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AR-NEWS Digest 567
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) [BE] Greenpeace Launches GMO Labelling Policy When EC Fails to
Do So
by David J Knowles
2) [UK] MPs unite to push for foxhunting ban
by David J Knowles
3) [UK] Pensioner jailed for feeding birds
by David J Knowles
4) [UK] MORI poll reveals overwhelming support for fur ban
by David J Knowles
5) [UK] Hunters hound staff on campaign trail
by David J Knowles
6) Skunk Killed Last Week in Oklahoma City Was Rabid
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
7) Blue Heron Looking for Love
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
8) Noah's Ark Update
by "Vicki Sharer"
9) (US) Natl. TV To Focus On Cat Killing Case
by allen schubert
10) RFI - Lipizzaner Stallions
by Sue Bennett
11) Survey: Hunting is Ecotoursim?
by "Christine M. Wolf"
12) SF Chronicle:Concord Tule Elk Likely To Be Hunted (US)
by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
13) (US) Oklahoma Anti-HSUS Editorial
by JanaWilson@aol.com
14) Green Sea Turtles murdered
by Animal Rights Hawaii
15) ATOC on line
by Animal Rights Hawaii
16) P&G Expanding To DRUGS
by Hillary
17) HIV/SIV Monkey Testing Continues
by Hillary
18) (US) Comments Needed on Ohio Deer Kill
by OnlineAPI@aol.com
19) Puppies Spark Huge Outcry
by Hillary
20) Americans #1 Hamburger Eaters
by Hillary
21) Orangutans "rescued"
by Hillary
22) Fur Article
by Hillary
23) Timber Rattler News
by Gary Casper
24) s. 1180
by "Elaine Kaufmann"
25) OR Rabbit Liberation
by MINKLIB@aol.com
26) Fur Free Friday - Dallas
by BanFurNow@aol.com
27) You looked Good, Larry
by civillib@cwnet.com
28) (US) Food poisoning outbreak kills 1; another 143 ill
by allen schubert
29) (US) Costs Rising For Rescued Pups
by allen schubert
30) (US) New Test for "Mad Cow" Protein
by allen schubert
31) (AA)(AU)Kangaroo Meat
by Twilight
32) (US) PeTA Protest at Renderers Convention
by allen schubert
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 00:21:24
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [BE] Greenpeace Launches GMO Labelling Policy When EC Fails to
Do So
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971105002124.21cf5c06@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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GREENPEACE LAUNCHES GENETECH LABELLING POLICY WHEN THE EUROPEAN
COMMISSION
FAILS TO DO SO:
Brussels, 3 November 1997 -- As the European Commission failed at the
weekend to meet its own deadline for labelling of genetically engineered
foodstuffs, Greenpeace today revealed its comprehensive labelling policy
to inform and protect EU consumers.
"Greenpeace remains totally opposed to the introduction of genetically
engineered organisms into the environment and food supplies," said
campaigner Michelle Sheather.
"But at the very least customers must have the right to know which food is
genetically manipulated."
Genetically engineered products began appearing in food in the EU in late
1996 with soya and maize imports from the US. One year later the EU
Commission has failed to label any of these products, in spite of it
setting its own deadline for labelling rules to be implemented by 1 November.
"We still do not know the health impacts of this genetic experiment with
our food, said Sheather. "We do not want another scandal such as the BSE
beef crisis. Consumers should know if they are eating beef, eggs, dairy
products or processed foods that contain genetech foods or animals that
have been fed them. Clear labelling should be immediately implemented for
all food derived from genetically altered organisms. This includes products
such as chocolates, soups and pastas that contain genetech soya but also
poultry, pig, dairy and beef products where the animals have been fed
genetech fodder such as soya or
maize.
"The real challenge for the EU is to insist on separate streams
(segregation) of crops between conventional and those which have been
genetically manipulated ", added Sheather. "US trade and industrial
pressure has so far prevented this. Greenpeace
challenges the EU Commission to carry out its responsibilities to
safeguard EU citizens' health and the environment and to include
segregation of genetically engineered crops in EU law, such as under the
Novel Food regulation."
Today all European Health and Consumer Affairs Ministers from EU member
states as well as the EU Commission have been sent chocolate Santa Clauses
from Greenpeace containing a surprise in order to highlight the
Commission's failure to come up with a genetech labelling policy which
should have come into force at the weekend.
The Santa Clauses were labelled "We do not want to be surprised. We want to
know! Greenpeace". Inside the chocolate figures is a test tube symbolising
the genetic experiment with our food, and a message demanding stronger
labelling, and a clear logo.
Greenpeace also revealed its own genetech logo clearly stating if food
products contain genetically manipulated materials or products derived from
them. A similar one could readily be used within the EU and implemented
immediately. The Greenpeace labelling policy calls for products that
contain or are produced by genetic manipulated organisms such as seeds,
animal feed and food products and their components, to be very clearly
labelled."
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 00:34:12
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] MPs unite to push for foxhunting ban
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971105003412.21cf7062@dowco.com>
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[Stay tuned for more on this - the situation appears to be changing daily.]
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, November 5th, 1997
MPs unite to push for foxhunting ban
By Joy Copley, Political Staff
MPs of all parties vowed last night to intensify their campaign to ban
foxhunting despite the announcement that the Government will not find extra
parliamentary time to ensure that it becomes law.
Mike Foster, Labour MP for Worcester, who published his Private Member's
Bill yesterday, predicted that foxhunting would be outlawed by the end of
the century. Mr Foster said that he wanted to see a "ringing ndorsement"
from MPs at the second reading of his Bill on November 28.
Animal rights campaigners, who have been lobbying all MPs, estimate that
between 300 and 340 will vote for the Wild Mammals (Hunting with Dogs)
Bill, including a third of all ministers.
The campaigners hope that if the majority is large then the Government will
be embarrassed into providing more parliamentary time to ensure the Bill a
safe passage from filibustering by Tory MPs.
The Bill would make it an offence intentionally to "search for, chase,
pursue, harry, bait, attack, injure, or kill any wild mammal" by the use of
dogs.
It would impose a maximum six-month jail sentence and fines of up to
£5,000 for foxhunters and anyone who allowed hunting on their land. It
would exempt wild rodents and rabbits but protect foxes, hare, deer, stag
and minx.
Roger Gale, the Tory MP for North Thanet and chairman of the all-party
animal welfare group, joined Mr Foster at his launch and acknowledged that
the Bill faced real problems in the absence of Government support.
Mr Gale said that there were up to a dozen Tory backbenchers who were
planning to vote with Mr Foster. He said: "This is a Bill whose time has
come. Whether it gets through now or in a year's time is almost
irrelevant." Mr Gale said that the Government had given the impression
before the election that it would help the passage of a Bill to ban hunting.
Michael Hancock, the Liberal Democrat MP for Portsmouth South, said: "I'm
hoping the Labour MPs will try to turn around the treachery of the Cabinet
saying they would find time for it."
Mr Foster said all his energy was being concentrated on maximising the vote
on Nov 28. "I will not be approaching the Government to provide any extra
time," Mr Foster said. "The Government will see the size of the vote on Nov
28 and will know the extent of public opinion in favour of this."
He hopes that the large vote will make it difficult for individual Tory MPs
and peers to have any moral authority if they attempt unnecessary delaying
tactics. "If someone does try to filibuster in those circumstances it would
be seen as unworthy and an attempt to frustrate the will of the vast
majority of people and he or she would feel the full wrath of public
opinion," Mr Foster said.
Most of the opposition is expected in the Lords from Tory peers. Government
whips fear this will delay flagship legislation, such as Bills on
devolution, crime and education. Mr Foster said: "If the Bill gets to the
House of Lords and people see backwoodsmen hereditary peers shuffling in to
vote it down after it has received a resounding majority in the Commons,
then the focus will be on their behaviour. It may well be that some people
will see it as extra evidence for reforming the House of Lords. It would
highlight what people see as an undemocratic institution and that would be
valuable in itself."
If Mr Foster's Bill becomes law, police will be able to arrest without
warrant anyone they have reasonable grounds for suspecting is about to
commit, is committing or has committed an offence.
They would have powers to stop and search a person if they suspected with
reasonable cause that evidence of the commission of an offence was to be
found on that person.
They would also have powers to examine and if necessary seize and detain
any vehicle, animal or article that the suspected person might have with
him or her.
Fines could mount up to high levels because, if a person were found guilty
of injuring more than one wild mammal, then the fines would be determined
as if the person had been convicted of a separate offence in respect of
each animal.
Directors, managers or secretaries of "a body corporate," i.e. a hunt,
would be liable to be proceeded against as well as hunt members. Courts
would be able to order the forfeiture of vehicles and the disqualification
of an offender, for an unspecified period, from having custody of a dog.
The court could also order the disposal of a dog and for the offender to pay
"reasonable expenses" for it to be put down, including costs of its
interim keep.
