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AR-NEWS Digest 485
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Hog odor detecter
by Andrew Gach
2) Fwd: Drug Raid Nets Illegal Narcotics, Weapons, and--"Tigger"
by CFOXAPI@aol.com
3) [DE] Horses mutilated and killed
by David J Knowles
4) Nigeria's haven for animal smugglers
by David J Knowles
5) [UK] Girl may be latest victim of new CJD strain
by David J Knowles
6) [DE] Horses mutilated and killed
by David J Knowles
7) (AU) First human trials on new gene technique
by Vadivu Govind
8) EU CHALLENGES US BAN ON POULTRY
by Vadivu Govind
9) [UK] Baggage that makes Customs see red
by David J Knowles
10) [EU] Farm Animals now classified as "sentient beings"
by David J Knowles
11) Emu Report Due
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
12) HR 1787
by PAWS
13) (HK-CN) Cross-border pollution 'threat to local green efforts'
by Vadivu Govind
14) (IN) Cows curbed
by Vadivu Govind
15) (US) Oklahoma Rodeo Fan Death
by JanaWilson@aol.com
16) Looking for favorable poll results
by "Kim W. Stallwood" <75543.3331@CompuServe.COM>
17) [Fwd: August Deadline for Saving Canada's Primates]
by Sean Thomas
18) Help Needed at Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana
by SMatthes@aol.com
19) 3 Black Bears
by SMatthes@aol.com
20) Good News in New York State!
by Mike Markarian
21) Temple Grandin profile(US)
by Alex Press
22) Taylor, MI: Pound Seizure Ended
by Wyandotte Animal Group
23) Urgent:Call Congress re:lab abuse
by DobieBoy2@aol.com
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 1997 21:16:56 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Hog odor detecter
Message-ID: <33E6A938.EEB@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
N.C. State researcher working on device to detect hog odor
Copyright ⌐ 1997 The Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (August 4, 1997 07:33 a.m. EDT) -- A North Carolina State
University professor is helping develop an electronic device to detect
the odor of hog feces.
The desktop model of the "gas sensor array test bed" consists of an air
pump, high-tech sensors, plastic tubes and a collection of charcoal
filters the size of auto shock absorbers.
But by the end of next year, Troy Nagle and his team hope to have the
prototype of a small, portable model to scientifically monitor odors
from hog operations. The goal is to help farmers understand how they
might alter their practices to appease their neighbors.
The work is part of a wide-ranging academic search involving professors
at NCSU, Duke University and other schools for solutions to
environmental problems associated with livestock operations.
"We all want to work toward reducing offensive odors on and off the
farm," says John Classen, a member of the NCSU research team and an
assistant professor in the university's biological and agricultural
engineering department.
The electronic nose could be beneficial in several ways. It could assess
how well odor-reduction experiments work at hog farms by comparing the
air before and after each technique is tried. The device also could make
it easier for farmers and communities to monitor air quality and
streamline the data-collection process.
The electronic nose features a pump that sucks the air from a small
plastic bag containing a paper filter saturated with an odor. The smell
is conducted by a plastic tube to electronic sensors, which send
information about the properties of the odor to a computer. The computer
then displays each odor's unique pattern on a bar chart.
Eventually, each chart will be matched in the computer's database with
the human interpretation of that particular smell so that the electronic
nose can offer a diagnosis easily understood by a human operator.
Delivering that human interpretation is the job of Susan Schiffman,
director of the Taste and Smell Research Laboratory at Duke University
Medical Center.
She oversees a panel of 20 professional smellers paid to sniff odors
fair and foul, then categorize them with precise terms.
Schiffman and her workers travel to hog farms and collect air samples in
plastic bags, then drive back to Durham, transfer the smelly air into a
machine called an olfactometer and have members of the "odor panel" do
their thing.
It's an effective system, but the process can be time consuming and
expensive. Also, in the time it takes to return to the lab, the bagged
odors can dissipate and lose their ability to offend.
Schiffman said a portable, electronic nose would allow on-site testing
at any hour of the day or night and would provide instantaneous results.
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 01:05:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: CFOXAPI@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: Drug Raid Nets Illegal Narcotics, Weapons, and--"Tigger"
Message-ID: <970805010549_-487585438@emout20.mail.aol.com>
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Date: 97-08-04 20:39:22 EDT
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============================================================
For Immediate
Release: Contact: Timothy Santel
217-793-2835 July 31, 1997
Georgia Parham
812-334-4261 x 203 EA97-34
Drug
Raid Nets Illegal Narcotics, Weapons, and--
"Tigger"
Law enforcement
officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration's
Drug Enforcement Task
Force encountered the usual evidence in
executing a recent drug raid in
western Illinois. They found illegal
narcotics, large quantities of cash,
and weapons. But the raid led
agents to something not so routine - a
60-pound Bengal tiger cub
named "Tigger."
DEA officials, alerted early in
the investigation that suspected drug
traffickers possessed the cub, called
in U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service special agent Timothy Santel from the
Service's Springfield,
Illinois, law enforcement office. Santel joined
other state and
Federal law enforcement officials on the DEA Task Force
with the
goal of tracking down the whereabouts of the tiger cub.
Santel
and his colleagues learned during the investigation that a
Bengal tiger
had been obtained in Missouri as part of a drug deal worth about
$6,000 in
illegal narcotics.
The raid was carried out July 29, 1997, and nine
suspects were
arrested in Columbia, Illinois, and nearby Granite City. As
agents
searched and gathered evidence, they found and confiscated 120
pounds
of narcotics, $100,000 in cash, dozens of weapons, even vehicles,
a
race car and a house -- but no tiger cub. Further questioning of one
of
the suspects revealed the cub had been stashed with an
acquaintance in Mount
Vernon, Illinois. The tiger was soon located,
and Santel took charge of the
7-month-old cub.
Santel says the tiger cub is in good health and is being
cared for by
agents in the Fish and Wildlife Service law enforcement office
in
Chicago. Although only 7 months old, Santel reports the cub is
already
showing signs of his potential strength. "He's cute now, but
definitely a
tiger. I can't imagine what he'll be like when he's an
adult and weighs 300
pounds."
Since most zoos have their quotas of Bengal tigers, this cub
will
find a home at a wildlife sanctuary out West as soon as
travel
arrangements can be worked out. Bengal tigers, like other species
of
tigers, are considered endangered, and Federal laws, including
the
Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act, restrict trade,
possession,
and interstate commerce in the animals. In addition, the state
of
Illinois prohibits possession of tigers and other types of
wildlife
under the Illinois Dangerous Animals Act.
"It is not unusual
that a tiger is a part of a narcotics deal," said
Santel. "Unlawful trade
in wildlife is often related to the illegal
drug trade in the United States.
It is unfortunate that wildlife
becomes part of the fallout, along with
human victims, of these
activities." The Fish and Wildlife Service
estimates that illegal
wildlife trade in the United States amounts to about
$5 billion
annually.
According to Santel, wildlife is often found linked
with drug
trafficking. Dealers have been known to use venomous snakes to
guard
caches of narcotics, and drugs are sometimes smuggled inside
snakes
and other animals.
Santel also noted that animals like "Tigger,"
while appealing as
cubs, are extremely difficult to keep. "While there are
instances
where people, such as captive breeders, may keep these
animals
legally, in general it is not a good idea," he said. "They
are
incredibly powerful and require specialized care and attention
that
only places like zoos and wildlife sanctuaries provide. Sadly,
many
captive animals outside these facilities don't get that
attention."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the primary Federal
agency
responsible for conserving, enhancing, and protecting the
country's
fish, wildlife, and their habitats. The Service's Law
Enforcement
Branch includes special agents who enforce Federal wildlife laws
and
regulations, and the Wildlife Inspection Program, which
ensures
compliance with wildlife import and export laws.
The U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service was one of several agencies
participating on the
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force,
headed by DEA. Other agencies
included the Illinois State Police,
the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of
Southwestern Illinois, the
Monroe County Sheriff's Department, the St. Louis
County Police
Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco
and Firearms, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Internal
Revenue
Service.
-FWS-
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Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 23:27:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [DE] Horses mutilated and killed
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970804232738.0ce78986@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 5th, 1997
Nigeria's haven for animal smugglers
By Hilary Andersson in Lagos
TWO drill monkeys, among the world's rarest animals, that were smuggled out
of Nigeria in 1995 are on their way back to West Africa's rainforests this week.
