.  In October 1996 she
injured an animal keeper and was transferred to Have Trunk Will Travel in
Perris, California. From Perris,  she was transported to the San Francisco Zoo.

      In April 1997, a few weeks after Calle arrived in San Francisco, her
former exhibit mate,  Annie, a 33-year-old Asian elephant at the Los Angeles
Zoo died of Salmonella typhimurium.  Annie's post mortem examination
revealed a few solid, calcified scars that contained sparse tuberculosis
organisms when stained for microscopic study.  There were none of the
tell-tale tubercles of active tuberculosis and this observation supported
the opinion that the progressive disease had long since abated by the time
of Annie's death, due to Salmonella typhimurium.

      "This illustrates the problems associated with TB testing in
elephants.  Even with the methods currently available, "false positive" and
"false negative" results occur commonly, said Dr. Ramiro Isaza, Associate
Veterinarian for the Los Angeles Zoo. "The main reason for the misleading
results is that these tests have not proved to be reliable in elephants.  To
date, the trunk wash culture appears to be the best method of confirming
infection."   

        Calle was not tested in January 1997 at the Los Angeles Zoo because
she had already been transferred to an interim facility.  However, prior to
Calle's move to San Francisco, she was blood-tested for TB.  Results of her
test were not completed until after she moved up north.   When her tests
came back, they were suggestive of tuberculosis.   Under the presumptive
diagnosis of TB, the San Francisco Zoo began treating Calle.  They developed
a protocol to administer the medicine hidden in her food.  Unfortunately,
her medication must be administered orally, and it does not have an inviting
taste.  Initially, Calle rejected 70% of the dosage, even after the staff
disguised the medicine in cookies, bread and sherbet.   Subsequently, they
decided to switch to pills, however, Calle now requires 500 tablets a day,
making this an arduous task for the staff. 

      As indicated by Dr. L. Masae Kawamura, director of the San Francisco's
Department of Public Health's TB Control Division,  "Risk to the visiting
public (to a public zoo) is not an issue, if the elephant is outdoors,
because of the dilution of infectious particles by the open air and their
destruction by the sun's UV light."

      Fortunately for Los Angeles, there is a major housing difference
between the elephant barns in the two zoos.  The elephant barn in San
Francisco is a closed structure.   The newly renovated elephant barn in Los
Angeles is an open-air structure.

      "Our elephants live in open barns and in open exhibits that separate
them from the public.  There is no danger posed to our visitors," said Dr.
Charles Sedgwick, Animal Health Services Director for the Los Angeles Zoo.
"Enormous air dilution, optimal exposure of all buildings and ground
surfaces to direct sunlight (with its strong anti-germ UV light rays) and
the superb engineering of drains into the city's sanitation lines make the
Los Angeles Zoo's elephant exhibit one of the finest in North  America for
the prevention of tuberculosis
transmission from animals to the public."

      As a result of Annie's death, the Los Angeles Zoo launched an intense
investigation into the possibility of TB in the other elephants.   At this
time, the test results are not conclusive. Further, as a result of Calle's
recent diagnosis, the L.A. Zoo's concerns have escalated, because now there
is the possibility that Calle may have been shedding the TB organisms when
she was at the Los Angeles Zoo. 

      Therefore, the current plan is  to perform multiple trunk wash
cultures and additional diagnostic tests to determine the TB status of all
the elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo.  In addition, the Zoo will initiate
preventative medical  treatment, similar to that of the San Francisco Zoo.

      Having consulted with the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA), the veterinary staff and the elephant keepers at the Los Angeles Zoo
will begin administering medication to the Zoo's four elephants in about two
weeks. The medications required for the first two months will cost between
$160,000 and $200,000.  After two months the elephants will be tested again.  

      "If we err, we will err on the side of caution," said Manuel
Mollinedo, Director of the Los Angeles Zoo.  "Although we have no medical
confirmation that our elephants are shedding tuberculosis,  I want to insure
that our employees and our animals are protected from the possibility of
contracting tuberculosis."

      "The greatest challenge facing the staff right now is finding creative
ways to hide the bad-tasting medicine," said Dr. Charles Sedgwick.  "No
matter how we try to disguise it, the animals can always taste it.  We must
keep looking for new recipes to conceal the medicine."  Sedgwick added that
he welcomes written culinary suggestions from the public, for making the
medication palatable.