The meaning of the word "hunt" is spelt out to mean intentionally to search
for, chase, pursue, harry, bait, attack, injure, or kill any wild mammal
(whether or not injury or death is caused by a dog), including coursing.
The Bill allows for wild mammals to be "flushed out" by dogs and lawfully
shot for the purpose of pest control and the use by a person of a single
dog, under his close control to track, locate or retrieve any wild mammal
which is seriously disabled.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 00:39:04
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Pensioner jailed for feeding birds
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971105003904.21cf5d44@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, November 5th, 1997
Pensioner jailed for feeding birds
By Michael Fleet
A PENSIONER was jailed for three months yesterday after refusing repeated
orders to stop feeding birds in her garden.
Barbara Simpson, who says the birds are "her life", has continued to put
out food for thousands of birds despite five court appearances.
Judge Roger Titheridge, QC, told Winchester Crown Court that he had been
advised that a jail sentence would not stop Simpson's compulsion. He said:
"If it doesn't, then Mrs Simpson must face the sad fact that if she takes
no notice of this course of action she will face longer spells of committal
to prison."
The court has been told that at five o'clock each morning flocks of crows,
pigeons, starlings and other birds gathered around Simpson's garden in
Preston, near Weymouth, Dorset. She put out nuts, cheese and seed, spending
up to £150 a week. She had also left meat for a fox and badgers.
Jailing her, the judge said: "Mrs Simpson has brought this upon herself.The
stage has come when it is necessary to protect Mrs Simpson's neighbours and
take a course that ensures that orders of the court are obeyed.
"It is a sad duty I have to perform on a 60-year-old woman with an
unblemished character but she is someone who is quite unable to stop
actions that involve contempt of court and, more importantly, serious risk
to health."
He said a "substantial public nuisance" had been caused by piles of rotting
food which smelt and attracted rats. "I haven't the slightest doubt she has
put her desire to feed the birds and animals above any reasonable
consideration for the health and welfare of her neighbours," the judge said.
Purvaise Punwar, for Simpson, said: "She has been led to breach the order
though a compulsion she is quite incapable of mastering. Try as she might,
she couldn't bear to see the birds she has grown to love over the years
starve."
He said Simpson had no children and very few interests in life apart from
caring for birds and animals. He suggested that the court allow Simpson to
undergo psychiatric treatment and perhaps fine her.
A neighbour, Ralph Morris, 70, said: "It's a great relief for the whole
neighbourhood and it's what she deserved. It's really been a great nuisance
and this will be a temporary break from it. However, I am sure she will
continue to feed the birds once she is released."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 00:55:23
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] MORI poll reveals overwhelming support for fur ban
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971105005523.21cfc0ec@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The RSPCA Website (www.rspca.org)
MORI poll reveals overwhelming support for fur ban
Eight out of ten people in the UK believe that the trapping of animals for
fur should be banned according to a recent survey commissioned by the RSPCA
and women's magazine Marie Claire. The poll was carried out by MORI among
2,000 Marie Claire readers in anticipation of fur making a comeback to the
fashion catwalks this winter.
David Bowles, the RSPCA's European officer, says that the survey clearly
shows the strength of UK public opinion against the wearing of fur: "The
fashion industry should listen to what the public is saying - and that is
fur should not make a comeback as a fashion item."
Cruelty facts
The RSPCA has long campaigned for a European Union (EU) ban on the import
of fur from countries such as Russia, Canada, and the USA which use the
cruel leghold trap. Every
year millions of animals - including badgers, beavers, otters and wolves -
die agonising deaths in the jaws of leghold traps.
The MORI survey revealed that more than half of the UK public believe that
the EU should be able to ban fur imports from such countries. However
because of GATT regulations which aim to relax restrictions on world trade,
the EU is reluctant to ban fur imports.
Take action
If you are a UK citizen, you may wish to write to your local Member of
Parliament (address available at your local library) asking for an EU ban
on fur imports from countries which use
the leghold trap.
If you are an EU citizen, you may wish to write to Commissioner Ritt
Bjerregaard (DGXI) or Commissioner Leon Brittan(DGI) at Rue de la Loi 200,
Brussels, B-1049,
Belgium, or write to your MEP.
If you live elsewhere in the world, why not ask your government whether
they support efforts to ban the leghold trap.
More information
Further details about this and other RSPCA campaigns can be obtained by
e-mailing the RSPCA on webmail@rspca.org.uk; telephoning (01403) 223284 or
by writing to the Enquiries Service, RSPCA, Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex
RH12 1HG.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 00:59:55
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Hunters hound staff on campaign trail
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971105005955.2f8f2cb6@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The RSPCA Website (www.rspca.org)
Hunters hound staff on campaign trail
The RSPCA-backed Campaign for the Protection of Hunted Animals (CPHA) has
ordered extra security to protect its staff and supporters from bloodsports
enthusiasts intent on disrupting its nationwide campaign bus tour.
The bus tour, which is calling at 26 towns and cities throughout England on
its way to the Houses of Parliament, is in support of Worcester MP Michael
Foster's Wild Mammals (Hunting with Dogs) Bill.
Angry protest
Demonstrators have been surrounding the bus's entrance in an attempt to
stop people signing petitions and learning more about the campaign to ban
hunting with dogs. At one event security staff had to confiscate half a
brick from an angry bloodsports supporter.
On a visit to Colchester, hunters from all over East Anglia confronted the
bus where Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell was visiting. A mobile phone,
T-shirts and campaign material
were stolen, and the on-board video equipment and microphone disabled. Mr
Russell, who has pledged to vote in favour of the bill at its second
reading, needed a police escort back to his office.
Critical time
The tour will be arriving in London on 27 November 1997 the day before the
bill goes before Parliament. Check your local press to see if the bus tour
will be coming your way.
The CPHA comprises the RSPCA, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and
the League Against Cruel Sports.
Take action
The RSPCA believes that hunting with dogs is cruel and unnecessary and has
long-called for it to be banned. For more information about how you can
help support this campaign, check out our campaign area.
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 97 07:16:09 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Skunk Killed Last Week in Oklahoma City Was Rabid
Message-ID: <199711051311.IAA01162@envirolink.org>
OKC,OK, USA: A skunk killed in the back yard of an Oklahoma City home
last week was rabid, the state Health Department said Tuesday.
The Health Department said the resident's two dogs presumably killed the
skunk. Three other rabid animals have been reported in Oklahoma County
this year, two skunks and a pet cat.
Oklahoma has had 101 rabid animals so far this year. The state recorded
only 38 for all of 1996.
-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 97 07:35:05 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Blue Heron Looking for Love
Message-ID: <199711051330.IAA02341@envirolink.org>
Tulsa World, OK, USA: A solitary blue heron sits on a log with turtles
at Swan Lake, 18th Street and Utica Avenue. Area residents report the
bird has been seen all summer, but has yet to find a mate. (There's
a beautiful photo of this in the paper, too.)
-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 97 09:00:58 CST
From: "Vicki Sharer"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Noah's Ark Update
Message-ID: <9710058787.AA878749763@INETGW.WKU.EDU>
In a surprising admission yesterday, November 4th, lawyers for the =
defendants charged in the killing of 17 cats at the Noah's Ark Animal
= Foundation, Lamansky and Myers stated that their clients admitted to
the = breaking and entering of the facility and the bludgeoning with
baseball = bats of the 17 cats and injuring a number of others. They
are now = reducing the issue down to one of value. that is the state
now has to = prove what the monetary value of these animal's lives is
worth. = According to Iowa law, an animals value may not be
determined by one's = feeling or emotional ties to it, but only by its
"fair market value". = So the jurors are being asked to determine if
these stray cat's lives = (as the lawyers always phrase it) have any
value at all. They will try = to prove that their clients did not
cause $500 worth of damage and = therefore will avoid the felony count
entirely. Their crime will then = be downgraded to an aggravated
misdemaner carrying a much less severe = penalty and implication, if
that is proven. Now it is up to the Cty = attorney to prove that
these anmals live's had a value and that when = these anmal's were
killed the damage exceeded $500. We have veterinary = bills and other
expenses relating to the anmals that far exceed that, = but it will
depend upon what the jury decides is relevant and how they = perceive
and decide to interpret that value. Unfortunately this is the = way
our law is worded and it gives you some idea of how backwards the =
whole thinking is about animals and the value of their lives, =
paticularly in this state where an a crime of this magnitude has to be
= tried strictly on monetary terms, rather then on the violent nature
of = the crime itself."=20
Please mention that Court TV will be covering the trial live as well
as = other local networks and newspapers.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 10:20:00 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Natl. TV To Focus On Cat Killing Case
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105101957.00702548@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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from CNN Custom News http://www.cnn.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------
Iowa State News
Reuters
05-NOV-97
Natl. TV To Focus On Cat Killing Case
(BLOOMFIELD) -- Television cameras from ``Court T-V'' and C-B-S's ``48
Hours'' are in Bloomfield for the animal cruelty trial of two Iowa men.
