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AR-NEWS Digest 660
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Vaccine May Protect Against E. Coli
by Vegetarian Resource Center
2) Health problems for Florida alligators
by Andrew Gach
3) Disease mongering, mouse genetics and obesity
by Andrew Gach
4) [CA] Oil Spill Update
by David J Knowles
5) [CA] Editorial on fisheries
by David J Knowles
6) [UK] Chief scientist defends delay in BSE cases
by David J Knowles
7) [UK] Cull threat to deer in Quantocks
by David J Knowles
8) [UK] EU powers used to save wet meadow
by David J Knowles
9) 7 PETA's Activist arrested in New york
by 2063511 <2063511@campus.uab.es>
10) (Dallas) Erik Marcus
by Greg Thomisee
11) Anniversary of Victory for Animals
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
12) CNN Interactive
by victoriajoy@webtv.net (Victoria Mireles)
13) Butterfly Man
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
14) NY: Second Annual "Neuter Benny for a Penny"
by Michael Markarian
15) Cambridge-2/22- Protest Against Primate Experimentation
by baerwolf@tiac.net (baerwolf)
16) Blaze Kills 18 Horses; No Cause Found
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
17) World Week For Animals In Laboratories
by In Defense of Animals
18) New Zealand wildlife smuggler back in the slammer!
by Shirley McGreal
19) emails for Vilas Monkeys
by paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
20) (AU) Business Seeks Use for Wild Camels
by Mesia Quartano
21) Means to spare test mice sought
by Mesia Quartano
22) (US) MN residents help needed to protect wolves
by Karen Purves
23) Upcoming Anti-Seal-Hunt Events
by Nicola Thompson
24) Prison sentences
by Lynette Shanley
25) Vilas Phone Nos.
by paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
26) (AU) Anything to Declare
by Lynette Shanley
27) Bear kills man [AK]
by Bob Chorush
28)
by In Defense of Animals
29) Whale Guardians Network Meeting
by Michael Kundu
30) [UK] Anti-hunt MPs seek to outfox opponents
by David J Knowles
31) [UK] Field sport supporters infiltrate the RSPCA
by David J Knowles
32) [VIETNAM] Cats on the menu worsens rats plague
by David J Knowles
33) (US) Engler says guest entitled to opinion if stated as opinion
by allen schubert
34) (US) Engler says Lyman never qualified his opinion
by allen schubert
35) Labor violations at poultry plants
by Andrew Gach
36) A slicker pitch
by Andrew Gach
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 00:22:57 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: Veg-News@Envirolink.Org
Subject: Vaccine May Protect Against E. Coli
Message-ID: <199802100529.FAA10583@mail-out-4.tiac.net>
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Vaccine May Protect Against E. Coli
.c The Associated Press
by PAUL RECER
WASHINGTON (AP) - A vaccine against E. coli, the deadly food poisoning
bacteria that forced the recall last year of millions of pounds of beef, has
been tested successfully on a small group of volunteers, researchers said
Monday.
Scientists at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and
the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., report that a preliminary
study using 87 volunteers showed that the vaccine causes an immune reaction
that could protect against infection by E. coli 0157.
``This is still very early in the research,'' said Dr. Dwayne F. Alexander,
director of the institute on child health and human development, one of the
National Institutes of Health. ``This is the first human study of this
proposed vaccine.''
He said the important finding is that the vaccine produced a level of antibody
in the volunteers that could kill E. coli 0157 in the test tube.
``We don't know yet if it will kill the bacteria in the body,'' he said.
Alexander said the next step is tests to determine if the vaccine will prevent
E. coli 0157 infection in cattle, which are thought to be the most common
source of the infection.
Results of the preliminary study are published in the Journal of Infectious
Diseases.
E. coli 0157 is a deadly, new strain of bacteria that can contaminate beef,
fruit juice and other foods, causing severe food poisoning symptoms, including
bloody diarrhea and damaged kidneys. People can also become infected by
swimming in lakes or rivers contaminated with the organism.
Children are most seriously affected by the infection. An estimated 20,000
Americans are poisoned by E. coli 0157 annually and about 250 die, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
An outbreak in Japan last year infected more than 10,000 people in just two
months.
Last year, millions of pounds of ground beef in the United States were
destroyed after tests showed the beef was contaminated with E. coli. The
organism also has been found in fruit and fruit juices.
E. coli is spread most frequently from cattle manure that can get into meat
during butchering or onto fruits or vegetables in the field. Water runoff from
pastures where there are infected cattle can contaminate rivers and lakes.
E. coli is formally known as Escherichia coli, named for Theodor Escherich, a
German bacteriologist who first isolated it 111 years ago. A benign form of
the organism lives in the human gut, where it is essential for proper
digestion.
Researchers believe that some genes of a dangerous virus, called shigella,
were transferred into E. coli during a shigella epidemic in Central America in
the 1970s. This transformed one strain of a usually harmless germ into a
pathogen that does not respond well to antibiotics and can cause severe food
poisoning.
In the experiment, three groups of 27 volunteers were inoculated with
different formulations of a vaccine made from the combination of parts the E.
coli bacterium and of another bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Nearly all of the volunteers developed antibodies against E. coli within a
week. This suggests that such a vaccine could be useful in quickly controlling
an outbreak, said Alexander.
At the end of 26 weeks, 97 percent of the test subjects had antibody levels 10
times higher than pretest levels.
Antibody produced in the blood of the volunteers was able to kill the E. coli
0157 bacterium in laboratory cultures.
Volunteers experienced no serious side effects from the vaccine, with
irritation at the injection site being the most common complaint.
Alexander said a Minnesota firm is now testing the vaccine in cattle. He said
it may be possible to prevent infection by E. coli 0157 ``if we can control it
at the source.''
A test on children would be next, but Alexander said that there are no
immediate plans to conduct further human testing.
AP-NY-02-09-98 1840EST
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 22:53:41 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Health problems for Florida alligators
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Health problems for Florida alligators
Reuters News Service
MIAMI, February 9, 1998
American alligators, which spent 18 years on endangered and threatened
species lists, are again at risk, this time because of a hormonal
problem that may impede their ability to reproduce, scientists said on
Monday.
The populations of alligators in three Florida lakes -- giant Lake
Okeechobee, Lake Apopka, and Lake Griffin -- have dropped in recent
months, prompting researchers to test the cold-blooded predators for an
explanation.
Louis Guillette, a professor of zoology at the University of Florida,
said researchers studying the reptiles found that males had
significantly depressed testosterone levels. Females had elevated levels
of estradiol, the principle estrogen found in vertebrates.
They also identified problems with the animals' thyroid hormones, he
said.
"It raises a major red flag for us," Guillette told Reuters. "It could
mean that these animals would not mature properly. They could have
altered reproduction. They could have altered resistance to disease."
Similar hormonal problems, which later were linked to a major pesticide
spill, caused the alligator population in Lake Apopka, just northwest of
Orlando, to drop sharply in the early 1980s, he said.
Scientists view the American alligator as a "sentinel species," a good
indicator of the general health of a wetlands area. "It's a top
predator, if we're dealing with chemicals and other things, it's
accumulating in them," Guillette said.
Researchers also said problems with the alligators could be a sign of
something that might affect humans as well.
"In Florida, we have a couple of major problems. We have extensive
development taking place that's very rapid. And we have growing seasons
that go 12 months out of the year," meaning agricultural pesticides are
used all year, he said.
Guillette's research will be published in the March issue of the journal
Environmental Toxicology.
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 22:58:10 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Disease mongering, mouse genetics and obesity
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Dire Warnings About Obesity Rely on a Slippery Statistic
By LAURA JOHANNES and STEVE STECKLOW
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the new diet drug
Meridia in November, it called obesity a "widespread, chronic disease."
Roche Laboratories, which is seeking FDA approval for another diet drug,
agrees. It states in a brochure: "By any standard, obesity is a
disease."
But is it?
In fact, medical science is split. The confident assertions of the FDA
and Roche trace back along a murky trail to some far less categorical
scientific data.
More than semantics is at stake. In the case of obesity, the debate has
heightened in the wake of major diet-pill recalls last year. Many new
diet nostrums are in various stages of testing, and the FDA's bar for
approving new drugs is lower for disease treatments than for other
problems, such as baldness or skin wrinkles. The agency is less likely
to approve a drug for a non-disease condition when it is shown to have
serious side effects -- such as those that diet drugs produce. Meridia,
for instance, raises blood pressure when taken in high doses; that could
lead to strokes.
In part, the FDA appears to accept that obesity is a disease because of
oft-repeated testimony, from drug companies and others, that fatness
results in a measurable number of deaths. In its Meridia approval, the
agency repeated that obesity "contributes to the deaths of an estimated
300,000 Americans each year."
That figure first surfaced three years ago when former Surgeon General
C. Everett Koop launched Shape Up America!, a physical-fitness campaign
coordinated by a nonprofit coalition of industry and health-related
organizations. Standing on the South Lawn of the White House, Dr. Koop
called obesity "a major public health threat" and said it had become the
nation's No. 2 cause of death, behind smoking, "resulting in about
300,000 lives lost each year."
Dr. Koop says he derived the statistic from a study called "Actual
Causes of Death in the United States" that appeared in November 1993 in
the Journal of the American Medical Association. But the study -- a
review of death certificates filed in 1990 -- never said obesity killed
that many people. It said, rather, that "dietary factors and activity
patterns that are too sedentary are together accountable for at least
300,000 deaths each year." It also said what many already knew -- that
obesity is "associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease,
certain cancers and diabetes" but stopped short of calling obesity a
disease by itself.
Some researchers believe obesity may be more of a symptom than a
disease. In another JAMA study last year, the Cooper Institute for
Aerobics Research in Dallas found that skinny people with poor physical
fitness were more likely to die prematurely than overweight people who
exercised regularly. "We tend to focus on body size and body weight. In
fact, our habits have more to do with our mortality and what diseases we
get than our body size does," says Cooper Medical Director Jody
Wilkinson.