A small crowd of journalists and government officials saw the monkeys arrive
in two wooden crates at Lagos International Airport. Their return home is
regarded as a victory for animal conservationists, and comes amid new
evidence that Nigeria is a major centre for illegal animal trafficking.
The drill, Mandrillus leucophaeus, a baboon-like animal with powerful canine
teeth, is so rare that its world range is restricted to the rainforests of
south-west Cameroon, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, and there are thought to
be fewer than 3,000 in existence.
The species is declining, as are other endangered animals in West and
Central Africa's rainforests, because of illegal hunting for the commercial
bush meat trade, the destruction of their habitat by human populations, and
because international smuggling in the region is booming.
The two drills being returned to Nigeria this week were smuggled out of the
northern town of Kano, on the edge of the Sahara desert, by Pakistanis who
also carried a baby gorilla and seven other monkeys as hand luggage. The
attraction of Kano to smugglers is that it has one of the few international
airports in the area, and that it is in Nigeria, listed last week by the
international monitoring group, Transparency International, as the most
corrupt country on earth.
Mike Pugh, a field worker for the World Society for the Protection of
Animals, started investigating the international trade in animals through
Kano two years ago. Posing as an animal trader, he gathered enough evidence
to expose the ring of corruption that makes Kano a smugglers' haven.
He went to Sabon-Gari market, known locally as the centre for animal
trading, and contacted Idris Mohammed, an animal trader. Mr Pugh said he
wanted to buy chimpanzees and gorillas for export to Kenya, and was told
there would be no difficulty in doing so. The trader said some dealers were
exporting up to 40 chimpanzees and eight gorillas a year
out of Kano.
When Mr Pugh returned to Sabon-Gari market in Kano three weeks ago, he told
Mohammed he wanted to buy two gorillas, two African Grey parrots, and two
falcons to sell to an Indian dealer in New Delhi.
Mohammed said the animals could be supplied within a matter of months.
In the market, a gorilla can be bought for under ú400, a chimpanzee for
ú170, a falcon for ú10, and an African Grey parrot for ú5. All are listed as
endangered under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species
(Cites).
A range of protected animals are on open display, including parrots,
falcons, Nile monitor lizards, and even the occasional rare lowland gorilla.
In the background, carpenters make boxes for the animals' transport.
Mr Pugh said: "I saw a cage being made by carpenters in the market. It was
one metre by one metre in size, and was meant to hold four chimpanzees, one
gorrilla and 250 African Grey parrots. It had slats and looked like a
vegetable box. The crate was partitioned so that the parrots were kept in a
six-inch-high space at the top."
To export endangered species out of any country that is a signatory to
Cites, as is Nigeria, is in theory virtually impossible. It can be done only
with a Cites permit, and such permits are issued only in exceptional
circumstances.
To see how difficult it was to export animals from Kano, Mr Pugh returned to
Sabon-Gari market where Mohammed assured him he could arrange all the
necessary permits and documents, and that the price of covering "gifts" for
the various officials involved was ú360.
In addition, the animals had to be cleared through the Wildlife Unit; this,
along with some other requirements, would cost an extra ú100. Mr Pugh agreed
to pay. By July 16, the third day of his short visit to Kano, Mohammed had
already met Ali Lawal Yola, the government wildlife official, at his home. A
meeting between the three had been arranged for 4.30 that afternoon.
Mr Yola said there was no need for a Cites permit if the right price was
paid, and assured Mr Pugh that a free disposal permit, which he could
personally issue, was all that was needed to export the animals.
The three Free Disposal Permits Mr Pugh had agreed to buy for the
exportation of all the endangered species were issued at the offices of the
Wildlife Unit for a fee of ú40. All that remained was to get the animals
through the airport officials. Mr Pugh said: "The dealer gets paid and
arranges everything."
The quarantine officer did not even view the animals before issuing them
with a veterinary certificate. The veterinary official told Mr Pugh: "It's
important that the animals are not going to a country that enforces Cites
regulations. In Nigeria, we are members of Cites, but have our own way of
doing things."
gypt Air's local staff agreed to fly the animals out without
documentation. This contravenes IATA regulations under which the
airline is liable if the animals are found to have been
illegally exported.
Mike Pugh did not buy the animals, and left Kano for his home in
Mombasa in late July. He says what he found in Kano was
horrifying. He
said: "There are possibly around 150 gorillas in the whole of
Nigeria, but
when I was in Kano I found three at a private address.
Another dealer
showed me two lowland gorillas he had for sale.
"These figures are extremely worrying. There is very little
information
about the trade in endangered species and yet this state in
Nigeria could
be one of the major international export centres in Africa."
The demand for rare animals, such as gorillas and drills from
West
Africa, comes from as far away as Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, the
Philippines and Russia. Many of the animals that are exported are
immature, orphaned because their parents have been killed in
West and
Central Africa for meat.
They end up in zoos, private collections and circuses around
the world.
Chimpanzees are especially valued for medical research
because of their
genetic similarity to human beings.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 23:30:37 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Nigeria's haven for animal smugglers
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970804233112.22e74ce2@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
[Sorry, the last version of this article was sent out accidently - not sure
what happened, but here is the correct version with correct title.]
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 5th, 1997
Nigeria's haven for animal smugglers
By Hilary Andersson in Lagos
TWO drill monkeys, among the world's rarest animals, that were smuggled out
of Nigeria in 1995 are on their way back to West Africa's rainforests this week.
A small crowd of journalists and government officials saw the monkeys arrive
in two wooden crates at Lagos International Airport. Their return home is
regarded as a victory for animal conservationists, and comes amid new
evidence that Nigeria is a major centre for illegal animal trafficking.
The drill, Mandrillus leucophaeus, a baboon-like animal with powerful canine
teeth, is so rare that its world range is restricted to the rainforests of
south-west Cameroon, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea, and there are thought to
be fewer than 3,000 in existence.
The species is declining, as are other endangered animals in West and
Central Africa's rainforests, because of illegal hunting for the commercial
bush meat trade, the destruction of their habitat by human populations, and
because international smuggling in the region is booming.
The two drills being returned to Nigeria this week were smuggled out of the
northern town of Kano, on the edge of the Sahara desert, by Pakistanis who
also carried a baby gorilla and seven other monkeys as hand luggage. The
attraction of Kano to smugglers is that it has one of the few international
airports in the area, and that it is in Nigeria, listed last week by the
international monitoring group, Transparency International, as the most
corrupt country on earth.
Mike Pugh, a field worker for the World Society for the Protection of
Animals, started investigating the international trade in animals through
Kano two years ago. Posing as an animal trader, he gathered enough evidence
to expose the ring of corruption that makes Kano a smugglers' haven.
He went to Sabon-Gari market, known locally as the centre for animal
trading, and contacted Idris Mohammed, an animal trader. Mr Pugh said he
wanted to buy chimpanzees and gorillas for export to Kenya, and was told
there would be no difficulty in doing so. The trader said some dealers were
exporting up to 40 chimpanzees and eight gorillas a year
out of Kano.
When Mr Pugh returned to Sabon-Gari market in Kano three weeks ago, he told
Mohammed he wanted to buy two gorillas, two African Grey parrots, and two
falcons to sell to an Indian dealer in New Delhi.
Mohammed said the animals could be supplied within a matter of months.
In the market, a gorilla can be bought for under ú400, a chimpanzee for
ú170, a falcon for ú10, and an African Grey parrot for ú5. All are listed as
endangered under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species
(Cites).
A range of protected animals are on open display, including parrots,
falcons, Nile monitor lizards, and even the occasional rare lowland gorilla.
In the background, carpenters make boxes for the animals' transport.
Mr Pugh said: "I saw a cage being made by carpenters in the market. It was
one metre by one metre in size, and was meant to hold four chimpanzees, one
gorrilla and 250 African Grey parrots. It had slats and looked like a
vegetable box. The crate was partitioned so that the parrots were kept in a
six-inch-high space at the top."
To export endangered species out of any country that is a signatory to
Cites, as is Nigeria, is in theory virtually impossible. It can be done only
with a Cites permit, and such permits are issued only in exceptional
circumstances.
To see how difficult it was to export animals from Kano, Mr Pugh returned to
Sabon-Gari market where Mohammed assured him he could arrange all the
necessary permits and documents, and that the price of covering "gifts" for
the various officials involved was ú360.