Chad Lamansky and Daniel Myers are accused of breaking into a Fairfield
animal shelter and killing 16 cats... and severely beating several others.
The two men could get up to ten years in prison if convicted.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 09:36:54 -0500 (EST)
From: Sue Bennett
To: ar-news
Subject: RFI - Lipizzaner Stallions
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
RFI - The Royal Lipizzaner Stallion show was
recently at the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic
City, NJ. I am searching for specifics about how these
horses are handled, trained, (abused ?) etc that I
can use in letters to the local newspapers and the casino.
I would appreciate any info anyone might have - thanks.
Sue Bennett cntr2@stockton.edu
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 09:12:48 -0800 (PST)
From: "Christine M. Wolf"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Survey: Hunting is Ecotoursim?
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970406212230.2f2fc1ee@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>A web-site which is partly sponsored by African Resources Trust is
>taking a survey on whether hunting is "ecotourism". Check it out at:
>
>http://wildnetafrica.co.za/
>
>
>Vote no!
>Ann Michels
>michels@idsonline.com
FYI - Africa Resources Trust is one of the organizations that uses American
tax dollars (allocated to them by the U.S. Agency for International
Development), to implement the elephant slaughtering CAMPFIRE program in
Zimbabwe.
******************************************************************
Christine Wolf, Director of Government Affairs
The Fund for Animalsphone: 301-585-2591
World Buildingfax: 301-585-2595
8121 Georgia Ave., Suite 301e-mail: CWolf@fund.org
Silver Spring, MD 20910web page: www.fund.org
"When a man wantonly destroys a work of man, we call him a vandal. When he
wantonly destroys a work of nature, we call him a sportsman."
-Joseph Wood Crutch
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 09:19:51 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: SF Chronicle:Concord Tule Elk Likely To Be Hunted (US)
Message-ID: <199711051712.MAA00997@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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San Francisco Chronicle: Wild Concord Tule Elk Likely Will Be Hunted
Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
A herd of tule elk that has roamed freely for at least 20 years
among the high-security munitions bunkers at the Concord Naval Weapons
Station is eating itself out of a good thing and may end up being cut down
to size by hunters.
The herd, made up of 70 animals, is growing so large that the
animals soon may run out of grass and begin to starve.
To prevent that, Navy and state wildlife officials may issue
permits to a select group of hunters who would be allowed to kill 20 to 50
of the animals next fall.
``There's the potential for a public hunt,'' said Doug Updike, a
senior wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.
``You'd be talking about a handful of people -- probably not more than 10 --
and not all in the field at once.''
State wildlife experts and Navy officials have outlined three
possible ways to reduce the herd, which is expected to grow by 30 this
spring: hunting,capturing and moving some of the animals or shooting the
female elk with contraceptive darts.
Relocating the animals, which weigh 400 to 700 pounds, would be
costly --about $1,000 per elk. It also could be difficult because some of
the state's other 23 tule elk ranges are facing overpopulation.
Contraception, now being tested with a much larger herd at the
Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, also is expensive, Updike
said. While contraception will control the size of the herd in the long run,
it won't work quickly enough to prevent overgrazing in the rolling golden
hills of the
sprawling weapons station, Updike added.
While a decision is still months away, officials said, shooting
some of the animals probably will be part of the solution. Fish and Game
officials favor a combination of hunting and relocating the elk. Navy
officials are officially undecided, but leaning toward hunting because of
the costs associated with other solutions.
``Relocation and sterilization are both pretty expensive
options,'' said Mike Herb, commander of the naval weapons station. ``While
we are stewards of these elk, we are also stewards of public money.''
Animal rights activists vow to fight the hunting plan, which they
call a
heartless attempt to make money by letting a few hunters pay big bucks for a
shot at usually protected elk.
``When Fish and Game is involved that's what they like to do,''
said Elliot Katz, president of In Defense of Animals, a Mill Valley- based
animal rights group. ``They have too many buddies who are hunters . . .
That's why
they're called Fish and Game and not Fish and Wildlife.''
Navy officials know that opening the station for even a small elk
hunt also would be opening themselves up for criticism and protests. A plan
to poison ground squirrels burrowing holes in bunkers several years ago died
after it generated public outrage.
``It doesn't matter what we decide,'' Herb said. ``There will be
opposition to it.''
In Defense of Animals, which persuaded National Park officials to
call off a proposed elk hunt at Point Reyes and experiment with
birth-control darts, hopes to persuade the Navy to do the same.
``Hunting is not only premature,'' Katz said, ``It's just not the
way to go.''
The elk have free range at the weapons station, a heavily guarded,
13,000-acre complex surrounded by high fences. It consists of a cluster of
command buildings and warehouse on Port Chicago Highway, a port on Suisun
Bay, but mostly of rolling grass hills.
The weapons station's herd, started in the early 1970s, is just
one of 23 in California, scattered from the Carrizo Plains near San Luis
Obispo on the south to the Mendocino area on the north, the coast on the
west and the Owens Valley on the east. California's tule elk population --
as large as 200,000 in the early 19th century but as small as a dozen in the
1880s --stands at about 3,500 today.
Tuesday, November 4, 1997 · Page A15
©1997 San Francisco Chronicle
Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/
"We are here on earth to do good for others. What the others
are here for, I don't know." -- W. H. Auden
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 13:05:23 -0500 (EST)
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Anti-HSUS Editorial
Message-ID: <971105130520_-2144327957@mrin42.mail.aol.com>
This editorial appeared in today's Okla. City paper..this is the
same paper that is Anti-PETA and allows few, if any, rebuttals
to their editorials:
Metamorphosis
In the early 80s, just as R. Reagan was puting American government
back on a conservative course, the animal welfare movement took off
in the opposite direction.
Animal welfare metamorphosed into animal rights. Where once
animal welfare advocates sought humane shelter and adoptions of pets,
they began to claim animals should be free of ownership. Animals were
thus elevated to the status of humans. To use them, to own them,
was tantamount to slavery.
The next step was terorism in the name of AR. Through numerous
editorials and columns, this editorial page has documented the
involvement in AR terrorism by PETA. But we haven't said much
about the HSUS.
The Humane Society's agenda now includes abolishing the use of
animals for entertainment (circues, rodeos, horse racing); prohibiting
the use of animals for research and for educational purposes (biology
class dissections, keeping marine mammals in aquariums, etc.);
stopping the hunting of seals and whales and the raising of fur-bearing
animals; putting an end to modern livestock and poultry farming; and
elimination of dog breeding.
While elevating animals and creeping things to the status of humans
has been around for millennia, the present hoopla isn't about
protecting animals from cruelty. Robert Baker, investigator who worked
for HSUS for 13 years, says the Humane Society should be worried about
animal cruelty, but is isn't. "The place is all about power and money."
Not to be confused with local humane societies, HSUS has a
nearly $50 million a year budget but does not operate a single animal
shelter. In 1995, each of its two top executives earned more than
$200,000; the salaries of four other HSUS officers were above
$100,000. This is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization that once
nobly served as a protector of abused animals. It has become a
bloated advocacy machine fighting for political rights for animals.
Daniel T. Oliver, who is writing his second book on the AR movement,
warns donors to know the difference between animal welfare and
animal rights.
The former deserves support as it seeks to improve the treatment
and well-being of animals. The latter is linked to terrorism, which
sooner or later will take a human life in order to save an animal
in a research lab.
For the poor abused animals who have
to live and die in Okla.
Jana, OKC
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 08:16:32 -1000 (HST)
From: Animal Rights Hawaii
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Green Sea Turtles murdered
Message-ID: <199711051816.IAA29705@mail.pixi.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from the Honolulu Advertiser 11-3-97
State officials are asking the public's help in finding out who slaughtered
6 green sea turtles on the Big Island Friday.
The carcasses were found discarded on Kamokuna Street in Keaukaha. The
shells were intact, but all the flesh had been removed. Two of the turtles,
estimated to be about 20 years old, had bullet holes in their shells. The
other turtles were estimated to be about 12 years old.
Fines for the unlawful taking of a green sea turtle can run to $25,000 for
each violation. Fines for criminal violations can range up to $50,000 and
one year in jail.
On Aug. 6, state conservation officers arrested and charged 2 men with
illegally catching and slaughtering 5 green sea turtles off Upolu Point in
North Kohala on the Big Island. Those cases have not yet gone to court.
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 08:24:36 -1000 (HST)
From: Animal Rights Hawaii
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: ATOC on line
Message-ID: <199711051824.IAA02058@mail.pixi.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The Honolulu Advertiser reported on Monday, Nov. 3, 1997 that the
noisemakers on the ocean floor near Kaua'i and California are finally
transmitting low frequency sounds. The acoustic thermometry of ocean climate
is using these noisemakers in an experiment that will attempt to identify
changes in ocean temperature associated with global climate changes.