Some highly publicized findings have spotlighted the genetic antecedents
of obesity in mice. But no such link has been established in humans,
except in very rare cases. Even if some people are genetically
predetermined to be fat, others "just like to eat -- and in that case
it's no more of a disease than bank robbery is a disease," says Marcia
Angell, author of a recent editorial in the New England Journal of
Medicine that questioned the obesity-as-a-disease model.
The debate echoes those involving other medical conditions, caught in
their own quagmires in which the roles of genetics and self-control are
unclear. Alcoholism, for example, is widely regarded as a disease, which
troubles some specialists. "How do you say this is a disease if people
can voluntary reverse it?" asks Joseph Gerstein, past president of the
Smart Recovery self-help network for alcoholics.
Barbara J. Moore, who became executive director of Shape Up America! in
June 1995, says she warned Dr. Koop that he was misrepresenting the
study's findings by making so direct a link between obesity and death.
But Dr. Koop defends his interpretation and predicts that "it will
eventually be shown" that obesity does kill as large a number as 300,000
-- just as preliminary findings on smoking led to more definitive
research later.
Dr. Koop's declaration at the White House soon found its way into
numerous news articles and other publications. It has often been quoted
by Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc., the developer of Redux, a diet pill
the FDA approved in 1996 but which was withdrawn at its request in 1997
amid concerns that it damages heart valves. Interneuron Chief Executive
Glenn Cooper and Redux supporters cited the figure at least seven times
at FDA advisory panel hearings on the drug.
"The 300,000 figure was the single most important reason the advisory
committee approved Redux," says Lynn McAfee, of the Council on Size and
Weight Discrimination, an advocacy group, who attended the hearings.
"And it's a fake number."
James Bilstad, head of the FDA division that approved Redux, concedes he
isn't clear about the origin of that statistic. But he says it wasn't
the main evidence supporting the FDA's belief that obesity is a disease
that can be helped by drugs. He adds that the FDA hasn't addressed the
question of how much extra weight qualifies as a disease.
Interneuron says the statistic was supported by an independent analysis
by Theodore VanItallie, a professor emeritus of medicine at Columbia
University in New York and a consultant to Laboratoires Servier SA, the
French company that licensed Redux to Interneuron. Dr. VanItallie, in a
27-page document labeled "confidential" and distributed only to the FDA
and its advisory committee during Redux deliberations, calculated that
20% of Americans, or about 292,000 people a year, die from obesity.
But a copy of that document shows that Dr. VanItallie's figures may be
exaggerated. In calculating the figure, he drew on previously published
reports on obesity and death, including the extensive Nurses Health
Study, which found excess weight at fault in about 20% of the untimely
deaths in nonsmoking adults under 70.
But without correcting for age differences or the effects of smoking in
these studies, he concluded that obesity is to blame for 20% of all U.S.
deaths. The problem is that many deaths occur among heavy smokers, or in
people in their 70s and 80s -- an older group than the Nurses Health
cohort.
Dr. VanItallie concedes his analysis is "very rough" and says "the
reason I have not published it is because I have been agonizing over how
to deal with these problems."
The recent New England Journal of Medicine editorial by Dr. Angell and
the journal's editor in chief, Jerome P. Kassirer, said the 300,000
number was "derived from weak or incomplete data." In the same issue,
researchers from the University of North Carolina and the U.S.
government found that the additional risk of death posed by excess
weight lessened with age.
The 300,000 figure has also been promulgated by officials from the
American Obesity Association, who testified at hearings on Redux and
Meridia and who have lobbied Congress to urge greater funding for
obesity research. In 1996, the group worked with Shape Up America! to
produce a book of recommended treatments for obesity, including drugs,
that was distributed to 30,000 doctors and health-care professionals. It
was supported by a grant from American Home Products Corp., marketer of
Redux and Pondimin.
The association, based in Washington, D.C., was formed in April 1995 by
Judith S. Stern, who teaches at the University of California at Davis,
and Richard L. Atkinson, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin in
Madison. At the advisory panel hearing on Meridia, Dr. Atkinson, the
first speaker, described the association as "a lay advocacy group
representing the interests of the 70 to 80 million obese American women
and children and adults afflicted with the disease of obesity."
The association charges individuals $25 for membership. Dr. Stern says
she and Dr. Atkinson belong but she has "absolutely no idea" how many
others are members. Asked for a member count, Morgan Downey, the group's
executive director, produced a single, completed application and check
and said it was from the only paid member he had seen. [[A genuine
grassroots organization! - ag]]
Financial information about the group also is hard to come by. The
association is required by law to file a nonprofit tax return; but it
has never done so, according to its new accountant, Gary C. Pokrant. He
adds that a return will be filed shortly.
Dr. Atkinson says the group receives most of its funding -- several
hundred thousand dollars in all -- from the pharmaceuticals industry,
including Interneuron, American Home Products, Roche Laboratories, Knoll
Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and Servier -- all of which market or develop diet
pills.
He says drug companies "love me" because of his strong support for diet
pills. Although he has received consulting fees from about 20 drug
concerns, he says the money doesn't affect his positions.
[[Wanna bet? - ag]]
=================================================
It's nice to see a mainstream health article that tells it like it is!
The New England Journal of Medicine also deserves the be commended for
its Jan. 1 editorial cited. - Andy
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 23:46:28
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Oil Spill Update
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980209234628.0b374d6c@dowco.com>
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By David J Knowles
Animal Voices News
VANCOUVER, BC - A total of 200 birds have now died as a result of the oil
spill into Burrard Inlet Thursday.The oil, now believed to be canola, has
dispersed, but bodies of coated birds continue to be found. It is believed
that two to three times that number of birds have actually died, but it is
unlikely their bodies will be found. The carnage was described by one
senior provincial SPCA official as the worst wildlife disaster he had ever
dealt with.
Canolal is more of a threat to the birds because the oil is tougher to
remove from the feathers.
At least another 170 birds are awaiting cleansing at a temporary facility
housed at the site of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE). Among the
affected birds are grebes, goldeneyes, buffleheads and scuaps.
Rescuers, including SPCA officials and members of the BC WIldlife Rescue
Association, have already removed the oil from over 170 birds.
It is planned to re-release the first of the cleaned birds on Thursday.
SPCA officials are appealing to any member of the public who had found an
oil-covered bird to contact the society or wildlife rescue, rather than
attempt cleaning the bird at home.
Environment Canada officials, who are trying to trace the source of the
spill, say that when they find the polluter, they - not the taxpayer - will
pay.
The spill has now being called the second-biggest environmental disaster
ever on record in Vancouver.
Vancouver SPCA's director of shelter operations, Bob Gordon, said in an
interview with The Province newspaper that what the rescuers were trying to
do was to "save animals that mankind is trying to destroy."
"Why do we go to all this trouble of saving a couple hundred scuaps when
there are thousands and thousands od scaups out there? A certain amount of
value has to be put on life, whether it be one bird's or thousands of
birds," said Gordon.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 00:14:21
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Editorial on fisheries
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980210001421.0b374882@dowco.com>
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>From The Vancouver Sun - Monday, February 9th, 1998
"Must we all learn to stomach jellyfish?
A study of fish numbers makes that more than a culinary question. The world
is taking too much from the oceans.
In a famous observation in 1813, the naturalist John James Audubon
described with awe a flock of passenger pigeons: 'The light of noonday was
obscured as by an eclipse; the dung fell in spots not unlike melting flakes
of snow.' He made a careful estimate of its size and concluded that it
contained 1,115,136,000 birds. Just 101 years later there were none.
Before European settlement there may have been as many as 60 million
buffalo on the western plains. Ruthlessly, effortlessly shot, sometimes
just for their tongues, the buffalo were nearly extinct by about 1900.
Surley the oceans' fish are in no such danger?
Nobody can be complacent after reading the global study headed by Prof.
Daniel Pauly of the University of B.C. fisheries centre. It draws a
frightening profile.
Fish stocks have drastically declined, especially in the northern
hemisphere. The mighty Atlantic cod fishery that had thrived since before
European settlement in North America was closed this decade. On this coast
the haggling over fewer and fewer salmon, some of which like steelhead and
coho are nearing extinction, has caused still unresolved international
quarrels.
Studying United Nations data, Prof. Pauly and his colleagues found a kind
of terrifying tumbling-down as the most valuable fish were over-harvested
and the fishery then turned to their prey - smaller fish the next step down
what they call the 'food web'. This bodes badly for any recovery of the
most sought-after fish because their food becomes scarce.
Some natural and perhaps undetected environmental factors aside, the
problem resides with the clever beast at the top of the food chain: people.
Equipped with sophisticated technology that can track and harvest fish with
astonishing efficiency, we have the power to vacuum the age-old grounds of
almost all marine life - ending up with 'the sea full of jellyfish,' as
Prof. Pauly says.
Which proves that clever isn't necessarily smart. If the seas are swept of
all but the simplest life forms, our decendants will not call us brilliant
but criminal. Pulling the plug on such 'vacuums' may be imperative.
Certainly, the appalling waste of life in the so-called by-catch -
creatures of all kinds haplessly caught in nets cast for other species - is
barbarous and stupid. Fish farming, regarded with suspicion by the wild
salmon industry, may be the great hope and deserving of rapid expansion,
perhaps to fresh water as well.
It used to be said, often to console the heartbroken, that 'there's more
fish in the sea than ever came out of it.' With the greed, bungling and
carelessness that destroyed the buffalo runs and pigeon flocks in mind, it
can be wondered if future generations will speak those words with irony and
bitterness."
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 01:11:21
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Chief scientist defends delay in BSE cases
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, February 10th, 1998
Chief scientist defends delay in BSE cases
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
THE veterinary scientist at the heart of the row over whether the risk of
passing BSE to the public could have been cut if he and his colleagues had
acted sooner to identify mad cow disease answered his critics yesterday.
Dr Gerald Wells, of the Central Veterinary Laboratory, Weybridge, said
there were two cases in the archives that predate the first official report
of the disease in November 1986, notably one by Carol Richardson, a
pathologist, that was part of an outbreak that anecdotal evidence suggests
dates back to 1984.
Dr Wells, the senior neuropathologist at the laboratory, based his
identification of BSE on a later outbreak in Kent, first reported in
November 1986 and written up in an article that appeared in The Veterinary
Record in 1987.
