AR-NEWS Digest 404

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Medicine and Compassion
     by Andrew Gach 
  2) Chimps threatened by logging
     by Andrew Gach 
  3) Messing with nature
     by Andrew Gach 
  4) The "Stroke Belt"
     by Andrew Gach 
  5) The Real Health Hazards
     by Andrew Gach 
  6) URGENT!!! NYC Activists
     by allen schubert 
  7) [CA/IT] What did the cat do wrong?
     by David J Knowles 
  8) (HK) Mother's milk making gains
     by Vadivu Govind 
  9) (HK) Errant Meat sellers should be stopped with tougher powers
     by Vadivu Govind 
 10) (HK) E-coli shop continues to trade
     by Vadivu Govind 
 11) (HK) E coli detectors may be upgraded
     by Vadivu Govind 
 12) (HK) Meat and rusty knives
     by Vadivu Govind 
 13) (HK) Cholera outbreak may become epidemic
     by Vadivu Govind 
 14) (HK) Possible cholera sources
     by Vadivu Govind 
 15) (HK) Cholera and tighter inspection
     by Vadivu Govind 
 16) (HK) A hygiene system in poor health
     by Vadivu Govind 
 17) (JP) Tighter animal imports law sought
     by Vadivu Govind 
 18) (JP) Marine activists demand opening of water gate
     by Vadivu Govind 
 19) (JP) Leather imports and WTO
     by Vadivu Govind 
 20) (LK) Zoos - no more please!
     by Vadivu Govind 
 21) (LK) Slaughter advocate
     by Vadivu Govind 
 22) (LK) Sale of beef and mutton
     by Vadivu Govind 
 23) (LK) Electric fence to keep elephants away
     by Vadivu Govind 
 24) (LK) Dairy goats
     by Vadivu Govind 
 25) (LK) Siddha, hope for cancer patients
     by Vadivu Govind 
 26) (MY)  Natural relief for menopausal symptoms
     by Vadivu Govind 
 27) Re: Response to Steve Kendall
     by Lesli Bisgould 
 28) Re: Aurora Cancels Animal Show
     by Friends of Animals 
 29) (US-DC) FFA&COK Paul Watson Demo 5/22 Noon
     by Franklin Wade 
 30) (US) CSPI calls for action on eggs and salmonella
     by allen schubert 
 31) It's official: Hawaiian quarantine reduced
     by Animal Rights Hawaii 
 32) Books & Literature
     by "radioactive" 
 33) (US) CRISP Reports No Longer Show Award Amounts
     by Karin Zupko 
 34) Press Release for May 12, 1997
     by "radioactive" 
 35) (US) Health Group Wants Warnings on Eggs
     by allen schubert 
 36) Poisoned Eggs & CSPI
     by Franklin Wade 
 37) Barry Herbeck abuse case update...
     by "Alliance for Animals" 
 38) HUMANS BRING POULTRY VIRUS TO PENGIUNS
     by "radioactive" 
 39) Foot and Mouth disease statistics (Taiwan)
     by bunny 
 40) raw eggs
     by "radioactive" 
 41) CACC Director Vacancy
     by bstagno@ix.netcom.com (Barbara Stagno)
 42) Re: Dog Abuse
     by bstagno@ix.netcom.com (Barbara Stagno)
 43) GLICKMAN NAMES FOREIGN ANIMAL DISEASE ADVISORY COMMITTEE 
     by "radioactive" 
 44) (US) Four California condors released in Arizona        
     by allen schubert 
Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 21:42:47 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Medicine and Compassion
Message-ID: <337942C7.4454@worldnet.att.net>
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Chronic fatigue sufferers aren't getting what they need from doctors

London Observer Service 

(May 13, 1997 00:07 a.m. EDT) -- To study the life and clinical history
of Alice James, sister of novelist Henry and philosopher- psychologist
William, is a revealing venture. Her story is neither dramatic nor epic.
Yet it does resonate with contemporary attitudes to illness.

Alice began noticing episodes of "neuralgia" when she was only 15 years
old. William, a proponent of free will, was quick to chastise her for
"languishing and lolling about."  However, this was far from youthful
sloth. She went on to develop fainting spells, "violent
turns of hysteria" and profound neurasthenia. Or, in more modern
parlance, chronic fatigue.

Her doctors provided little support. She wrote in her diary of "the
ignorant asininity of the medical profession in its treatment of nervous
disorders."

A century later, there is a familiar echo to these words. Today,
physicians do not take kindly to being challenged. They feel defensive
and insecure. They have become accustomed to unqualified respect and
genuflection. Nowhere is this trait more obvious than in the treacherous
swamp of confusion that is myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

Take the recent scholarly report produced by a committee representing
the holy trinity of the British medical establishment -- the Royal
Colleges of Physicians, Psychiatrists and General Practitioners --
advising on the diagnosis and causes of chronic fatigue syndrome.
They were anxious that doctors were over-diagnosing a condition that had
become known, without their approval, as ME. It was time to assert
control over this most fashionable of modern diseases.

The committee's final published report, released last October, concluded
(rightly) that ME was an unsatisfactory label. The term implies a
process damaging the brain and spinal cord.  Such a pathology is far
from established. Still, ME carries significant emotional appeal -- it
draws attention to a physical rather than a psychological illness,
though this had no basis in fact.

The authors of the report included eight psychiatrists out of a
membership of 16. They used this semantic quarrel to establish a
cardboard case against the idea that chronic fatigue syndrome is an
organic disease of the brain. The college representatives interpreted
every piece of evidence pointing to a biological cause -- for instance,
a virus -- in a negative light.

The consequence of this bias is that the committee inclined towards a
view that data suggesting a physical origin was "inconsistent." Perhaps
so, but the sensible conclusion should surely be that there is
reasonable doubt that chronic fatigue has a psychological basis. This
view is especially compelling given the fact that patients
continue to challenge the idea of it as a depressive disorder. Indeed,
the evidence shows a total failure of anti-depressants in these
patients. Surprisingly, though, the Royal Colleges "endorses the use of
anti-depressants."

The report also balks at the idea of a questioning public. It states:
"Doctors' efforts ... may occasionally be threatened by the patients who
produce literature indicating that the symptoms are unlikely to respond
to current management." Intelligent discussion is seen as
an attack on the physician. And any success for complementary therapies
is attributed to the "charisma of the practitioner."

Alice James died 105 years ago. What have we learned since then? In a
narrow sense, a great deal. But the larger lesson -- namely, that
doctors should listen more and pronounce less -- has been missed.

It is interesting to note that the last word of an American review on
chronic fatigue is "compassion." One struggles to find this word in the
British report.

--By DR. RICHARD HORTON, editor of the British medical journal Lancet
Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 21:44:31 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Chimps threatened by logging
Message-ID: <3379432F.63E6@worldnet.att.net>
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Gabon Logging Pushes Chimps Into Deadly Territorial War

          By WILLIAM K. STEVENS 
     New York Times Interactive addition

Logging of tropical forests in the central African country of
Gabon appears to have touched off a savage territorial war
among chimpanzees in which four of every five chimps die, says
a field biologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society. 

With an estimated 50,000 chimpanzees, Gabon has until lately
accounted for a third to a half of a total African chimp population
estimated at 100,000 to 150,000. But the chimpanzee wars have
apparently reduced the Gabonese population to about 30,000,
and it could ultimately fall to 10,000 if most of the country is
logged as now planned, said the biologist, Dr. Lee White. The
fear is that the central African subspecies of which the Gabon
chimps are members might become endangered, as are two
other subspecies in western and eastern Africa. 

The findings from Gabon are especially startling because the
logging is selective, intended to minimize damage to the habitat of
chimpanzees and other animals. No more than 10 percent of the
trees in a given tract are cut, White said at a briefing last week in
New York sponsored by the society, which has its headquarters
at the Bronx Zoo. Nor is there any hunting in the area studied by
White. And no other large animals like elephants or gorillas
appear to have suffered. 

But chimps, the animals most closely related to humans, are
known to be highly jealous of territory, patrolling and defending
borders constantly. Even without logging, violent clashes are
known to erupt in which chimps kill each other with their bare
hands and feet. In at least two documented cases, large
communities of chimpanzees have systematically hunted down
smaller ones and killed all members. 

What is happening in Gabon, White believes, is that as
mechanized logging operations advance on a continuous front
three to six miles wide, their approach frightens the chimpanzees,
which are not used to humans and have never encountered
anything like big, noisy machines. So they flee -- right into the
territory of the next chimp community. 

When that happens, White said, "you're essentially going to
kick-start a chimpanzee war." The males from the invaded
community attack the interlopers, and many die. Then the loggers
keep coming. The invaded community itself is displaced onto the
next community's territory. New warfare breaks out, White
believes, "and this process goes on and on and on and on as the
loggers move through." 

White said he and his African colleagues "have a scientific
reluctance to shout about this effect," since they have not actually
observed a chimpanzee war in progress. But all signs point in
that direction, he said. 

First, he said, it is clear on the basis of sampling surveys of
chimpanzee nests, scats and actual animals in Gabon's
2,000-square-mile Lope Reserve that the population of a given
community falls by 80 percent immediately after the loggers go
through. The surviving 20 percent, White postulates, filter back
to their home range through undisturbed forest after the war. 

Second, White observed chimp behavior suggesting a war
atmosphere. In one area where he was surveying the effects of
logging, the chimpanzees were extremely agitated, drumming on
trees, calling to each other and even rushing Dr. White himself.
"On a number of occasions they mobbed me," he said. "I had
whole chimpanzee communities charging to about five meters
and screaming at me, and that's very unusual behavior." He
interprets this as evidence of "a very stressed chimpanzee
community, which is exactly what we would expect if this sort of
chimpanzee war was going on." 

Why are gorillas not affected in the same way? One reason may
be that home ranges of gorilla groups commonly overlap each
other and aggression between groups is rare. White and a
colleague, Dr. Caroline Tutin, make this point in a chapter
prepared for a forthcoming book, "African Rain Forest Ecology
and Conservation." Another, they say, is that when conflict does
occur the mode is different. Gorilla groups depend on a
dominant male for protection rather than engaging in group
Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 21:45:51 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Messing with nature
Message-ID: <3379437F.1B52@worldnet.att.net>
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The Law of Unintended Consequences and the tale of the Nile perch

Scripps Howard 

(May 13, 1997 00:02 a.m. EDT) -- Have you heard of the Nile Perch? The
story of what happened with this fish may be one of the world's best
examples of the Law of Unintended Consequences.

In the 1950s, British officials in Central Africa introduced the Nile
Perch into Lake Victoria.  They did it to help the local fishermen and
to give a boost to the local economy. Before the Nile Perch, the
fishermen had to make do with the lake's cichlid fish, which seldom
weighed more than a pound or two.

A mature Nile Perch, however, could easily weigh 300 pounds. Introducing
it into Lake Victoria held the promise of making life easier for the
local fishermen.

Both the locals and the British colonial administrators were pleased
with the immediate results. The fish multiplied rapidly, and soon the
fishermen could make a living catching just a few large fish rather than
many hundreds of small ones. As the British hoped, the local
economy boomed. There were even fish left over for export. It looked
like a total win-win for everyone.

Today, it looks like a catastrophic lose-lose for everyone. The World
Bank, the United Nations and the governments of the three countries that
border on Lake Victoria are spending more than $77 million to try to
save Lake Victoria from the Nile Perch.

What went wrong?

Well, to begin with, the Nile Perch is a ferocious hunter, and it fed on
the cichlid fish that populated the lake. When the Nile Perch was first
introduced, there were at least 350 species of cichlids in Lake
Victoria.

Today the Nile Perch has hunted more than half of them to extinction.
Unfortunately, the cichlids that died out were important to Lake
Victoria's ecosystem.

Some of the cichlids fed on the larvae of insects such as mosquitoes and
flies. Without the fish to control the insects, the people who lived
near Lake Victoria spent vast amounts of scarce money on pest control.

Other species of cichlids fed on the lake's algae and kept it under
control. With the algae- eating fish gone, algae spread so thickly that
it soon shaded out the underwater plants.

Before the Nile Perch, the fishermen could preserve their catch by
simply drying the cichlids in the sun. A 300-pound perch, however, will
rot before it dries, so the fisherman had to cook the fish. That meant
cutting down trees for firewood.

Soon the neighboring hills were denuded and massive erosion resulted.
The silt that washed into Lake Victoria killed off still more of the
aquatic life.

Perhaps most ironic, as the Nile Perch destroyed species after species
of cichlids, the perches no longer had the abundant food supply that
they did initially. Without sufficient food, they stopped growing to the
enormous and profitable sizes they had once attained.