The project, which was opposed by animal rights activists and
environmentalists, has encountered several technical difficulties, but is
finally on line, preparing to test the impact of the sounds on humpback
whales who will be returning to Hawaiian waters this winter.
The Hawai'i transmitter is located about 8 miles north of Haena on the
north side of Kaua'i.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 13:35:23 -0800
From: Hillary
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: P&G Expanding To DRUGS
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105133520.00683bd8@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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P&G's Expansion Plans: From Kitchen Cabinet to Medicine Chest
By DANA CANEDY
NEW YORK -- Procter & Gamble Co. is so obsessed with outdoing the
competition that its executives have been known to peek into friends'
closets to make sure they are not stocking rival brands of soap,
dishwashing liquid and shampoo.
Now, though, P&G is no longer satisfied simply controlling what goes into
kitchen cabinets and shower stalls. It also wants more space in consumers'
medicine chests, and not just for toothpaste.
The $35 billion company is on an ambitious mission to double its size in
10 years, and not all of that growth can come from its mature Tide
detergent, Pampers diapers and Crest toothpaste brands. So P&G is
aggressively trying to move into the prescription pharmaceuticals business,
where profit margins for successful drugs can be more than double those for
products in its four core categories: hair care, diapers, feminine hygiene,
and laundry.
"Beyond the year 2000, we want to make sure we are bringing along other
categories that can provide the same sort of dynamic growth we've gotten
from these four," said Bruce Byrnes, president of the company's health care
business. For example, the company expects to more than double sales from
its health care unit, to $6.4 billion, with much of the growth coming from
pharmaceutical sales, which now account for $500 million to $600 million.
Yet while P&G may have a huge presence on supermarket shelves, it is
barely known in doctors' offices and health insurance companies, where the
powerhouses of the $300 billion pharmaceutical industry play an equally
tough game. The question, rarely faced by P&G, is whether it can
successfully operate as an unwelcome guest in someone else's backyard. Wall
Street is skeptical.
"They know how to market to consumers," said Michael Grant, an analyst
who follows consumer products companies for J.P. Morgan. "But that doesn't
mean they know how to market to doctors and HMO's and others that are
involved in this side of the business."
What is more, though P&G's products may be the first consumers grab to
get a stain out of a shirt, the company lacks the track record and product
range to command that kind of credibility in the prescription drug
business. And while P&G is committing a sizable chunk of its research
dollars to develop drugs -- about $150 million a year -- that is a small
fraction of what the large drug companies spend. Johnson & Johnson spends
$1.9 billion on research and development while Merck's budget is about $1.5
billion, eclipsing the $1.3 billion that P&G spends on all of its product
lines.
Despite all that, P&G executives see opportunities in developing drugs
for an aging population with an increasing need for better and cheaper
medicine. They reason that the company can hold its own by narrowing its
focus to a few, high-growth areas of the industry, like heart, ulcer and
bone medications, drugs that treat the types of problems that are becoming
increasingly prevalent among aging baby boomers.
"The world is getting grayer and with that comes a lot of medical issues,
so we think this is a category that will be large and growing for a while,"
Byrnes said. "We are in an investment mode in pharmaceuticals right now. We
want to become recognized as an emerging, innovative force."
On paper, the goal certainly makes sense. Gross margins for household
products like fabric softeners and cleansers are about 40 percent, compared
with 90 percent for popular drugs. And the company already has some
promising drugs in its system, including Azimilide, which is being tested
now to treat irregular heartbeats. Helidac, an ulcer medication introduced
a year ago, has already become a big seller because it does not have the
side effects of some competing drugs. And Risedronate, a medication being
developed to treat bone disease, was shown during an 18-month study to
increase bone density in women with osteoporosis. P&G estimates that the
drug has the potential to grow into a $1-billion-a-year product.
But Risedronate, which is undergoing further clinical testing and has not
yet been presented to the Food and Drug Administration for approval, is not
expected to hit the market until at least 2001. And then it will face stiff
competition from drugs made by two pharmaceutical heavyweights, Merck & Co.
and American Home Products Corp.
Those established players are not exactly looking over their shoulders at
their latest competitor. "That is the nature of the business," said Doug
Petkus, a spokesman for American Home Products' Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories,
whose osteoporosis medication, Premarin, is already a billion-dollar drug.
The challenge in staying ahead of the innovation curve underscores the
difficulty P&G will have reaping the kind of returns it is counting on from
its drug division. And it is why the investment in the unit, which
previously focused largely on remedies for coughs and sniffles, has been
met with mixed reactions.
"It is a bit of a neutral right now," said Grant of J.P. Morgan. "The
question really becomes one of critical mass for P&G. If their business is
currently $500 million, which is roughly where it is, how can they compete
against a Merck at $20 billion? And the answer is that obviously it's very
difficult."
In fact, P&G's entire health care business, which includes oral care
products and nonprescription medications like Pepto-Bismol and Vicks, has
struggled a bit lately. Crest's share of the market tumbled after the
company was slow to pick up on consumer demand for baking soda and peroxide
toothpaste formulas. And after introducing the nonprescription pain
medicine Aleve three years ago, P&G dumped its 50 percent stake in the
product last year. At the same time, some of its nonprescription drugs have
been squeezed by former prescription medications that are now sold
over-the-counter.
But P&G has already begun to address many of those problems and is
putting up the cash to increase the prescription side of the business. It
opened a $280 million pharmaceutical research center near its headquarters
in Cincinnati two years ago and is beefing up its 350-member drug sales
team. It has also been increasing the amount it spends to develop drugs.
Though it still spends far less than the industry giants, it now allocates
more than half of its $300 million health-care research budget to
pharmaceuticals.
"A disproportionately high percent of our net sales is going into our
research and development effort in pharmaceuticals right now," Byrnes said.
"Our board has said that is just fine; a company this size ought to be able
to pick some areas we want to be in."
P&G has so far stayed away from building the business through
acquisition, mainly because many suitable targets have already been snapped
up or are too pricey, analysts said. Instead, it has been teaming up with
other manufacturers to develop and market some drugs jointly. The idea,
Grant said, "is to partner with major pharmaceutical players to try to
leverage off of their distribution."
In one arrangement announced not long ago, P&G said it would share the
cost of promoting Astra-Merck Inc.'s Prilosec, which is used to treat
heartburn and ulcers, in exchange for an undisclosed percentage of sales.
P&G is also collaborating with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. on a number
of projects, including the development of Axokine, a compound that may be
effective in treating obesity associated with diabetes. In addition, P&G
will market Risodronate with Hoechst Marion Roussel, a unit of Hoechst AG.
By maximizing its resources through these partnerships, and by focusing
on only a few drug categories, P&G should be able to produce a decent
return on its investment, some analysts say.
"As long as they maintain some discipline, then it doesn't seem like a
bad idea," said Constance Maneaty, who follows the company for Bear,
Stearns. "If they get a drug that generates $500 million in sales, which is
very small by current standards, they've doubled their sales."
Glaxo Wellcome PLC, after all, was a relatively small player until its
Zantac ulcer medicine took off. The drug generated $3 billion in worldwide
sales last year alone, or 24 percent of Glaxo's revenues.
P&G believes it has the products in its pipeline to duplicate that
success. If not, the company, which is rarely on the losing end of any
market share battle, will get a taste of its own medicine.
Copyright 1997 The New York Times
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 13:35:52 -0800
From: Hillary
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: HIV/SIV Monkey Testing Continues
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105133549.00683bd8@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
New Molecule Protects Cells Against H.I.V.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- Researchers have identified a natural molecule that prevents
H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, from infecting cells, a discovery that
they say could lead to new types of AIDS drugs or a vaccine.
The molecule, discovered by a team led by Dr. Robert C. Gallo, works
against H.I.V. by blocking a portal used by the virus to invade lymphocytes
and other types of blood cells.
Dr. Gallo's team at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of
Maryland at Baltimore earlier identified three similar molecules, all
called chemokines. But the new molecule is more effective because it
protects all the cell types attacked by H.I.V., Dr. Gallo said.
Flooding the body with these chemokines could create a barrier between
H.I.V. and its target cells, and, thus, prevent the virus from spreading
its deadly infection, he said.
"Its breadth of activity and its potency will make it more important than
any of the other chemokines found so far," Dr. Gallo said.
But he emphasized that before chemokines could be tried against H.I.V. in
humans, the molecules must be extensively tested in monkeys against a
related virus called S.I.V., or simian immunodeficiency virus, the monkey
equivalent of the human immunodeficiency virus. Such testing could take
several years.
The study by Dr. Gallo and his team will be published on Friday in the
journal Science.
Discovery of the new chemokine comes just as doctors report that some AIDS
virus is developing a resistance to the three-drug combination that has
successfully suppressed H.I.V. in thousands of patients. That combination
of reverse transcriptase and protease inhibitors works against the virus
inside the target cell.