The article steered away from the term bovine scrapie, which would have
suggested the epidemic among cows was as widespread as among sheep, and
plumped for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE.
Yesterday Dr Wells said that he had agreed with Carol Richardson's
diagnosis of spongiform changes in bovine brain tissue from Pitsham "that
did look like those that one would see with scrapie", but he said that
there had been a range of clinical problems on the farm, ranging from
metabolic disease to nervous disease and kidney problems.
By contrast, in November 1986 he was provided with "an excellent case
history of several examples of a clearly definable neurological problem,"
by an old friend, Colin Whitaker, a vet from Ashford, Kent, who was puzzled
by strange behaviour in the dairy herd at Plurenden Manor Farm that dated
back to the end of April 1985.
Even when it came to this first officially recorded case, there was a
nine-month delay in getting a sample of brain to the ministry labs. The
first cow that was sent to the abattoir ended up in the wrong place, while
the second did make it to the abattoir but the head of the animal was mixed
up with others.
But Dr Wells, who discussed the crucial issue of the origins of the
epidemic at the BSE public inquiry in March, is adamant that the timescale
to the discovery of BSE could "not have been altered that much" without
waiting for many more confirmed cases of the disease that showed
well-defined symptoms or by boosting surveillance of veterinary disease to
unrealistic levels.
"If, with hindsight, we had recognised the Carol Richardson case was a
scrapie-like disease and, what is more important, we had recognised what
the cause was, we might have been able to take action," said Dr Wells. But
he said that the Pitsham case would have been thought sporadic until more
had been confirmed from the same farm.
"If we reacted on the evidence of sporadic forms of new diseases, then we
would be telling Government about them every few months," he said.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 01:14:55
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Cull threat to deer in Quantocks
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980210011455.24f7a860@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, February 10th, 1998
Cull threat to deer in Quantocks
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
RED deer in the West Country could be shot to extinction, a scientist has
warned, after two prominent hunt members admitted shooting 100 of the
animals since the National Trust banned hunting with hounds on its land
last spring.
Robert Rowe, the Quantock Staghounds hunt's harbourer - who is responsible
for monitoring the deer - and the hunt's former vice-chairman, Ben
Bartlett, said they had carried out an unofficial cull.
Their disclosure came at a heated meeting of the Quantock deer management
group attended by the Trust and the Forestry Commission, which has also
banned deer hunting on its land.
Opponents of hunting have accused the pair of being "barbaric and greedy"
and of trying to restore hunting by "emotional blackmail".
Mr Rowe, 39, who farms 900 acres near Spaxton, Somerset, on the edge of the
Quantock Hills, said he and Mr Bartlett had no choice but to shoot the
deer. Mr Rowe said: "It is not revenge. We are not saying 'I told you so'.
I know it is sad but we are not going to feed the deer for nothing. We
can't afford to."
Dr Jochen Langbein, a Southampton University lecturer who has just finished
a three-year study of the deer herds of the West Country, warned they would
disappear from parts of the hills if the shooting continued. It is thought
100 deer could be worth up to £10,000.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 01:17:47
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] EU powers used to save wet meadow
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980210011747.0b3740a6@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, February 10th, 1998
EU powers used to save wet meadow
By Charles Clover Environment Editor
JOHN Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, has used new European Union
powers for the first time to prevent two farmers draining and stripping a
wet meadow in the Peak District protected for its golden plover, snipe and
curlew.
Mr Prescott granted English Nature a Special Nature Conservation Order to
prevent Carol Goodwin and Tim Birchenough, of Doveholes, near Buxton, from
further damaging the Leek Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest, in
Staffordshire.
The wet meadow SSSI, at around 1,000ft above sea level, is part of a larger
EU Special Protection Area for birds that covers a wide area of the Peak
moors.
Its European designation enabled English Nature to use the stronger powers
available under a 1994 EU regulation preventing potentially damaging
operations without written permission, a stronger injunction than exists
under British law.
Clare Trinder, of English Nature's Peak District and Derbyshire team, said
that the site now looked like "bare ground" having been drained and the
soil put back on top and compacted.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 12:19:39 +0100
From: 2063511 <2063511@campus.uab.es>
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: 7 PETA's Activist arrested in New york
Message-ID: <01ITEXMAZB3M00FN17@cc.uab.es>
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>From EL PERIODICO DE CATALUNYA
El PERIODICO DE CATALUNYA say in his todays edition that in New York seven
PETA's activist was arrested when said to VOGUE MAGAZINE director KILLER for
the promotion that this magazine done for Fur Coats.
More information in http://www.Elperiodico.es (In catalan and Spanish).
Please, if anyone know more about this notice, please write to AR-News.
My web against fur coats is:
http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/6506/pellcas.htm
Visiteu les meves pągines / Visit my homepages
http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/6506
http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/loge/3128
http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/academy/2855
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 07:31:32 -0500
From: Greg Thomisee
To: Blind.Copy.Receiver@compuserve.com
Subject: (Dallas) Erik Marcus
Message-ID: <199802100732_MC2-32B8-D5A@compuserve.com>
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Texas Establishment for Animal Rights (TEAR) invites you to attend a
special presentation with guest speaker Erik Marcus on February 24. Erik
is touring the country to promote his exciting new book, Vegan: The New
Ethics of Eating. "The typical American diet puts us at war with animals,
the environment, even our own bodies," writes author Erik Marcus. Vegan:
The New Ethics of Eating, offers the most current arguments for veganism
with the latest references, and is poised to become one of the most
significant books about vegetarianism to be released this decade. The
presentation begins at 6:30 PM, at the Center for Community Cooperation,
2900 Live Oak in Dallas. Seating is limited! RSVP by February 20 to
972-623-6170 to reserve your place.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 98 09:45:41 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Anniversary of Victory for Animals
Message-ID: <199802101539.KAA16666@envirolink.org>
(From PETA's calendar): On this date in 1994, Calvin Klein stopped
designing with fur!
-- Sherrill
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 10:44:29 -0600
From: victoriajoy@webtv.net (Victoria Mireles)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: CNN Interactive
Message-ID: <199802101644.IAA00785@mailtod-161.iap.bryant.webtv.net>
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Hello:
Today's CNN interactive has three stories worth reading.
1. An endangered Peregrine falcon downed by a shotgun blast.
2. The plans to build a salt mine on Mexico's Baja penninsula which
could disrupt grey whale breeding.
3. The Sri Lankan "killer" elephant whose life was spared.
All three stories can be viewed at:
www.cnn.com/EARTH
Victoria
It is not enough to be compassionate. You must act.
His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, 1992.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 98 10:40:57 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Butterfly Man
Message-ID: <199802101649.LAA09050@envirolink.org>
(Excerpts from People Magazine): Ten years ago, as a member of the
Crips, a Los Angeles street gang, Arthur Bonner sold crack, cracked
heads, and fired a shotgun at an approaching car. By 1991 he had
spent three years in juvenile detention and almost four more in prison -
for shooting a security guard in the eye. He says he now prays every night
for the people he wronged: "I'm not proud of none of the stuff I did."
Instead of running with his gang, Bonner, now 27, roams the rugged hills
of California's Palos Verdes peninsula, trying to make it habitable for
a rare species of butterfly found nowhere else on earth. The Palos
Verdes blue or Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis - flies only
from February through April. For the rest of the year, it metamorphoses
from fertilized egg to caterpillar to pupa. Individuals exist as butterflies
for only five days. To ensure that adult blues propagate, Bonner spends most
of the year clearing away brush and sowing the seeds of the only two plants
the blues will eat.
"One of the great things about Arthur is that he treats the butterflies
as equals," says Travis Longcore, an assistant manager of the conversation
project. "It's funny, but he understands how hard it is to be a butterfly."
Bonner says he owes his own metamorphosis to these fragile lepidopterans.
"They actually kept me from being extinct as much as I'm saving them from
being extinct," he says.
Released from jail at 22, he joined the Los Angeles Conservation Corps,
a work program aimed at giving at-risk youths a fresh start. Assigned
one day to clear brush behind the L.A. airport, Bonner says, "I saw a
sign that said, 'El Segundo Blue Butterfly Habitat.' I said, 'How can a
butterfly have a habitat when they can just fly over the gate?'"
Dr. Rudi Mattoni, a UCLA geography professor and the conservation
project's leader, assured him the Segundos would stay put as long as they
could thrive there. Bonner avidly read the books Mattoni gave him on
habitats and planting and was soon volunteering on weekends.
"He was just a great worker and a neat guy," says Mattoni, who in 1994
hired Bonner (at $26,000 a year) to help save the Palos Verdes blues. Last
year, the National Wildlife Federation gave both men an award for outstanding
work in conservation. Bonner now leads innercity kids on field trips.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 09:25:39 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: NY: Second Annual "Neuter Benny for a Penny"
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19980210123319.3b17fb64@pop.igc.org>
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CALENDAR ALERT
THE FUND FOR ANIMALS ANNOUNCES THE SECOND ANNUAL
"NEUTER BENNY FOR A PENNY"
ALL MALE CATS NEUTERED FOR ONLY ONE PENNY
ON NATIONAL SPAY DAY U.S.A.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH
WHAT: Cleveland Amory's Fund for Animals Spay & Neuter Clinic will hold
another NEUTERTHON -- "Neuter Benny for a Penny." All male cats will be
neutered for only one penny. This special offer is available to senior
citizens, people receiving public aid, the disabled, the unemployed, and
animal rescue workers.
WHEN: Tuesday, February 24th
WHERE: The Fund for Animals Spay & Neuter Clinic
355 West 52nd Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues
Mid-Town Manhattan, New York City
TIME: Appointments must be made in advance by calling 212-977-6877.
Appointments will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.
WHY: The national humane community has declared February 24th "Spay Day
U.S.A." to call attention to the overpopulation of dogs and cats in our
country. In New York City, this overpopulation has reached tragic
proportions. Sterilization is the solution to preventing the tragedy of
homeless animals.
In 1996, The Fund for Animals opened the first and only high-volume,
low-cost spay and neuter clinic in New York to combat the senseless
overpopulation of companion animals. Our everyday super low-cost fees are
just $25.00 for cats and $35.00 for dogs. Appointments can be made by
calling 212-977-6877 Mondays through Thursdays.