Today, Lake Victoria is on the verge of biologic collapse. This would
not only be a catastrophe for its ecosystem, but also for the three
African nations that depend on it for survival. Who could have dreamed
that all of this could result from something that started with such good
intentions?

The story of the Nile Perch, including actual specimens and living
specimens of some of the cichlids that are extinct in the wild are now
temporarily on view at the American Museum of Natural History in New
York. The exhibit will be on view now through Sept. 1.

--By MITZI PERDUE, Scripps Howard News Service
Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 21:50:48 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: The "Stroke Belt"
Message-ID: <337944A8.6895@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Buckle of 'Stroke Belt' has death rate double rest of U.S., study shows

The Associated Press 

DALLAS (May 13, 1997 10:31 a.m. EDT) -- The coastal plains of Georgia
and the Carolinas have the highest rate of stroke deaths in the nation,
with middle-aged people twice as likely as those in the rest of the
country to die that way, according to a study published Tuesday.

Scientists have known since the 1960s that the three states and five
others in the Southeast have higher-than-average death rates from
stroke. Dubbed the "Stroke Belt," the region also includes Tennessee,
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

When investigators at Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem,
N.C., tried to find out whether poverty and poor education played a
role, they found a zone-within-a-zone of even higher stroke death rates.

They called the 153-county area the "buckle" of the Stroke Belt.

The rate of stroke deaths in the buckle was 2.1 times higher among
people 35 to 54 than the average for the same age group in 42 states
outside the Southeast. For people ages 55 to 74, the rate was 1.7 times
the average.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute funded the study,
published in Tuesday's issue of Stroke, a journal of the Dallas-based
American Heart Association. The researchers got their data from death
records and the census.

George Howard, professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at Bowman
Gray and the study's lead author, said his team did not resolve the
question of why the Stroke Belt and the buckle exist.

"I think we should be outraged," he said. "This has been going year
after year after year for 50 years. If someone blew up a town of 50,000
people, there would be an outcry."

Scientists believe the higher death rates are somehow connected to
quality of life because they occur in counties with lower-than-average
family income and education.

But the Bowman Gray team found that less than 16 percent of the
additional risk in the Stroke Belt could be explained by lower
socioeconomic status.

The researchers used mathematical analysis to group people by
socioeconomic status in three regions -- the Stroke Belt, the buckle and
the rest of the country.

Instead of finding the same stroke death rate for people with the same
socioeconomic status in all three regions, researchers still found
higher rates in the Stroke Belt and the buckle.

"I think what we're left with is more investigations to try and figure
out the reason for the stroke death," Howard said.

Other possibilities scientists are considering include geographic
factors, such as something in the air or water, genetics and lifestyle
decisions such as smoking and physical inactivity.

Dr. Mark J. Alberts, a neurologist who directs the stroke acute care
unit at Duke University in Durham, N.C., said he was surprised by the
findings.

Alberts is acting director of the Stroke Belt Consortium, whose members
include doctors, government agencies, minority representatives and
others investigating the stroke-concentration area.

They already had concluded that factors like race, socioeconomic status
and high blood pressure account for no more than 60 percent of the
Stroke Belt's higher stroke death rate, he said.

"The work by Dr. Howard and his colleagues shows that socioeconomic
status does not account for significant percentage of the risk," he
said.

Of the remaining possibilities, he said, "I think it might be genetic
because the South has a much more stable population."

By MELISSA WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer

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

If some of the billions of $$$ wasted by the vivisection industry were
used where it counts -- on clinical and epidemiological research --
perhaps such "outrage" wouldn't occur.

Andy
Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 21:55:01 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: The Real Health Hazards
Message-ID: <337945A5.4C2C@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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White House announces food-safety initiatives

The Associated Press 

   EU farm commissioner to seek extra BSE food safety rules 

WASHINGTON (May 13, 1997 10:13 a.m. EDT) -- The Clinton administration
has unveiled a $43.2 million, five-step program to improve the nation's
food safety, including subjecting fruit and vegetable juices and egg
products to more stringent safeguards.

Vice President Al Gore, in releasing a report detailing the program,
said Monday that while U.S. food supplies are the safest in the world,
"the nation has much more to do."

The report, "Food Safety From Farm to Table," said that millions of
Americans continue to be stricken each year by illness caused by the
food they consume and about 9,000 -- mostly the very young and the
elderly -- die as a result.

"We're not raising the food safety victory flag yet," said Health and
Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.

As an example of the continued safety problems, the report noted that
several hundred Michigan schoolchildren were struck by the hepatitis A
virus in March after eating contaminated frozen strawberries in a school
lunch program.

And at least 49 people were sickened recently after drinking trendy,
unpasteurized fruit juices that were contaminated with the virulent E.
coli bacteria.

Officials said the government still is studying whether to require
pasteurization of fruit juices.

President Clinton requested the study in January and asked Congress to
appropriate the money necessary to carry out its recommendations. The
report calls for:

-- Improved inspections and expanded preventive safety measures,
including $8.5 million for additional Food and Drug Administration
inspectors. In addition, fruit and vegetable juices and egg products
will be included among the seafood, meat and poultry products now
subject to the tracking system from the farm to the grocery store.

-- A $4 million national education campaign by the Agriculture
Department and the FDA to improve food handling in homes, restaurants
and stores.

-- Increased research, costing $16.5 million, to develop new tests to
detect food-borne pathogens, some of which -- such as hepatitis A --
cannot be detected in many foods.

-- Creation of an intergovernmental group to improve federal, state and
local coordination when illnesses break out.

-- Spending $13.7 million to build a national early-warning system to
detect and respond to outbreaks.

Under the new juice and egg proposal, companies must prove they have
prevented contamination at every step of production, from harvesting to
sales. A similar system now governs seafood and meat companies.

The Safe Food Coalition, a group of consumer and public interest groups,
praised the proposed rules but said additional measures still are
needed.

The group wants the appointment of a presidential commission to find the
best organizational structure to ensure food safety.

"Food-borne illness is an issue that has been shoved to the back of the
shelf for far too long," said coordinator Carol Tucker Foreman, a former
Agriculture Department assistant secretary.

The FDA and Agriculture now share main food-safety responsibilities.

By JOHN D. McCLAIN, The Associated Press

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

Instead of worrying about infected fruit juice and fruit that are rare
and kill very few people, the government should be concerned about meat
that kills millions.

Andy
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 02:03:23 -0400
>From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: URGENT!!! NYC Activists
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970514020321.006dc1bc@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

posted for oceana@ibm.net :
-------------------------------------------
***********URGENT!!!************

Animal advocates are needed to collect signatures for the charter amendment!
50,000 signatures of registered NYC voters are needed by August 15, 1997 to
place 
this amendment on the ballot!!  

Right now, 150 healthy dogs and cats are cruelly euthanized EVERY DAY at
the Center for Animal Care and Control, the corrupt, inefficient
bureaucracy headed by the notorious Marty Kurtz. We need to change this,
the worst animal shelter in the COUNTRY.

What will this amendment do? Among other things, it will:

1) it will create a Department of Animal Affairs in NYC, the first of its
kind. Animals are now "taken care of" by the Departments of Health and
Sanitation.
2) The DAA's mandate will be to advocate for animals.  Right now, the
mandate of the Health Dept is to protect people from animals (ie.
rabies)--not to help animals.
3)  Create a mobile rescue service for stray and injured animals. 
4) Establish a position for a Deputy Commisioner in charge of Humane
Education to educate the public about companion animal issues.
5)  Create an independent commission to oversee the DAA.
6) Create a mandate to make NYC a no-kill city through spay-neuter
initiatives, adoption and educational programs. 
7) Create the position of commisioner who must be qualified for the job,
and have experience working in the animal field  (5 years experience as
head or officer of a humane organization).

*****************************************************************
Are you a registered NYC voter?  Can you collect even 25 signatures from
friends, co-workers, family?  Then you can help!  Call me at 718-624-3701
or call the Shelter Reform Action Committee at 212-876-0090 to get some
petitions,  

For those of you who have wondered whether this is "radical"enough, keep in
mind that the SRAC had to work within the law, and has invested HUNDREDS of
hours into the creation of this document. 

Pamelyn Ferdin (Jerry Vlasak's wife) was also a major contributer to the
language, so you can be sure that they did the best they could given the
constrictions. 

So please please call and get some petitions. 

If you want to table with me, I will be tabling weekly (starting this
Saturday) at different city locales. 



Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 00:54:33 -0700 (PDT)
>From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA/IT] What did the cat do wrong?
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970514005459.2557962a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From the Vancouver Sun - Tuesday, May 13th, 1997

Maffioso wants cat jailed too

CALTANISETTA, Sicily - A suspected Mafioso, sentenced to eight years in
prison and on the run for three, has offered to turn himself in - as long as
his pet cat can accompany him behind bars. Claudio Camastra, a lawyer for
36-year-old suspected mob member Mario Milano, told the ANSA news agency on
Monday police in Sicily were in contact with his client to discuss his
return from hiding in Canada.

Camastra said apart from not wanting to be seperated from his cat, Milano
wanted to be jailed in the Sicilian port of Agrigento and to be able to
speak to his family as soon as he returned.

 

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:58:30 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Mother's milk making gains
Message-ID: <199705140858.QAA05139@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"




>South China Morning Post
Internet Edition
14 May 97

Mother's milk making gains
WENDY KAN

     For most mothers, giving birth is the hardest part of pregnancy. But for
Fan Yuk-kuen, the problems began after delivery. Her breasts hurt and she
did not understand why.

 Ms Fan, 27, realised the cause of her discomfort only when a second-time
mother explained that her breasts were full of milk. Not knowing what to do,
she put up with the pain for a day and a half. Only then did a nurse ask her
how she wanted to feed her baby - with a bottle or by suckling the child.
When she chose the latter, she was told she could breast-feed, but only at
four allotted times in the day.

 And when she left the private hospital, no one told her she could use pumps
to relieve herself and store the milk to feed the baby later.

 "Engorged breasts are a sign of pain," said Dr Linda Brown, chairperson of
the Health Care of Women and Childbearing Division at the University of
Pennsylvania's School of Nursing, who gave a breast-feeding seminar in Hong
Kong. A mother's breasts become filled with milk if she does not use them to
feed her newborn child almost immediately and at frequent intervals, she
explained. The sight of engorged breasts, she said, was "the most appalling
aspect of my visit here".

 Breast-feeding - one of the earliest ways in which a child and mother bond
- has not been as widely accepted in Hong Kong as some health professionals
would like, despite the nutritional, immunological and psychological
benefits to newborns.

 The situation seems to be improving, however. Surveys, conducted annually
at 22 private and public hospitals with maternity wards since 1992, show an
increasing number of mothers are breast-feeding their babies by the time
they leave hospital. Last year, 45.9 per cent of mothers chose
breast-feeding over bottle feeding compared to 32.4 per cent the year
before. In 1992, the corresponding rate was 19 per cent.

 Chee Yuet-oi, project co-ordinator of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
Hong Kong Association, says countries such as China, the US and the UK fare
slightly better in their breast-feeding rates while Japan, Scandinavia,
Germany and Hungary have rates of more than 90 per cent.

   The association's survey also sought to discover how many "baby-friendly"
points hospitals complied with. (In 1989 the World Health Organisation and
the United Nations Children's Fund drew up a simple 10-point plan outlining
steps hospitals should take to improve their post-natal care. It suggests
initiating breast-feeding within a half-hour of the delivery, allowing
mothers and babies to "room in" together from the moment of birth, and
encouraging breast-feeding on demand, rather than on schedule.)

  "Of course, [the hospitals] can comply with each point but to what extent
is questionable," said Ms Chee. "We have had mothers tell us different
things than the hospitals indicate. And we have nurses and lactation
consultants tell us differently also."

 Ms Chee also notes that the surveys give no indication of how many mothers
continue breast-feeding after they leave hospital, but she hopes to conduct
follow-ups in the future when the association has more resources. "Ideally,
we'd like to see mothers breast-feeding for up to eight weeks."

 Her goal is to have the WHO assess hospitals in the territory and
officially designate as "baby friendly" those that meet the standards.

 "Once you get one hospital designated, others will get jealous. That's what
I'm trying to create - jealousy," she said.

 Ms Chee found allies in her promotional work last year, after holding a
workshop for breast-feeding mothers. The Hong Kong Breast-feeding Mothers'
Association was formed with the help of Vivian Leung Yuet-kan, the group's
chairman and a mother of two.