Chemokines would work against H.I.V. by preventing the virus from entering
those cells. The virus is thought to be less able to develop a resistance
against this blocking action.
Chemokines have been the subject of intense study by AIDS researchers
since the discovery a decade ago that the molecules somehow work to
suppress H.I.V. and are secreted by
Copyright 1997 The New York Times
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 13:35:39 -0500 (EST)
From: OnlineAPI@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Comments Needed on Ohio Deer Kill
Message-ID: <971105133538_1279884980@mrin40.mail.aol.com>
Cleveland Newspaper Soliciting Comments on Deer Kill in Local Parks
Cleveland Live and The Plain Dealer, Ohio's largest newspaper, are calling
for e-mail comments on the Cleveland Metropark's plan to kill more than 100
deer. The killing, which was scheduled to begin today, was delayed when
Common Pleas Judge Frank D. Celebrezze Jr. granted a temporary restraining
order requested by local residents and Cleveland-based In Defense of Deer.
Cleveland Live's question of the week is:
"Should Common Pleas Judge Frank D. Celebrezze Jr. allow sharpshooters to
thin the Metroparks deer herd?"
To respond, log on to Cleveland Live at:
http://www.cleveland.com/community/publicsq/livelines or send e-mail directly
to livelines@cleveland.com.
The best responses will be found on Cleveland Live, and "the best of the
best" will appear in the Letters to the Editor of The Plain Dealer. Up to
now, The Plain Dealer has refused to publish letters in opposition to the
deer kill.
A few facts about the deer situation around Cleveland:
* A group of local scientists have determined that there is no scientific
evidence that the deer are responsible for a loss of biodiversity in the
parks.
* A veterinary consultant for the Animal Protection Institute has determined
that there is no evidence that the park deer are starving or in poor health.
* The range of the firearms to be used exceeds the width of the park in some
cases; the parks are closely bordered by homes and residents fear for their
safety.
* The park has said that whoever proves to be the best shot will be allowed
to kill the deer regardless of expertise or experience.
* In an informal television poll conducted last week, 63% of the respondents
were opposed to killing the deer.
* Only 13% of those commenting on a plan by the National Park Service to kill
deer in the Cleveland area supported the proposed action.
Yesterday, in a related case, the National Park Service voluntarily agreed to
a stay in their proposed action to kill nearly 500 deer in the Cuyahoga
Valley National Recreation Area in northeast Ohio. Justice Department
attorneys for the Park Service agreed to the postponement prior to a hearing
in federal court on a request for a temporary restraining order brought by a
coalition of local residents and animal advocacy groups (Animal Protection
Institute, Fund for Animals, Humane Society of the US, In Defense of Deer,
and Ohioans for Animal Rights). Another hearing is scheduled for December 10
on the federal case.
Dena Jones
Animal Protection Institute
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 13:36:33 -0800
From: Hillary
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: Puppies Spark Huge Outcry
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105133630.00683bd8@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
.c The Associated Press
By DENISE LAVOIE
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - When a truck slammed into a railroad
overpass three weeks ago, it seemed like a routine accident. Then
police lifted the truck's back door and found an unexpected cargo:
97 puppies - dirty, hungry, cold and jammed into filthy cages. Four
eventually died.
Moved by the puppies' plight, more than 2,000 people have
offered to adopt the dogs and hundreds more have donated blankets,
toys and food.
The puppies were being transported along the East Coast for a
Missouri dog broker who planned to sell them to pet shops. They had
been in the truck for four days, crammed together in overcrowded
cages stacked to the ceiling. The police officer who found them
said urine and feces had dropped down through the cages, covering
the dogs and their food and water.
The Connecticut Post, which has published more than a dozen
stories about the puppies, received at least 300 telephone calls
from readers - an unprecedented response for a single news event.
The response prompted the newspaper to write an editorial
questioning whether the mistreatment of human beings would have
generated the same impassioned reaction.
But those who have rallied to help the puppies say their
reaction is justified.
``People feel that puppies are a group that really has no one to
speak for them. They are truly helpless,'' said Richard Johnston,
president of the Connecticut Humane Society.
Anger over the condition of the animals has been directed at the
driver of the truck and owner of the pet distribution company,
Superior Pets Inc., based in Elkland, Mo.
When the two men appeared in court earlier this month, animal
rights activists smacked them with banners, calling them, ``Puppy
Killers.''
On Friday, Superior Pets agreed to turn over permanent custody
of the dogs to the Humane Society, which has cared for them since
the accident.
The truck driver, Larry Jenkins, of Tunsa, Mo., was charged with
97 counts of animal cruelty. The puppy broker was not charged.
Jenkins' lawyer, J. Robert Gulash Jr., said the retired farmer
had never transported dogs before the trip to Connecticut.
``There was ongoing feeding of the puppies and giving water to
the puppies. He thought he was in compliance and was caring for
them,'' Gulash said.
The uproar over the puppies has surprised some in the Bridgeport
community, a city of 140,000 where murders, poverty and other human
misery are daily occurrences.
Days after the puppies were found, Bridgeport Hospital was in
the midst of a collection drive for battered women. The drive
pulled in several hundred pounds of needed supplies, but did not
generate the kind of response expected by the hospital.
``The response from the community for these puppies far exceeded
what was done in support of battered women,'' said John Cappiello,
a hospital spokesman.
``It just sort of raised the question for us: Do people care
more about battered puppies than they do about battered fellow
human beings?''
Clinton Sanders, a sociology professor at the University of
Connecticut, said he's not surprised by the strong reaction to the
Bridgeport puppies.
``To a certain extent, we are so accustomed to the everyday
horror that is visited upon human beings that we have to physically
insulate ourselves from it,'' he said.``Yet, we still have a need
to display or feel positive emotions, and one of the ways we can
focus those emotions is on helpless animals.''
AP-NY-10-31-97 1930EST
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 13:37:06 -0800
From: Hillary
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: Americans #1 Hamburger Eaters
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105133702.00683bd8@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 1997--
U.S. Also Ranks as No. 1 Consumer of Canned or Frozen Veggies,
Says Roper Reports Worldwide: 1997 Global Consumer Study
A third of Americans (34%) ate a hamburger or ground beef in the
past 24 hours, the highest percentage of any major country and more
than double the global norm of 15%, a new study of 35 countries
indicates.
Twenty-five percent of Americans also had canned or frozen
vegetables in that period, making them the No. 1 consumers at nearly
triple the world level of 9%.
The results, drawn from Roper Reports Worldwide: 1997 Global
Consumer Study, place Argentina second in hamburgers and ground beef
consumption at 22%. Venezuela and Turkey tie for third (21%). Tied
for last, at just 2%, are India and Indonesia, where religion largely
prohibits consumption of beef.
In the canned or frozen vegetable category, Russia ranks second
at 21%, followed by Germany at 19%, France and Hungary at 17%, and
Great Britain, Poland and Israel at 14%. In last place is Indonesia
and Uruguay at just 1%.
The study, based on 35,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in
April 1997, explores global consumer attitudes, behavior and brand
preferences of approximately 1,000 people, ages 13 to 65, in each of
35 countries. The data are projectable to about 1.4 billion
consumers worldwide. The margin of sampling error is less than one
percentage point globally and +/- 4.5 percentage points per country.
"When you look at America's overall eating habits, a picture
emerges of a country pressed for time and often in a hurry," says
Thomas A.W. Miller, senior vice president of Roper Starch Worldwide
and the director of the study. "The convenience of opening a can or
running out for fast food reflects in many ways the tempo of American
life."
Americans log in at more than twice the global norm (16% vs. 7%)
for another national passion--pizza. Not surprisingly, Italy ranks
higher at 18%, surpassed only by 20% of Argentinean respondents.
However, when it comes to fresh vegetables, which often take more
time to prepare than canned varieties, Americans, at 44%, lag well
behind the global norm of 58%. Asian countries are the biggest
consumers of fresh vegetables, led by Taiwan (90%), Indonesia (87%)
and China (85%).
While most of the world, including the U.S., hovered around the
global norm of 26% for pasta/noodles, a whopping 71% of all Italians
ate pasta in the last 24 hours.
In many countries, rice is a staple. But American consumption
(23%) is less than half global levels (58%). As would be expected,
Asia far surpasses the rest of the world. Rice is almost universally
consumed in Korea (97%), Indonesia (96%), China (93%), Taiwan (92%),
Japan (92%) and Hong Kong (90%). Lowest levels are in Italy (16%),
which is the worldUs top pasta consumer.
With 14% having eaten fish, Americans lag behind the global norm
of 34% by more than half. Argentineans, the worldUs biggest red meat
eaters, scored next lowest (12%), followed only by the Netherlands
and Hungary with 11%, and Uruguay in last place with 10%. Germany
and Chile tied with the U.S. At 71%, Malaysians consumed the most
fish. Indonesia (69%), Singapore (66%) and Japan (62%) follow.
