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AR-NEWS Digest 613
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Merry Christmas Salutation
by 2063511 <2063511@campus.uab.es>
2) A Christmas Story Ends Tragically for Ernie the Camel
by leah wacksman
3) Ernie the camel
by Tereiman
4) Teen beats deer and calls it a "Mercy Killing"
by Teresahfc
5) Canadian town hopes stuffed gophers keep it on map
by Mesia Quartano
6) (HK) Missing panda stirs expo uproar
by jwed
7) (CN) Animal rights groups urge boycott of Shenzhen zoo
by jwed
8) [HK] Hong Kong fights 'bird flu' with import ban
by David J Knowles
9) Wounded Dog Back to "Usual Self"
by Snugglezzz
10) The 'Healer' (story of a rescued pit-bull)
by Snugglezzz
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:26:03 +0100
From: 2063511 <2063511@campus.uab.es>
To: AR-NEWS@envirolink.org
Subject: Merry Christmas Salutation
Message-ID: <01IRJY0PXCIK005VGQ@cc.uab.es>
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I want to said to all people of AR NEWS a Merry christmas and happy new Year.
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 07:36:28 -0500
From: leah wacksman
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: A Christmas Story Ends Tragically for Ernie the Camel
Message-ID: <34A101CB.E21577A0@galen.med.virginia.edu>
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-12/24/045l-122497-idx.html
A Christmas Story Ends Tragically for Ernie the Camel
By Peter S. Goodman and Amy Argetsinger
Wednesday, December 24, 1997; Page A01
Whatever the reason, Ernie the camel wanted no part of the Sunday evening Nativity pageant on
Maryland's Eastern Shore. He fled the wise men, scampering down Route 50, but soon met a
tragic end: Somewhere near Stevensville, the six-foot, 600-pound Arabian collided with the front
of a 1998 Volvo station wagon and was killed.
The man behind the wheel was no stranger to camels. Vinit Mody said he grew up in India, where
he fondly remembers seeing the animals. But now Mody, 50, lives in Columbia, in a country
where the typical camel lives in a zoo and does not often explore the roads. He had figured the
darkened creature lumbering toward him on the highway had to be a deer. Maybe a horse.
"I just tried to steer my car away from the animal so that I would miss," he said yesterday, his
twisted back and neck soothed by painkillers but the rest of him still nursing a bad case of
disbelief. "The animal decided to go the same way that I was going."
A few minutes later, several costumed wise men crossed the highway and delivered the unlikely
news: Mody had hit a camel. Their camel -- an integral part of a live Nativity scene sponsored by
Kent Island United Methodist Church in Stevensville.
His name was Ernie, a one-humped male born in Kansas but bought last year for $5,000 by John
McQueeney, of Stevensville. McQueeney, a liquor store owner, has surmised that if he boards at
least five large animals, he can keep his 25 acres zoned agricultural and pay lower property taxes.
Which explains why his "Fantasy Farm" collection includes not just camels but also five llamas,
two buffaloes, two kangaroos, a Scottish Highlander cow and three Australian goats.
McQueeney and his 9-year-old son were two of the wise men Sunday evening. A night earlier,
they had performed in a similar pageant with Ernie, another camel and a llama, Shadow,
delighting some 200 people. They were changing into their wise men garb, preparing for Sunday's
show, when Ernie got other ideas and broke free of his tether.
"We ran out to the highway, and it had already happened," McQueeney said.
Devastated, the wise men and their coterie dragged the camel's carcass to the side of the road as
Mody tended to his wife, who was shaken up but not seriously injured. The Volvo suffered
front-end damage and a broken windshield but is expected to return to the road shortly.
Mody's wife was celebrating her birthday Sunday. And the car accident was the family's second in
a month. The Volvo that Mody was driving was a rental, temporarily standing in for his BMW,
which was in the shop after being nailed from behind on the New Jersey Turnpike while he and his
wife were headed north for Thanksgiving. This time, the Modys were driving to Washington
College in Chestertown to pick up their son for the holidays.