 Ms Leung now also actively solicits hospitals to help promote
breast-feeding. Both women agree that the territory's public and private
hospitals are moving in the right direction, although at different rates and
with different attitudes.

 At some private hospitals, breast-feeding is allowed only in a nursery and
mothers cannot room-in with their baby, even if they have a private room.
When asked why, a labour ward nursing officer at St Paul's Hospital said,
"It is not convenient for us to do this."

 "Public hospitals tend to have policies towards breast-feeding. With
private hospitals, it is hit and miss, depending on the doctors and the
staff. But they usually go with what mothers want. So, if something goes
wrong and the mother doesn't want to breast-feed any more, that is what they
will do. They are not as zealous as public hospitals to get mothers
breast-feeding. That seems to be the picture in Hong Kong,"said Ms Chee.

 And although many health professionals agree that mothers should
breast-feed their babies as soon as possible after delivery, some hospitals
often recommend that they rest for one or two days before doing so.

 Dr Brown says this makes breast-feeding difficult for mothers, who may
suffer from engorged breasts and who may thus be turned off breast-feeding.
The sooner the baby can latch on to a mother's nipple, the easier for the
mother to empty her breasts of milk.

 Margaret Yen Yim Wam-fong, assistant director of nursing and domestic
services at Matilda Hospital, says having a roughly equal ratio of midwives
to mothers helps keep mothers motivated in what she describes as "a very
tough job".

 Matilda has earned the respect of many midwives for having achieved a 90
per cent success rate of discharging mothers who breast-feed. Babies are
encouraged to suckle on the mother's breast as soon as 30 minutes after they
are born.

 Matilda's nursery is usually empty because mothers are encouraged to feed
their babies on demand and hence are roomed-in with their child.

  Dr Brown stresses the importance of mother and child sharing a room.
Otherwise, the mother will have difficulty discerning when her baby needs to
be fed.

 "If a baby starts crying, it is already too late. A mother has to learn to
recognise the cues a baby gives when it wants to be fed," she said.

 United Christian Hospital has also joined the breast-feeding crusade. Dr
Bill Chan Hin-biu, a consultant paediatrician, says that more than half of
the 3,500 new mothers discharged from the public hospital are breast-feeding.

 The hospital initiated a breast-feeding policy in 1991 and started training
its staff to educate mothers better. Before the policy was implemented, only
a quarter of mothers leaving the hospital had taken to breast-feeding.

 Dr Chan says reasons for not breast-feeding differ but he suggests that in
Hong Kong, "some women share small flats with other people and they might
think it is inconveniencing others".

 Independent midwife Anna Illingworth says that some mothers believe
mistakenly that their newborn will not be a "fat baby" (meaning a healthy
baby) if it is breast-fed.

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:58:42 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Errant Meat sellers should be stopped with tougher powers
Message-ID: <199705140858.QAA05609@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
14 May 97
Tougher powers urged to stop errant meat sellers

By Jimmy Cheung and Cynthia Wan

[Image]
Equipment at the Hop Lee Fresh Provision Shop, the shop which is suspected
of being the source of the deadly E coli. Picture: Larry Chan

MUNICIPAL councils should have the power to ban immediately the sale of
contaminated beef, Urban Councillors said on Tuesday.

Speaking after a special inspection of Hop Lee Fresh Provision Shop in
Western where beef contaminated with the deadly E-coli O157:H7 bacteria was
found last week, Democratic Party councillor Chan Kwok-leung called for
tougher action.

The same meat shop supplied the E-coli contaminated beef found at Yaohan
Department Store in Sha Tin in March.

``I think that in special cases related to E-coli bacteria, the USD should
be empowered to apply for a special court order to stop the sale (of
meat),'' he said.

Under the department's demerit system adopted in 1995, a meat vendor's
licence will be suspended for four days after the accumulation of 15 points
in 12 months.

The licence will only be cancelled after the fourth suspension.

Mr Chan said the system was not tough enough and called for an early
council meeting to tighten the rules.

``The Health Department and the Urban Services Department must take
stronger action. They just send out summonses,'' he said.

``The penalty is not strong enough to reap any deterring effect.''

Urban Services Department Senior Superintendent (Environmental Health) Lee
Kwok-kuen said vendors would not be suspended just because of the Health
Department's finding.

Director of Health Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun said the department had
ordered the meat vendor concerned to surrender the contaminated beef,
adding that it would be up to the USD to decide if prosecution was needed.

Meanwhile, stricter legislation being studied by the Regional Council might
require food store operators to complete food handling courses before they
can be licensed.

Under present rules, operators were not obliged to attend Health Department
seminars on raw meat handling and hygiene.

There are about 500 meat stores operating without a licence across the
territory. More than 1,000 prosecutions have been lodged this year.

Lok Fu meat store operator Yeung Ching-pui said compulsory training wasn't
necessary since meat stores were not the only source of the bacteria.


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:58:49 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) E-coli shop continues to trade
Message-ID: <199705140858.QAA06380@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>South China Morning Post
Internet Edition
May 14 1997
E-coli shop continues to trade
RHONDA LAM WAN

     A fresh meat shop will stay open despite the fact that fatal E-coli O157:
H7 bacteria have been found twice in its beef in two months.

 The deadly strain of the E-coli bacteria was found in wholesaler and
retailer Sun Luen On, in Queen's Road West, Sai Ying Pun, from samples taken
on May 6.

 Urban Services Department officials said the shop had been prosecuted nine
times. The prosecutions involved placing carcasses on floors, hawking on
pavements and failing to clean walls, said department senior superintendent
Lee Kwok-kuen.

 He said the meat shop fell into the worst category "C", months after it
opened business in 1995.

 "In view of its poor record, we have doubled our inspections from every two
weeks to weekly since the bacteria were first found in March," he said.

 The shop's pork and fish counter continued business yesterday but the beef
side has ceased operation.

 Under the department's demerit points system, a shop's licence will not be
revoked unless it has been suspended for a fourth time in four years.

 The shop lost 10 points for extension of business last April and there were
six prosecutions pending court proceedings - four of which were subject to
points deduction.

 The shop will face a four-day suspension if convicted on one more count.
But it will take at least three more months to complete legal proceedings
despite the alleged offence occurring in March.

 Urban Councillor Chan Kwok-leung said the punishment was inadequate: "It is
too lenient to have deterrent effect. The department should apply a special
court order to close the shop immediately," he said.

  The source of contamination has remained a mystery but Mr Lee said the
likely source was cross-contamination through equipment such as tables and
knives.

 Department of Health director Dr Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun said some of
the contaminated meat might have been sold.

 Sun Luen On licence holder Lui To, who sells frozen meat in the shop, said
the premises were sublet to other beef, pork and fish operators and he was
powerless to control the actions of others.

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:59:11 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) E coli detectors may be upgraded
Message-ID: <199705140859.QAA03035@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
14 May 97
Upgrade for E coli detectors

By Cynthia Wan

THE Department of Health may purchase more advanced laboratory equipment to
speed up the detection of the deadly E coli bacteria in food samples.

It may apply for more money from the Legislative Council's Finance
Committee to import the new technology, said Thomas Pang Cheung-wai,
Regional Councillor and member of Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of
Hong Kong.

Mr Pang quoted the Director of Health, Dr Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, as
saying this after their meeting on Tuesday. He did not have details of the
new equipment.

The DAB felt it was necessary to upgrade the existing equipment as it takes
seven to 10 days to culture the E coli O157:H7 in the laboratory.

``I think the procedures and equipment employed in Hong Kong now may not
meet the international standards since it's taking so long to detect the
bacteria,'' Mr Pang said.

A spokesman for the department said it had been seeking new ways to to
shorten the test processing.


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:59:20 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Meat and rusty knives
Message-ID: <199705140859.QAA06414@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>South China Morning Post
Internet Edition
May 14 97

     Food hygiene horror revealed in raid on unlicensed factory
     CLIFFORD LO and RHONDA LAM
     
     About 230 kilograms of processed food, including chicken and duck legs,
were seized from an unlicensed factory in Sheung Shui yesterday.

 The food was stored in rusty metal buckets and basins, and knives used to
cut the meat had also gone rusty.

 During the raid by Regional Services Department officials, a worker was
seen stuffing chicken legs in a rusty metal mixer. Cows' intestines were
being cooked on a metal stove while squid were stored in uncovered plastic
baskets.

 The factory, a tin-sheet hut next to a cemetery in Kam Tsin village, was
equipped with refrigerators and stoves.

 A lorry parked outside the factory is believed to have been used for
transporting food to retail outlets.

 A Regional Services Department spokesman said bags of processed food had
been taken for bacteria tests.

 He said it was not known how long the factory had been operating and
investigators were still checking which outlets had been supplied.

 But the spokesman said it was thought the food was mainly for hawkers and
the selling price was at least 10 per cent cheaper than that offered by
licensed suppliers.

 "Hygiene in the hut is very poor. There is no chance it will be granted a
licence," the spokesman said.

 Acting on a complaint, the raid was carried out by 20 department officers
and health inspectors at noon.

 About 230 kilograms of food, including chicken legs and wings, duck legs,
squid and pig ears, were seized.

 Three men were found inside the premises. A 40-year-old man, believed to be
the operator, will be summoned for operating a food factory without a licence.

 In the first three months of this year there were 72 prosecutions against
food factories operating without licences.

 There were 781 cases last year and 660 in 1995.

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:59:29 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Cholera outbreak may become epidemic
Message-ID: <199705140859.QAA05602@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>South China Morning Post
Internet Edition

     May 14 
     Health officers attacked for failing to trace source of outbreak

     Health officials came under fire yesterday for failing to pinpoint the
cause of the cholera outbreak which has left eight people in hospital.

 Public Doctors' Association president Dr Andrew Yip Wai-chun urged the
Department of Health to put more people on the task of tracking it down.

 The department said yesterday samples from victims' homes had come back
negative.

 Legislator Leong Che-hung voiced concern that the territory could become an
epidemic port. In this case, the World Health Organisation would have to be
informed of an epidemic and visitors to the territory warned.

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:59:35 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Possible cholera sources
Message-ID: <199705140859.QAA05437@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
14 May 97
Food processing plants possible cholera sources

THE Urban Services Department (USD) on Tuesday initially identified two
food processing plants in Kwai Chung and Yuen Long as a possible source of
the recent cholera outbreak.

USD health inspectors raided the Kwai Chung food processing plant on
Saturday. Food samples including chicken feet and beef balls were taken for
examination.

Inspectors raided another processing plant in Hung Shui Kiu, Yuen Long, on
Tuesday morning. Samples of food were also taken for examination.

No new cholera cases were reported on Tuesday as the hunt continued to
identify the source of the outbreak.

The Department of Health said eight cholera victims were being treated and
one of them, an elderly man, remained critical at Tuen Mun Hospital.

On Monday, Director of Health Dr Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun said tests had
shown that victims had eaten processed food such as chicken feet, fish
balls and dim sum before falling ill.

On Wednesday members of the Regional Council's Environmental Hygiene Select
Committee will visit food premises in Sha Tin to see how inspections are
carried out.

Members will also be briefed on how operations are conducted against
illegal cooked food sellers.


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:59:40 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Cholera and tighter inspection
Message-ID: <199705140859.QAA05687@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
14 May 97
Chinese Press
Sing Tao


IT is worrying that eight cases of cholera have been reported in the same
week. Any new outbreaks would mean the disease is prevalent in Hong Kong.

Health authorities should strengthen their inspection of food-processing
sites which provide people with such favourites as chicken feet and fish
balls.

In order to allay public fears and avoid affecting tourism, the Department
of Health has taken a low-profile approach but it should at least do two
things: find the sources of bacteria and step up the promotion of disease
prevention.

There are two reasons why Hong Kong regards the outbreak as more
threatening _ Hong Kong is a close neighbour of China and hence it is very
easy to mutually transmit any epidemic. Hong Kong also is too densely
populated to have effective and proper control of a disease once it breaks
out.

There are also two reasons why Hong Kong has to take the matter seriously.
One is that summer is approaching. Another is that the handover is
approaching. It just would not be good to welcome visitors with a cholera
scare.

Ming Pao

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:59:46 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) A hygiene system in poor health
Message-ID: <199705140859.QAA30933@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Hong Kong Standard
14 May 97
A hygiene system in poor health

EDITORIAL

IT was only three months ago we had a big scare over beef contaminated by
the deadly E coli O157:H7 bacteria. We are into a second scare. Now, as
then, the discovery comes long after contaminated meat was sold and,
possibly, consumed _ happily without any ill-effects.