For more information call Lia Albo, 212-977-6877.
# # #
http://www.fund.org
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 12:52:36 -0500 (EST)
From: baerwolf@tiac.net (baerwolf)
To: Veg-Boston@waste.org, veg-ne@empire.net, Veg-NE@waste.org,
veggie@vegweb.com, ar-news@envirolink.org
Cc: bravebos@aol.com, CAFTBoston@aol.com, info@ma.neavs.com, action@cease.org,
alliance@allanimals.org, ida@idausa.org
Subject: Cambridge-2/22- Protest Against Primate Experimentation
Message-ID: <199802101752.MAA04606@mail-out-3.tiac.net>
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Greetings Compassionate People -
Please consider helping to increase the visibility of the
inhumane torture that is perpetrated behind closed doors
in the name of science. With visibility, I am sure we can get
the torture to stop.
Please add your own scantily available time to that of
countless people across the nation and across the globe
who have said "NO" to laboratory experimentation on primates.
Britain banned it - and we can too !
* * * * * * * * * *
Protest Primate Vivisection - Encircling a Silent Killer.
Sunday, Feb. 22, 1998 - 11:30 AM - 1:30PM
Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA
Meet by the "Out-Of-Town News" Stand
in the center of Harvard Square at 11:30AM
for a walking protest.
We will walk around the circumference of Harvard Yard.
Bring antivivisection posters, banners, drums* .... Literature will be provided.
(* Those white plastic buckets found as trash around construction sites
or outside donut shops along with a dowel or stick make great drums)
Latecomers - display your poster/bang your drum, slowly
by the Harvard Yard wall near the "Out-Of-Town News" Stand
until we come back around again.
For info call Steve at 508-393-5339 or email
steven baer
baerwolf@tiac.net
Massachusetts
HOW DEEP INTO SPACE MUST HUMANS GO
BEFORE THEY LOOK BACK AND REALIZE
ALL THE NEIGHBORS THEY'VE TORTURED ON PLANET EARTH.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 98 12:37:55 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Blaze Kills 18 Horses; No Cause Found
Message-ID: <199802101837.NAA10634@envirolink.org>
Sallisaw, OK, USA: The state Fire Marshal's Office has not determined
the cause of a Sunday night barn fire that took the lives of 18 horses
stabled at Blue Ribbon Downs.
Shannon Rowland, spokeswoman for the fire marshal, said Capt. Sam
Pinson, an investigator with the office, found nothing suspicious
after spending several hours Monday sifting through the charred remains
of Barn No. 15.
There was speculation that an electrical short circuit started the
blaze, but the investigation failed to show anything was turned on in
the barn, said Mike Tubbs, safety officer for the Sallisaw Fire Dept.
A trainer who spotted the fire alerted the fire department, horsemen,
and track employees who were attending church at the track's nearby
chapel.
Volunteers were able to save nine of the estimated 25 horses in the barn.
However, two of those horses had to be euthanized a short time later.
Tubbs counted 16 horses dead inside the barn. The barn housed
thoroughbreds, paints, and quarter horses.
Ironically, the track's security checked the barn about five minutes prior
to the fire being reported.
All of the horses were 3- and 4-year-olds just getting ready for their
career in racing.
-- Sherrill
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 12:57:43 -0600 (CST)
From: In Defense of Animals
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: World Week For Animals In Laboratories
Message-ID: <199802101857.MAA04632@dfw-ix14.ix.netcom.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
FROM:
lauren Sullivan
National Campaigns Director
In Defense of Animals
131 Camino Alto, Suite E
Mill Valley, CA 94941
415/388-9641 x 29
ida@idausa.org
World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL) will take place during the
week of April 19 - 26.
During WWAIL, IDA is encouraging a focus on xenotransplantation and military
animal research. However, we also encourage groups to focus on their
exisiting campaigns. We would be happy to help.
IDA will post all WWAIL events, locations and contact information will on
our website. Please let us know the details via e-mail -- ida@idausa.org --
of what your group is planning for WWAIL.
IDA has a resource section on our website where you can get information on
how to investigate vivisection in your area. The research guide has direct
links to key NIH and USDA sites. In addition, we now have information on
the web about start your own group, run a campaign, and handle the media.
IDA will be posting more details about WWAIL in the near future including an
order form and what materials we have to offer.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 14:11:45 -0500
From: Shirley McGreal
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: New Zealand wildlife smuggler back in the slammer!
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19980210191145.00738228@awod.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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The following articles from New Zealand newspapers were recently provided to
IPPL. Seems the nation's "national treasure" Freddie Angell, still just 38
years old, is back in the slammer! Doesn't New Zealand have any "three
strikes you're out" law like some US states, it seems "Freddie" has become a
habitual offender and put away for ever and ever? Maybe someone from New
Zealand can add details? Does 3 years prison in New Zealand really mean 3
years (it wouldn't in the US!)
Some years ago the BBC did an investigative report on wildlife smuggling.
The producer knew about Angell and that he was in prison. Then one day the
producer phoned me to say he had just received a phone-call from Freddie,
just out of the slammer. Freddie was asking for the contact address of a
famous Indonesian animal dealer, for whom he was interested in applying for
a job as a "courier."
--------------------------------------------
Sentencing of man on wildlife counts stayed
The Christchurch Press, September 9, 1997
Nelson - Freddie Angell successfully sought an adjournment to Thursday
morning when he appeared in the Nelson District Court for sentencing
yesterday on a variety of charges of smuggling wildlife.
Angell, 38, a panel-beater of Waimate, South Canterbury, said he wanted to
see a Maori high priest to lift a tapu off him.
His solicitor, Mark Dollimore, said Angell wanted to investigate changing
his plea. Angell was remanded in custody.
Some of the charges he appeared on related to taking four tuataras from
Stephens Island in the Marlborough Sounds, for export.
During his brief appearance, Angell told Judge Hohn Walker that he wanted
to see a Maori High priest to lift a tapu.
Angell has been in custody since appearing in the Oamaru District Court
last Wednesday, after failing to appear for sentencing in the Nelson
District Court on August 15.
Angell had previously admitted charges of possessing endangered species for
export at Waimate, conspiring to trade in endangered species, hunting or
killing protected wildlife, and theft of a motor vehicle from Timaru on
August 4.
He has yet to enter a plea on two charges of failing to answer bail.
He has also been charged with aiding the burglary of a woolshed at
Palmerston on August 31.
----------------------------------
Wildlife dealer claims entrapment
The Christchurch Press, September 12, 1997
Nelson - Wildlife dealer Freddie Angell has suggested entrapment led to
his arrest after an attempt to take tuataras from Stephens Island in July.
Angell, 38, who had pleaded guilty to charges of possessing four tuataras
for export and conspiring to commit offenses under the Trade in Endangered
Species Act was yesterday sentenced to three years imprisonment on the charges.
He was also sentenced to a cumulative three months jail on unrelated charges
of theft of a motor vehicle, breach of bail, and aiding a burglary.
Angell should have been sentenced in Nelson the day before, something Mark
Dollimore said yesterday he had done in panic because he was running scared.
He said Angell understood his theft of tuataras had caused upset to Maoris
and he had already received threats about what might happen to him in jail.
He also told the court Angell had apologized to two Maori priests and they
had lifted the tapu which he believed had been on him. Mr. Dollimore said
after consideration Angell was sticking with his guilty pleas, but believed
there had been quite an element of entrapment in the operation against him
by the multi-departmental Wildlife Enforcement Group.
He noted that his associate in the July expedition to Stephens Island, whose
name was suppressed, had not been charged nor had there been any application
for forfeiture of the associate's vehicle, the one used in the operation.
Angell was also suspicious that the four tuataras taken in May were
recovered by authorities within days of being handed over to the associate.
Judge John Walker said there was little doubt the associate had provided
considerable assistance to the Department of Conservation, but whatever the
situation Angell had been a willing party.
He said the attempt, defeated by bad weather, to land on Stephens Island and
steal more tuataras was a well planned enterprise to fill what must have
been an order from an overseas buyer.
---------------------------------------
Growing Concern at smuggling of wildlife
Christchurch Star, September 17, 1997
By: Lois Watson
Border police believe endangered wildlife species are being smuggled out of
New Zealand through Christchurch airport as part of lucrative international
smuggling operations.
And they warn people are becoming increasingly inventive in their ways of
smuggling out wildlife.
"They're strapping them to their bodies, carrying them in false-bottom
crates or packed into PVC tubes," said Colin Hitchcock, a spokesperson for
the Wildlife Enforcement Agency, set up by DOC, MAF and Customs.
Mr. Hitchcock was unable to provide details of the extent of Christchurch's
involvement in the smuggling, but former chief customs investigator Kevin
Knowles said the smuggling of wildlife through Christchurch could be increasing.
Mr. Knowles said while it was impossible to gauge the full extent, the
recent emphasis on the Auckland scene and the increasing number of
international flights through Christchurch had cleared the way for a rise in
smuggling.
Last week 38-year-old Freddie Angell was jailed for three years after he
plead guilty to charges of possessing four tuataras for export and
conspiring to commit offenses under the Trade in Endangered Species Act.
The same man was jailed in 1992 for more than a year after he was caught by
customs officials smuggling tuataras out of Christchurch.
Mr. Knowles said the likes of Angell were only the "tip of the iceberg".
"We probably catch about 10 percent of them."
Mr. Hitchcock said figures from Interpol suggested the international trade
in endangered wildlife species was worth $5 billion a year.
"New Zealand is at the small end of that trade but it is definitely
involved." The Wildlife Enforcement Agency was aware of endangered green
geckos being offered for sale on a Californian web site. The geckos were
fetching up to $5000 a pair.
"For sale" advertisements in overseas wildlife magazines confirmed species
were being smuggled out of New Zealand and offered for sale.
"This is a very lucrative business for the people involved. Money appears
to be no obstacle to the buyers, who collect rare stamps."
Mr. Hitchcock said some of the smuggling operations were "very professional"
and wildlife was often stolen to order.
While Customs staff focused on inbound passengers arriving at airports such
as Christchurch, it was almost impossible to police outgoing passengers and
their cargo.