As an ambulance ferried the Modys to a hospital in Annapolis, the Nativity show went on, minus
Ernie.
"People don't realize what Christmas is, and maybe this made them understand a bit," McQueeney
said. "It shows things can change in a few seconds."
For animal rights activists, the experience shows that beasts should never be used in Nativity
scenes.
"The camel had no business being there," said Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals, who added Ernie's death to a list of alleged Nativity-scene crimes against
animals. "We get lambs attacked by dogs. We've had Nativity animals stabbed and beaten up by
juveniles. We had a case where a sheep became overheated when the sun came out."
Mody found his own meaning in the experience. A follower of Jainism -- a religion similar to
Hinduism -- he figured it was all part of the odd turnings of life.
"We believe in karma -- it was meant to be," he said. "The camel had to die, and we were the
cause of his death, and we feel very, very bad about it."
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 08:12:42 EST
From: Tereiman
To: ar-news@envirolink.com
Subject: Ernie the camel
Message-ID: <1fd9d90.34a10a4d@aol.com>
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Camel Killed on Maryland's Route 50
.c The Associated Press
CHESTER, Md. (AP) - A 6-foot, 600-pound Arabian camel got loose from a live
Nativity show and wandered onto a road where it was struck by a car and
killed.
Shocked motorist Vinit Mody couldn't believe what he was saw.
``I said, `How in the hell is a camel on Route 50 in the United States of
America?''' Mody said. ``You only see a camel in the zoo.''
Mody and his wife Kiran were treated at a hospital for minor injuries and
released.
The camel, named Ernie, escaped Sunday night from a Christmas show staging
area by the Kent Island United Methodist Church, where it had been tied up to
a trailer at the church.
The year-old camel was owned by church members John and Kathleen McQueeney of
Stevensville.
The camel was left unattended for a few minutes but the owners don't think
anyone untied its tether rope deliberately, the Rev. Ken Valentine said.
The Nativity show went on without Ernie.
``We felt it would have had a longer negative impact on the children if we
canceled,'' Valentine said.
AP-NY-12-23-97 2210EST
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 08:29:02 EST
From: Teresahfc
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Teen beats deer and calls it a "Mercy Killing"
Message-ID: <31e503b5.34a10e20@aol.com>
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Received from: Vlachos_Dino@bns.att.com
A punk in PA killed a deer w/his bare hands and says he has regrets.
Not about beating the 9 point buck to a pulp in a fit of road rage.
What he regrets is admitting to his small town newspaper that he "wanted
to beat the crap out of it" after his car rammed the animal.
He's become a celebrity of sorts in rural Venango County PA.
The state Game Commission won't charge Krepp with animal cruelty, saying
he merely helped put the injured buck out of its misery. But not
everyone thinks Krepp did the right thing: Some, including
animal-rights activists, think he's evil.
"They're making my son out to be a monster," said the boy's mother,
Cheryl Peterson, adding she is proud of her son, a student at Rocky
Grove High School.
During the drive, a 200-pound buck leapt in front of the car, smashing
the hood and front grille. Krepp go so angry he jumped from the car and
ran to the deer as it stood on the side of the road, snorting and
bleeding from its wounds.
The buck was conscious and still breathing-but not for long.
"I ran over to where he was standing, and I grabbed it around the neck
and wrestled it with my hand on both antlers," he said.
The fight went on for several minutes, as Krepp kicked and punched the
deer, swearing at the animal as he broke its neck.
Then Krepp, who outweighed the animal by about 40 pounds, ran to a
nearby house and passed out on the front proch from an asthma attack.
When he came to, he went back out to the road and kicked the deer again
to see if it was still breathing. "The Game Commission said I did the
deer a favor by killing it," Krepp said. "It would probably have died
anyway."
krepp's telephone number is (814) 374-4526 in case anybody wanted to
call him to congratulate him and ask him when he'll start killing sick
people "who would probably die anyway".