In addition, the animals had to be cleared through the Wildlife Unit; this,
along with some other requirements, would cost an extra ú100. Mr Pugh agreed
to pay. By July 16, the third day of his short visit to Kano, Mohammed had
already met Ali Lawal Yola, the government wildlife official, at his home. A
meeting between the three had been arranged for 4.30 that afternoon.
Mr Yola said there was no need for a Cites permit if the right price was
paid, and assured Mr Pugh that a free disposal permit, which he could
personally issue, was all that was needed to export the animals.
The three Free Disposal Permits Mr Pugh had agreed to buy for the
exportation of all the endangered species were issued at the offices of the
Wildlife Unit for a fee of ú40. All that remained was to get the animals
through the airport officials. Mr Pugh said: "The dealer gets paid and
arranges everything."
The quarantine officer did not even view the animals before issuing them
with a veterinary certificate. The veterinary official told Mr Pugh: "It's
important that the animals are not going to a country that enforces Cites
regulations. In Nigeria, we are members of Cites, but have our own way of
doing things."
gypt Air's local staff agreed to fly the animals out without documentation.
This contravenes IATA regulations under which the airline is liable if the
animals are found to have been illegally exported.
Mike Pugh did not buy the animals, and left Kano for his home in Mombasa in
late July. He says what he found in Kano was horrifying. He said: "There are
possibly around 150 gorillas in the whole of Nigeria, but when I was in Kano
I found three at a private address. Another dealer showed me two lowland
gorillas he had for sale.
"These figures are extremely worrying. There is very little information
about the trade in endangered species and yet this state in Nigeria could be
one of the major international export centres in Africa."
The demand for rare animals, such as gorillas and drills from West Africa,
comes from as far away as Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, the Philippines and
Russia. Many of the animals that are exported are immature, orphaned because
their parents have been killed in West and Central Africa for meat.
They end up in zoos, private collections and circuses around the world.
Chimpanzees are especially valued for medical research because of their
genetic similarity to human beings.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 23:30:48 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Girl may be latest victim of new CJD strain
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970804233123.0ce7c780@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 5th, 1997
Girl may be latest victim of new CJD strain
By Celia Hall, Medical Editor
A TEENAGER may be the latest victim of the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease.
The Southern General Hospital in Glasgow confirmed yesterday that doctors
have been treating 15-year-old Donna-Marie McGivern and that CJD was a
possibility. A spokesman said: "Certainly she suffers from a neurological
complaint. It may be CJD, but nobody knows. If it is CJD, it is the new
strain, as that takes effect so quickly."
A further case of a young woman, who died last week, is also being
investigated for CJD. Mandy Minto, 27, from Sunderland, Tyne and Wear,
became seriously ill eight months ago. Her death certificate states
suspected CJD. But the results from a post-mortem examination, which will
confirm the disease, may not be known for four months.
Doctors first treated her for depression but, as her condition worsened, she
was given further tests, which were inconclusive. Mrs Minto, a mother of
two, was a European judo champion when she was 18 and held a black belt at 14.
The new variant CJD from which Donna-Marie may be suffering was discovered
in 1996 and caused the beef crisis when it was linked to eating meat from
cattle with mad cow disease. The variant tends to attack teenagers and
younger adults and progresses rapidly. Since its
discovery, it has been responsible for 21 deaths.
The case of Donna-Marie may not be confirmed in her lifetime. Although the
hospital previously has sampled brain tissue to confirm CJD, it has stopped
the procedure because it is severe, does not always provide the answer and
is pointless as the disease has no known cure. Formal CJD diagnoses are
usually made from post-mortem examinations.
Her parents, James and Marie McGivern, from Coatbridge, Lanarks, told a
Scottish newspaper that their daughter first became ill in January,
complaining of pains in her legs. She was referred to the hospital for tests
and an untreatable "progressive degenerative brain disorder" was diagnosed
in June. She has been in a wheelchair for some months and
suffers vision and speech problems.
The National CJD Surveillance Unit confirmed at the weekend that Susan
Carey, who died five months ago, had new variant CJD. Her death provides new
evidence of a cluster of cases near Ashford, Kent, where her husband had
worked on a dairy and beef farm.
Yesterday the Department of Health issued the latest CJD statistics on
deaths and referrals. There is some indication that deaths from new variant
(nv) CJD may be increasing while overall CJD deaths may be falling.
In the year to the end of June, there were seven deaths from nvCJD compared
with 10 in 1996. One patient with confirmed CJD was still alive at the end
of June. There were 21 definite and probable cases of nvCJD reported. The
total number of CJD deaths was 17, compared with 58 for 1996.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 23:30:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [DE] Horses mutilated and killed
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970804233126.0ce7e752@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 5th, 1997
Horses mutilated and killed
FOUR horses have been found with their throats cut in the latest of a series
of similar attacks, police in Brunow, northern Germany, said yesterday.
Several horses have been killed in northern Germany in recent months. Some
have been disembowelled. One was found with a bag of chloroform tied to its
neck. Two horses were stabbed at Borken in western Germany.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 14:44:17 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (AU) First human trials on new gene technique
Message-ID: <199708050644.OAA14405@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>CNA Daily English News Wire
AUSTRALIA CONDUCTS WORLD'S FIRST HUMAN TRIALS ON NEW GENE
TECHNIQUE
Canberra, Aug. 4 (CNA) Australia has discovered a revolutionary gene shears
technology, the first in the world, and is to use it in human trials to
fight HIV.
Federal Science and Tecnology Minister Peter McGauran on Monday said the
experiment offers "enormous hope in the fight against AIDS and other serious
diseases."
In a press release faxed to the CNA, McGauran said gene shears, or
ribczymes, are "naturally-occurring enzymes which are capable of `switching
off' specific genes. Test-tube trials have already proved the technique can
be used to prevent replication of HIV."
He said the human trials will be undertaken in two stages, first at the St.
Vincent Hospital in Sydney and later at a hospital in the US.
He said the trials "will determine the safety and ability of gene shears in
destroying HIV in infected patients."
The experiment will involve five pairs of identical twins. One of each pair
is HIV-positive and will receive white blood cells equipped with the
anti-HIV gene shear from the uninfected twin.
In the second stage, the infected twin will be infused with bone marrow
engineered with the gene shear. McGauran said.
"Today's announcement marks an exciting new phase of a very important
Australian discovery," he said.
The discovery was made by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation (CSIRO).
"Gene shears has been acclaimed by the international scientific community as
one of the most significant breakthroughs in molecular biology this decade,
with suggestions that it could be on a par with the discovery of
penicillin," he said.
The technology will be tested against a range of other human diseases over
the next three years and field trials into virus-resistant vegetable crops
are already well-advanced, he said.
Professor Ron Penny, director of the Center for Immunology at St. Vincent
Hospital, said the technology has potential for use in other areas,
including some cancers and infectious diseases.
McGauran said the breakthrough was also proof of the importance of basic
science. (By Peter Chen)
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 14:45:12 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: EU CHALLENGES US BAN ON POULTRY
Message-ID: <199708050645.OAA14273@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>CNA Daily English News Wire
EU CHALLENGES US BAN ON POULTRY
Geneva, Aug. 1 (CNA) The European Union (EU) is to ask the Geneva-based
World Trade Organization (WTO) to overturn a US ban on imports of EU poultry
products. EU farm Commissioner Franz Fischler has requested consultations
with the international trade dispute body and said that legal services were
preparing a challenge on the US action.
The US imposed a ban on imports of EU poultry, mostly French chicken livers,
in April after the EU refused to allow US poultry to enter the EU. The EU
argued that the US industry's use of chlorinated water to decontaminate
carcasses did not provide adequate health safeguards. US
sources put the value of lost US exports to the EU at around US$100 million.
(By Maurus Young)
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 23:45:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Baggage that makes Customs see red
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970804234559.22e77b02@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Saturday, August 2nd, 1997
Baggage that makes Customs see red
Snakeskin and ivory products, coral . . . did you know these are banned
imports? Nicholas Roe reports on the tourists who get caught 'smuggling'
endangered species
IT WAS almost a dead parrot. The poor bird had been rammed, live, into a
section of drainpipe, stuffed into a holdall, then flown from South America
to Britain.
Heathrow Customs spotted the smuggling attempt and released the Amazon
Parrot just in time to stop it suffocating. But if you are left gasping at
this attempt to circumvent international wildlife protection laws, think again.