In both instances the contaminated meat came from the same vendor whose
poor hygiene record would, in some other countries, have the business
closed.

In other countries, too, the first discovery of such contamination would
have led to speedier inspection and detection. In this instance samples
were taken on 6 May but it was not until six days later the bacteria was
found.

All authorities concerned seem determined that Hong Kong should live up to
its ``anything goes'' image.

Or, perhaps, as in so many other areas of human endeavour here, we must
wait for someone to die before the authorities are galvanised into action.

Until then we can look forward to more smug assurances from Director of
Health Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun that everything is under control, the
Health Department and the Urban Services Department are doing their best.

Clearly their best is not good enough for Hong Kong. Can we really take
pride in being one of the key financial and trade centres of the world with
``developed world'' status when standards of public hygiene remain at the
level of the broken-backed states?

To clear up this rotten state of affairs the Health Department must
immediately adopt two measures: Introduce speedier testing of meat and
other food, and take stronger measures against recalcitrant vendors. A
lengthy licence suspension should be imposed on the culprit in this current
scare. This vendor had been merely slapped on the wrist nine times in under
two years.

Until the Health Department gets its act together Hong Kong people would be
well advised to stick to well cooked food.




Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:59:53 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (JP) Tighter animal imports law sought
Message-ID: <199705140859.QAA01529@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Asahi Shimbun
May 14, 1997
Tighter animal imports law sought


In a bid to prevent pathogenic bacteria, viruses and protozoans from being
imported via pets and birds, the Health and Welfare Ministry decided
Tuesday to recommend stiffer regulations.

A ministry spokesman said the Public Sanitation Council, an advisory panel
to the Health and Welfare minister, will shortly start discussing how to
revise and update the animal import control law.

He said the ministry will ask the panel to consider ways to (1) restrict
imports of wild animals other than those for animal experiments, (2)
reinforce the quarantine system for imported animals, (3) require doctors
and veterinarians to report high-risk cases of animal-to-human infections
to the government, (4) require pet shops and other facilities to conduct
regular studies on pathogens, and (5) enforce regular health checks on
people who come into frequent contact with imported animals.

The World Health Organization lists about 310 different infections that
humans can catch from animals.

Under current Japanese laws, however, import controls apply only to
livestock such as cattle and pigs, and to dogs that are subject to control
under the Rabies Prevention Law.

The rabies law requires dog owners to have their canine pets vaccinated
once a year. It also stipulates a quarantine period for all dogs being
exported from or imported into Japan. But cats and raccoons, which are just
as susceptible to rabies, are exempted from this law.

Among the infections the ministry hopes to keep at bay are: Ebola fever and
other viral hemorrhagic fevers carried by certain monkeys; pest and viral
lung infections from rats; E-coli bacteria, such as O-157, that are often
found in bovine intestines; and lyme disease and parrot fever from birds.

Reported cases of fatal animal-to-human infections in recent years include
dysentery brought in by pet monkeys in 1993 and the first Q fever fatality
in Japan in 1996. Q fever is a mild illness carried by ticks that is
characterized by fevers, muscular pains and headaches.

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:59:59 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (JP) Marine activists demand opening of water gate
Message-ID: <199705140859.QAA05249@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Japan Times
                                  (May 13)

Marine activists demand opening of water gate

     A citizens' group concerned over the extinction of marine life in
     Isahaya Bay, Nagasaki Prefecture, took to the streets May 13 in
     Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district.

     The group's members called on the government to open a closed
     water gate that is blocking the flow of sea water under a
     reclamation project in the bay. In front of the Ministry of
     Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries building, members of the
     group, Tokyo Residents from the Sea of Ariake, acted like the
     clams and seabirds that inhabit Isahaya Bay while chanting, "Open
     the water gate right now!"

     "We've lived in the Sea of Ariake (which adjoins Isahaya Bay)
     long before mankind appeared on the Earth," said a participant
     playing the part of a dead crab. "They (government officials)
     must realize that they are part of nature."

     "Although we are just a small group of people living in Tokyo and
     Chiba, some are originally from the areas close to the Sea of
     Ariake," said Etsuko Nimura, leader of the group. "That's why we
     have taken action in Tokyo to protect our homeland." With the
     help of citizens' groups and nongovernmental organizations
     nationwide, as well as recent media coverage of the issue, Nimura
     said, grassroots efforts against the reclamation project are
     gradually becoming visible on the national level.

     Although they tried to submit a statement of their demand to the
     minister after the performance, they were barred by security
     guards and ministry officials. "Many people tend to think that
     what the authorities once decided can never be overturned,"
     Nimura said. "What we need is the courage to say that what is
     wrong is wrong."

     The reclamation of Isahaya Bay, which has been aborted and
     resurfaced time and again since the idea was initially conceived
     in 1952, recently gained momentum when the Ministry of
     Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries closed on April 14 the 1.2-km
     water gate in the 7-km embankment that crosses the bay. The
     3,000-hectare wetland inside the closed area, known for its rich
     ecodiversity, is reportedly drying up by the day, wiping out
     virtually all the rare species that inhabit only areas where
     rivers meet the sea and cannot be seen in any other region in the
     world.


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 17:00:04 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (JP) Leather imports and WTO
Message-ID: <199705140900.RAA05952@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>Japan Times
13 May
EU threatens to go to WTO over leather imports 'promise'

     The European Union has threatened to file a complaint with the
     World Trade Organization over Japan's import restrictions on
     leather products unless Tokyo fulfills its "secret promise" to
     increase imports from Europe, Japanese government sources said
     May 13.

     The European Commission, the executive arm of the 15-nation
     union, claims that Tokyo wrote a confidential letter to Brussels
     a few years ago during the Uruguay Round of world trade
     liberalization negotiations, promising to increase imports of
     European leather products, the sources said. The commission
     insists that the Japanese promise in the letter, signed by Noboru
     Hatakeyama, the then top Japanese trade negotiator, was made in
     exchange for Europe's agreement to drop its demand for sizable
     cuts in high Japanese import-tariff rates for leather products,
     the sources said.

     Japan agreed in the Uruguay Round to lower its import tariffs on
     mining and manufacturing goods by 60 percent to an average level
     of 1.5 percent, the lowest among the major industrialized
     economies. But leather products, to which high tariff rates
     apply, were excluded from the tariff reductions. Japan retains a
     tariff-quota system for imported leather products to protect its
     weak domestic industry.

     The EU claims that Hatakeyama promised in the letter to expand
     leather imports from Europe in the future by increasing the quota
     with relatively low tariff rates, the sources said. Although the
     sources confirmed the existence of the letter, they would not
     make clear whether Tokyo interprets the document as promising to
     expand the import quota, as Brussels claims, or merely expressing
     Japan's willingness to do so.

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 17:00:13 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (LK) Zoos - no more please!
Message-ID: <199705140900.RAA02315@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Daily News
Wednesday 14, May 1997
                           Letters to the Editor
Zoos - no more please!

I was shocked to read a report (28/4/97) about plans by P.C.s to establish
a zoo at Rambukkana. Let them first show that they are capable of
maintaining the area - roads, garbage-clearance etc., duties first! before
running a zoo which even people at Dehiwala have not mastered yet.

As a lover of animals I genuinely feel that even the animals who are caged
in Dehiwala should be set free wherever possible. Fish, birds butterflies,
reptiles etc. who live in natural life in the zoo are an exception, but
they too have to be fed and looked after. Modern zoos have a different
concept and attitude; they are not mere animal exhibitions.

Zoos are now breeding grounds for rare species that are re-introduced to
the jungle, they also serve as hospitals. People who love animals run these
places.

BORN-FREE, Colombo 9


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 17:00:19 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (LK) Slaughter advocate
Message-ID: <199705140900.RAA01826@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Daily News
Wednesday 14, May 1997
                           Letters to the Editor
Advocating slaughter


I am simultaneously irritated and elated to read the frequent letters of
Dr. Mareena Reffai.

Irritation comes from reading her virulent advocacy/defence of (a) ritual
slaughter in residential areas (b) amputation for thieves, drug peddlers (
and casino-goers?) (c) public executions (beheading, of course!) for
murderers, rapists (and adulterers?) etc., etc. I am also amazed at the
violence of her criticism of the gently persuasive campaign of Dr.Godamunne
to minimise cattle slaughter, or make it humane.

I am, however, elated that all Sri Lankans have the freedom to voice even
such retrograde, medieval opinions which are completely abhorrent to the
religion of the majority of our citizens, which is enshrined in our
constitution.

I wonder whether any Buddhist, Hindu or Christian has the same freedom to
publish their own religious view (Let alone worship) in Saudi Arabia?

Over to you Dr.Reffai - before we read a defence of defacing `pagan'
statues in Afghanistan!

R. B. Diulweva, Dehiwala



Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 17:00:23 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (LK) Sale of beef and mutton
Message-ID: <199705140900.RAA05932@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Daily News
Wednesday 14, May 1997
                           Letters to the Editor
Sale of beef and mutton


At most of the sales outlets in the country where deep freezers are
maintained it is a common sight that beef and mutton are sold
indiscriminately without a valid licence.

Sale of beef and mutton is prohibited by law except under licence issued by
the local authority of the area on the recommendation of the health
authorities.

Anyone can come to the conclusion that these unauthorised beef and mutton
are delivered from unlicensed slaughtering houses which are invariably
unhygenic and insanitary.

The law enforcing officers with the collaboration of the health authorities
should conduct regular checks and raids on both these unauthorised
slaughtering and indiscriminable sale of beef and mutton and bring the
unscrupulous under the arm of the law.

D. M. A. RAJAPAKSE, Kalutara



Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 17:00:31 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (LK) Electric fence to keep elephants away
Message-ID: <199705140900.RAA31203@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Daily News
Wednesday 14, May 1997
     Villagers want electrified fence to keep jumbos away

     VILLAGERS in Kataragama and the surrounding areas say the lives of
     villagers and elephants can be saved if an electrified fence is
     erected around the villages.

     Elephants can be seen roaming in Sella Kataragama, Gothamigama,
     Nagahaveediya and Vallimathagama in the night.

     Villagers said because of the elephants they are unable even to go to
     the Kataragama hospital in the night if some one falls sick. Some of
     the elephants driven from Handapanagala to Yala are in these villages
     they said.

     K. P. Julius, a farmer aged 54 from Sella Kataragama was the latest
     victim of an attack by an elephant.

     Meanwhile one elephant had been shot dead near the Saman Devalaya
     while another had been killed in the area where the garbage is dumped
     by the Kataragama Urban Development Authority.

     The villagers said if an electric fence is erected around all
     villages, both the villagers and the elephants will be safe.

     They request the authorities to take action in this regard.


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 17:00:36 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (LK) Dairy goats
Message-ID: <199705140900.RAA31659@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



>Daily News
Wednesday 14, May 1997

The relevance of the dairy goat in national dairy development

By K. I. N. G. Silva Director,Dairy Development Foundation

Every year we spend about four billion rupees in foreign exchange to import
milk and milk products into Sri Lanka. This imported milk and milk products
are consumed mostly by urban and suburban people.

Locally produced milk comes from rural areas where resources are available
to produce milk from cows. If we can have dairy cows in the suburban areas
where considerable number of middle-class people live, a considerable
proportion of milk imports could be prevented.

But, the suburban areas do not have the resources for keeping dairy cows.
However, the suburban areas have sufficient resources for milk production
from dairy goats.

Sri Lanka's minister responsible for dairy development, S. Thondaman is
working with Dr. V. Kurien, chairman of the National Dairy Development
Board of India to make our country self-sufficient in milk. To achieve this
target for milk self-sufficiency, it would take about ten years.

However, it can be achieved in less than ten years if dairy goat farming
could be started as soon as possible in the suburban areas of Sri Lanka.
World milk prices are rising rapidly. If we can achieve milk
self-sufficiency in eight years instead of ten years, we will save at least
eight billion rupees in foreign exchange even at present rates and the
dairy goat can help in this accelerated effort.

Suburban areas cover a considerable extent of land. These are small land
holdings, about 10 to 20 perches in extent in most districts. Small
holdings such as these are ideal for owners to have a couple of dairy
goats.

Goat milk is valuable :- Statistics show that, at global level, goat milk
is consumed more than cow or buffalo milk. This shows that there is
international recognition of the importance of the nutritive value of goat
milk.