"Like any enforcement agency we rely heavily on public information. There
is very little done on the enforcement field for outbound cargo unless we
have specific information."
Mr. Hitchcock said wildlife species being smuggled into New Zealand included
reptiles from the US, bird eggs from Europe and Australia, and elephant hide
products.
---------------------------------------
NZ in smuggling ring
Christchurch Mail, October 23, 1997
New Zealand is now being used more frequently as a transit point for
smuggling wildlife from Australia to other parts of the world, Customs says.
Customs' representative on the Wildlife Enforcement Group Colin Hitchcock
says the country's smuggling profile shares strong similarities with the
drug trade.
"It is a sort of Pacific stepping stone, " he says.
This was because New Zealand's climatic conditions were not too dissimilar
from Australia and a large number of species, both avian and reptilian
would breed in captivity here.
Mr. Hitchcock says breeding is one of the core problems.
He makes the point that while many exotic species are bred here legally,
there are people who take advantage of that to introduce a commodity and
either breed from it or put the original import up for legal export claiming
it was bred in New Zealand.
His comments follow the conviction of Canterbury wildlife smuggler Freddie
Angell who, last month, was jailed for three years on charges of conspiring
to trade in and possession of, endangered species.
Angell, a known wildlife trader and smuggler, was the target of an
international dragnet set up by wildlife law enforcement agencies earlier
this year centered on the tuatara sanctuary at Stephens Island in the
Marlborough Sounds.
The operation is compared in the latest issue Customs' journal "Contraband"
with a plot "not far removed" from the Spielberg movie Jurassic Park.
Mr. Hitchcock says as in the case of money laundering, where multiple varied
transactions are undertaken to "lose" the trail of the original money,
breeding is a form of wildlife laundering.
"The smuggled wildlife is used to breed offspring, which then, by virtue of
their New Zealand 'origin', become a genuinely marketable commodity," he said.
"If you can import your product such as lizards, illegally, you can, by
laundering those reptiles through aquariums and the like, put them up for
illegal export somewhere down the track, claiming they have been bred in New
Zealand."
The onus was on the Crown to prove otherwise, he said.
Mr. Hitchcock says there is also evidence to show that New Zealand is being
used as a transit point for wildlife from the United States destined for
Australia.
Moreover, New Zealand wildlife smugglers were no longer restricting
themselves to activities within the country, he said.
Some were traveling extensively to source wildlife, he said.
This was underscored by the recent bid to illegally import parrot eggs from
Belgium.
"Whatever hatched out of those eggs was going to be worth dollars," he said.
"And their smuggling empires are expanding."
The counter-smuggling operations, however, were also international in scope.
Through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
accords were signed to enable the sharing of information on the global
scale, he said.
The interception of the illegal Belgian import of parrot eggs was a case in
point.
"These guys are playing for high stakes," Mr. Hitchcock said.
The Wildlife Enforcement Group Comprises Customs, Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries and Department of Conservation agencies.
----------------------------------------------
Prison sentence welcomed (the copy provided to IPPL was undated)
Two Government Ministers yesterday welcomed the jailing of Freddie Angell
for attempting to smuggle tuataras out of New Zealand.
Conservation Minister Nick Smith said the three-year sentence imposed in the
Nelson District Court sent a message that commercial exploitation of New
Zealand native wildlife would not be tolerated.
"It must be damned frustrating for customs and conservation staff to have to
deal with repeated smuggling attempts from the likes of Mr. Angell."
He said it was pleasing to note the court had recognized the seriousness of
the offenses, and Angell's previous wildlife smuggling charges.
"One wonders how many times a person has to be prosecuted to recognize that
New Zealanders won't tolerate people hocking off their heritage."
Dr. Smith said protection of native species was a community responsibility.
Anyone aware of illegal dealing in native species should report their
suspicions to the Department of Conservation or the police.
Acting Customs Minister Tuariki Delamere said the case showed how
effectively government departments could work together to protect New
Zealand's natural heritage. He complimented the Wildlife Enforcement Group,
made up of officers from customs, DOC, and the Ministry of Agriculture.
|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| Dr. Shirley McGreal | PHONE: 803-871-2280 FAX: 803-871-7988|
| Int. Primate Protection League | E-MAIL: ippl@awod.com |
| POB 766 Summerville | http://www.ippl.org |
| |
|FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - FROM THE TREES - |
|StoP tHE LogGINg oR wE WiLl coNtInUE To KiLl oNe CeleBrITY EacH WeEK. |
|THeRe ARe nO SkIinG "aCciDenTS" |
|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 13:10:00 -0600
From: paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
To: "AR-News Post"
Subject: emails for Vilas Monkeys
Message-ID: <19980210131426660.AAA146@paulbog.jefnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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I was asked to re-post this information. The Ways and Means Committee meets
tomorrow (Wed.) night to discuss and vote on Resolution 241 which would
require the county to generate a series on options for the 150 monkeys
currently on the block.
One amendment has been added which states that no matter where they go ,
that the county continue to track them and assure their humane care.
Please e-mail the following members of the board and politely ask that they
support Resolution 241. While you are at it, also urge them to accept the
university's offer and take over ownership of the monkeys. The university
has said that if the county will take over, that the university will pay
for their upkeep during the rest of this calendar year - giving the county
time to develop a humane and caring plan.
Should the county accept this offer, NIH monkeys win for a change.
Dane County Ways & Means Committee
Jonathan Becker, Chair
becker.jonathan@co.dane.wi.us
John Hendrick
hendrick@co.dane.wi.us
Kevin Kesterson
kesterson@co.dane.wi.us
Ruth Ann Schoer
schoer@co.dane.wi.us
Tom Stoebig
stoebig@co.dane.wi.us
Helen Hellenbrand
hellenbrand@co.dane.wi.us
Larry Olson
olson.larry@co.dane.wi.us
Judith Pederson
pederson@co.dane.wi.us
Mike Blaska
blaska.michael@co.dane.wi.us
Dave Gawenda
gawenda@co.dane.wi.us
Andrew Janssen
janssen@co.dane.wi.us
The monkeys say, "Thanks!"
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 14:34:52 -0800
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: (AU) Business Seeks Use for Wild Camels
Message-ID: <34E0D60C.B7589FA3@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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Business Seeks Use for Wild Camels
(AP Online; 02/09/98)
By ROHAN SULLIVAN Associated Press Writer
ALICE SPRINGS, Australia (AP) Standing more than eight feet high and
weighing the best part of a ton, Tinkerbell the camel isn't happy. She
kicks up
red dust and groans as veterinarians try to give her a shot to heighten
her reproductive powers.
Tinkerbell, Duchess and Kaman are in a scientific program testing camel
DNA
and investigating artificial insemination techniques that could
eventually lead
to more births.
"We are trying to make them super-ovulate," veterinarian Greg Crawford
says
while trying to soothe Tinkerbell so a colleague, Joffrid Mackett, can
give the
injection. "They have had these shots a couple of times now and they
know
what's coming. They're not real keen for it to happen again."
The program is part of an effort to find business uses for the world's
last
wild herd of camels in the Australian outback. Camels are now all
domesticated in the Middle East and North Africa.
Introduced to Australia as a pack animal in the mid-1800s, the durable
one-
humped camel, or camelus dromedarius, has made a huge area of the
country's
interior its own and now exists happily alongside kangaroos, emus and
dingos.
For more than 60 years, camels were used instead of horses in
Australia's
arid and desolate interior, where temperatures can rise above 120
degrees
during the day and drop below freezing at night. They helped explorers
search
for gold, settlers carry building materials and supplies, and policemen
patrol
remote areas.
An inland transport network was dependent on camels and the drivers who
tended them, mainly people from the Northwest Frontier of British India.
By the 1920s, motorized vehicles had caught up with the camel and an
estimated 12,000 were shot or turned loose. Those that survived
flourished.
Camel numbers are now estimated at around 200,000, and they range over
an
area of more than 1 million square miles in five states.
The island continent has provided a natural quarantine and prevented
tuberculosis, brucellosis and other infectious diseases taking hold.
"They are genetically clean and disease-free," said Peter Seidel,
chairman
of the Central Australian Camel Industry Association.
That is one of the advantages the association hopes to use to turn
Australia's fledgling camel industry into an export business. The group
has its
eye on meat for Southeast Asia, parts for folk medicines in China and
possibly
racing camels for the Middle East.
The first problem is catching a wild camel.
"We go out with a plane. We spot them, then we run them back into the
yard
with a (trail) bike," said Francis "Boof" Smith, who manages the
3,000-square-
mile Newcrown ranch 160 miles southwest of Alice Springs.
"It sounds easy, until you go out and do it. If you're not in the right
place at the right time you don't get any in the yard, I tell you that."
Smith is one of about 10 ranchers who are trying to supplement their
cattle
operations with camels, supplying about 300 camels a year from the wild
to a
small but growing domestic meat market. They also supply animals for
live
export, mostly to the United States for tourist safari-type operations,
but
also to Asia and the Middle East.
The United Arab Emirates, where camel racing is big business, is
particularly interested in Australian animals, which potentially could
offer new blood to a tired gene pool. But bungling attempts by overeager
Australian ranchers to sell the "million-dollar camel" has made
potential buyers cautious, Seidel said.
Few of the sleek, fine-boned Sudanese camels used in the long-distance
races
in the Middle East were introduced to Australia, and they are hard to
find. So
when Australian draft camels were flown to the Emirates and tested over
long-
distance tracks, many did not last.
"Most of them died on the spot," Seidel said. "At the moment we don't
have a
great reputation for racing in the Middle East."
Results of the DNA program are likely to be years away. In the meantime,
Seidel says meat exports and spin-offs like leather and camel parts
eaten as
delicacies and used in Chinese medicine are the future for the
industry.
"The meat industry provides us with more value per animal than other
uses,"
he said. Including byproducts, a good-sized carcass can be worth 5,000
Australian dollars, or about $3,500.
Seidel says Southeast Asia, where consumers are expected to be less
reticent
about eating camel meat than they are in Australia, is potentially worth
millions.
Problems include ensuring supply. Meatpackers and unions have proved
reluctant to commit to working on camel carcasses, which are bigger than
cows.