Thousands of ordinary holidaymakers are bending the very same rules every
day, if not actually snapping them in two and dancing on the pieces. Why?
Because laws controlling the import of threatened species - or bits of them
such as skins, claws or seeds - are so complex that people are easily confused.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) controls
the import into Britain of 27,000 varieties of plants and animals. Some,
such as ivory, you can't bring in at all; others, such as coral, require an
import licence before you buy - which for most of us amounts to a total ban,
because getting a licence when you are already on holiday is problematic.
Customs officers have a powerful computer to help them sift the species. But
what about the tripper?
The following cautionary tales will help you to avoid the worst errors when
snapping up dodgy souvenirs. They might also save you money, because Customs
probably won't prosecute the ignorant tourist for flouting CITES rules - but
they will confiscate illegal goods.
TORTOISES
Holidaymakers often fork out for live animals specifically to stop cruelty,
but this can put them on dangerous ground.
A woman returning from Morocco recently brought with her four live tortoises
because they were "starving". It is a common sales pitch which ignores the
fact that most tortoise varieties are covered by CITES - and in any case
there are separate laws governing the transport of all live animals. (For
instance, a man found with five live rattlesnakes in a video-camera bag was
definitely breaching regulations.)
The woman's tortoises were confiscated. The good news is that they were
eventually housed with a local breeding programme, so they did, in the end,
find a good home.
TURTLES
All turtle products are controlled, whether as whole shells or as bits. A
family returning from America was appalled to lose supper when a can of
turtle soup was confiscated.
CORAL
A thoughtful tourist returning to Britain from the Cayman Islands bought
jewellery for the whole family at the airport duty-free shop before flying
home. And at Heathrow, Customs officers pounced.
The tripper had assumed that buying from a legitimate source meant he was
safe, but he was wrong: trading within a country can be perfectly legal; it
is only when you try to bring it back to Britain that problems start. All
coral is covered by CITES rules. Customs seized the lot.
Another man who ordered a piece of art from America had a similar shock.
Customs opened the package and found a three-dimensional "seascape" mounted
on Perspex. The medium was coral.
"We spoke to him and said, 'Do you realise you have bought this large piece
of coral?' " said Charles Mackay, head of the CITES team at Heathrow
Customs. "He told us, 'I haven't bought any coral - I've just ordered a
seascape.' People have no idea."
What should you do? "Obviously if it is off the beach, one has to use some
commonsense," says Mr Mackay. "If it is a tiny piece, we're unlikely to be
worried. But it is the sort of piece you buy from shops or market traders
that the tourist has to watch for."
IVORY
Imports are controlled whether as jewellery, ornaments or individual pieces.
The fact that this confuses people became clear when a couple returning from
South Africa plodded through the Green channel at Heathrow lugging two
4ft-long tusks between them.
Not surprisingly, the goods were spotted and confiscated. Again, it was a
last-minute airport purchase. Perfectly okay to sell - but not to import.
ELEPHANTS
Think small. Recent seizures at British ports include a single elephant's
hair bracelet (which looked shiny enough to be plastic so the tripper could
have been forgiven); also, an elephant-hide suitcase and elephant-hide
shoes. All forbidden. All now in Customs care, to be destroyed or used as
educational or research material.
Many snakeskin products are banned, too. Goods currently stored in British
Customs sheds include snakeskin belts and even a snakeskin-covered pen.
CROCODILES
Customs officers are still chuckling over the holidaymaker who tried to walk
through Heathrow with a 6ft stuffed crocodile wrapped in brown paper. In
fact, the import of all crocodile products is controlled - even those from
perfectly legitimate croc ranches in America. It is another CITES oddity
that crocodile farming reduces hunting and improves
conditions in the wild, yet the products cannot be freely imported. This, it
is claimed, prevents confusion over deciding what is and is not farmed.
MEDICINES
A batch of medicinal leeches were seized recently at Gatwick, but that was
an easy one. Far more tricky are the forbidden ingredients, particularly
those in Oriental medicines. Tiger bones, leopard parts and even orchids
(many of which are controlled) find their way into some Chinese cures and
increasing numbers of these brews are fetching up at British ports.
A 1994 survey by the World Wide Fund for Nature found that half of all UK
Chinese supermarkets and pharmacies were selling tiger bones in one form or
another. Police have prosecuted several shops under a two-year programme
dubbed, oddly, "Operation Charm". Importing tiger skins and parts of other
big cats, including the leopard and jaguar, is also forbidden.
BUTTERFLIES
Some varieties are controlled, some aren't. The trouble is that you will
lose all the collection if just one is covered by CITES. A man who recently
brought a glass-fronted case of specimens through Heathrow lost the lot
because just two out of 20 were listed.
Crawford Allan, enforcement officer for Traffic, the World Wide Fund for
Nature's wildlife trade monitoring programme, helps Customs with
identification problems.
"Generally the reaction from holidaymakers is one of absolute annoyance and
anger, and a bit of embarrassment," he says. "I explain the law, but the
general advice must be: if in doubt, don't buy."
Over the years, Mr Allan has seen people bringing in stuffed Cayman
crocodiles smoking cigarettes and playing the guitar, and rare sea clams
glued together to make a table-lamp.
For such tat, he points out, we are losing species.
SOMETHING TO DECLARE
Trade in endangered species is growing. In 1993-4 British Customs seized
1,043 illegally imported live animals, 4,950 plants, and 6,429 items derived
from species. Last year, 4,374 live animals were seized, 2,748 plants,
12,176 derivatives.
Prosecutions for illegal imports into Britain are brought under the Customs
& Excise Management Act 1979. Maximum penalties are seven years jail and/or
unlimited fines. But such penalties are aimed at traders; tourists will
usually just lose the goods.
For a fact sheet, contact Department of the Environment, Freepost (BS 9156),
Houlton Street, Bristol BS2 9BR. For import licence queries, call Wildlife
Licensing on 0117 987 8691 (queries on birds, reptiles and fish); or 0117
987 8168 (plants and mammals).
"Endangered Species", an exhibition on the work of HM Customs & Excise, is
on show at The Natural History Museum, London (0171 938 9123), until August 31.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
[Note: The Freepost service is only available in the UK]
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 00:48:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [EU] Farm Animals now classified as "sentient beings"
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970805004923.22e7a3ee@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
[Sorry about the late posting of this - I have just come across this article
on the CIWF web site. David]
PRESS RELEASE FROM COMPASSION IN WORLD FARMING
18 June 1997
MAJOR ANIMAL WELFARE GAIN AT AMSTERDAM IGC
Compassion in World Farming is today celebrating after their 10-year
campaign to win a new
status for animals as sentient beings within EU law was crowned with success
at the Amsterdam Inter-governmental Conference.
The EU's 15 Heads of Government have agreed a Protocol which recognises that
animals are "sentient beings". The Protocol - which is legally binding -
commits the European Community and its Member States, when formulating and
implementing Community policies on agriculture, transport, research and the
internal market, to "pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals".
Peter Stevenson, CIWF's Political & Legal Director, says: "Until now the
Treaty of Rome - the
cornerstone of EU law - has classified animals as goods or agricultural
products. CIWF is
delighted that animals have now been recognised in EU law as sentient
beings. This acknowledges that they are not goods or products but living
creatures capable of feeling pain and suffering.
CIWF thanks Junior Agriculture Minister, Elliot Morley MP, for his
perseverance which has done so much to help win this new status for animals
as sentient beings in EU law. We congratulate the UK government who led the
way in Amsterdam in securing this major triumph for animal welfare. We also
wish to acknowledge the major role of the International Fund for Animal
Welfare in the success of this campaign.
The new legal status could lead to an end throughout Europe of cruel farming
systems such as battery cages and sow stalls as it will force the EU Council
of Agriculture Ministers to take animal welfare seriously. The Protocol
could also help bring live exports to an end. Because they are classified as
goods, animals are subject to the Treaty's free trade rules. The new legal
recognition of animals as sentient beings may force the EU to accept that
the 'goods' in which there should be free trade is meat, not live animals".
- ENDS -
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 97 06:56:23 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Emu Report Due
Message-ID: <199708051152.HAA03772@envirolink.org>
The Oklahoma Emu Association Zone 6 will meet at 7:30pm Tuesday at
Northeast Vo-Tech on Hwy. 20 east of Claremore.