      "The welfare of the elephants is very important to us.  We are willing
to go to great lengths to care for these animals.   We will be hand-feeding
four 10,000 pound animals for the next few months.  It is important that the
medicine be ingested."  said Senior Animal Keeper Jeff Briscoe.  "We don't
want these pachyderms to be sick,  but we don't want them to be angry with
us either."

      Both the Los Angeles and San Francisco Zoos are in communication with
each other and will continue to treat their elephants with medication, until
all the animals tests are negative.


  Los Angeles Zoo 
      6/27/97

Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 17:19:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: PrairieD@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Wall Street to P&G: Stop Animal Tests
Message-ID: <970627171721_-791765455@emout02.mail.aol.com>

While I don't normally follow financial news, my keyword-oriented news
reported the following item from today's stock market report:

> Leading Dow gainers were . . . Procter & Gamble, up
> 2 11/16 at 139 3/16, which stop[ped] doing business with a New Jersey
> lab that had become a protest target by animal rights activists who
> accused it of abusing monkeys.

If Wall Street starts rewarding these activities, perhaps P&G will listen to
us some day!

8-)> Marc
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 1997 15:09:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, seac+announce@ecosys.drdr.virginia.edu,
        en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: Ct. Gov. Signs Wildlife Bill
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970627181826.512f22d4@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Today, Connecticut Governor John Rowland signed into law HB 6577, the bill
that prohibits nuisance wildlife control trappers from drowning animals,
injecting animals with paint thinner, and using other cruel methods of
killing. Thank you to everyone who wrote and called.

Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 07:15:28 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RCD)-Cuba  
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970628071130.2d6ffd8e@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

VIRAL HEMORRHAGIC DISEASE: RABBITS - CUBA
***********************************************

Date:Fri, 27 Jun 1997
 Source:OIE Status Report, Vol 10 - No 26


Emergency report:  Translation of a fax received on 25 June 1997 from Dr
E.F. Serrano Ramirez, Director General of the Institute of Veterinary
Medicine, Ministry of Agriculture, Havana

Nature of diagnosis: clinical, epidemiological and laboratory. 
Date of initial detection of animal health incident: 13 May 1997.
Estimated date of first infection: 12 May 1997.

     Location No. of outbreaks
   Caimito district, Havana province4
   Artemisa district, Havana province5
 San Jose de las Lajas district, Havana province        2      
   Guanajay district, Havana province1

Total number of animals in the outbreaks:
    susceptiblecasesdeathsdestroyedslaughtered
       18,9641,9051,759   556    559 *

* Incomplete data.

Diagnosis:  After a sudden high incidence of mortality in a production unit
for private consumption, viral haemorrhagic disease of rabbits was
immediately suspected because of the clinical signs present, and immediate
action was taken. Coincidentally, in 1993, when the disease was reported in
Cuba for the first time, it was in the municipality of Caimito that the last
outbreak occurred (see OIE Disease Information, 7, 5 [19]).

When the first adults were received (live and dead rabbits) with a known
clinical history, clinical observations were made and blood samples were
taken for hematological investigation. All of the animals were subjected to
a rigorous anatomo-pathological examination, and post-mortem examinations
were carried out in accordance with the technique required for this species. 

Fragments of various organs were selected for histopathological examination
and for bacteriological and parasitological investigation in order to rule
out other diseases. Samples were taken under aseptic conditions from the
liver and spleen of the various animals and were subjected to the
hemagglutination test with human type O erythrocytes. Other samples were
collected for electron microscopy.

Evaluation of case histories and epidemiological data, together with the
anatomo-pathological and histopathological observations and the results of
the hemagglutination procedure, led to a strong suspicion of the disease,
which was confirmed by the results of electron microscopy.

Control measures during reporting period:
1. A disease emergency was declared in the provinces of Havana and Havana
City and a disease alert was issued in the provinces of Pinar del Rio and
Matanzas. The remainder of the country was notified and strict surveillance
measures were introduced.
2. Epidemiological surveillance was stepped up, as were nation-wide
information campaigns.
3. A ban was declared on the movement of rabbits in and around the outbreaks.
4. Radical measures were applied in and around the outbreaks and the
necessary sanitary measures were adopted, both to prevent the disease from
spreading and to protect major centres in the country.