"If we can get it off the ground it could become a really good second
industry for us," he said. "But until we get an abattoir where we can
kill most
of what you get in the yard, its going to be uneconomical."
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 14:57:59 -0800
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: Means to spare test mice sought
Message-ID: <34E0DB77.153BDB91@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Means to spare test mice sought A UCG research group is trying to
develop a way to avoid using mice as food testers, sampling for poisons
in shellfish.
(Irish Times; 02/09/98)
Dick Ahlstrom
Pity the poor mice that ensure the mussels and oysters we eat are safe.
If the shellfish being tested for toxins is clean, the mice live, if
not, they die.
EU regulations require that tests for the presence of toxins -
particularly those which arise during algal blooms and concentrate in
shellfish - be done using mice. "Toxins have to be measured in shellfish
throughout the year," explained Mr Tony Forde who is heading the work at
the National Diagnostics Centre, based at UCG and part of BioResearch
Ireland. "EU legislation requires that this be carried out using a
proscribed mouse bioassay."
These assays are done on campus under contract from the Marine
Institute. Oysters, mussels, cockles, clams and other shellfish are
checked for producers from all along the western seaboard. The tests
indicate the presence of any
toxins. The one most commonly found is okadaic acid, a by-product of
algal blooms which causes diarrhoetic shellfish poisoning in humans.
This is an uncomfortable, rather than dangerous illness, but other bloom
toxins can cause death. Saxitoxin, found in Canadian and Japanese
waters, causes paralytic shellfish poisoning which can be fatal. Domoic
acid, found in blooms in North American waters, causes amnesic shellfish
poisoning.
Gastrointestinal tracts from shellfish are collected and concentrated,
and injected into the mice. "If the toxin is not present, nothing
happens. If it is, they either get sick or they die," Mr Forde
explained.
It can't be much fun for the mice, hence the interest in developing
assays that do not require the unfortunate test rodents. The two-year
project, financed by the Marine Institute, has just got under way with
two postgraduate researchers and the collaboration of Dr Marion Boland
of Trinity College.
The group is concentrating on two tests, one giving a rapid response if
the toxin is present, and a more comprehensive test which uses animal
cells in vitro to measure toxin levels.
"We are trying to develop a quick test, for example a dipstick screening
test that can be used on site," Mr Forde explained. It involves laying
down a substrate on to which the enzyme, phosphatase, can be fixed.
Samples are first mixed with a test solution and then applied to the
enzyme dipstick. The phosphatase reacts with the solution, changing
colour if no toxin is present, but this reaction is blocked if okadaic
acid is in the sample.
Testing for levels of toxin using cultured cell lines is a much more
complex process. The toxin will change or kill off cells and these
morphological changes can be detected using a microscope.
However, another system under study repeats the process of mixing a
sample with a test solution that is then put in contact with the cells.
The goal would be to establish a scale of expected change in growth,
physiology or cell death rate based on the level of toxin present.
The dipstick test could be used on site but the cell line tests would
have to be carried out under much more controlled laboratory conditions,
Mr Forde explained. There are also the EU regulatory aspects of these
testing procedures, which must remain independent in order to protect
human health.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 13:16:55 -0800
From: Karen Purves
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) MN residents help needed to protect wolves
Message-ID: <34E0C3C7.5897@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
If you are a Minnesota resident and care about animals, please read the
following:
After 25 years of federal protection due to its "threatened species" status,
the timber wolf, also known as the eastern gray wolf (canis lupus), may be
coming under the gun again. The wolf population in MN is expected to exceed
projected recovery levels which would allow it to be takn completely off the
list of federally protected animals. If this happens, it will be up to the MN
Deparment of Natural Resources (DNR) to "manage" the timber wolf population
in MN.
In preparation for such a de-listing, the MN DNR is seeking comments on the
question, "How should we manage the timber wolf?". Wolf "management" could
include opening up a hunting and/or trapping season on the species.
Until February 28, 1998 the MN DNR is accepting comments on wolf management
strategies. Your comments will be given to roundtable group members who will
convene in March to develop a management plan. Please send or fax comments
to: Mike DonCarlos, 500 Lafayette Rd., St Paul, MN 55155; fax: 612-297-4961.
Points you may want to include in your letter:
* The eastern gray wolf was almost extirpated in the early part of
this century. Residents of MN should be proud of successfully bringing back a
species that was on the brink of extinction. Please recommend the DNR strive
to ensure long-term protection of this majestic species through NON-LETHAL
means.
* Lethal removal of wolves, whether through establishment of a
hunting/trapping season or through lethal predator control measures, is NOT
the solution to resolving conflicts between wolves and ranchers. History and
science have shown that removing one predator from an area will only lead to
another predator species filling the vacant niche. Tolerance and an
integrated non-lethal management approach are what are needed to resolve
conflicts between humans and predators.
* Maintaining a viable wolf population wiould likely increase tourism in the
state. The majority of Americans respect and pay homage to the wolf, which
has become a symbol of wilderness and freedom. Many Americans would find a
lethal wolf "management" or predator control progam objectionable and would
be less inclined to spend their vacation dollars in a state that persecutes
this revered species.
If you have any further questions regarding this matter, please call Karen
Purves in the Midwest Regional Office at (773) 975-7840 or Camilla Fox at API
headquarters at (800) 348-7387.
posted by:
The Animal Protection Institute--Midwest Regional Office
3540 N. Southport Ave., Suite 254
Chicago IL 60657-1436
ph: 773/975-7840
fax: 773/975-7924
email: samneph@earthlink.net
website: http://www.api4animals.org/
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 15:55:22 -0500 (EST)
From: Nicola Thompson
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Upcoming Anti-Seal-Hunt Events
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980210155559.0da76522@mail.interlog.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
* UPCOMING SEAL-HUNT EVENTS *
Posted by: Nicola Thompson
Ontario Grassroots Organizer
CATCSH (Canadians Against the Commercial Seal Hunt)
For more info: (416)532-7875
* * * * *
Guelph: Thursday, February 26, 7:00PM
- Dr. David Lavigne, Executive Director of IMMA (International Marine Mammal
Association) will be giving a lecture, "The Seal Hunt Controversy: The
Issues and the Interest Groups". OVC 1714, Lifetime Learning Centre,
University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario. For more info, please contact:
(519)766-1637. Hosted by The Animal Liberation Collective.
Hamilton: Saturday, February 28
- "Canadian Perspectives on Wild Animals", a one-day symposium on Canadian
Wildlife, will be hosted by McMaster University Students for the Ethical
Consideration of Animals (SECA). Both Rick Smith and Nicola Thompson will
be speaking about the commercial seal hunt and IFAW's grassroots campaign.
Other speakers include: David Lavigne (International Marine Mammal
Association), Deb Doncaster (Urban Wildlife Researcher, Animal Alliance of
Canada), Paul Hollingsworth (Native/Animal Brotherhood), Rob Laidlaw
(Zoocheck Canada), Brian McHattie (Habitat Restoration Specialist, Canadian
Wildlife Service), Mike McIntosh (Bear With Us), Constance Russell, and Brad
White. Burke Science Building, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. For
more info, please contact Dan Mennill: (905)525-4868.
Toronto: Saturday, February 28, 12:00PM - 2:00PM
- "Parade for the Seals": Rally and Parade to Stop the Commercial Seal
Hunt. Hosted by ARKII (The Animal Liberation Kollective), AVA (Action
Volunteers for Animals), University of Toronto SETA (Students for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals), and CATCSH (Canadians Against the Commercial
Seal Hunt). For more info, please contact ARK II: (416)536-2308.
Ottawa: Friday, March 20, 1:00PM
- National Rally Against the Commercial Seal Hunt: Canadian demonstration
at the Federal Liberal Policy Convention (Ottawa Congress Centre). CATCSH
(Canadians Against the Commercial Seal Hunt) is offering free bus
transportation from various points in Ontario and Quebec. For more info,
and to reserve your spot on the bus, please contact CATCSH: (416)532-7875.
[In Quebec, call: (514)937-9797]. Help make this the largest anti-seal hunt
rally in Canada's history!
* * * * *
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 08:06:12 +1100
From: Lynette Shanley
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Prison sentences
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980211080612.0074fda4@lisp.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
In Australia and New Zealand Three years gaol sentence does not mean three
years. They can get out earlier for all sorts of reasons just as they can
in the USA.
Lynette Shanley
International Primate Protection League - Australia
PO Box 60
PORTLAND NSW 2847
AUSTRALIA
Phone/Fax 02 63554026/61 2 63 554026
EMAIL ippl@lisp.com.au
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 15:27:21 -0600
From: paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
To: "AR-News Post"
Subject: Vilas Phone Nos.
Message-ID: <19980210152756037.AAC210@paulbog.jefnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
I was just told that the county computer is being cranky and it is likely
that most of the Dane County Supervisors may not see their e-mail.
Here's their phone numbers.
Once again, please make a polite call to them and ask them to accept the UW
offer and also to support the resolution to help the monkeys.
Dane County Ways & Means Committee
Area code: 608
Jonathan Becker, Chair
Hm: 238-7076 Wk: 267-0647
becker.jonathan@co.dane.wi.us
John Hendrick
257-1409
hendrick@co.dane.wi.us
Kevin Kesterson
Hm: 838-9518
kesterson@co.dane.wi.us
Ruth Ann Schoer
Hm: 836-1312 Wk: 277-8887
schoer@co.dane.wi.us
Tom Stoebig
Hm: 222-6429
stoebig@co.dane.wi.us
Helen Hellenbrand
Hm: 849-8451
hellenbrand@co.dane.wi.us
Larry Olson
Hm: 244-1480
olson.larry@co.dane.wi.us
Judith Pederson
Hm: 274-4016
pederson@co.dane.wi.us
Mike Blaska
Hm: 837-2652
blaska.michael@co.dane.wi.us
Dave Gawenda
Hm: 221-4021
gawenda@co.dane.wi.us
Andrew Janssen
Hm: 238-9396Wk: 266-1182
janssen@co.dane.wi.us
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 08:50:00 +1100
From: Lynette Shanley
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (AU) Anything to Declare
Message-ID: <3.0.1.32.19980211085000.006bcec8@lisp.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday February 11th 1998
ANYTHING TO DECLARE
A monkey skull, a tarantula spider, a cobra in a bottle and a stuffed
mongoose were just some of the 1,400 macabre finds confiscated at
Australian airports and ports over the last 15 months.