Topics will include research on using emu oil on burns, progress
of developing the emu market, culling birds to improve production,
cooking methods, labeling, and hatching and raising of emus.
To voice an opinion on this, call: 918-341-1967.
-- Sherrill
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 10:03:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: PAWS
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: HR 1787
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
PAWS has some concerns about the proposed bill HR 1787, introduced by
Rep. Saxton, which would set up a fund to help Asian elephant
conservation projects. The bill would authorize $5 million a year for
the program over the next five years.
PAWS has done extensive research on the breeding of Asian elephants in
captive situations. The results of those breeding programs have been
disastrous and have done nothing to help conserve the Asian elephant as a
species in the wild. Consider, for example, the statistics of the
elephant breeding program at the Metro Washington Park Zoo in Portland,
Oregon--long touted as the country's foremost breeding program for Asian
elephants. Of the 27 elephants born at the zoo since the 1960's, only 10
are still alive. Furthermore, the Zoo has a history of "surplusing"
elephants to circuses and traveling shows. A baby elephant named Chang
Dee, born at the Portland Zoo, was traded to Ringling Brothers when he
was a year old. Another elephant named Stoney was sold to an animal
trainer; was injured doing a show in Las Vegas; and ultimately died in a
tool shed behind the Luxor Hotel.
PAWS is also curious about what the decision-making process for grants
from this fund would be. We hope that individuals or representatives of
organizations who breed or use elephants to make money will NOT have
input into decisions about how monies are appropriated, even in an
advisory ("expert") capacity.
Anyone interested in reading the text of HR 1787 as it currently stands
should contact PAWS.
For reasons such as these, PAWS feels strongly that--should a fund for
Asian elephants be set up under the Interior Department--none of the
monies appropriated by that fund should be used 1) for captive breeding
programs if there is no possibility of reintroduction of the animals into
the wild; or 2) for organizations or entities that breed elephants for
commercial purposes.
PAWS is also curious about what the decision-making process for grants
from this fund would be. We hope that individuals or representatives of
organizations who breed or use elephants to make money will NOT have
input into decisions about how monies are appropriated, even in an
advisory ("expert") capacity.
Anyone interested in reading the text of HR 1787 as it currently stands
should contact PAWS.
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 22:22:10 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK-CN) Cross-border pollution 'threat to local green efforts'
Message-ID: <199708051422.WAA10431@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>South China Morning Post
Monday August 4 1997
Cross-border pollution 'threat to local green
efforts'
FIONA HOLLAND
Anti-pollution measures will be overwhelmed by contamination from the
mainland, environmentalists warn.
Friends of the Earth research co-ordinator Vincent Chen Rongjun said a
regional convention on cross-border environmental problems modelled on
international environmental ones - was urgently needed to establish
common objectives and limits between the mainland and the SAR.
Hong Kong's strategic sewage disposal scheme might deal with waste from the
SAR, but increasing amounts of pollution from the mainland were a
different matter.
With only a handful of sewage treatment plants in cities in southern
China, rapid industrial growth and a rising population, the effects of
pollution would soon be felt in Hong Kong, he said.
''In future, the pollution produced in China will detrimentally affect
Hong Kong. Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai are some of the most polluted
cities in China.''
Air pollution, particularly from vehicles and industry in Shenzhen and
Zhuhai, blows over the border, contaminating the New Territories.
A mobile environmental awareness centre is to tour schools and
housing estates to promote the green message. The Environmental
Protection Department said the $2 million centre would have videos,
computers, books, CD-ROMs and displays and would travel on a 10-tonne lorry.
Talks, environmental games and other activities would be arranged
during visits. It should be ready this time next year.
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 22:22:26 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (IN) Cows curbed
Message-ID: <199708051422.WAA10593@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>The Sunday Times
3 August 97
COWS CURBED: About 30,000 cows have been rounded up in New Delhi over the
past 18 months as part of a crackdown on stray cattle, newspapers reported
yesterday. The Asian Age said the cows were now being taken care of in
special areas in the capital, following a high court order in April to
city authorities to clear the streets of wandering animals. -- AFP.
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 11:16:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Rodeo Fan Death
Message-ID: <970805111519_604457286@emout08.mail.aol.com>
Last Sunday in Claremore, Okla. authorities worked to sort
out the details of a fight at an amateur rodeo that left one man
dead. Jeremy Barbee, 28, of Oologah, Okla. died Sunday
morning after being take to St. John Medical Center in Tulsa.
Barbee was knocked unconscious during a brief scuffle in
the audience late Saturday night said Larry Elkin, chief
investigator for the Rogers County Sherriff's dept.
Sheriff's deputies already were at the privately owned aread
breaking up two other fights.
"By the time the deputies reached him, the fight was over,"
according to Elkin.
The incident occurred at the Lipe Ranch Rodeo, which advertises
itself as "not the biggest but the wildest" event of its kind.
The rodeo is a 52-year tradition at the ranch which is located
eight miles northwest of Claremore on state highway 88.
The ranch uses its own selection on untamed stock for the
rodeo, and the animals are often larger and wilder than the
others used at professional rodeos. The Lipe Rodeo also
includes nontraditional evens such as wild horse racing and
wild cow milking.
The competition is open to anyone who pays an entry fee.
The participants range from pro cowboys to high school students.
Elkin said the rodeo has gained a reputation as a rough and
rowdy event -- both in the arena and the bleachers.
"There's usually is trouble," a/w Elkins. "We try to prevent it,
and sometimes we do, sometimes we don't."
Investigators interviewed witnesses Sunday in an attempt to
figure out how the fight got started and who else was involved
in it. Authorites had no suspects and clear idea about who or
what stated the fight.
For the Animals,
Jana, OKC
Date: 05 Aug 97 16:10:45 EDT
From: "Kim W. Stallwood" <75543.3331@CompuServe.COM>
To: AR-News
Subject: Looking for favorable poll results
Message-ID: <970805201044_75543.3331_GHJ84-5@CompuServe.COM>
The Animals' Agenda is looking for a fairly recent poll (possibly AP) result
that found that a good percentage of respondents were sympathetic or favorable
toward animals, or animal rights. It seems as though there was something along
those lines a while back, but we can't seem to recall exactly or lay our hands
on the source. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 1997 19:05:17 -0700
From: Sean Thomas
To: ar-news@envirolink.com
Subject: [Fwd: August Deadline for Saving Canada's Primates]
Message-ID: <33E7DBDD.7CAF@sympatico.ca>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: message/rfc822
Content-Disposition: inline
Message-ID: <33E7DB26.41A0@sympatico.ca>
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 1997 19:02:14 -0700
From: Sean Thomas
Reply-To: sean.thomas1@sympatico.ca
Organization: Animal Action
X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01C-SYMPA (Win95; U)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: AR-WIRE@waste.org
Subject: August Deadline for Saving Canada's Primates
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------530A156530D9"
The Deadline for submitting your opinions for consideration by the Royal
Society is the end of August. Please act now and demand an end to
Canada's involvement primate torture.
Sean Thomas
Co-Director, Animal Action
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; name="Royal Society.htm"
Content-Disposition: inline; filename="Royal Society.htm"
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by smtp1.sympatico.ca id TAA04978
[Image] New What's New
[main menu] About the
Society
Fellows Forum July 14, 1997
Medals & Awards
Programs Ottawa--Acting in response to a request from Health Canada,
Publications the President of the Royal Society of Canada has appointed
Contacts an Expert Panel on Canada's need for a non- human primate
Help breeding colony. The panel's report will be completed and
[Image] [home] submitted to Health Canada in November, 1997.
[francais]
[send feedback]The Expert Panel will review the need for the non-human
primate breeding colony (Cynomolgus monkeys) which Health
Canada has maintained for medical research purposes since
the early 1980's. The Panel will consider all options for
the future of the colony while examining present-day medical
research requirements, the costs associated with maintaining
the colony and the animal welfare considerations.
Members of the Royal Society of Canada's panel were selected
by the Society's Committee on Expert Panels. Names of the
Expert Panel members and the provisional terms of reference
for their report follow.
The Society is soliciting comments from all interested
parties in Canada on issues relevant to this panel's report.