Some of our people in Sri Lanka talk about `got smell' in goat milk. This
smell develops if milk is not heated or chilled soon after it is drawn from
the udder. This smell is produced by the production of some short chain
fatty acids such as capric acid found in got milk. In the udder these acids
exist chemically combined with glycerol. When the milk is drawn from the
udder, enzymes, present in the milk as well as those produced by microbes
which find their way into the milk from the environment, break down these
compounds. These short chained volatile fatty acids, set free in this
manner, produce the so called goat smell. When our society realises this
fact there will be a greater consumer preference for goat milk. Doctors
could be more knowledgeable in the therapeutic and medicinal value of goat
milk and encourage more and more people to consume goat milk. The media
could do a lot in this matter. Doctor Upali Pilapitiya and others who are
deeply involved in Ayurvedic research should use the media to the fullest
possible extent to explain the great nutritive and medicinal value of goat
milk.

In suburban areas rearing of goats is not something absolutely new. However
it has not been done widely with technically appropriate animals in
appropriate areas primarily targeted for increased production of goat milk.
It has been done more as a hobby than for a serious economic consideration
in suburban areas.

The proposed dairy goat project and its target group :- The proposed
project briefly described above would cover suburban areas in the districts
where most middle-class families live in these small holder units each unit
could have two milking goats. The mother and her child or two children in a
family could manage the unit. Work on the unit would not involve more than
one hour's work for each of these persons and they will have to combine
their project work. From the value of the milk produced and from the sale
of goat kids produced, a monthly income of not less than Rs. 3,500 could be
expected during the first five years of the project. In the next five years
it would rise to as much as Rs. 6,000 per month.

Added to these benefits, a family, which would be spending about 500 to 600
rupees per month on the purchase of imported milk powder, could save all
that much from their meagre salaries.

This short communication is the result of the writer's personal experience
with such a dairy goat unit at Kochchikade which is a suburb of Gampaha
district. It has gone on for ten years and the average milk production is
about 1.5 litres per day constantly, right through the year with only two
dairy goats. The writer can afford only two hours of work in this unit and
therefore this is the reason for his having only two goats in his unit.
Those who can afford more time could have more than two milk goats in their
units.

In such a project, the family is happy with the animals and the children
develop a special love for animals when they handle especially the young
goat kids. The developing nutritional status of the family can be clearly
seen due to the consumption of goat milk, the special qualities of which
make it unique among the milk secreted by all species of mammals.

The project programme :- An average family unit keeps only 2 female dairy
goats to obtain milk for the household and produces goat kids for people in
the neighbourhood who would like to keep dairy goats. It ensures a constant
average supply of one litre of milk per day right through the year and
produce four kids per year. The work in the unit involves two members of
the family in not more than two hours of work per day.

Starting with two crossbred female goats and breeding them regularly to
milk producing breeds such as German fawn or Saanen, the production
increases with every generation.

Every year the sale of four goat kids could be expected and it would bring
an annual income of Rs. 8,000. The value of milk at Rs 100 per litre would
be Rs. 36,500 per year. Thus, an annual income of Rs. 44,500 which is a
monthly income of Rs. 3,700 is ensured. This would be during the first five
years of operation of the two goat-units. In the next five years a dairy
average milk production of at least one and half litres is ensures which
brings in an income of not less than Rs. 6,000 per month, including sale of
four kids every year. This is the type of financial relief that an average
middle-class family living in a suburban area would be asking for.

Breeding programme :- In operating a 2-goat unit a very strict rule would
be that, when one female goat gives birth to kids during a particular month
of the year, the other female goat should be made pregnant during that same
month. Regularly the stock should be replaced with the better producing
kids born in the same unit. In selection for this replacement of stock
strict consideration should be given primarily to increased milk production
as well as the ability to produce milk in satisfactory amount for 6-7
months continuously at each lactation.

Purchase of stock for starting new units in the project :- A collective
effort has greater chance of success than an individual effort. Therefore,
in suburban areas facilitated by the government, participants in the
project should form cooperative societies. Such societies should make
arrangements to market surplus stock from existing units, selling the
breeding stock to new production units and animals unsuitable for breeding
should be sold to private sector meat processors. However, new comers to
dairy goat husbandry would do well to purchase their required female goats
from the Dry Zone herds and grade them up to milk breeds.

Normally the Dry Zone goat herds are large. Most of these herds have around
100 adult female goats per herd. Usually about 5% of these female goats can
be categorised as grade `A' in consideration of their milk production
potential. In this grade their milk secretion is in excess of what is
required by their kids. Those categorised as grade `B' and grade `C'
produce less milk.

Those in grade `B' consist of about 90% of the female herd where the milk
secreted is just sufficient for their kids for normal growth. Those in
grade `C' consist of about 5% of the herd where the milk secreted is
insufficient even for their kids. Many in grade `A' and `C' die in the dry
zone large herds under natural conditions and push the dry zone herds
towards genetic isolation. The grade `A' animals should be selected by the
suburban dairy goat cooperative societies for issue to real beginners-new
recruits.

If new recruits purchase elite stock at the start such as pure bred German
fawn or pure bred Saanan, they would encounter serious health problems in
the animals due to low management skills. Working with hardy stock like the
Dry Zone animals for about 1 1/2 years would improve their management
skills with experience. Later they could think of having elite stock if
they want. Some indigenous inheritance should always be retained under
tropical condition to have natural immunity to certain parasites, Tetanus,
goat paralysis, stone formation in the urinary system etc. At least these
common problems could be minimised by breeding for retention of some
indigenous inheritance. Veterinary surgeons and technicians working with
the societies should ensure that the participants get proper knowledge on
all these technical matters including proper housing, feeding, management
etc.

In a unit the two females are mated as scheduled to males of superior
breeding quality for milk production. When the kids are born, two female
kids are retained as replacement stock and the mother and the other kids
are sold to new project participants.

Management of kids :- In the two-female-goat unit, every years there will
be three kidding to produce four kids. Until the kids are four weeks of age
no milk should be drawn from the mother goat so that all the mother's milk
is made available to the kids. From four to six weeks of age the kids
should suck milk only during twelve hours per day so that milking is
started only four weeks after kidding. This is done by separating the kids
from the mother in the evening every day. Milking is done every morning.
After milking, the kids and the mother goat are allowed to be together till
evening. In the evening the kids are gain separated from the mother goat.
This is repeated daily until the kids are six weeks old.

After six weeks of age the mother goat is separated from the kids at noon
daily and kept separated until routine morning milking is done next day in
the morning. Therefore, during the seventh and eighth week of age the kids
suckle their mother only for six hour per day. The best time for routine
milking is 6 a.m. every day.

When the kids are about five weeks old they start eating leaves, so that
they should be provided with green fodder leaves preferable jak leaves.
This consumption of leaves increases gradually until at 8 weeks of age the
kid would require at least 1 kg. of green leaves, preferably a mixture of
fresh leaves (Glyricedia and jak). At this age they should weigh about 10
kg. At this stage the kids can be completely separated from their mother.

At the age of sexual maturity they would weigh about 20 kg. and would
require two to three kg. of fresh fodder leaves per day.


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 17:00:43 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (LK) Siddha, hope for cancer patients
Message-ID: <199705140900.RAA03681@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>Daily News
Wednesday 14, May 1997

Siddha, hope for cancer patients

>From Upali Rupasinghe in New Delhi

Some practitioners of the ancient siddha system of medicine claim that they
can cure cancer patients without using modern treatment. Advanced cases of
cancer, given up as hopeless, are treated successfully by siddha doctors.

One such doctor, Shanmugham, has his practice in Tiruvallore (45 km from
Chennai). He is not running a big hospital with in-patients and testing
laboratories, but meets the patients or their relatives in his consulting
room and gives medicine in the form of herbal powder folded in white paper.

``I am practicising siddha for 25 years, and learnt it from my father
Moongilam Udyar who did research on several herbs which will ensure man's
longevity,'' he disclosed, ``I used to go with him since I was 11 years old
and have found herbs which can cure several diseases such as cancer. In the
past 10 years I have cured a large number of cancer patients who were about
to die.''

Shanmugham has no formal training in siddha, and yet the principal of a
siddha medical college visits him regularly for treatment.

``Even the president of the World Health Organisation has obtained medicine
for his wife from me,'' he beams. ``Medicine is one faculty where more than
just a degree or academic proficiency is required. Practical experience is
absolutely essential. Five years of learning is no match to five years of
experience,'' he remarks.

The doctors has cured more than 70 per cent of the patients who visit him.
The majority of them have undergone numerous tests and been under treatment
in hospital for years, and declared as hopeless and abandoned by doctors.

He narrated a case of rare occurrence. A six-month-old child suffering from
cancer had a boil in the hip due to cancerous tissue growth. It was removed
in a big Chennai hospital but soon after it erupted again. After removing
it for the third time, the doctors lost hope.

``Finally, the child's parents came to me,'' said Shanmugham. ``Under my
treatment the cancer cells were totally destroyed and the child became hale
and hearty. The child belonged to the family of a reputed newspaper baron
in Chennai.''

In another instance, a nun working in a church at Tiruvallore had cancer,
and was admitted to a cancer hospital in Chennai. When the doctors operated
on her, they found many boils. They discharged her since she had no hope of
survival.

Finally, her colleagues brought her to Shanmugham in a bed-ridden state.
After taking the Siddha medicines, the nun showed improvement, and after
two hours, she got up and walked out of the consulting room.

Shanmugham is popularly known as ``cancer doctor'', but he also treats
people affected by several other chronic diseases like arthritis.


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 20:01:41 +0800 (SST)
>From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, veg-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (MY)  Natural relief for menopausal symptoms
Message-ID: <199705141201.UAA11498@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



 > The Star Online
                   Wednesday, May 14, 1997
                   Natural relief for menopausal symptoms
                   By See Yee Ai

                   HEADACHES, dizziness, insomnia, mood swings ... the last
                   things a woman needs when she's on a roll. But thousands
                   of women between the ages of 40 and 45 experience these
                   symptoms regularly.

                   Menopause. A bad word on its own and worse when it means
                   having to live with those awful symptoms. Even though
                   menopausal symptoms are quite uncomfortable and may be
                   rather debilitating, menopause itself is merely a
                   gradual slowing down of the biological time-clock. Most
                   of these symptoms are caused by reduced production of
                   oestrogen, the female hormone.

                   "Menopausal symptoms differ from country to country.
                   Among Caucasian women the most common symptoms are hot
                   flushes and night sweats while for Asian women the most
                   common are headaches, dizziness and insomnia," says Prof
                   John Eden, a gynaecological endrocrinologist at St
                   George Hospital in New South Wales, Australia.

                   Symptoms typically appear during the peri-menopausal
                   period beginning from the age of between 40 and 45,
                   lasting for one to three years. During this phase, women
                   start experiencing irregular menstruations. Finally
                   their periods stop altogether and gradually those
                   symptoms go away.

                         [Image]
                     Prof John Eden,
                      gynaecological
                    endrocrinologist

                   "About one in 10 women experience symptoms like hot
                   flushes for the rest of their lives," says Prof Eden.

                   However, not all menopausal women experience these
                   symptoms. About 40 per cent of Malaysian women pass
                   through the phase without any effects.

                   For those who do, what should be the best years of their
                   lives (sans screaming kids, insecurities, financial
                   constraints) become periods of torture because sleep
                   deprivation, feelings of discomfort and mood swings
                   greatly reduce the quality of their lives.

                   Logically these symptoms may be alleviated with hormone
                   replacement therapy (HRT), which replaces the lost
                   hormones, oestrogen and progesterone.

                   In addition, HRT has been found to reduce long-term
                   menopausal risks like osteoporosis and cardiovascular
                   disease.

                   However, HRT is not without its risks. Isaac Schiff,
                   chief of obstetrics and gynaecology at Massachusetts
                   General Hospital in the United States puts it as
                   "presenting women with the possibility of increasing the
                   risk of breast cancer at age 60 in order to prevent a
                   heart attack at age 70 and a hip fracture at age 80."

                   "Some women have other problems with HRT like sore
                   breasts and irregular periods," Prof Eden adds.

                   Not that women had much of a choice before. It was
                   either HRT with its risks and side effects or suffer in
                   silence as most do.

                   However, with a herbal preparation which has been used
                   for years in Europe and the United States, women in
                   Malaysia may now have an alternative to HRT which
                   eliminates the short-term symptoms, yet doesn't present
                   the risks which come with HRT.

                   According to Dr Eckhard Liske, head of the
                   gynaecological endocrinology department at the Medical
                   Department of Schaper and Brummer in Germany, Remifemin,
                   an over-the-counter herbal remedy, comes from the
                   rhizome (rootstock) of a plant, Cimicifuga racemosa,
                   which is found in Florida, the United States.