The Australian Customs Service will burn them this week.
End of Item.
Last nights news on TV showed, horns, zebra skins, stuffed cats and much
more. items
Lynette Shanley
International Primate Protection League - Australia
PO Box 60
PORTLAND NSW 2847
AUSTRALIA
Phone/Fax 02 63554026/61 2 63 554026
EMAIL ippl@lisp.com.au
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 14:21:52 -0800
From: Bob Chorush
To: "'ar-news@envirolink.org'"
Subject: Bear kills man [AK]
Message-ID: <0036E62F4D76D111AD4B004095020B36012372@EXCHANGE>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Everett Herald [WA] February 10, 1998
Bear kills man: An oil worker was mauled to death by an Alaskan brown
bear Sunday near Soldotna. The six-man crew was mapping potential oil
deposits when it walked past the bear's den. The animal attacked Audelio
Luis Cortes, 40, of Charo, Mexico, from behind and bit his head; killing
him almost instantly. Brown bears are light sleepers, and "when a bear
wakes up, it's not in a great mood to begin with" said state wildlife
biologist Ted Spraker.
Bob Chorush, Web Administrator
Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
15305 44th Ave W. Lynnwood,WA 98046
425-787-2500 ext 862 fax 425-742-5711
bchorush@paws.org
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 17:02:58 -0600 (CST)
From: In Defense of Animals
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Message-ID: <199802102302.RAA28722@dfw-ix15.ix.netcom.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Posted for lauren Sullivan, National Campaign Director
In Defense of Animals
131 Camino Alto, Suite E
Mill Valley, CA 94941
415/388-9641 x29
ida@idausa.org
In Defense of Animals is looking for activists in the following areas:
Alexandria, Louisiana
Las Vegas, NV
Memphis, TN
If you are interested in helping an IDA campaign, please contact lauren
Sullivan at the phone or email listed above.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 17:16:18 -0800
From: Michael Kundu
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Whale Guardians Network Meeting
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19980210171618.007d1b80@pop.seanet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii"
Whale Guardians Network Meeting
I would like to extend an invitation to anyone living in the northwest to
join Congressman Jack Metcalf, Brian Calvert and I for an informal Makah
gray whale hunt intervention strategy and briefing session in Friday
Harbor, WA on Saturday, Feb. 21 -- to be held at the Whale Museum. It'll
be a brown bag lunch.
It's a long trip for many of us, so I would recommend anyone attending to
consider spending the day there, to enjoy the Island and do some
'recreating' -- perhaps if we're lucky, we'll have some of the southern
resident orcas or transients reported in the area.
Michael Kundu
Project SeaWolf/Arcturus Adventure Communications
Marysville, WA
**NOTE: Email address change -- ProjectSeaWolf@seanet.com
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 18:03:17
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Anti-hunt MPs seek to outfox opponents
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980210180317.0ca787fe@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, February 11th, 1998
Anti-hunt MPs seek to outfox opponents
By Robert Shrimsley, Chief Political Correspondent
ANTI-hunting MPs are staging a bizarre parliamentary campaign in their
battle to ensure the survival of the Bill to ban fox-hunting.
Their efforts have seen them even tabling amendments that contradict the
purpose of the Bill, including one which would have exempted the hunting of
foxes. Each of the amendments is then debated and voted down as the
anti-hunters attempt to prevent
ambushes by opponents at a later stage.
The greatest risk to the Bill comes when it enters its next phase, the
report stage, when the entire Commons can debate the measure after it has
been considered in committee. It is in this stage that opponents can try to
filibuster the Bill so that it runs out of time. The best way
for them to do that is to table dozens of amendments. But Commons rules
state that an amendment cannot be raised if it has already been debated and
voted down in committee.
Yesterday the Bill received a boost when its sponsor Mike Foster, Labour MP
for Worcester, tabled amendments that tightened the measure after the Home
Office had warned that its definition of hunting was too unwieldy. Mr
Foster received Home Office advice and has now restricted the terms of the
measure to allow courts to define hunting.
The Government remains determined to stop the measure. This is not because
they oppose the principle but because they do not want it to reach the
Lords where they fear peers will use it to obstruct all other legislation.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 18:08:23
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Field sport supporters infiltrate the RSPCA
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980210180823.395f3724@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, February 11th, 1998
Field sport supporters infiltrate the RSPCA
By Hugh Muir
A FRESH drive has begun to place hunt supporters and country sportsmen
inside the RSPCA in time for its elections and annual meeting.
Circulars have been distributed over the past two months urging country
sports enthusiasts to join the society and help overturn its opposition to
field sports.
Among the signatories to one recruitment letter was the Duchess of
Devonshire. Richard Meade, the former showjumper, and Prof Ian Swingland of
Kent University also signed an appeal from the Country Sports Animal
Welfare Group urging supporters to help return the society to its
"traditional role of caring for animals".
Potential recruits were asked to join by Jan 31 to ensure their eligibility
to vote in elections in May, when members of the ruling council are chosen.
Membership for three months also gives them the right to vote at the annual
meeting in June.
The move is troubling for the RSPCA, which has been at the forefront of a
campaign to support the Wild Mammals (Hunting with Hounds) Bill.
Last year officials from the British Field Sports Society estimated that at
least 3,000 country sports supporters, who largely oppose the Bill, had
joined the charity in response to a previous recruitment drive.
Many in the society want hunters barred because they say the sport is cruel
and therefore runs counter to the society's objects. But after talks with
the Charity Commission, the society declined to impose a ban.
The letter urging more country sportsmen to join said: "For far too long
country sportsmen, who invariably live and work with animals and care
greatly for them, have felt unable to support this vital welfare work
because a small number of animal rights extremists within the RSPCA have
sought to use it as a political machine for their views.
"So much more could be done to promote animal welfare if the resources of
the charity were not being diverted to animal rights and political
campaigning." The authors said the previous campaign affected last year's
election. "We were able to help people with moderate and balanced views to
be elected, whereas those with more extreme views were unsuccessful."
The Duchess of Devonshire said last night: "I felt it was a good thing to
do because I think the society has been taken over by animal rights people.
"All of us were members of the RSPCA years ago when it was doing a
brilliant job. I think it is about time for a change and I think that we
will be vindicated."
Mr Meade said: "When I was on the council of the RSPCA in the Seventies
there was a concerted effort by the Animals Rights people to get involved.
There is no question of getting the RSPCA to be pro-hunting. The aim on
that front is that we would prefer it if the society would stop campaigning
on the issue."
The campaign was assisted by the Crawley and Horsham Hunt, whose press
officer Jamie Hawksfield, urged his 550 members to join. "They are not
going to influence the society immediately but as things stand it is a very
anti-hunting operation. You can only change things by getting more people
inside."
Dr Richard Ryder, a member of the society's council, said country sportsmen
should not target the RSPCA. "It is wrong that we should be forced to allow
infiltration by those opposed to the society's objects and I appeal to
animal lovers to join to vote these people down."
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 18:10:46
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [VIETNAM] Cats on the menu worsens rats plague
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19980210181046.395f8700@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, February 11th, 1998
Cats on the menu worsens rats plague
VIETNAMESE farmers are fighting a plague of rats that has been compounded
by the export of cats to China, where they are served in restaurants, the
Agriculture Ministry said yesterday. The vermin are destroying millions of
pounds in crops annually.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 23:35:01 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Engler says guest entitled to opinion if stated as opinion
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980210233459.00b13548@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from Amarillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web posted Tuesday, February 10, 1998 12:57 p.m. CT
Engler says guest entitled to opinion if stated as opinion
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey
By KAY LEDBETTER
Globe-News Farm and Ranch Editor
Amarillo cattleman Paul Engler said today that
a guest on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" is
entitled to any opinion as long as he states
it as an opinion and not as fact.
Engler, chief executive officer of Cactus Feeders Inc. and Cactus Growers,
began testifying Monday in the lawsuit he brought against Winfrey and a
guest on her show and continued to testify this morning.
Howard Lyman made statements Engler said were lies when stated as fact.
Under cross-examination, Lyman's attorney, Barry Peterson asked, "In fact,
you just don't like what Howard Lyman said and want him to help pay for
your losses?"
"No, sir," Engler said. "I'm upset with the lies Mr. Lyman used on the
show."
Peterson also asked whether Engler's speculating in the commodities market
was just a situation of getting outwitted. Engler said he was not
speculating, he was hedging, which is like taking out insurance.
"In May 1996, you just made a bad bet and you want Oprah Winfrey and Howard
Lyman to cover your gambling losses?" Peterson asked.
Engler heatedly said, "No, I don't appreciate that term. They were my
hedging losses."
When asked whether Lyman had the right to make the prediction that mad cow
disease could make AIDS look like the common cold, Engler said "If he
states it as a prediction and not as a fact."
Engler said the problem was Lyman never qualified his opinions.
"I've said repeatedly Mr. Lyman's entitled to any opinion. If he had
qualified his statements as opinions, I probably would not be sitting here
today."
Oprah Winfrey's "Dangerous Foods" show was the bomb that dropped the bottom
from the cattle market in the midst of all the other media coverage on the
mad cow disease outbreak in Britain, according to testimony Engler
presented Monday.
He said the market was basically ignoring other reports and media accounts
of the mad cow issue.
"Ms. Winfrey's show was the bomb that set everything else off," Engler
said.
The market was not reacting to the other information on bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, Engler said, basically because the other news stories
didn't have the readership or listeners "The Oprah Winfrey Show" had.
"The key point, Mr. (Charles) Babcock, the market had this and it did not
react. It reacted to 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' and we've proved that,"
Engler said heatedly. "The market was ignoring the other reports you keep
referring to or else the market would have already gone down.
"I'm saying 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' had a dramatic effect on the futures
market," he said.
Engler did agree with Babcock, Winfrey's attorney, that Winfrey was not the
sole cause of the drop of cattle prices.