Dino
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 08:25:33 -0500
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: Canadian town hopes stuffed gophers keep it on map
Message-ID: <34A10D4C.8FB2D881@usa.net>
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04:07 PM ET 12/23/97
TORRINGTON, Alberta (Reuters) - Residents of a Canadian village
struggling to survive after the shutdown of its industries are hoping
that 67 stuffed rodents dressed up as people can save it from becoming a
ghost town.
Torrington, a town of 177 people located 50 miles north of Calgary on
the Western Canadian prairie, has been devastated over the past two
years as local railroad tracks were torn up, its two grain elevators
demolished and its fuel dealer closed.
In a last-ditch effort to keep Torrington on the map, townsfolk opened
the world's first museum dedicated to the one thing the area still has
in abundance -- gophers, the furry
little buck-toothed creatures perennially cursed by farmers for the vast
networks of tunnels they dig in fields.
This year, Torrington's Gopher Hole Museum, featuring displays of
stuffed gophers dressed up as hockey players, cavemen, fishermen,
hairdressers and even protesters
demonstrating against taxidermy, attracted 8,000 visitors who paid C$2
($1.40) each to gawk at the dead rodents.
"People really like it,'' town secretary Sheila Schimke said of the
economic development project. ``They think it's very well done and very
cute, interesting and unbelievable.''
(REUTERS)
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 17:09:07 +0000
From: jwed
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Missing panda stirs expo uproar
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971224170907.0079e300@pop.hkstar.com>
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South China Morning Post - Tuesday December 23 1997
http://www.scmp.com/news/
by GREN MANUEL
A panda was lazing around chomping on bamboo somewhere on the mainland
yesterday, unaware it had almost sparked a near-riot in Hong Kong aimed
against provisional legislator Choy So-yuk.
Police were called in as more than 100 angry traders shouted "Choy So-yuk
give us back our money" amid allegations that her exhibition company had
falsely claimed it would bring to Hong Kong the first panda in more than a
decade.
However, the panda remained at home and - the small traders alleged - so
did the Hong Kong public.
Promises of big television and newspaper advertisements for the Hong Kong
Expo, a fair for last-minute Christmas gifts, also failed to appear and the
promise of 400,000 visitors was just a dream, they said.
"Everybody is losing money," said Ricky Hoo, who flew 10 people from Kuala
Lumpur to staff his $40,000 booth.
One claimed Ms Choy's firm had taken $1 million from stallholders.
There was a heavy security presence as the traders argued with staff and
demanded that Ms Choy, owner of Oriental-Western Promotions, lend an ear to
their demands.
In the 1995 Legislative Council election, Ms Choy lost to Democratic Party
chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming, but she is now a provisional legislative
councillor. She is a member of the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance.
Ms Choy eventually did meet complainants at the Convention and Exhibition
Centre, but said she had done nothing wrong.
"At the beginning we thought about a panda," she said. "But so many people
said the living conditions would be bad we decided against it."
She said all advertisements had been placed and paid for and that low sales
at the expo should be blamed on the poor economy.
Ms Choy said exhibitors had never been promised a panda and the plan was
scrapped at an early stage.
However, when she turned up to meet protesters she was confronted by a fax
dated last month from a subcontractor stating that as a "gift to the Hong
Kong people" a live panda would be shown.
Ms Choy said she would check whether the panda and the advertisements and a
guaranteed number of visitors were legally part of her contract with
stallholders.
"If they are, of course I will compensate," she said.
Stallholders asked for a 30 per cent refund and will meet her today at her
offices.
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 17:09:03 +0000
From: jwed
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CN) Animal rights groups urge boycott of Shenzhen zoo
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971224170903.007a5470@pop.hkstar.com>
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South China Morning Post - Wednesday December 24 1997
http://www.scmp.com/news/
by SHIRLEY KWOK
Animal welfare workers yesterday urged a boycott of a Shenzhen zoo after
the South China Morning Post exposed its ill-treatment of animals.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the International
Fund for Animal Welfare urged tourists and travel agents not to visit
Shenzhen Xili Safari Park.