                   The plant is commonly called Black Cohosh. The rootstock
                   of the Black Cohosh has been traditionally used by
                   American Indians and American colonists for a variety of
                   problems, including rheumatism, sore throats and
                   diseases of women like menstrual cramps and labour.

                   Since 1958, when Remifemin was first sold in Germany,
                   the makers of Remifemin, Schaper and Brummer, have
                   conducted experiments with stringent standards to
                   ascertain its effect on menopausal women.

                   Pharmacological studies have shown it to have
                   oestrogen-like effects, while not being a hormone
                   itself. Thus, says Dr Liske, "it is able to alleviate
                   menopausal symptoms without increasing the risk of
                   breast cancer."

                   With the current slant towards natural remedies,
                   Remifemin seems to fulfil most criteria of an effective
                   natural therapy. While other herbs like Evening Primrose
                   Oil, dongquai and Vitamin E have been used before to
                   alleviate menopausal symptoms, Prof Eden states that
                   none of them have been proven clinically to work.

                   Large-scale tests conducted with Remifemin showed that
                   it was comparable to HRT in reducing symptoms like hot
                   flushes and mood swings.

                   The Remifemin treatment was also better than that of a
                   placebo, thus eliminating the possibility that whatever
                   effects it had were merely psychological.

                   Neither does it interact with any drug, making it safe
                   for women taking other forms of medication to use as
                   well.

                                           [Image]
                                          Dr Eckhard
                                    Liske....'Refeminin is
                                      able to alleviate
                                     menopausal symptoms
                                    without increasing the
                                        risk of breast
                                          cancer.'

                   Just two tablets every morning and night have been found
                   to effectively reduce or eliminate menopausal symptoms.
                   However, Prof Eden says that as Remifemin is a "gentler"
                   therapy and takes longer to work, women on Remifemin may
                   need to take it for about three months before the
                   symptoms go away completely.

                   Noticeable effects can be seen after two weeks and the
                   effect gets better as treatment is continued. More than
                   70 per cent of doctors who prescribed it and patients
                   who used it rated its effectiveness as being good or
                   very good.

                   Prof Eden is also impressed with the stringent
                   production and testing standards for Remifemin, which is
                   comparable to those required for pharmaceuticals. It has
                   also been found to be equally effective for both
                   Caucasian and Asian women at the same recommended dose.

                   However, for women with severe symptoms, Prof Eden
                   recommends HRT instead because it is able to eliminate
                   symptoms more quickly.

                   Women are advised not to take Remifemin longer than 12
                   months without a doctor's prescription. However, since
                   menopausal symptoms gradually decline after 12 months,
                   Remifemin is usually not required longer than that.
                   Nevertheless, Prof Eden has prescribed it to his
                   patients up to three years without any side effects.

                   Currently, Remifemin is prescribed for the alleviation
                   of symptoms but does not prevent the longer term effects
                   of menopause such as osteoporosis and heart disease and
                   is therefore not a substitute for HRT. Women at risk
                   from these diseases would still need to undergo HRT to
                   prevent them.

                   However, with Remifemin now available on the market,
                   women undergoing menopause have a choice of improving
                   the quality of their lives - naturally.

                   Note: Remifemin will soon be available at all major
                   pharmacies in the country. (MALAYSIA)


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 11:32:51 -0400
>From: Lesli Bisgould 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Response to Steve Kendall
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970514112859.212f0ae4@idirect.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Steve Kendall has travelled to Canada on a number of occasions to speak in
favour of circuses and against local efforts to enact municipal by-laws
which would prohibit exotic animals from either being or performing in the
given jurisdiction.  In the course of doing so, he has slandered Canadian
organizations like Zoocheck Canada, Animal Alliance of Canada and the
Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, as well as their individual
representatives.  I'd like to keep track of what he's saying and would
really appreciate it if someone could post the letter he wrote to USA Today,
to which PAWS replied.

Thanks,

Lesli



Lesli Bisgould
Barrister & Solicitor
4 - 7 Playter Blvd.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
M4K 2V8

t: 416-465-7511
f: 416-465-0644
email: bisgould@idirect.com

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 08:25:42 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Friends of Animals 
To: DLEAHY@delphi.com, ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Aurora Cancels Animal Show
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970514111309.51c7ccf6@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Deb-
Great job!!  
You really are on a roll!

-Bill

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 11:46:10 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Franklin Wade 
To: Ar-News 
Subject: (US-DC) FFA&COK Paul Watson Demo 5/22 Noon
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

ACTION ALERT *** ACTION ALERT *** ACTION ALERT *** ACTION ALERT

CAPTAIN PAUL WATSON OF THE SEA SHEPHERD IS IN JAIL IN THE NETHERLANDS
BECAUSE HE STOOD UP TO NORWAY'S ILLEGAL WHALING SHIPS!

IF HE IS EXTRADITED TO NORWAY HE MAY NOT LEAVE THE COUNTRY ALIVE!

PLEASE JOIN THE FUND FOR ANIMALS AND COMPASSION OVER KILLING AT THE
NETHERLANDS EMBASSY TO DEMAND PAUL WATSON'S RELEASE!

WHEN: Thursday, May 22, from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: Netherlands Embassy, 4200 Linnean Street NW

Norwegian whalers are the true criminals, as they continuously violate the
international ban on commercial whaling. Please help us tell the Netherlands
that they should release Captain Watson rather than hand him over to Norway!

DIRECTIONS TO THE NETHERLANDS EMBASSY:

>From downtown D.C.:
   Go north on Connecticut Ave.
   Pass shops in Cleveland Park.
   Take a right on Upton.
   See directions from Upton below.

>From Maryland (or 495):
   Follow Connecticut Ave. south into D.C.
   Pass shops in Cleveland Park/Van Ness Metro.
   Take a left on Upton.

>From Upton:
Follow Upton approx. 3/4 mile.
   Upton curves to the left.
   At the stop sign, veer left. You are now on Linnean Ave.
   The Embassy of the Netherlands is 1/4 mile on the left 
   (4200 Linnean Ave.,N.W.).

**This is a residential area--park anywhere.**

_____________________________________________________________________
franklin@smart.net                                   Franklin D. Wade 
        United Poultry Concerns - www.envirolink.org/arrs/upc
        Compassion Over Killing - www.envirolink.org/arrs/cok        


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 12:29:04 -0400
>From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) CSPI calls for action on eggs and salmonella
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970514122902.006cce68@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Found on CSPI web page, specifically:
http://www.cspinet.org/reports/eggs.html
This is just a brief excerpt, as the complete report is quite long.
-----------------------------
How a broken food safety system let contaminated eggs become a national
food poisoning epidemic 

Executive Summary 

Eggs used to be safe. Parents, without worrying, could let their children
lick the bowl after preparing
cakes and cookies. Consumers, without fear, could eat raw or undercooked
eggs in salad dressings,
egg nog and stuffing. Sunny-side-up eggs with runny yolks were great with
toast. Now those same
cooking practices can lead to severe illness and even death, if the eggs
are contaminated with
Salmonella.

What happened to safe eggs? Why are eggs today associated with more food
poisoning outbreaks than
any other single food? Why are public health officials now urging us to eat
only fully cooked shell eggs
or to use pasteurized egg products?

The answers to those questions involve a complex story with numerous plot
twists: a biological
adaptation that allowed bacteria to enter otherwise sterile eggs; federal
agencies inspecting frequently to
assure egg quality but never providing regulations adequate to ensure egg
safety; and industry lobbyists
dictating Congressional action. 

The result is that eggs have become the number one contributor to food
poisoning outbreaks in the
nation, with annual consumer costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Hundreds, and possibly
thousands, of people die every year from contaminated eggs. 

The story began when a strain of Salmonella bacteria called enteritidis
found its way first into the ovaries
of chickens and then into their eggs. The problem was identified by federal
disease detectives in the mid
1980s. The first farms producing contaminated eggs were all located in the
northeastern U.S. and with
quick action, the problem might have stopped there. But the numerous
federal agencies with oversight
responsibilities for eggs didn't act. Instead they competed with each
other, stumbled over each other,
and ultimately backed down in the face of industry pressure. Meanwhile,
Salmonella enteritidis (SE)
reached epidemic proportions.

Today, internally contaminated eggs are showing up from coast to coast.
There is no way to tell without
laboratory testing which eggs contain Salmonella and which ones are
contamination-free. Grading
programs run by the United States Department of Agriculture continuously
check Grade A eggs for blood
spots and yolk size, but have no controls for the harmful bacteria found in
eggs. That responsibility falls
to the Food and Drug Administration, which inspects egg plants an average
of once every 10 years and
merely recalls already-tainted food instead of preventing contaminated food
from reaching the market.
Consumers are generally unaware of the hazard and continue to eat raw and
undercooked eggs, without
realizing that such practices are risky.
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 09:25:10 -1000 (HST)
>From: Animal Rights Hawaii 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: It's official: Hawaiian quarantine reduced
Message-ID: <199705141925.JAA25820@mail.pixi.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Honolulu, May 14, 1997

Governor Ben Cayetano has signed new regulations reducing Hawaii's companion
animal (dogs and cats) quarantine from 4 months to 1 month; the regulations
also impose requirements for anti-rabies vaccination and blood testing. 

Animals brought in under the new rules must have a first rabies test between
3 and 12 months prior to arrival in Hawai'i. A second test is required after
arrival in Hawai'i. 

The new rules are the first change in the regulations since they were
imposed 85 years ago in response to the rapid spread of the rabies virus
across the US mainland. About 125,000 animals have come through quarantine
since it was established. Rabies has never been detected in Hawai'i, nor
ever found in an animal brought through quarantine. 

A large number of veterinarians and human health professionals have opposed
the reduction in the quarantine period and they continue to express grave
concerns about the efficacy of the new test/vaccine program. 

The largest group affected by the rules change are military personnel and
dependents who account for 40% of the animals brought through quarantine.
State Dept. of Agriculture spokesperson Ann Takiguchi anticipates a 20%
increase in animals coming into the state. 

Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 15:52:57 -0400
>From: "radioactive" 
To: "Animal Rights" 
Subject: Books & Literature
Message-ID: <199705141954.PAA01494@mail.mia.bellsouth.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
     charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit


Subject: Books & Literature
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
ROGUE PRIMATE, by John A. Livingston; Roberts Rinehart ($22.50, 229
pages)By Chauncey Mabe
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Life without domesticated animals is unimaginable. Cows provide milk and
meat. Horses and oxen supply labor, sheep give us wool, chickens eggs, and
for companionship we turn to dogs and cats. Yet, we hold these creatures in
low esteem. Dumb as an ox, we say; stubborn as a mule. People who are weak
willed are likened to sheep, the unkempt and filthy to pigs. It is akin to
a personal insult, therefore, to read in ``Rogue Primate,'' by Canadian
naturalist John A. Livingston, that the first and most important
domesticated animal was none of these familiar creatures. The domesticate
par excellence is none other than homo sapiens. Us.
According to Livingston, professor emeritus at York University in Ontario,
human beings traded their wildness very early for the comforts and security
of technology. Ideas and knowledge, what he calls ``how-to-do-it,'' made
life immeasurably easier, even for our oldest Stone Age ancestors. But it
also estranged us from nature. The result was self-domestication.
Livingston develops his case persuasively. ``There are many visible
earmarks of domestication,'' he writes. These include dulled senses, an
acceptance of sameness in living environments, reproductive precociousness
and fecundity, a capacity to tolerate crowding, simplified social
arrangements, wide-spectrum feeding habits.
Perhaps worst of all, domestication robs animals of a place in nature,
leaving them ``placeless.'' Such creatures are in no way natural, says
Livingston, who calls them ``human artifacts.''
This sounds uncomfortably familiar. All of these traits describe the human
animal, particularly in the developed world. We certainly stand outside of
nature, interacting with it - usually destructively - but having no truck
with the natural, wholesome harmony Livingston calls ``wildness.'' Yet
while Livingston notes that the destructiveness of the human domesticate
has reached its zenith with Western civilization, his purpose is not to lay
blame there. Domestication probably occurred almost as soon as we became
human.
The agent of domestication, Livingston argues, is technology, abetted by
the human capacity for how-to-do-it, the ability to pass along knowledge of
technology. It all began, theorizes Livingston, with fire - as much as half
a million years ago. Once humans learned to control fire, we were dependent
upon external knowledge, how-to-do-fire. Tools and weapons, already in use,
reinforced this dependence. Agriculture worsened matters immensely.
Though there is much science in ``Rogue Primate,'' this is not a science
book so much as an essay of social criticism. Having once established his
theory of the domestication of homo sapiens, the author follows its
implications wherever they lead. And they lead him to surprising
destinations. For example, he launches an effective attack on Charles
Darwin for being a chauvinist and racist, showing how the attitudes of the
Victorian Age informed the expression of Darwin's theories.
Evolution by natural selection Livingston accepts as a given, but he takes
issue with such details as the survival of the fittest. Competition is not
to be found in nature, he argues, where compliance is the rule. The social
theory of the Industrial Revolution and capitalistic competition informed
Darwin's interpretation of the data, Livingston says. In fact, science in
general is a slave to cultural bias. He discusses the way objective data is
interpreted, attacking many standard ideas. In addition to competition, he
scorns the concept of wild creatures having ``niches'' that they fill.
Theories other than competition for territory and social rank explain the
observed data just as well, he argues. Nature just is, he suggests. An
animal exists apart from any niche, and he mentions animals that have gone
extinct without new species' stepping forward to replace them.
Livingston has harsh words for such cherished concepts as sustainable
development, resource conservation, and animal rights. All are admirable
goals, he suggests, but are doomed to failure because they make the natural
world a mere extension of the human. New ways of thinking about things are
required, he says, ways that do not impose human values on nature.
Livingston is, indeed, relentlessly tough-minded. He notes for example that
while AIDS and starvation are terrible in human terms, they are also
nothing more than natural checks on an out-of-control animal population.
Unfortunately, Livingston offers no solutions beyond teaching children to
appreciate nature, which leaves the impression that change for the rogue
primate is not possible and the freight train of human development can end
only in environmental collapse, massive depopulation, possibly even
extinction.
``Rogue Primate'' won the Governor General's Literary Prize, the Canadian
equivalent to the Pulitzer or the National Book Award. For all its
complexity, it is a deceptively simple read. Livingston's prose flows like
water. In the end, you may not be won to the author's position, but your
own ideas will not be the same as before.
X X X
(c) 1995, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune
 Information Services.
AP-NY-12-13-95 0624EST