End

===========================================

Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

Email>  rabbit@wantree.com.au

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm












Date: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 22:36:58 -0700
From: Sandra Boss 
To: "'ar-news@envirolink.org'" 
Subject: Buffalo slaughter proposal 
Message-ID: <01BC8321.7C082800.sboss@cts.com>

> > This is an article from today's (6-24-97) Rocky Mountain News. 
> > Buffalo-hunting plan proposed: Montana, two federal agencies agree on way
> > to control Yellowstone herd, avoid slaughter
> >
> >                By Deborah Frazier
> >
> >                Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
> >
> >
> >                Hunters could shoot buffaloes outside Yellowstone under a
> > state-federal plan to control the national park's bison herd.
> >
> >                The National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the 
> > state of Montana also want to make disease-free animals available to 
> American
> > Indian tribes.
> >
> >                The agreement is the first time the entities have agreed 
> on
> > how to deal with the buffaloes since a massive slaughter last winter
> > caused an uproar.
> >
> >                Montana ordered the shooting or slaughter of more than
> > 1,000 bison that had wandered from the park. They were suspected of
> > carrying brucellosis, a disease some ranchers believe causes cattle to 
> abort.
> >
> >                The slaughter generated media attention, a letter-writing
> > campaign by schoolchildren, lawsuits and an order from President Clinton
> > to solve the problem.
> >
> >                During meetings last week in Denver on the plan, Ray Clark
> > of the White House Council on Environmental Quality called several times
> > to remind the agency heads that "the president wants it solved
> > positively.''
> >
> >                About half of Yellowstone's surviving 1,700 bison have
> > brucellosis.
> >
> >                "No one wants to revisit what happened last winter,'' said 
> > Pat Collins of the federal Animal Health Inspection Service.
> >
> >                "This all will take some years to accomplish, but
> > hopefully it will eradicate the disease.''
> >
> >                The state-licensed hunts would occur outside the national
> > park, on Forest Service land. The Montana Legislature must approve the 
> plan. No
> > hunting is anticipated for several years.
> >
> >                Several years ago, former Yellowstone Superintendent Bob
> > Barbee said hunting buffaloes was as exciting as shooting a couch. They 
> don't
> > flee as deer and elk do.
> >
> >                "It will not be like chasing a wily whitetail deer down
> > some creek bottom,'' said John Mundinger of the Montana Game, Fish and
> > Parks Department.  The element of "fair chase'' will be worked into the
> > rules, he said.
> >
> >                Bison that wander out of the park and are captured at one
> > of the four proposed facilities would be tested for brucellosis. Those 
> testing
> > positive would be shipped to slaughter, as they were last year.
> >
> >                Bison that test negative would be available to Indian
> > tribes that want to start herds.
> >
> >                The Yellowstone herd will be maintained at 1,700 to 2,500; 
> > it was 3,500 last fall. Heavy snow killed about 1,000 animals.
> >
> >                "The number is acceptable to all parties,'' said Dan Huff, 
> > the Park Service's assistant regional director of natural resources.
> >
> >                There will be a 60-day public comment period before the
> > agreement takes effect.
> > 
> 
> 

Date: Sat, 28 Jun 1997 11:27:25 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (PH) Monkeys in danger
Message-ID: <199706280327.LAA12804@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>South China Morning Post
Saturday  June 28  1997
     Monkeys in danger
     JOEL PALACIOS in Manila

     The tarsier, a rare species of fist-sized monkey believed to be the
world's smallest, is      facing extinction in the Philippines because of
unabated destruction of its habitat and   lack of a national drive to
protect it.

     Florante Camacho, a Catholic priest who heads the Philippine Tarsier
Foundation, said   the Government had banned the capture and trade of the
animals but their numbers were decreasing.

     "We plan to present a couple of them to Prince Charles when he visits
in July in the  hope of getting his help in our conservation efforts," he said.



ARRS Tools  |  News  |  Orgs  |  Search  |  Support  |  About the ARRS  |  Contact ARRS

THIS SITE UNDERWRITTEN IN PART BY:
Cyberian Outpost

The views and opinions expressed within this page are not necessarily those of the
EnviroLink Network nor the Underwriters. The views are those of the authors of the work.