"By far the main one," Engler said.
Babcock and Engler argued on a number of issues Monday, one being the
support or lack thereof of a full ban on ruminant-derived proteins being
fed to other ruminants.
Engler said the National Cattlemen's Beef Association supported a full ban
as the Food and Drug Administration finally wrote it but initially had
problems with the inclusion of muscle in the banned substances. Engler said
cattlemen basically supported the ban on brains, spinal cord and eyeball
tissues.
Muscle in cattle is equivalent to steak and the concern, he said, was the
general public might think that the steak was no longer fit for human
consumption.
In a later discussion on the ban, Babcock said, "The facts are, sir,
despite them publicly testifying on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' and testifying
to Congress that they supported a full mandatory ban, 30 days later Dr.
Gary Weber retracted that position."
Engler disagreed, saying, "They wanted to eliminate the word 'muscle."'
"You don't think those people in England got new variant CJD
(Cruetzfeld-Jakobs Disease) from eating a brain sandwich?" Babcock asked.
"I don't think it's been established where they got it," Engler answered.
"Or eating creme de la eyeballs?" Babcock continued.
Engler repeated "I don't think it's been established where they got it."
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 23:37:06 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Engler says Lyman never qualified his opinion
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980210233703.00b13994@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from Amarillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web posted Tuesday, February 10, 1998 7:26 p.m. CT
Engler says Lyman never qualified his opinion
When asked whether Lyman had the right to make the prediction that mad cow
disease could make AIDS look like the common cold, Engler said "If he
states it as a prediction and not as a fact."
Engler said the problem was Lyman never qualified his opinions.
"I've said repeatedly Mr. Lyman's entitled to any opinion. If he had
qualified his statements as opinions, I probably would not be sitting here
today."
Oprah Winfrey's "Dangerous Foods" show was the bomb that dropped the bottom
from the cattle market in the midst of all the other media coverage on the
mad cow disease outbreak in Britain, according to testimony Engler
presented Monday.
He said the market was basically ignoring other reports and media accounts
of the mad cow issue.
"Ms. Winfrey's show was the bomb that set everything else off," Engler
said.
The market was not reacting to the other information on bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, Engler said, basically because the other news stories
didn't have the readership or listeners "The Oprah Winfrey Show" had.
"The key point, Mr. (Charles) Babcock, the market had this and it did not
react. It reacted to `The Oprah Winfrey Show' and we've proved that,"
Engler said heatedly. "The market was ignoring the other reports you keep
referring to or else the market would have already gone down.
"I'm saying `The Oprah Winfrey Show' had a dramatic effect on the futures
market," he said.
Engler did agree with Babcock, Winfrey's attorney, that Winfrey was not the
sole cause of the drop of cattle prices.
"By far the main one," Engler said.
Babcock and Engler argued on a number of issues Monday, one being the
support or lack thereof of a full ban on ruminant-derived proteins being
fed to other ruminants.
Engler said the National Cattlemen's Beef Association supported a full ban
as the Food and Drug Administration finally wrote it but initially had
problems with the inclusion of muscle in the banned substances. Engler said
cattlemen basically supported the ban on brains, spinal cord and eyeball
tissues.
Muscle in cattle is equivalent to steak and the concern, he said, was the
general public might think that the steak was no longer fit for human
consumption.
In a later discussion on the ban, Babcock said, "The facts are, sir,
despite them publicly testifying on `The Oprah Winfrey Show' and testifying
to Congress that they supported a full mandatory ban, 30 days later Dr.
Gary Weber retracted that position."
Engler disagreed, saying, "They wanted to eliminate the word `muscle."'
"You don't think those people in England got new variant CJD
(Cruetzfeld-Jakobs Disease) from eating a brain sandwich?" Babcock asked.
"I don't think it's been established where they got it," Engler answered.
"Or eating creme de la eyeballs?" Babcock continued.
Engler repeated "I don't think it's been established where they got it."
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 20:42:31 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Labor violations at poultry plants
Message-ID: <34E12C37.32A9@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Overtime Violations at Poultry Plants
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
New York Times Online
NEW YORK -- Federal inspectors found that more than 60 percent of the
nation's poultry processing plants violated overtime laws, the Labor
Department announced on Monday.
The inspectors, who examined 51 of the nation's 174 poultry plants, also
found widespread safety problems, among them frequent back injuries that
usually occurred when workers slipped on wet and greasy floors.
Deputy Secretary of Labor Kathryn Higgins said that federal inspectors
conducted the survey, first, to encourage the industry to improve
working conditions and, second, to better understand conditions in
plants populated by immigrant, low-wage workers.
Federal regulators said the most frequent overtime violations involved
the industry's undercounting of the hours worked by chicken catchers,
who travel to farms to catch chickens and take them to the plants.
These officials said 60 percent of the plants failed to pay the chicken
catchers proper overtime, while 51 percent failed to pay workers
properly for job-related tasks before and after work, like cleaning up
and putting on safety equipment.
Greg Denier, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers
Union, said "that 60 percent are not in compliance with the
wage-and-hour law shows that they're an outlaw industry."
But officials with the National Broiler Council, the industry
association, defended the poultry plants by asserting that the level of
violations was high mainly because the Labor Department was enforcing
the law differently from the way it previously had.
David Wylie, a lawyer for the council, said that for 60 years federal
officials had regarded chicken catchers as agricultural employees, who
are not covered by federal overtime laws, rather than as industrial
employees, who are covered.
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 1998 20:45:57 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: A slicker pitch
Message-ID: <34E12D05.20BD@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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Advertising: Drug Marketers Learn to Craft A Slicker Pitch
By Yumiko Ono
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Inside the U.S. headquarters of
drugmaker Glaxo Wellcome, a dozen managers gathered recently for a
lesson in a largely unfamiliar science: advertising. Tom Wilson, an
agency-head whose New York shop, Wilson Media Group, handles some Glaxo
accounts, translated some Madison Avenue jargon.
"Everybody with a colored piece of paper stand up," Mr. Wilson
commanded. Nine of the 12 managers rose to their feet. "That's a 75%
reach," he said.
Ever since the Food and Drug Administration relaxed guidelines for TV
drug advertising, pharmaceuticals companies have been taking a crash
course in consumer advertising. The guidelines, put in place during the
summer, allow prescription-drug advertisers to omit the lengthy
disclaimers and warnings required under the old rules. Although
commercials must still include some warnings, drug advertisers have far
more leeway to create slicker spots that will vie for attention with
commercials for soda and soap.
The change has elevated the importance of advertising to drug makers. It
has also made for some odd television. "Attention impotent men. All 20
million of you," a narrator intones in a current commercial for Muse, a
prescription treatment. Vivus, the Mountain View, Calif., maker of Muse,
and agency Hoffman/Lewis of San Francisco had hoped to air the spot
during the nation's most-watched and most expensive advertising event,
the Super Bowl. (General Electric's NBC network refused, saying it
wasn't "appropriate" for the game's viewers.)
"We're so used to crafting the message for the clinical-thinking
consumer, which is the physician," says Michael Miller, Vivus's director
of marketing. "Now it's, `How do we motivate someone to get off the
couch after seeing our ad and run to the phone?'"
There is no shortage of experts helping drug companies learn to think
more like a Coke or a Nike. Merck, the maker of osteoporosis-drug
Fosamax, is consulting with behavioral scientist Caroline Schooler, who
works for ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding, a unit of True North
Communications. Dr. Schooler has identified three types of pill takers:
"information-actives," who voluntarily call toll-free numbers for
information; "indifferents," who are apathetic about health; and
"passives," who need to be prodded to take their medicine.
Pharmacia & Upjohn recently hired John Sailors, an assistant marketing
professor from the University of Michigan, as a training manager to hold
seminars on the importance of "megabrands" such as Coke and Kleenex. At
Glaxo, now in merger talks with drug company SmithKline Beecham, the
advertising class is part of a five-day pilot training program that the
company may expand.
Drug advertisers often find themselves in uncharted waters. When they
worked on the first consumer advertising for Muse, the impotence remedy,
people inside Vivus debated over whether to depict a real man in the ad.
The answer was no: Consumers could draw wrong conclusions about
impotence based on the demographics of the actor in the spot, they
decided. Muse marketers also debated over whether consumers would mind
speaking to a woman when they called a toll-free information number;
Vivus decided they wouldn't.
London-based Glaxo has hired Rick Gleber, a onetime Clorox marketing
executive and now Glaxo's first manager of consumer marketing. Mr.
Gleber is trying to locate smokers' haunts so he can place ads there for
Glaxo's stop-smoking pill, Zyban.
The consumer campaign for Zyban, which began in the fall, is "probably
the first case where we have launched a [prescription] drug with such a
strong focus on the consumer," Mr. Gleber says.
Glaxo is targeting places where smokers often crave a puff but can't
have one. Thus, Zyban ads now appear in Playbill magazines, along with
post-theater dining ads. In movie theaters, a giant purple Zyban pill
flashes on the screen. Stuck in traffic in a nonsmoking cab? A poster on
the side of a bus nearby declares, "Zyban is here."
Those ads augment a cryptic TV ad campaign for Zyban, which was created
to meet the old FDA guidelines. In those spots, an ashtray fell and
shattered while a narrator delivered a mysterious message ("Not a patch.
Not a gum. But prescription medicines that can help reduce your urge to
smoke and help separate you from your cigarettes.")
The new shift in thinking has fueled a fast rise in pharmaceuticals-ad
spending. For the first 10 months of 1997, drug companies raised
consumer-ad spending by 45%, to $733.8 million, according to Competitive
Media Reporting, which tracks media expenditures.
But with so much more at stake, drug clients demand results. "We have to
do our homework very, very well in order to justify and support our
decision" to advertise on TV and radio, says Jan Creidenberg, product
manager for Hoechst's antihistamine, Allegra. Hoechst recently
advertised Allegra during "The X-Files," where a 60-second spot
typically costs about $580,000. That compares with less than $11,000 for
a full page in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
==============================================
Drug companies aren't very generous supporting the development of
non-animal product testing; but when it comes to pushing their
drugs, purse strings are promptly loosened.
Andy
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