Despite growing press coverage on the benefits of a vegetarian
lifestyle, only 8% of Americans ate a vegetarian main dish in the
last day, versus a global norm of 27%. India, on the other hand, led
the list at 82%, followed by China with 71%. Uruguay is last place
with 2%. Although the eggUs reputation is being revitalized,
Americans still eat less eggs than most of the world (25% vs. 41%).
Consumption is highest in China (69%) and Japan (66%) and lowest in
Argentina (20%). Americans also consume less than half the amount of
pork (11% vs. 25%) and slightly above the global norm for steaks and
roasts (18% vs. 15%)
Country and regional breakouts are available by calling
212-697-2620.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 13:41:05 -0800
From: Hillary
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: Orangutans "rescued"
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105134102.00683bd8@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
NYTIMESRescue of Besieged Orangutans Research
By KAREN FREEMAN
Trapped within a few forested acres on the South Pacific island of
Borneo, an orangutan blustered as wildlife researchers tightened their
circle around her, then she retreated angrily up a tree.
Many hours later, the orangutan crept near the ground, close enough for a
marksman to shoot a tranquilizer dart into her thigh, and she tumbled into
brush that had been piled up to cushion her fall. When she opened her eyes
again, she was in a wildlife reserve with room to roam.
The rescue, described by Dr. Annelisa Kilbourn, a veterinarian with the
Wildlife Conservation Society, was one of 58 she directed in the last year
in Sabah, a Malaysian region on Borneo.
During an interview at the society's offices at the Bronx Zoo, Dr.
Kilbourn said that such patient, sweaty missions are necessary because the
relentless clearing of land for plantations on Borneo is driving orangutans
onto virtual islands of rain forest too small to support their population.
But the rescue project, carried out with the Sabah Wildlife Department,
is aimed at helping more than the trapped orangutans. Medical examinations
by Dr. Kilbourn before the animals were released are giving researchers
their first look at the physiology of wild orangutans, information that
will help in managing the semi-wild animals held at rehabilitation centers
and those made homeless by the illegal pet trade.
Blood and fecal samples are still being analyzed, said Dr. William B.
Karesh, director of the field veterinary program for the Wildlife
Conservation Society, but early results show that reintroduction of captive
orangutans into the forests should be done far from wild populations.
That is because the orangutans that have been in close contact with
people commonly are infected with hepatitis and tuberculosis, Karesh said,
while wild orangutans appear to be free of them.
Dr. Kilbourn's work fills a crucial gap in orangutan research, Karesh
said. "People have been studying wild orangutans for 30 years," he said,
"but they've been looking at behavior. In all that time, no one took a
blood sample."
Orangutan populations have been squeezed on several fronts: wild animals
are losing their habitats, and many are killed or injured by hunters and by
workers defending plantation crops. Thousands of females have been killed
so their offspring could be captured and sold as pets, and about half of
those captured infants are thought to have died in transit.
The demand for orangutan pets was strong in Asia, especially Taiwan, in
the 1980s and early 1990s. Marcus J. Phipps, a World Wildlife Fund official
based in Taiwan and a former head of the Orangutan Foundation Taiwan, said
that a children's television show there in the late 1980s called "The
Naughty Family" inadvertently contributed to the problem because it
featured an orangutan as a cute companion, which helped to create demand
for such pets.
Crackdowns on the pet trade since then have slowed it considerably
throughout Asia. But Phipps said that most of the orangutans shipped to
Taiwan in the late 1980s and early 1990s had probably died.
That has contributed to an overall population decline estimated at 30
percent to 50 percent in the last decade. While wild orangutans, the only
great ape in Asia, were once found throughout Southeast Asia, a World
Wildlife Fund report estimates that they now live on only 2 percent of
their original range. Fewer than 30,000 are left, all of them on Borneo --
which is divided among Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei -- and Sumatra, part
of Indonesia.
Recent fire and smoke damage has been widespread in the region, killing
some orangutans and other wildlife and damaging habitats, according to the
World Wildlife Fund. But Karesh said that smaller animals would be more
vulnerable to the smoke than the orangutans and that the population in
Sabah had not been affected.
Another focus of Dr. Kilbourn's work in Sabah has been to teach
Malaysians at the Sepilok Wildlife Center how to rehabilitate injured
wildlife and pets that have been confiscated or turned in.
Sometimes orphaned or injured orangutans are taken to the rehabilitation
center after attacks by plantation workers, Dr. Kilbourn said. The workers
are not necessarily intending to hurt the apes, she said, but are trying to
keep them from eating crops.
"The only thing they've got to round them up with are machetes," she
said. "So by the end of the day, the mother can be badly hurt or dead."
Karesh said that the deaths of adult females were devastating for the
orangutan population because they produced young at a slow rate. It takes
10 years or more for females to start reproducing, and they each produce
only four or five offspring in a normal life span of 40 years.
The wildlife workers are winning the trust of Sabah residents, Dr.
Kilbourn said, so more plantations are asking the rehabilitation center to
rescue trapped orangutans instead of trying to handle the problem themselves.
The rehabilitated animals at Sepilok are semi-captives, Karesh said, able
to get food at the center but encouraged to migrate into the surrounding
forest reserve.
Once they reach full size -- about 200 pounds for males and half that for
females -- orangutans can push people around, Dr. Kilbourn said, which
explains why people who buy infant orangutans as pets abandon them after
they grow. At the rehabilitation center, everything is double-locked in an
effort to keep out the orangutans because they can figure out locks or pop
padlocks open with sheer strength.
Karesh said some rehabilitated orangutans from Sepilok had been
reintroduced into areas of Borneo that did not have natural wild
populations, as have animals in Indonesia, including some former pets
returned from other countries. "They are naturally solitary animals, so
that makes reintroductions easier," he said.
Dr. Kilbourn will return to Sabah soon to work with a Malaysian
veterinarian who will be taking over the rescue and rehabilitation work.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 13:42:02 -0800
From: Hillary
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: Fur Article
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105134158.00683bd8@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Either Fur or Not Far From It
By ANNE-MARIE SCHIRO
NEW YORK -- To update your winter wardrobe instantly, you might think
about a fur-trimmed coat or jacket. It doesn't matter if the fur is fake;
even an accessory will do the trick.
Fake furs include Adrienne Landau's wrap with fake chinchilla border
($400) at Saks Fifth Avenue; Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti's pullover
sweater with fake leopard cuffs ($375) at Neiman Marcus, and Bomb Boogie's
quilted down jacket with fake fox collar ($315) at Barneys New York.
The real-fur category includes a Mongolian lamb collar ($750) in a range
of colors at Valentino, 747 Madison Ave. (65th Street); Barneys New York's
mink bag ($995) and mink-trimmed Prada gloves ($276); Fendi's red suede
coat lavishly bordered with Mongolian lamb ($4,850) and Isaac Mizrahi's
black suede boots trimmed with rabbit ($355), both at Saks Fifth Avenue,
and Phelgye's brocade hat with a fox border ($595) at Bergdorf Goodman.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 13:00:52 -0600
From: Gary Casper
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Timber Rattler News
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19971105130052.0068db88@alphaG.csd.uwm.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
LATEST NEWS ON WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLER PROTECTION
(See http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/timber/Conserv.htm for details)
Legislative Hearing [October 29, 1997]:
The Natural Resources Committee of the Wisconsin State Legislature held a
hearing on Wednesday, October 29, 1997, in Prairie Di Chien. The hearing
was called by committee chair DuWayne Jonsrud (R-Eastman), to discuss the
proposed listing of the timber rattlesnake as a Protected Wild Animal (as
approved by the Natural Resources Board with the psuedo-protection language
as discussed above).
Eight people spoke against the protected status, with an additional 12
indicating by ballot that they opposed protection. There were eight people
who testified in support of protection, including a courageous 10 year old
girl who stated that killing the timber rattlesnake which is good and
valuable is simply bad. Many of the eight thought the reporting requirement
should be added back into the language and that this was very important if
the Department was to learn more about the species and associated killing.
Twelve additional people voted in support of protection, although most had
originally hoped to see the timber rattler listed as a threatened species.
The committee was presented with a petition, totalling 6,309 signatures of
Wisconsin residents, supporting the listing of the timber rattlesnake as a
threatened species. This number can be compared to approximately 1,000
persons petitioning against the listing in March, 1997. Because the
proposal up for vote was only to list the species as a Protected Wild
Animal, the petition was presented with a plea to re-instate the reporting
requirement (with a 1-800 number), and make reporting mandatory for any
killing in self defense (see above arguments). The petition was accepted
and the committee promised to consider it in their decisions.
The rule is expected to either be voted on by the Assembly Natural
Resources Committee or left alone. This committee has until November 18,
1997 to take action. If they do not take action before Nov.18 the rule is
effective 60 days after the end of the month (Feb. 1, 1998).