The appeal was made after the groups, alerted by a Sunday Morning Post
report, visited the park and found animals, including endangered species,
being exploited.
The Post toured the park last month and saw bloody horse fights, a parade
of bears with their nostrils ripped open by metal rings and monkeys forced
to dance on tightropes.
Some of the animals came from the old Lai Chi Kok zoo.
The groups said that the park's bosses had refused to meet them.
A safari park spokesman denied it had abused animals and that horse
fighting had been stopped.
"The appeal for a boycott is too radical. Animals will be the final victims
if fewer visitors come to our park," he said.
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 08:56:14
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [HK] Hong Kong fights 'bird flu' with import ban
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971224085614.1b47498c@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, December 24th, 1997
Hong Kong fights 'bird flu' with import ban
By Graham Hutchings in Hong Kong
A BAN on the import of chickens from mainland China to Hong Kong took
effect at midnight as authorities on both sides of the border stepped up
their battle to contain "bird flu".
News of the ban coincided with an announcement that a 60-year-old woman
suspected of contracting the disease had died. The latest case brings to 12
the number of people known or suspected to have contracted the strain of
influenza known as H5N1.
Three have died, and two are in critical condition. Of the remainder, five
are satisfactory while two have made a full recovery. The suspension of
chicken imports will deal a death blow to Hong Kong's poultry supply
business, which is already suffering because of fears that contact with the
birds is causing the rare strain of influenza to appear in humans.
Before the crisis, about 75,000 chickens were imported from the mainland
each day, supplying about three quarters of total sales in Hong Kong. Over
the past few days, imports have fallen by half, and will now end until
officials can ensure that only healthy chickens are
available.
Leslie Sims, senior veterinary officer, said: "This is a temporary measure
to try to restore some confidence in the market, and allow only unaffected
birds to come into Hong Kong."
It was designed to give officials on both sides of the border time to set
up adequate testing procedures, after which imports would resume.
Authorities in Beijing decided to implement the ban after extensive
discussions with Hong Kong officials, he said.
New rapid testing methods would be introduced on birds coming into the
territory once the import ban was lifted. Mr Sims said that tests conducted
at chicken farms in Hong Kong had proved negative.
However, three positive cases had been found among poultry at separate
retail outlets in the territory. All three birds were believed to be
imported from the mainland.
Experts still do not know exactly how the virus is transmitted. Only some
of the victims are known to have had contact with poultry. This suggests
that transmission from bird to human, and human to human is taking place.
Officials insist that there is no danger from eating chicken, even though
much less will be available in Hong Kong because of the import ban. Paul
Saw, the deputy director of the health department said: "At the present
stage of the investigation, I wish to emphasise that the eating of chicken
is safe so long as it is well cooked, and that anyone who has been in
contact with chickens washes their hands thoroughly. The virus can easily
be killed by thorough cleansing and common disinfectant. The virus is
easily killed at the temperature
required to cook an egg. A temperature of 70-75 degrees will kill it, so
unless you eat your chicken raw there is no danger."
Dr Saw said that chickens infected with the virus were very unlikely to lay
eggs, so the chance of catching the disease through eating an infected egg
was very small.
However, he added: "This is a new virus, and there's very little we know
about it. Influenza is a disease man has not actually conquered in the past
2,000 years. There is a lot to be learnt. I am keen to find an answer; it
has been plaguing me for many nights."
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 12:17:43 EST
From: Snugglezzz
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Wounded Dog Back to "Usual Self"
Message-ID: <2411133f.34a143ba@aol.com>
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(Tulsa, OK USA, Tulsa World): A nearly 150-pound French mastiff watch dog was
back at work Tuesday after being shot in the face during a robbery one day
earlier at an east Tulsa business.
The 2-year-old red mastiff named Joseph returned to the New Heights Rock Gym,
after being stitched up at the Marina Animal Hospital, said his owner, John
Campbell.
Campbell was getting a family ready to rock climb in his gym shortly before 10
p.m. Monday when two masked bandits burst through the door and ordered them to
turn over their wallets.