All comments received will be forwarded to the panel
members. Please send your comments in writing by mail or
facsimile to the following address no later than August 31,
1997:
Expert Panel on the Primate Colony
The Royal Society of Canada
225 Metcalfe Street, Suite 308
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1P9
Fax: 613-991-6996
For further information contact:
William Leiss, FRSC, Chair
RSC Committee on Expert Panels
School of Policy Studies, Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario Canada K7L 3N6
Tel: 613-545-6832; Fax: 613-545-6630
E-mail: leissw@post.queensu.ca
Panel Members:
Dr. Conrad G. Brunk, (Chair)
Professor of Philosophy,
Conrad Grebel College, University of Waterloo
Dr. Albert Clark,
Professor of Biochemistry and Pathology, Queen's University,
and
Director of Research, Kingston General Hospital
Dr. Andrew G. Hendrickx,
Professor of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy, and
Director, California Regional Primate Research Center,
University of California, Davis
Dr. Michel Klein,
Vice-President of Research,
Pasteur MΘrieux Connaught Canada, Toronto
Dr. Michael McDonald,
Maurice Young Chair in Applied Ethics, and
Director, Centre for Applied Ethics, University of British
Columbia
Provisional Terms of Reference:
An Expert Panel to Assess the Public Policy Need for a
Canadian Non- Human Primate Breeding Colony will be convened
to examine the need to continue the colony that has been
developed at Health Canada.
This examination will present the pros and cons of
maintaining the existing monkey breeding colony and, while
considering the welfare of the animals, will include, but
not be limited to, consideration of the following aspects:
* In what way(s) is the nature of the monkey colony at
Health Canada unique, valuable and necessary in that it
provides the only such facility in Canada to support
the examination of the health effects of disease and
disease prevention on primate populations? In as much
as the Health Canada needs for non-human primate
research are minimal, this consideration should focus
on the needs in the university, private sector and
other government organizations.
* Could such a breeding colony be effectively managed by
universities, the private sector, or a consortia of
interested parties, (possibly in the United States)?
* Are there facilities elsewhere in the world that would
be able to provide primates suitable for use within the
framework of scientific health studies being undertaken
in Canada and are these facilities likely to be
maintained in a manner that would ensure they will
remain a reliable source of primates in the future?
* How important is security of supply to future Canadian
needs and can these needs be guaranteed from other
international sources such as the United States?
* What would be the extent of loss (short-term and
long-term), from a scientific perspective, to on-going
research if the monkey colony were disbanded?
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 19:09:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: SMatthes@aol.com
To:
Cc: OneCheetah@aol.com, nnetwork@cwnet.com, igor@earthlink.net,
BHGazette@aol.com, CPatter221@aol.com, lcanimal@ix.netcom.com,
Ashley_Banks@ml.com
Subject: Help Needed at Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana
Message-ID: <970805190921_-803273964@emout04.mail.aol.com>
Sarasota In Defense of Animals has learned that the Exotic Feline Rescue
Center in Brazil, Indiana is in need of a new water supply at the facility.
According to reliable sources who have visited the Center and in our
conversations with Joe Taft, Wildlife Rehabilitator and owner, a well needs
to be drilled to provide water for the 32 large cats (17 lions, 4 tigers, 2
leopards, 8 cougars, 1 bobcat).
Information on the Exotic Feline Rescue Center:
Owner Joe Taft
Address: 2221 E. Ashboro Rd, Center Point, Indiana, 47840
Non-profit under IRS Code 501(c)(3)
No USDA citations
At present location 7 years
15 acres plus newly acquired 12 acres bringing total acreage to 27.
Rescues sick/injured/abused large cats that have no place to go and cannot be
released into the wild.
No breeding.
Animals are well kept and healthy.
New enclosures are being constructed.
Enclosure sizes range from 5,000 to 20,000 sq feeet (animals can run)
Estimated cost for drilling well is $5,000 or in-kind donation from
professional well-driller.
Any assistance that can be provided to this facility to help them with a new
water supply will be appreciated.
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 19:35:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: SMatthes@aol.com
To:
Cc: alf@dcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us, francion@andromeda.rutgers.edu,
, CUBMich@aol.com, wao@wildanimalorphanage.org,
manatee@america.com, OneCheetah@aol.com, nnetwork@cwnet.com,
dnation@juno.com, igor@earthlink.net, BHGazette@aol.com,
CPatter221@aol.com, lcanimal@ix.netcom.com, DDAL@aol.com,
Ashley_Banks@ml.com
Subject: 3 Black Bears
Message-ID: <970805193519_-456102536@emout01.mail.aol.com>
We are looking for a "perfect" location to release 3 Black Bears back into
the wild. The bears are in the possession of a licensed wildlife
rehabilitator who has kept the bears wild and most definitely wants the bears
to be placed in a safe haven where no hunting is permitted. If any animal
protection agency has suggestions please reply by return e-mail. Thanks.
Sarasota In Defense of Animals
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 15:48:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Markarian
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, seac+announce@ecosys.drdr.virginia.edu,
en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: Good News in New York State!
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970805190231.29f7c940@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Great News! At the end of the New York State legislative session, the
underwater snare bills were left in the Assembly and Senate Rules
Committees without being voted upon. Thanks to every organization
and individual who worked to keep the underwater snare illegal.
Please write and convey your thanks to the following people for not allowing
the legalization of the cruel and controversial underwater snare trap and
the lengthening of trap check intervals to three long torturous days. Thank
them also for aiding with the allocation of monies from the Environmental Bond
Act for non-lethal methods of preventing water level problems.
Majority Leader Joseph Bruno
New York Senate
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12247
Governor George Pataki
Executive Chamber
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224
Speaker Sheldon Silver
New York Assembly
Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 20:59:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: Alex Press
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Temple Grandin profile(US)
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>From The New York Times:
August 5, 1997
Qualities of an Animal Scientist: Cow's Eye View and Autism
By ANNE RAVER
B RUSH, Colo. -- Cattle are a prey species, so they're very
vigilant," said Dr. Temple Grandin, hunching over to get a
cow's-eye view of the curving chute of a feedlot she designed for
30,000 cattle here in northeast Colorado. "If something in their
environment looks like it shouldn't be there" -- she picked up a
Styrofoam cup tossed to the ground -- "they won't go in."
"When a plant is working correctly, it's free of distractions, like
chains jingling or air blowing in their faces," said Dr. Grandin,
who has a doctorate in animal science from the University of
Illinois. She also has autism, which has given her a window into
the animal world that most people can hardly imagine. "If a little
chain is hanging at the entrance of the chute, that leader animal
will just stop and follow the movement of the chain."
Dr. Grandin, tall and lanky in her jeans and cowboy boots, stopped
in her tracks, moving her head back and forth the way a cow does,
watching a moving chain. Then she stepped ahead, carefully, one
foot at a time. "It could be as simple as a shadow across the
entrance," she said, "or a coat on a fence, or seeing a person
through the slats."
Two students who are working with Grandin, who teaches part time at
Colorado State University, followed closely behind, pointing out
cow-like perceptions to a stranger. "If this were a straight shot
to the truck, you wouldn't go, it's too scary," said Mark Deesing,
a horse trainer with ideas of his own about animal behavior.
"Circles are good because there's nothing they can see, but there's
still a place to go. It's important it doesn't look like a
dead-end."
The sorting pens are set on a diagonal, to follow the flow of the
herd, and have no right angles to bruise the animals. "The sides of
the chute are solid, so you can't see anyone on the other side,"
said Jennifer Lanier, a former zookeeper who now works with bison,
as a doctoral student at Colorado State.
At 50, Dr. Grandin has designed livestock facilities for nearly
half the cattle in the United States and Canada, from the feedyard,
where animals spend four months to a year beefing up, to the
slaughterhouse, where they move along what Dr. Grandin calls the
"Stairway to Heaven," to be killed instantly by a metal bolt
through the head.
Dr. Grandin has devoted her life to the humane treatment of
animals, and her affinity for them is more visceral than
intellectual.
"I think in pictures, like an animal," she had said at breakfast
that morning. "My nervous system is more like an animal's. The
sounds that bother me are the same sounds that bother an animal. My
emotions are simple -- and the main one is fear."
Autism, which affects 400,000 Americans is a neurological disorder
that leaves some people unable to speak or function and others with
savant-like talents for things like drawing, music, or mathematics.
It may be genetically based.
Like many autistics, Dr. Grandin says she is oblivious to the
little nuances that usually flow between people. "I didn't even
know about eye signals, until I read about it two years ago," she
said, and she is completely baffled by romantic love.