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Wisconsin residents may call their representitive to express their opinion
on this rule, and ask that the reporting requirement be re-instated. You
must call before Nov 18, 1997. Note that the overwhelming majority of
Wisconsin residents support listing as a threatened species, and that the
pseudo-protection provided by the amended Protected Wild Animal rule is
inadequate and will likely to lead to the imposition of federal protection.
The rule is Assembly Clearinghouse Rule 97-020 [An order to create NR 10.02
(9), 27.03 (3) (c) 1m. and 27.06 (5), relating to the timber rattlesnake.
Submitted by Department of Natural Resources]. To find out who your
representative is, or to leave a message for them, call the Legislative
Hotline at 1-800-362-9472. The state legislature web site is at:
http://www.legis.state.wi.us/
-----------------------------------------------------
Gary S. Casper
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/garyc.html
Coordinator, Wisconsin Herpetological Atlas Project
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/atlas/welcome.html
Chair, Great Lakes Declining Amphibians Working Group
http://www.mpm.edu/collect/vertzo/herp/daptf.html
-----------------------------------------------------
please direct correspondance for Gary S. Casper to:
Vertebrate Zoology Section, Milwaukee Public Museum
800 W. Wells St., Milwaukee, WI 53233
voice (414)278-2766 fax (414)278-6100 E-mail gsc@csd.uwm.edu
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 14:30:31 EST5EDT
From: "Elaine Kaufmann"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: s. 1180
Message-ID: <2903FF61F9E@lawlib.law.pace.edu>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
Hello,
The following website gives what I thought was a fairly comprehensive
explanation of what the problems are with S. 1180 and why it needs to
be defeated. It is a National Wildlife Federation website, and it includes a list
of the Environmental Committee senate members for each state and (bonus)
hotlinks to the e-mails of a bunch of different heavy-hitting
senators:
www. nwf.org/nwf/endangered/alerts/esaalrt.html
Don't forget to e-mail your state senators !!
Best wishes to all,
Elaine
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 10:16:24 -0500 (EST)
From: MINKLIB@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: OR Rabbit Liberation
Message-ID: <971105101022_2058928278@mrin47>
In the past two years the ALF has been liberating wild animals, mink and
foxes, and putting them back into the wild. Recently the ALF liberated
rabbits to be placed into loving homes.
Apparently one Peter McKrosky either didn't read our press release on the
matter, or jumped to conclusions, because this individual is putting out
inflamatory posts condemning the ALF for releasing rabbits to the wild. Our
press release never said that the rabbits were released to the wild.
We ask that people on our own side of the animal rights issue stop being so
condemning of others, especially when the ones being attacked are shutting
places down, and giving the animals a chance.
JP
CAFT
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 11:18:35 -0500 (EST)
From: BanFurNow@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fur Free Friday - Dallas
Message-ID: <971105110005_629562336@emout11.mail.aol.com>
FUR FREE FRIDAY
November 28, 1997
JOIN THE ACTION:
Organizations are joining Animal Liberation of Texas on Fur Free Friday for a
national day of action against the fur industry on November 28, 1997.
DETAILS:
The Fur Free Friday action will be taking place at Neiman Marcus downtown.
Activists are to meet at the SW corner of the Quadrangle parking lot located
at
2828 Routh St. at 9:15 a.m. on Friday, November 28, 1997. Activists are
encouraged to car pool to the Neimans downtown to reduce parking expenses.
The action is scheduled to begin at Neiman Marcus at 10:00 a.m. but it will
be
necessary for activists to meet at the Quardrangle parking lot located at
2828
Routh for detailed plans.
CONTACT:
ANIMAL LIBERATION OF TEXAS
A.L.T.
P. O . Box 820872
Dallas, TX 75382
972-664-6760
BanFurNow@aol.com
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 16:52:38 -0800 (PST)
From: civillib@cwnet.com
To: LCartLng@gvn.net, ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: You looked Good, Larry
Message-ID: <199711060052.QAA24937@smtp.cwnet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Hey, wanted to say it was great to see you Sunday. Did you catch yourself on
several stations? Really helped to bring up the scientific arguments. UCD
got killed on this one, although it was quickly thrown together.
Stay in touch. You are coming to FFF, right?
cres
At 09:19 AM 11/5/1997 -0800, Lawrence Carter-Long wrote:
>San Francisco Chronicle: Wild Concord Tule Elk Likely Will Be Hunted
>
>Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer
>
> A herd of tule elk that has roamed freely for at least 20 years
>among the high-security munitions bunkers at the Concord Naval Weapons
>Station is eating itself out of a good thing and may end up being cut down
>to size by hunters.
>
> The herd, made up of 70 animals, is growing so large that the
>animals soon may run out of grass and begin to starve.
>
> To prevent that, Navy and state wildlife officials may issue
>permits to a select group of hunters who would be allowed to kill 20 to 50
>of the animals next fall.
>
> ``There's the potential for a public hunt,'' said Doug Updike, a
>senior wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.
>``You'd be talking about a handful of people -- probably not more than 10 --
>and not all in the field at once.''
>
> State wildlife experts and Navy officials have outlined three
>possible ways to reduce the herd, which is expected to grow by 30 this
>spring: hunting,capturing and moving some of the animals or shooting the
>female elk with contraceptive darts.
>
> Relocating the animals, which weigh 400 to 700 pounds, would be
>costly --about $1,000 per elk. It also could be difficult because some of
>the state's other 23 tule elk ranges are facing overpopulation.
>
> Contraception, now being tested with a much larger herd at the
>Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County, also is expensive, Updike
>said. While contraception will control the size of the herd in the long run,
>it won't work quickly enough to prevent overgrazing in the rolling golden
>hills of the
>sprawling weapons station, Updike added.
>
> While a decision is still months away, officials said, shooting
>some of the animals probably will be part of the solution. Fish and Game
>officials favor a combination of hunting and relocating the elk. Navy
>officials are officially undecided, but leaning toward hunting because of
>the costs associated with other solutions.
>
> ``Relocation and sterilization are both pretty expensive
>options,'' said Mike Herb, commander of the naval weapons station. ``While
>we are stewards of these elk, we are also stewards of public money.''
>
> Animal rights activists vow to fight the hunting plan, which they
>call a
>heartless attempt to make money by letting a few hunters pay big bucks for a
>shot at usually protected elk.
>
> ``When Fish and Game is involved that's what they like to do,''
>said Elliot Katz, president of In Defense of Animals, a Mill Valley- based
>animal rights group. ``They have too many buddies who are hunters . . .
>That's why
>they're called Fish and Game and not Fish and Wildlife.''
>
> Navy officials know that opening the station for even a small elk
>hunt also would be opening themselves up for criticism and protests. A plan
>to poison ground squirrels burrowing holes in bunkers several years ago died
>after it generated public outrage.
>
> ``It doesn't matter what we decide,'' Herb said. ``There will be
>opposition to it.''
>
> In Defense of Animals, which persuaded National Park officials to
>call off a proposed elk hunt at Point Reyes and experiment with
>birth-control darts, hopes to persuade the Navy to do the same.
>
> ``Hunting is not only premature,'' Katz said, ``It's just not the
>way to go.''
>
> The elk have free range at the weapons station, a heavily guarded,
>13,000-acre complex surrounded by high fences. It consists of a cluster of
>command buildings and warehouse on Port Chicago Highway, a port on Suisun
>Bay, but mostly of rolling grass hills.
>
> The weapons station's herd, started in the early 1970s, is just
>one of 23 in California, scattered from the Carrizo Plains near San Luis
>Obispo on the south to the Mendocino area on the north, the coast on the
>west and the Owens Valley on the east. California's tule elk population --
>as large as 200,000 in the early 19th century but as small as a dozen in the
>1880s --stands at about 3,500 today.
>
>Tuesday, November 4, 1997 · Page A15
>©1997 San Francisco Chronicle
>
>Lawrence Carter-Long
>Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
>email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
>world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/
>
>"We are here on earth to do good for others. What the others
>are here for, I don't know." -- W. H. Auden
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
"PEACE AT LAST"
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 22:54:22 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Food poisoning outbreak kills 1; another 143 ill
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105225418.006e51f4@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN http://www.cnn.com/
----------------------------------------------
Food poisoning outbreak kills 1; another 143 ill
2nd death may be linked to church dinner
November 5, 1997
Web posted at: 6:36 p.m. EST (2336 GMT)
CHAPTICO, Maryland (CNN) -- One person died and at
least 143 others became ill after an outbreak of
food poisoning traced to a church dinner in
Maryland.
Health authorities are investigating whether a
second death is linked to the salmonella
contamination. They are also looking at whether
turkey or ham served at the dinner was the cause
of the outbreak.
An estimated 1,400 people attended the dinner
Sunday at Our Lady of the Wayside Church in
Chaptico, a town on the Wicomico River about 45
miles southeast of Washington, D.C.