The commotion apparently woke Joseph from a nap in the back room, and he went
to investigate.
When the robbers saw Joseph, who is about 3 feet tall at his head, one of them
pointed a chrome revolver at him and fired pointblank range. The bullet passed
through Joseph's left cheek and embedded in his shoulder.
"He obviously scared them," Campbell said. "Their eyes were as big as
saucers."
The robbers fled from the gym after Joseph was shot.
Campbell's wife rushed the dog to the veterinary hospital, where the bullet
was taken out and the wounds were stitched.
-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 1997 14:14:58 EST
From: Snugglezzz
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: The 'Healer' (story of a rescued pit-bull)
Message-ID:
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By Dr. Max Rust, D.V.M., Tulsa, OK USA:
I should warn you, I'm not James Herriott. My dog's story is not of the warm
fuzzy genre, but is illustrative of a most pervasive problem....on which too
few of you are aware.
It is often said that veterinarians must have an inordinate love for animals,
but they also are often called on to deal with the very harshest realities of
human and animal relations. If my dog tale lacks the cloying sanguinity of
"All Creatures Great and Small," hopefully it is not totally devoid of
optimism.
A year ago in June, on a hot Sunday afternoon as I lounged in torpid repose,
Channel 2 News was airing a story about dog carcasses found in the back yard
of a Tulsa residence. Two of the dogs were still alive, so I knew I would be
involved in the case.
"Maggots was workin' on three of 'em and the fourth one's only been dead about
two days." The sheriff's lieutenant continued in an impassive voice,"it's been
alleged that they were fightin' pit-bull dogs in the garage, and when one
would get killed, they'd just drag it out in the yard and let it deteriorate."
Feeling old, tired, and professionally burned out, I wondered why had I
volunteered for the grim task of animal cruelty exams and necropsies. I guess,
as depressing as it was, it seemed like important work. Maybe I just wanted
something besides myself to feel sorry for. If that was the case, I was about
to get my wish, IN SPADES.
The following morning after doing the spay and neuter surgeries and rabies
observations, I headed for the pens housing the two dogs from the news story.
(It's hard enough for me just to walk through the rows of dog runs at the
shelter, knowing that most of the animals will have to be killed....sometimes
I get the urge to open all the gates and set them free, but that would not
solve their problem.) They suffer from that "most terrible disease," in the
words of Mother Teresa, "of being unwanted." It's sad to say, but as
outcasts, they are much better off in the shelter than anywhere else.
When I got to the first dog's run, it looked empty. I'm used to seeing dogs
with sad faces begging for a crumb of attention or warily cringing against the
distal parapets. There was nothing so animate as either in this run. When I
first saw him, he was curled up so tightly, he could have been mistaken for a
water dish. As he tried to stand up, I could see the pitiful remains of a
large pit-bull dog. Bones jutted out everywhere. He looked like a skeleton
with hair, and what hair he had was in sparse, dirty little tufts between
numerous fight wounds, scars, and mange. His ears had been clumsily chopped
off and the unhealed edges made him look like a macabre Mr. Potato Head.
I recoiled in horror at the sudden thought of what this poor, wretched dog had
endured. What sort of dissolute soul could do this to a helpless old dog?
After staring at him for what seemed an interminable period, I realized that I
had five more animals for cruelty exams (each with another story), so I had to
move on.
Driving back to my clinic, I thought how depraved it was to treat animals this
way.......was it sadism, apathy, or stupidity? None seemed in short supply. I
kept seeing the pit-bull's face, a swarthy apotheosis of the downtrodden.
There are so many like him, I felt powerless as I pondered the enormity of the
problem.
Animal cruelty is an epidemic that with only the most egregious exceptions
escapes the public's notice. This poor dog had been beaten, starved,
mutilated, forced to fight for his life, and, worst of all, socially isolated.
Dogs are very social animals....more so, even, than humans. How can humans be
so inhumane? How can humane people let such things happen? I resolved to
rescue him; even though it was a scratch on an obdurate surface, a drop in a
very large bucket.