She speaks fast, in a voice that is a bit loud (she has worked for
years to tone it down) and she often repeats her thoughts, word for
word (that too, was worse when she was an adolescent, and her
classmates called her "tape recorder"). Her pale blue eyes do not
hold a gaze.
"It's too distracting to look at a face," she said. "Any subtle cue
I do get is from tone of voice."
"I troll through the Web page of my mind and I have no emotions,"
she said. "I can hold them there, like when my aunt died, but I'm
just surfing the Web of my mind. My emotions are not seamlessly
lined up in my database. I have to work on pictures in my
imagination for about five minutes and then I'll get worked up
about it."
Like the prey animals she works with, Dr. Grandin is hypersensitive
to sound and touch and has a kind of fearful readiness to flee. One
night in a hotel bed, for example, she woke heart pounding, at the
sound of a truck with a backup alarm 23 floors down.
Antidepressants have muffled this "massive fear response," she
said. "But the orienting response is still there, like a deer
turning its head if it hears a funny noise. Is it going to keep
grazing, or run away?"
Scientists attribute that fear response to abnormalities in the
brain, including the amygdala, which registers fear, and the
fight-or-flight response.
"The cerebellum acts as the modulator for the senses," said Dr.
Grandin, citing a 1994 study by a Boston pediatrician, Dr. Margaret
Bauman, whose brain autopsies on autistics indicated immature
development of the cerebellum and limbic system.
As an infant, Temple was so sensitive to touch that she would
scream and stiffen when her mother tried to hold her. She could
understand speech, but could not form words. And like many autistic
children, she loved to rock -- to block out the noises assaulting
her hypersensitive system.
At 2 1/2, she was labeled brain-damaged and doctors recommended
institutionalization. But Temple's mother enrolled her in a nursery
school that specialized in speech therapy, and hired a nanny who
kept her occupied with creative games. And the whole family sat
down together for meals.
"I couldn't sit and rock if I had to pass the meat and potatoes,"
said Dr. Grandin. "It was 40 hours a week of being tuned in."
When Temple was in second grade, she started dreaming of a "hug"
machine that would exert steady pressure on her body without
overwhelming her hypersensitive nervous system. Later, at an aunt's
ranch, she saw how the cattle reacted to the squeeze chute, a metal
device that holds animals in place for vaccinations and other
procedures, and recognized it as a crude version of her dream of a
hug machine. She talked her aunt into letting her use it, and felt
her anxiety lessen as the metal sides of the chute pressed against
her body.
"At 18, I built my first device," she said, encouraged by a high
school science teacher, who showed her how to use medical abstracts
to research why the machine calmed her.
Since then, she has improved the squeeze machine, with inflatable,
cushioned sides, a headrest and hydraulic controls, and she keeps
one by her bed at home, to reduce anxiety and to relax. The
patented machine is widely used by autistic adults and children,
especially in schools.
"We have youngsters who will ask for it," said Lorna Jean King, an
occupational therapist and director of the Center for
Neurodevelopment, in Phoenix, Ariz. "When they get nervous, they'll
say, 'I need the hug machine.' Autistic kids are almost always
hyper-responsive and don't want to be touched. But sustained
pressure, over time, damps that down."
In 1986, Dr. Grandin opened a window on the poorly understood world
of autism with her first book, "Emergence: Labeled Autistic," and
followed it about a decade later with "Thinking in Pictures." Both
books illuminated not only the problems of autism, but its gifts --
in her case, heightened powers of concentration and almost uncanny
visual abilities.
"I can test-run equipment in my head," she said. "I rotate an
object in space. I walk around it. I can take an aerial view. I fly
over a design in my mind. I walk through it. Virtual reality
doesn't get me very excited. I can walk through a set of plans in
my mind."
Early in her career, Dr. Grandin was fired from a job when she
argued with engineers over a design that moved beef carcasses off a
conveyor, via a chain hooked to an overhead track. She could see
from the drawings that it would not work, but no one listened. On
the first run-through, the track was pulled out of the ceiling.
"They couldn't visualize," she said of her colleagues.
About 25 years ago, when Dr. Grandin was working on her master's
thesis at Arizona State University, she went through the chutes and
the corrals, at cow height, snapping pictures of everything a cow
might see, trying to figure out why they balked at one chute and
walked easily into another. She put herself in the cow's place,
seeing shadows falling through a slatted fence, jumping at a
hissing air valve, imagining the panic of hooves slipping on a
metal ramp.
When she was asked to design a dip-vat at what was then John
Wayne's Red River feed yard in Arizona, she walked through the
feedlot. A dip vat is a long narrow, deep pool, which is filled
with a pesticide that kills parasites on animals. The old design
forced cattle to slide into the vat down a steep, slick concrete
slope. "Imagine a whole bunch of people piling up behind you in
front of an airplane slide into the ocean," said Dr. Grandin.
"You'd panic."
So she replaced it with a concrete ramp with deep grooves, which
appeared to enter the water gradually, but in fact, dropped off
abruptly into deep water. She tested it in her mind and saw the
cows stepping out over the water and falling in.
"But the cowboys didn't think it would work," said Dr. Grandin.
"That's the way they think, that you have to force cattle to do
everything."
When she was not around, workers put a metal sheet over the ridged
ramp -- and two animals drowned because they panicked on the slide
and flipped over on their backs. When Dr. Grandin insisted the
sheet be removed, the slide worked perfectly. She calls the design,
"cattle walking on water."
She has no formal training in engineering or drafting. She absorbed
it, almost by osmosis, by spending a lot of time watching an
engineer draft designs at one of her first jobs, with a feedlot
construction company.
Her ability to think in pictures, coupled with her empathy for
animals and a near superhuman energy, has made Dr. Grandin a unique
resource for not only the meat industry, but horse trainers, zoo
keepers and bison ranchers. She has trained antelopes at the Denver
Zoo to stand calmly in a box she designed, while blood samples are
taken. And she is working with her two students on radical new ways
to train and care for wild or highly excitable animals, without
using force.
"We've got to get rid of the cowboy rodeo stuff, the yelling and
screaming at them," said Dr. Grandin, who is convinced that if
animals are uncooperative, it is out of fear, not obstinancy.
Dr. Grandin has a combination of knowledge, no-nonsense objectivity
and irrepressible individuality (like wearing jeans and cowboy
boots to black-tie dinners) that sits well with the cattle
producers.
"She gets in there and cusses with the best of us," said Dr. Gary
Cowman, an executive at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association
in Englewood, Colo. "Sometimes somebody won't agree with her, but
she's highly respected as the authority in animal care and behavior
in the world."
She has brought "a very sophisticated science element to animal
agriculture," he said. "She's done in-depth evaluations of animal
behavior. She's worked on beef cattle handling facilities, running
them through the chute for their vaccinations. She's studied their
sight, and how they move. And then she has the ability to develop
facilities that minimize their fear and stress. Without a doubt,
over the past 20 years, her influence has been out there."
Meatpackers call on her, too.
"When you say humane handling in packing plants, you say Temple
Grandin," said Janet Riley, who heads the animal welfare committee
for the American Meat Institute, a trade association in Arlington,
Va. Many of the group's 400 members have adopted Dr. Grandin's
guidelines for running a humane operation, she said, and because
the animals are calmer, the plant runs more efficiently.
"And the product is better," said Ms. Riley. "If an animal is
stressed, adrenaline will be released, and you get some soft, mushy
spots in the meat."
Dr. Grandin is often called in to troubleshoot for a plant with
"stressed meat" -- like the one that was cleaning its pens at night
with a front end loader with a beeping backup alarm. "I spent a few
minutes on the night shift and said, 'Get that thing out of there,'
" Dr. Grandin said.
But the changes she is most proud of are the radical redesigns of
systems that can make death painless for the animals.
In her book, she describes the first shackling and hoisting system
she saw, 17 years ago, in a now defunct kosher meat plant in
Spencer, Iowa: "Employees wearing football helmets attached a nose
tong to the nose of a writhing beast suspended by a chain wrapped
around one back leg. As I watched this nightmare, I thought, 'This
should not be happening in a civilized society.' In my diary I
wrote, 'If hell exists, I am in it.' I vowed that I would replace
the plant from hell with a kinder and gentler system."
Kosher slaughterhouses are exempt from the Humane Slaughter Act,
which outlaws shackling and hoisting systems, but Dr. Grandin has
ripped out half a dozen of them for plants that have changed
voluntarily.