At least four bus loads of attendees came to the
dinner, from Baltimore, Silver Spring and from
other states. Officials say people from the
Carolinas to California have reported being sick.
Dr. Ebenezer Israel, the health officer in St.
Mary's County, said the elderly woman who died did
not attend the dinner but ate a meal that was
prepared at the affair and delivered to her home.
Another woman, from Baltimore, died following the
dinner, and officials are now investigating her
death to see if it is related to the outbreak.
Israel said dozens of people have gone to
emergency rooms complaining of nausea, vomiting,
diarrhea and fever. The victims range in age from
2 to 81 years old.
A spokeswoman at St.
Mary's County Hospital
told CNN that 13 people were admitted to the
hospital for treatment of suspected food
poisoning, and another 33 have been treated and
released.
Physicians Hospital in La Plata, Maryland,
reported 26 people had been treated for suspected
food poisoning, with four admitted.
Salmonella infection can occur when people eat
food containing salmonella bacteria. Any raw food
from animals -- including meat, poultry, raw milk,
fish and shellfish -- can carry salmonella. When
these foods are not cooked thoroughly, the
bacteria can survive and people who eat it can
become sick.
Food that comes in contact with the bacteria can
also spread infection.
Officials said they are looking at the turkey or
ham served at the dinner as the possible sources.
Fried oysters served at the affair have been ruled
out as the cause.
Israel said different types of food served at the
dinner came from different locations.
"We are not at a stage where we can say
comfortably where the organism came from," Israel
said.
Each year, about 40,000 cases of salmonella cases
are reported in the United States, but health
experts estimate that between 400,000 and 4
million persons each year actually contract the
infection.
Symptoms of salmonella usually start six to 48
hours after the food is consumed. The most common
symptoms are diarrhea followed by upset stomach,
chills, fever or headache. Symptoms generally last
three to five days.
Salmonella infection can be life-threatening for
infants and children, the elderly and people who
are weakened from other serious illnesses.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 22:59:04 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Costs Rising For Rescued Pups
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105225902.006e4e94@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN custom news http://www.cnn.com/
--------------------------------------------------------------
Florida State News
Reuters
05-NOV-97
Costs Rising For Rescued Pups
(ORANGE CITY) -- Animal shelters and dog lovers have opened their doors to
hundreds of dogs seized last month from a puppy mill in Flagler County. Now
officials at the Humane Society are asking people to open their wallets to
help. Medical and food bills for the animals have been adding up. The
foster parents, animal shelters and others are awaiting the ruling of a
Flagler County judge on a Humane Society petition for custody of the
animals. About 360 dogs... and one bird... are being kept in foster homes,
kennels and animal shelters in Flagler, Volusia and St. Johns counties.
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 23:07:34 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) New Test for "Mad Cow" Protein
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105230732.006936f4@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday November 5 6:26 PM EST
New Test for "Mad Cow" Protein
By Theresa Tamkins
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A new antibody specifically recognizes the agent that
causes "mad cow disease" and may one day offer a test for a similar fatal
neurological disorder in humans, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).
The antibody can detect the agent that causes both diseases -- a protein
known as a prion -- in brain samples, according to a report in this week's
issue of Nature. However, it's not yet clear if the antibody test is
sensitive enough to detect prions in the blood or other tissues, a
necessary step in testing patients.
"So far, it's just the potential of the antibody," said Dr. Markus Moser, a
member of the research team at Prionics AG, the Zurich, Switzerland-based
company that developed the antibody. "It's prion specific, but we don't
really know how sensitive we are going to be with this kind of test."
An outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle in the U.K.
has been linked with unusual cases of CJD in at least 20 young adults in
the U.K. and France. In those cases, most victims were in their teens or
20s and developed depression or schizophrenia-like hallucinations, followed
by difficulty in walking and talking, coma, and death.
The antibody, which was made by injecting the prion protein into mice,
distinguishes between normal and abnormal prion proteins in the brain. It's
thought that abnormal prions -- which are surprisingly resistant to
protein-digesting enzymes -- convert normal prions to the resistant form,
building up and causing damage in the brain.
The company already has one antibody test that detects prions in brain
samples treated with protein-digesting enzymes, a step that removes normal
prions. But the new antibody can distinguish between abnormal and normal
prions in untreated samples.
This second antibody opens up the possibility of testing live animals --
either cows or people, according to Moser. Such an antibody may be useful
in treating prion disorders, which have no known treatment or cure. By
binding to abnormal prions, it may prevent the process in which normal
proteins are converted into the abnormal form, Moser said.
The use of the antibody to test for CJD is "theoretically a very exciting
possibility, but I know of no evidence supporting or refuting it," said Dr.
Karen Hsiao, associate professor of neurology at the University of
Minnesota in Minneapolis. "The sensitivity of the antibody is a very
important question that this paper doesn't address."
Some studies have suggested that antibody tests may be many times less
sensitive than tests in live animals, she said. However, it can take
hundreds of days to get results from animal tests because of the long
incubation period for prions.
"It would be fantastic if it worked because it could be done in a day or
two, rather than taking several hundred days, but to my knowledge there is
no evidence supporting or refuting the antibodies' ability to do that,"
Hsiao said. SOURCE: Nature (1997;390:74-77)
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 20:14:24 -0800 (PST)
From: Twilight
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (AA)(AU)Kangaroo Meat
Message-ID: <19971106041424.19006.rocketmail@web2.rocketmail.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I received this letter and thought it may be of interest. Please mail
this letter to show your support for ending the sale of kangaroo meat.
Thanks,
Twilight
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mr. D. Adriano
Chief Executive
Sainsbury
Stamford House
Stamford Street
London
SE1 9LL
Dear Mr. Adriano:
I was shocked and sickened to read the News of the WorldViva! expose
of the kangaroo slaughter to provide your supermarket with 'exotic'
meat. I am writing to ask you to stop selling kangaroo meat in your
stores.
I am saddened by the leading role your company has chosen to take in
promoting so-called 'exotic' meats. It is a decision devoid of
morality and one which openly encourages the killing and/or the
intensive farming of wildlife.
One of the most sickening aspects of the slaughter is the fate of
joeys - the four million baby kangaroos who are the unwanted by
product of the kill. As a general rule, each slaughtered female
carries an embryo inside her, a baby joey in her pouch and frequently
an infant at foot.
The embryo perishes with its mother, the baby joeys are wrenched from
their dying mother's pouch and are stamped on, decapitated or hit
against a tree. The same fate awaits the infant joeys or, if they
flee in terror which is common, they are killed by predators or die
from starvation. All three die to provide the meat you sell.
Viva! have evidence from one of their principal suppliers of kangaroo
meat that 50 per cent of kangaroos are hit with body shots and not
head shots. The figure provided by the Australian RSPCA is an even
higher estimation of at least 85 percent. This sickening cruelty has
to stop.
Please do not let your company be part of it any more. Act now in a
humanitarian and principled way by discontinuing the sale of exotic
meats. Please let me know when you have come to this decision.
Sincerely,
_____________________________________________________________________
Sent by RocketMail. Get your free e-mail at http://www.rocketmail.com
Date: Wed, 05 Nov 1997 23:19:50 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) PeTA Protest at Renderers Convention
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971105231947.00714e98@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from PeTA news http://www.peta-online.org/news/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GIANT "COW" PROCLAIMS: "YOU'D HAVE TO BE MAD TO EAT MEAT"
Mouth-Foaming Vegetarians Protest at National Renderers Convention
--------------------------------------------------------------------
For Immediate Release:
November 4, 1997
Contact:
Bruce Friedrich 757-622-7382
Tucson, Ariz. -- The National Renderers Association--in town
tomorrow for its annual convention--will be confronted by a "mad
cow" and "mouth-foaming" vegetarians who will protest the role the
association may play in the spread of mad cow disease.
Carrying a banner reading, "You'd Have to Be Mad to Eat Meat," the
animal advocates will protest:
Date Time Place
Wednesday, November 12 noon to 1 Loew's Ventana Canyon Resort,
5 p.m. 7000 N. Resort Dr.
Feeding animal parts to other animals has been established as the
original cause of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad
cow disease, which causes animals to foam at the mouth, twitch,
and kick and makes their brains become perforated like a sponge.
The National Renderers Association may be contributing to the
disease's spread, as it promotes turning animals into cannibals:
When animals become sick, injured, or crippled, and their flesh is
deemed unfit for human consumption, they are rendered into animal
feed. Chickens, horses, cows, and pigs--all naturally
herbivores--are forced to consume the offal, a cheap meat industry
byproduct.
In 1989, the practice of feeding animals to other animals was
banned in the United Kingdom, where hundreds of thousands of
animals suspected of having BSE have been destroyed. And while
hundreds of people in the United States. have contracted
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the human form of mad cow disease that
is spread by eating BSE-infected meat, the feeding of "leftover"
animal parts to farm animals continues here.
"The only way to ensure meat won't kill you is to throw it out,"
says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk.
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