I couldn't just leave him there to be euthanized. That's the only way pit-
bulls are allowed to leave the shelter.....dead. I wanted him to experience at
least one good day on earth. If possible, maybe I could even show him what
it's like to be loved and wanted.
It would take some string-pulling from the D.A.'s office before I could get
him released from the shelter......after all, he was a pit-bull, the paradigm
of canine
incorrigibility. (That is what media mavens would have you believe.) The
truth is, pit-bulls are the oldest registered American breed and have long
been favored for their courage, (fanciers call it "gameness") loyalty, and
intelligence.
Unfortunately, their fighting reputation has made them very popular with a lot
of unsavory characters who have ushered in a spate of backyard-bred, people-
aggressive curs. Real pit-bulls are selected to be so people-friendly, they
don't even make good watch dogs. But the newspapers are sold by grinding
angsts, not accentuating positives. Consequently, people who wouldn't know a
pit-bull sitting at their feet, still consider them to be the snarling menace
of their worst nightmare. So torturing and killing them is, I suppose, more
acceptable, or at least easier to ignore.
I'm NOT a pit-bull fancier. In fact, I'm more of a cat person, but let us
remember, as "Uncle Mattie" says, "There are no bad breeds, just bad
breeding." We transferred the pit-bull to my clinic and started treating his
multitude of problems. I had no idea what kind of dog he would be personality-
wise, with all of the abuse and privation he had suffered.
His stone face was inscrutable...blank except for a sadness in his sunken
eyes. He was easy to work on so with considerable effort from all concerned,
along with lots of treats and loving attention added to the antibiotics,
vitamins, and medicated baths, the 30-pound skeletal specimen was morphed into
a solid 75-pound dog.
After a couple of months, a shiny coat hid most of his scars, and the glum
look on his face had been replaced by an infectious grin that, adorned by his
chopped-off ears, was reminiscent of a happy face drawn on a Pompeian ampulla.
Meanwhile, my jaded karma had been ameliorated by his astonishing progress,
not to mention his buoyant, stiff-upper-lip charm. Somehow he had managed to
come through unimaginable hardship, not only clinging to life, and maintaining
a positive attitude, which was to me, an inspiration. We named him, "Pete."
Pete and I started going on daily walks, short at first because he didn't have
much stamina. Soon we were doing three miles or more, and as we ambled our
way through the bosky recesses of Boman Acres, we were getting to know each
other pretty well. It wasn't long before I was feeling better than I had in
years!
Dog walking is very good exercise for man as well as dog. Pete loves and is
loved by all of the neighborhood children, and for the most part has even
become a gentleman around cats and other dogs.
Transformed into a doting pet parent, I beam with pride at any compliment
directed at my charge. With a cake and party hat, we celebrated Pete's
unofficial birthday in July.
I think it's safe to say that Pete has helped me at least as much as I have
him. When asked what breed he is, I've been known to answer, with a slightly
cryptic grin, "He's my 'Healer.'"
So it was that Pete and I came to heal each other and in the process, became
bonded in lifelong friendship. His case was not only a watershed to me, but a
source of encouragement to the cruelty investigating team.
Pete's previous owner is now serving six counts of 5 years each. Judge
Turnbull simply termed the case "unbelievable." I wish that I could agree with
that assessment; but, although the brutality of Pete's former life is now only
a distant memory, many other cases continue to pass through the shelter with
oppressive regularity. It is all too believable for those of us that grapple
with the gruesome, and often overwhelming problem of cruelty to man's best
friend.
If ever you find yourself in need of a cure for ennui, or maybe just a dose of
reality, I highly recommend a trip to the city animal shelter, where you will
see that taking any kind of significant bite out of animal cruelty remains a
formidable, if not impossible, undertaking.
Having learned from my friend Pete, I, for one, have no intention of giving
up.
________________________________________________________________
Merry Christmas to everyone!!
-- Sherrill
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