Years ago, Dr. Grandin invented a system for slaughterhouses in
which each animal is guided onto a double-rail conveyor, which it
straddles, supported under the belly and chest, much like a person
rides a horse. Solid walls on either side of the conveyor keep the
animal stable, and in close connection with its fellows,
comfortingly nose to rump, much the way animals move single file in
a pasture. For kosher slaughter, each animal enters a restraining
box, with a head-holding device that allows the rabbi to perform
the ritual cut, without pain or fear to the animal.
When a kosher system was installed in Alabama a few years ago, Dr.
Grandin operated the hydraulic gears of the restraining box
herself, concentrating on easing the animal into the box as gently
as possible.
"When I held his head in the yoke, I imagined placing my hands on
his forehead and under his chin and gently easing him into
position," she wrote in her book. "Body boundaries seemed to
disappear, and I had no awareness of pushing the levers."
She compared it to a state of Zen meditation: "The more gently I
was able to hold the animal with the apparatus, the more peaceful I
felt. As the life force left the animal, I had deep religious
feelings. For the first time in my life logic had been completely
overwhelmed by feelings I did not know I had."
A slaughterhouse certainly "makes you look at your own mortality,"
said Dr. Grandin. "Those animals just walk into the chute and it's
all over. If you see them cut up, they're so fragile inside. People
are made of the same stuff.."
She designed her first Stairway to Heaven at the former Swift plant
in Tolleson, Ariz., which is also where she killed her first
animal. "When I got home, I couldn't believe I had done it," she
said. "It was very exciting. I was scared that I'd miss, because it
does take some skill, and I knew that I could hurt the animal. I
couldn't bring myself to use the word, 'kill.' "
Early this spring, Dr. Grandin completed a survey of 24
slaughterhouses across the country for the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, rating each one for humane treatment and efficiency.
The solutions she suggested were often as simple as training
employees how to herd the animals without excessive electrical
prodding, installing nonslip grates on a slippery floor, rotating
jobs, and the proper maintenance of stunning guns and electrical
stunners, so that animals suffer no pain.
Of the 24 plants, "five were excellent and five were terrible," she
said. "The single most important thing is the attitude of the
management. If you have management that cares, the animals will be
handled nicely. With the bad ones, management thinks poking cattle
with electric prods is just normal. The good news is, everything
that was wrong in that survey is easy to fix."
Dr. Grandin is not apologetic about savoring a steak dinner.
"I believe that we can use animals ethically for food, but we've
got to treat them right," she said. "None of these cattle would
have existed, if we hadn't bred them. We owe them a decent life --
and a painless death. They're living, feeling things. They're not
posts, or machines."
And anyone who drinks milk or eats cheese should know that "a cow
has to have a calf every year to keep producing milk," she said,
"and those calves are raised for beef."
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Date: Tue, 05 Aug 1997 21:30:09 -0400
From: Wyandotte Animal Group
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Taylor, MI: Pound Seizure Ended
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970806013009.2797f484@mail.heritage.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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PRESS RELEASE
TAYLOR ANIMALS NOW SAFE AT CITY SHELTER:
COUNCIL ENDED PRACTICE OF RELEASING ANIMALS TO EXPERIMENTATION
LABS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASETuesday, August 5, 1997
Contact: Jason Alley
(313) 753-5252
Animals at the Taylor Animal Shelter will no longer be sold for experimentation was the
unanimous decision at tonight's Council meeting. Instead, all animals will be available for
adoption or humanely euthanized at the shelter.
"We're thrilled that no more lost pets or abandoned animals at the Taylor Animal Shelter will wind
up in animal labs. Downriver pets will continue to be an issue for WAG until people learn the
importance of spaying and neutering," said Diane Schuler, WAG President.
Pound animals have unknown backgrounds and often prove to be unsuitable for experimentation.
The public is widely opposed to pound release and the idea of their lost pets possibly ending up in
animal laboratories.
"An animal shelter should exist to find new homes for animals or provide a humane death for the
unadopted animals, not become a clearinghouse for animal experimenters," said Jason Alley,
campaigns director.
WAG had been urging City officials for a few months to end pound release. Pound release is
banned in 14 states and in several counties in other states. In Michigan, only 13 counties and a
select few cities in Wayne County engage in pound release.
"Hopefully other cities in the Downriver area will learn from Taylor's decision. It is our intention
to see pound release banned in the few Downriver communities that still engage in it," concluded
Alley.
--30--
Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
wag@heritage.com
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997 23:15:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: DobieBoy2@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Urgent:Call Congress re:lab abuse
Message-ID: <970805231456_-1606581812@emout09.mail.aol.com>
The most shocking evidence to come out in years that animals in laboratories
are suffering despite government inspections and certification by groups such
as the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal
Care (AAALAC) is meeting with silence from large animal protection
organizations in the U.S. In response, activists across the country are
pressuring Congress to hold hearings on the treatment of animals at the
Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) lab in East Millstone, New Jersey.
Numerous news reports have revealed that videotape was taken at Huntingdon
that shows employees throwing, threatening, and screaming at monkeys. In
addition, a complaint filed with the USDA indicates that unsocialized dogs
were obtained by the lab and then treated roughly by animal care techs and
kept in substandard cages. The videotape, according to news reports, shows
monkeys being sliced into while conscious. Rats were also reportedly cut into
without sufficient anesthesia and thrown into plastic bags to die after poor
attempts at cervical dislocation failed.
In England, a Channel 4 team secretly filmed Huntingdon's UK lab "hurling a
beagle against a wall. Staff were shown punching, shaking, and laughing at
the dogs and were unable to take blood samples properly." Only after this
videotape was aired and the public started pressuring the English government
did the Home Inspectorate Office act. Earlier investigations by the Home
Inspectorate, England's version of the USDA, failed to reveal the terror
imposed on the animals in the lab just as the USDA and non-governmental
organizations in the US seem to have failed to prevent horrible
treatment of animals in Huntingdon's New Jersey lab. Huntingdon's lab faces
revocation of their license if they fail to meet 16 stringent conditions by
November 30, 1997. The government chose to allow Huntingdon UK to continue
use of the thousands of animals in the labs to complete ongoing studies and
avoid increased use of animals that would result if the tests were restarted.
Anti-vivisectionists note that the test are of no value to protecting human
health.
Although the USDA has an ongoing investigation, the agency has a history of
failure to respond to the most eggregious violations of the minimal
provisions of the Animal Welfare Act. The University of Pennsylvannia
head-bashing lab is a classic case. After videotape obtained by the Animal
Liberation Front showed brutal treatment of animals, the public expressed
outrage to Congress and the tests were suspended. Huntingdon has sued PETA,
whose undercover investigator obtained the tape of the HLS lab in New Jersey,
in a desperate attempt to suppress the video.
The vivisectors point to AAALAC as proof that accredited laboratories are
free from horrible treatment of animals. But the July/August issue of Lab
Animal magazine reports that "Huntingdon has been AALAC-accredited since
1982." The magazine also reports that AALAC has not reviewed the videotape.
Activists don't expect the agency to ask Congress to hold hearings on the
revelations.
Procter & Gamble stated in a press release that they are "very concerned
about what's shown on this tape. The uncaring and unprofessional attitude and
behavior of the lab technicians, as shown, is unacceptable to us..." The
company is conducting its own investigation but is pointing to
AAALAC-accreditation as proof that the lab is complying with humane
standards.
Concerned activists are asking all who care about animals in laboratories to
call their Representative and two Senators and ask that they call for
hearings to review the video and written material submitted to USDA regarding
Huuntingdon's treatment of animals and possible violations of the Animal
Welfare Act. Point out that Congressional oversight has been necessary
previously (such as in the mid-80's case involving UPenn). Also that the
English government has used secretly taken video to revoke Huntingdon's
license unless stringent conditions are met. Ask that your Congresspeople
have their aide responsible for issues involving animals in labs contact the
USDA and review the videotape and written evidence.
All Representatives and Senators can be reached at 202/224-3121
(Congressional Switchboard). If you don't know the names of your
Reprsentative or Senators, call the League of Women Voters in your area or
email me privately with your nine-digit zip code (address not necessary) and
I'll send you their direct office numbers.
Activists are asking "The animals can't speak. PETA can't speak. USDA doesn't
care. Do you?"
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