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----


Date: Wed, 14 May 97 14:22:57 -0500
>From: Karin Zupko 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) CRISP Reports No Longer Show Award Amounts
Message-ID: <9705141922.AA05884@titan.ma.neavs.com>

I'm sure that others have noticed that CRISP reports that are  
available to the public (for 1996 and 1997) no longer show project  
award amounts.  NIH claims the reason is "CRISP data is frequently  
used to generate reports on research in specific budget categories or  
program areas.  Because these data reflect the total project dollars  
and do not specify allocations for subprojects or individual specific  
aims within a project, there have been inconsistencies in fiscal  
reporting based on CRISP records with those from the Office of  
Financial Management or the Institutes and Centers."

Withholding this information takes away an important resource for  
those of us who work on vivisection.  The amount of taxpayer dollars  
wasted on animal experiments is no longer readily available to the  
public.

Any groups or individuals with ideas on what we can do about this,  
please e-mail me privately.  Thank you.

Karin Zupko
NEAVS
karin@ma.neavs.com
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 16:31:27 -0400
>From: "radioactive" 
To: "Animal Rights" 
Subject: Press Release for May 12, 1997
Message-ID: <199705142032.QAA08928@mail.mia.bellsouth.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
     charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
May 12, 1997

VICE PRESIDENT RELEASES PLAN TO STRENGTHEN, IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY Calls
For
Stricter Precautions For Fruit & Vegetable Juices, Improved Inspections

Message Creation Date was at 12-MAY-1997 13:18:00
     
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office Of The Vice President
______________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CONTACT:
202-456-7035
MONDAY, May 12, 1997

VICE PRESIDENT RELEASES PLAN TO STRENGTHEN,
IMPROVE FOOD SAFETY
Calls For Stricter Precautions For Fruit & Vegetable Juices, Improved
Inspections

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Gore today (5/12) announced a five-point plan
to
significantly increase the safety of the nation,s food supply.  The plan
sets
forth steps the  Administration will take this year to strengthen food
safety
and details how we will use $43.2 million in new funds the President has
requested in his fiscal year 1998 budget. 

&When children reach for a piece of food, parents deserve to have peace
of
mind,8 said the Vice President who heads the National Performance Review
to
make government work better and cost less.  "This Administration is using
the
most modern science and a common-sense approach to increase the safety of
our
nation,s food supply and protect the public health.8

The plan, "Food Safety From Farm to Table," is outlined in a report
presented
to the Vice President today by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna
E.
Shalala, Department of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, and
Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner.  The President requested
the
report in January.  It calls for improved inspections, public education
and
greater use of the latest science to dramatically reduce foodborne illness.
 It
calls for stricter safety precautions for fruit and vegetable juices,
improved
seafood inspections, and increased investment in research, risk assessment
and
surveillance.
       
In his January 25 radio address, the President announced he was requesting
$43.2 million for food safety in his FY 1998 budget and requested a report
detailing recommendations on ways to further improve food safety. The
Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, and the
Environmental
Protection Agency, working with state and local officials, the food
industry,
scientists, consumer, and producer groups, developed the report.

Today,s actions build on previous Administration steps to modernize the
nation,s food safety programs, first proposed by the Vice President,s
National Performance Review.  Specifically, the National Performance
Review
encouraged the widespread adoption of preventive controls to food safety,
and
the implementation of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point
(HACCP)
systems.

A key element of the Administration's food safety efforts has been the
Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach that requires the
food
industry to use the most modern science to identify sources of potential
contamination in food production and transportation and then put in place
preventive measures.  Already required by the Food and Drug Administration
for
seafood and by USDA for meat and poultry, FDA will propose preventive
measures,
including HACCP, for the manufacture of fruit and vegetable juice products,
and
USDA will propose HACCP and other appropriate regulatory and non-regulatory

options for egg products.

In addition to moving toward a science-based, preventive approach to food
safety, the Administration continues to improve the effectiveness of food
safety inspections.  Specifically, the additional funds requested for FY
1998
will allow the FDA to add inspectors to implement seafood HACCP and to
expand
its program to develop additional mutual recognition agreements (MRAs)
with
United States trading partners ensuring that imported foods are produced
and
manufactured under systems that offer comparable safety measures to those
used
in the United States.  With the new funds, FDA will also be able to
provide
technical assistance to foreign countries on safe growing and handling
practices.

The Administration already is taking steps to put in place the new
National
Early Warning System President Clinton announced in January to track and
combat
outbreaks of foodborne illness.  This fiscal year, two new FoodNet
sentinel
sites were added in New York and Maryland.  With funds requested for the
upcoming fiscal year, an eighth site will open.  This surveillance system
is
supported by the CDC, FDA and USDA, working with state authorities.  New
funds
included in the FY 1998 budget will also allow these sites to update
technology
and build a "fingerprinting" database of bacterial DNA.  This will enable
food
safety experts to clear any geographic hurdle to their work by having a
national resource that can help them quickly identify contaminated foods
that
are the sources of foodborne illness.

Under the Administration's plan, work will start immediately on a national
public education campaign on safe food handling.  Today, an unprecedented
public-private partnership was established among government agencies and
industry and consumer groups to develop a food safety education campaign
aimed
at consumers.

Research to develop quick, reliable scientific methods for detecting
contamination -- like the Hepatitis A virus and cyclospora -- will ensure
that
public health agencies have the necessary tools to prevent and control
outbreaks of foodborne illnesses.  The latest research will also explore
how
pathogens become resistant to traditional food preservation techniques such
as
heat and refrigeration, and will support new pathogen control methods.

Also under the new initiative, EPA, FDA and the CDC will collaborate with
state and local health departments on research to help health officials
better
predict and control outbreaks of waterborne microbial contaminants, such
as
crypto sporidium.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
To comment on this service: feedback@www.whitehouse.gov



Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 18:00:58 -0400
>From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Health Group Wants Warnings on Eggs
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970514180056.006ba2dc@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

(Please note the final sentence.)
from AP Wire page:
------------------------------
05/14/1997 17:15 EST 

 Health Group Wants Warnings on Eggs 

 By JOHN D. McCLAIN 
 Associated Press Writer 

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- Egg cartons should carry labels warning consumers that
 eating raw or undercooked eggs can poison them, a health advocacy group
urges. 

 ``Eggs have become the number one contributor to food poisoning outbreaks,
with
 hundreds of thousands of Americans getting sick or dying every year,''
Caroline
 Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the
Public Interest,
 said Wednesday. 

 DeWaal told a news conference the center is formally petitioning the Food
and Drug
 Administration to require the warning: ``Caution: Eggs may contain
illness-causing
 bacteria. Do not eat raw. Cook eggs until the yolk is firm.'' 

 If followed, the warning would relegate to the past the practice of
children licking the
 bowl of cake or cookie dough prepared with raw eggs, or their parents eating
 sunny-side-up eggs with runny yolks. 

 DeWaal said 45 billion eggs are produced annually in the United States and
only a
 small fraction are contaminated. But, she added, consumers don't know
which ones
 will make them sick. 

 The center's message is similar to the message the egg industry's Egg
Nutrition
 Center has stressed in consumer education materials for a dozen years.
That is,
 said executive director Donald McNamara: ```Keep eggs refrigerated and
cook them
 thoroughly before eating.' It's the standard things recommended for any
perishable
 item.'' 

 McNamara said, however, that the industry opposes the label wording the
Center for
 Science in the Public Interest is proposing. It gives the wrong impression
that all 12
 eggs in any carton are contaminated, when only a minute fraction of eggs
pose a
 danger, mostly from undercooking and temperature abuse, he said. 

 Public Interest officials praised the Clinton administration's $43.2
million program
 announced this week to protect the nation's food supplies, including measures
 designed to ensure that fresh eggs are safe. 

 Both the administration and the center's egg-safety programs recommend
additional
 research, testing, early warning systems, government coordination and
consumer
 education. 

 But until those measures are put in place, food poisoning will remain a
threat to
 thousands. 

 The government says 128,000 to 640,000 cases of food poisoning are caused
 annually by a strain of salmonella called enteritidis associated with eggs. 

 Salmonella causes diarrhea and systemic infections in victims and can be
fatal,
 especially among the very young and elderly. 

 The Center for Science in the Public Interest said that until the 1980s,
eggs generally
 were safe. Then salmonella enteritidis entered the production chain, and
 contaminated eggs now are found coast to coast. 

 Although the Agriculture Department checks eggs for quality, the FDA is
responsible
 for controlling harmful bacteria in them. The center said the
cash-strapped agency is
 able to inspect egg plants only an average of once every 10 years. 
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 18:18:11 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Franklin Wade 
To: Ar-News 
Subject: Poisoned Eggs & CSPI
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE             CONTACT: KAREN DAVIS
May 14, 1997                      Ph: (301) 948-2406


                          POISONED EGGS

     Today, the Center for Science in the Public Interest held a
Press Conference on the Growing Threat of Contaminated Eggs. CSPI
announced the filing of a petition to FDA calling for reform of
egg inspection and safe-handling labels on egg cartons.

     The press conference emphasized that raw eggs used to be
safe. Now they are not. You can't lick batter out of a bowl
anymore. The primary cause, however, is not the non-inspection
system. Does anyone seriously think that sampling a few hens out
of thousands and performing mass culls--kills--of hens found to
be infested with Salmonella enteritidis will solve the problem?

     The primary cause of Salmonella is how the hens are housed
and treated. Overcrowding of birds causes disease to spread and
new pathogenic strains to develop. Use of antibiotics to curb
production-related illness in these birds encourages growth of
resistant disease-causing organisms.

     Two major causes of Salmonella enteritidis-infested eggs are
1) the toxic excretory ammonia gas the birds are forced to live
in which enters their bloodstream and impairs their immune
system; and 2) the practice known as "forced molting" to
manipulate egg production and prices. In the U.S., hens are
force-molted--starved--for an average of 10 days straight in
their cages. This brutal practice of withholding all feed from
the hens impairs their cellular immune system making them prey to
Salmonella enteritidis.

     Inspection and labelling do not address and cannot fix the
filthy unhygienic complexes laying hens are forced to spend their
lives in which causes them to get sick. The consumer is being
encouraged to continue purchasing an infested product from an
excretory environment with a warning label on the carton. The
consumer is told to take responsibility in the kitchen to clean
up a dirty product by overcooking it. Kids cannot lick the
batter--even with an inspection system!  

     Will the public be satisfied with acknowledgement of
contamination and a warning label, instead of sanitation? 

_____________________________________________________________________
franklin@smart.net                                   Franklin D. Wade 
        United Poultry Concerns - www.envirolink.org/arrs/upc
        Compassion Over Killing - www.envirolink.org/arrs/cok        


Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 18:45:38 -0600
>From: "Alliance for Animals" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, ptoleary@terracom.net
Subject: Barry Herbeck abuse case update...
Message-ID: <199705142356.SAA25617@mendota.terracom.net>

Hello,

This is an update on the Barry Herbeck Animal Abuse case in 
Janesville, WI.  I have attached a word-perfect document with all the 
information.
If you are not able to open the attachment, the same information will 
be posted on our website ASAP...at:  http://www.allanimals.org/

If you have questions regarding the Herbeck case, please feel free to 
call me at: (608) 257-6333.

Thanks everyone!

Tina Kaske
Alliance For Animals


-------------- Enclosure number 1 ----------------
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 * uuencoded. If you are using Pegasus Mail, then you can use
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M\0/O`O'Q`?`"\?$"\0+Q55)%+H"`\0/Q`O'Q`O("\From: "radioactive" 
To: "Animal Rights" 
Subject: HUMANS BRING POULTRY VIRUS TO PENGIUNS
Message-ID: <199705150114.VAA05909@mail.mia.bellsouth.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
     charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Humans bring poultry virus to penguins

Release at 2 p.m. EDT
    LONDON (Reuter) - Visitors to the Antarctic may have carried
a potentially deadly chicken virus to the penguins that thrive
there, Australian scientists said Wednesday.
    They said tests showed that colonies of both emperor and
Adelie penguins showed they had antibodies to infectious bursal
disease virus (IBDV), which can weaken and kill domestic
chickens.
    ``This raises concern for the conservation of avian wildlife
in Antarctica,'' Heather Gardner and colleagues at Tasmania's
environment department wrote in a letter to the science journal
Nature.
    The disease affects chicks, weakening their immune systems
and leaving them open to infection. Strains vary but a new,
virulent strain can kill off many of the chicks in a flock.
    Gardner's group said tests had shown 65 percent of the
chicks in one flock of emperor penguins had antibodies to the
virus. A flock of Adelies had about a two percent prevalence --
while another flock, in a more remote location, had none.
    ``A potent source of environmental contamination in
Antarctica could be from careless or inappropriate disposal of
poultry products,'' they wrote.
    Those visiting the continent could be the biggest threat yet
to the species there, they added.
    They said there was no evidence yet that any of the penguins
had died or become ill from the virus.
^REUTER@



Date: Thu, 15 May 1997 09:48:46 +0800
>From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Foot and Mouth disease statistics (Taiwan)
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970515094153.239f1e4a@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Foot and Mouth disease statistics (Taiwan Outbreak)

The information available is summarized as follows from "FMD on Taiwan
Information".

(Japanese version) 


(English version)

The Japanese version has many figures, tables and photos; it also has the
newest information for FMD in Taiwan.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   dd/mm/yyAffected Susceptible  Affected   No. of   No. of 
 announced       farms   animals      cases      deaths   destroyed animals
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    22 Mar. 1997   51   51,887 14,845   5,919        486 
     02 Apr. 19971,5651,287,120260,380 62,381    383,426
     09 Apr. 19972,6522,317,406444,226103,369    773,760
29 Apr. 1997    5,101   3,972,020       776,687 159,590   2,885,028
    05 May  1997    5,7344,298,908884,127172,430  3,354,428
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. of farms(Swine) in Taiwan (1996)  :     25,357   (1997) 26,420
No. of animals(Swine) in Taiwan(1996) : 10,698,366   (1997) 10,212,947

End
------------------------------------------------------------------------
          
Kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana, kia tere ai te karohirohi
i mua tonu i o koutou huarahi.
                              -Maori Prayer

(May the calm be widespread, may the sea be as the smooth surface of the
greenstone and may the rays of sunshine forever dance along your pathway)

  
  
                       ("\''/").___..--''"`-._  
                       `9_ 9  )   `-.  (     ).`-.__.`) 
                       (_Y_.)'  ._   )  `._ `. ``-..-' 
                     _..`--'_..-_/  /--'_.' .'          
                    (il).-''  ((i).'  ((!.-'     



Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 22:04:10 -0400
>From: "radioactive" 
To: "Animal Rights" 
Subject: raw eggs
Message-ID: <199705150205.WAA17056@mail.mia.bellsouth.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
     charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit


 ----

Consumer group warns against eating raw eggs


    WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Americans should swear off ``sunny
side up'' partially fried eggs and cookie and cake batter
because of a potentially deadly strain of salmonella appearing
more frequently in raw eggs, a consumer group said Wednesday.
    ``Eggs used to be safe but now they are the leading cause of
food poisoning outbreaks in the country,'' said Caroline Smith
DeWaal, food safety expert at the Washington-based Center for
Science in the Public Interest.
    ``Up to one million illnesses and hundreds or even thousands
of deaths each year occur from salmonella-contaminated eggs,''
she said.
    The group was petitioning the Food and Drug Administration
to require a warning label on egg cartons that would read:
''Caution: Eggs may contain illness-causing bacteria. Do not eat
raw. Cook eggs until the yolk is firm.''
    About 45 billion eggs are produced each year in the United
States and while the consumer watchdog acknowledged only a small
fraction are contaminated, they stressed that consumers have no
way to tell which eggs may be tainted.
    Federal health officials first pinpointed a new, virulent
strain of the salmonella bacteria called enteritidis in eggs in
1986 after an outbreak that made 3,000 people sick.
    A salmonella enteritidis infection causes flu-like systems
such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, fever and chills. It
can also lead to more serious complications like heart disease
or be fatal. Children, the elderly and people with weakened
immune systems are more vulnerable. Thorough cooking of eggs
kills the bacteria.
    DeWaal said consumers' risk of becoming ill from salmonella
in eggs had increased by 400 percent since 1980.
^REUTER@



Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 21:23:36 -0500 (CDT)
>From: bstagno@ix.netcom.com (Barbara Stagno)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: CACC Director Vacancy
Message-ID: <199705150223.VAA12347@dfw-ix5.ix.netcom.com>



The New York City Center for Animal Care and Control (CACC) has been 
without an executive director for several months since the resignation 
under fire of Martin Kurtz. Recently, Ed Sayres, formerly of American 
Humane Association, was interviewed for the position. Although Mr. 
Sayres has over 13 years of animal shelter experience and would be an 
excellent choice for this position, we understand that he has not been 
offered the job because of a hold-out by the CACC Chairman of the 
Board, John Doherty, Commissioner of Sanitation. Mr. Doherty apparently 
wishes to appoint a friend for the position. This person has no skills 
in shelter management and is currently working as a corrections 
officer!

If Mr. Doherty has his way, this will perpetuate the same mistake made 
when the city appointed Martin Kurtz, the former executive director. 
Considering the mess that was made under Kurtz (and that continues) it 
would be disastrous to appoint yet another incompetent executive 
director.

Everyone concerned about the dreadful conditions prevailing at the CACC 
should call the Mayor's office to let him know that Ed Sayres should be 
offered this position immediately. Considering the formidable challenge 
presented by the problems at the CACC, the city of New YOrk is indeed 
fortunate to have someone of the caliber of Mr. Sayres interested in 
this position. Tell the Mayor to please hire him before he takes a job 
elsewhere and we lose this opportunity.

Contact:
Randy M. Mastro
Deputy Mayor for Operations
The City of New York
OFfice of the Mayor
New York, NY  10007
phone 212-788-3137
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 21:54:38 -0500 (CDT)
>From: bstagno@ix.netcom.com (Barbara Stagno)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Dog Abuse
Message-ID: <199705150254.VAA16721@dfw-ix8.ix.netcom.com>

Anthony Lorenson -- the Long Island maniac, who several days ago, beat 
a dog with a baseball bat and then chained her to the back of his van 
and dragged her for a quarter mile so that she had road burns all over 
her chest -- will be arraigned at the Central Islip Court House on 
July 2. Mark your calendars and try to be there on the date.

In the meantime, calls can be placed to:
the Suffolk County D.A.,Donna Planty,
(516) 853-4104 or 853-4161. 

Ask that full charges be brought against Lorenson and that he be 
prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for this heinous and 
totally obnoxious crime.

I have been asked to remind people to   P L E A S E   keep your calls 
polite. It's not the DA's office that abused the dog. Apparently there 
have been problems with rude callers in the past and this information 
was given out with the request that calls not be abusive.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Barbara Stagno 
Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 23:22:16 -0400
>From: "radioactive" 
To: "Animal Rights" 
Subject: GLICKMAN NAMES FOREIGN ANIMAL DISEASE ADVISORY COMMITTEE 
Message-ID: <199705150323.XAA03608@mail.mia.bellsouth.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
     charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Date: Wednesday, May 14, 1997 11:20 PM
Subject: APHIS Press Release GLICKMAN NAMES FOREIGN ANIMAL DISEASE
ADVISORY
COMMITTEE

                                            Release No. 0161.97
                                                              
                                   Dawn Kent     (301) 734-7255
                                           dkent@aphis.usda.gov
                                   Jerry Redding (202) 720-6959
                                              jredding@usda.gov

GLICKMAN NAMES FOREIGN ANIMAL DISEASE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MEMBERS

     WASHINGTON, May 14, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
today announced the selection of new members to USDA's Advisory
Committee on Foreign Animal and Poultry Diseases.

     This committee advises the Secretary on policies and program issues
necessary to keep foreign animal and poultry diseases from being
introduced into the United States.  Members also offer recommendations
on contingency planning and emergency management in the event that a
disease outbreak does occur.

     Members serve on the advisory committee for two years.  The
following individuals have been appointed to serve on the committee:

     -- Dr. J. Lee Alley, Alabama Department of Agriculture
     -- Dr. Terry L. Beals, Texas Animal Health Commission
     -- Dr. Charles W. Beard, Southeastern Poultry and Egg Association
     -- Dr. G. Marvin Beeman, practicing veterinarian
     -- Dr. Richard E. Breitmeyer, California Department of Food and  
           Agriculture
     -- Honorable Gus R. Douglass, West Virginia Department of
Agriculture
     -- Ms. Constance K. Greig, rancher
     -- Dr. G. Thomas Holder, Allen's Hatchery, Inc.
     -- Dr. Robert E. Holland, Michigan State University
     -- Dr. Karen R. Jordan, veterinarian
     -- Dr. Kelvin Koong, Oregon State University
     -- Dr. Beth A. Lautner, veterinarian
     -- Dr. Timothy P. O'Neill, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
     -- Dr. Ray B. Powell, New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands
     -- Dr. John R. Ragan, Tennessee Department of Agriculture
     -- Mr. Glenn N. Slack, Livestock Conservation Institute
     -- Dr. Thomas R. Thedford, Oklahoma State University
     -- Dr. Lyle P. Vogel, American Veterinary Medical Association
     -- Dr. Larry L. Williams, Nebraska Department of Agriculture
     -- Dr. Saul Wilson, Tuskegee University

                               #

NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the
Internet.   Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at
http://www.usda.gov



Date: Wed, 14 May 1997 23:53:21 -0400
>From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Four California condors released in Arizona        
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970514235317.006d82f4@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Mercury Center web page:
----------------------------------------------
Posted at 8:05 p.m. PDT Wednesday, May 14, 1997     

Four California condors released in Arizona         

VERMILION CLIFFS, Ariz. (AP) -- Four California
condors unfolded their nine-foot wings and flew to
freedom Wednesday north of the Grand Canyon.

Biologists with the nonprofit Peregrine Fund
released the big birds atop the 1,000-foot
Vermilion Cliffs, where their ancestors lived
during the Ice Age. California condors are North
America's largest and rarest birds.

Biologists Mark Vekasy and Shawn Farry lifted the
door of a pen, and the birds cautiously hopped from
their shelter onto the lip of the cliff.

The birds made a number of short flights and then
perched on the talus slope near the cliff's base,
Vekasy and Farry said Wednesday.

Nine 2-year-old condors have been held for several
weeks in a netted area while they became acclimated
to the environment. The four released were
considered the most subordinate with the ability to
socialize more easily with others released earlier.

Releasing the birds at these 1,000-foot high cliffs
in the national forest is part of a program begun
in the 1980s to reintroduce the California condor
to its natural home in the Southwest.

The five released in December have greatly extended
their range, soaring below the north rim of the
Grand Canyon and over Lake Powell and Page, the
biologists said. They said the birds regularly
return to the cliffs and check on the new arrivals.




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