|
|
AR-NEWS Digest 642
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) War declared on cormorants
by "Bina Robinson"
2) Montana begins Slaughter of Yellowstone Buffalo AGAIN!: (please
pass this on!) (AR NEWS)
by buffalo folks
3) Fw: Re your post and bombs.
by "Bina Robinson"
4) (Spain)Tularemia outbreak -hares to humans
by bunny
5) Montana begins Slaughter of Yellowstone Buffalo AGAIN!
by Vegetarian Resource Center
6) (US) Oprah tapes shows from Texas after day in court
by allen schubert
7) (US) New Mexicans rally for Oprah
by allen schubert
8) (US) Who do you think will win the trial?
by allen schubert
9) (US) Engler's son on the witness stand
by allen schubert
10) (US) Engler's son testifies
by allen schubert
11) Marcelle Becker vs. American Airlines Litigation Update
by Vegetarian Resource Center
12) Fw: Excerpts from ALFSG, London
by "Bina Robinson"
13) PRINCE CHARLES REPORTEDLY BREAKS RIB
by Vegetarian Resource Center
14) address needed
by AAVSONLINE
15) CNN: Mike Engler testifies
by Wyandotte Animal Group
16) Fw: [CA] Farmers enduring ice storm `torture chamber'
by "Patrick Tohill"
17) (US-CO) BOUNTY ON POACHERS
by Mesia Quartano
18) (US-TX) Fashion notes: Let the fur fly
by Mesia Quartano
19) Pisces-new email and old name
by Vadivu Govind
20) (CA)IFAW assists shelters hit by ice storm
by crystal1@capecod.net (truddi lawlor)
21) [Fwd: Factory Farm Report from Sen. Harkin's office (fwd)]
by Steve Barney
22) BSE/CJD kills 7, up to 100 more may be infected (Asia)
by Jill Howe
23) (US-TN) Farm Bureau proposal more trouble for hunters
by Mesia Quartano
24) USFWS user fees
by Karen Purves
25) USDA Seeks Comment on Interstate Movement of Sheep and Goats
by Wyandotte Animal Group
26) Companies that test
by jeanlee
27) (US) Statement about 'cattle eating cattle' is basis of suit
by allen schubert
28) (US) Cattleman says show was scary
by allen schubert
29) (US) Witness testifies some ill cattle sent to rendering plant
by allen schubert
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 01:09:29 -0500
From: "Bina Robinson"
To: ,
Subject: War declared on cormorants
Message-ID: <199801230558.AAA06035@net3.netacc.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>From "C-paper" Updates at January 18,
1998
WAR DECLARED ON CORMORANTS
A triple pincer movement threatens to roll back population gains made by
double-breasted cormorants since they were almost wiped out in the early
1900's and suffered serious setbacks to their recovery from water pollution
in the 60's and 70's.
Human fishers regard these aquatic, fish-eating birds as serious
competitors for their finned prey. Many human hunters look forward to
being granted a new species on which to test their marksmanship while at
the same time performing a service for fishers. Fish farmers, commercial
fishers, charter boat captains and state game agencies that stock fish to
enhance the success of those who buy fishing licenses all take a dim view
of birds who gobble up their product. The result is pressure to remove
these prehistoric birds from their protected status under the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act.
There is no doubt that cormorants, also known as shags, catch and eat a
lot of fish, but it is necessary to consider the number of fish they catch
in relation to the number of fish taken by humans and other species.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), worldwide studies
have shown that cormorants consume "generally less than 5 percent of the
quantity caught by commercial or sport anglers". Most of the fish they
catch are "rough" fish as opposed to the species coveted by human fishers.
Analysis of stomach contents of cormorants in Arkansas found that
"sport-fish" comprised 1 percent of their diet.
A Lake Ontario survey placed the percentage of trout and salmonids consumed
by cormorants even lower -- at 3 tenths of 1 percent (.003). In response
to concern that cormorant catches would deprive "sport-fish" of food, a
survey in Western Lake Erie found that the number of fish caught by
cormorants was "only about 1 percent of the prey-fish biomass needed to
support populations of the walleye, a valuable ''sport-fish'." Similar
results were obtained in studies conducted on Lake Superior.
The USFWS report concluded: "Based on a review of the best scientific
evidence, it does not appear that a strategy of reducing cormorant
populations to benefit "sport-fish" populations is biologically warranted."
The National Audubon Society agrees. In a letter dated January 12, 1998,
Greg clouser wrote on Audubon's behalf: "There is absolutely no science to
back their (sport fishing groups') claims.
Cornell University conducted a study of the cormorants on Oneida Lake, near
Syracuse, New York, where their population had soared from none as recently
as 1982 to 250 nesting pairs in 1997. By mid or late September, there were
an estimated 2,500 cormorants on the lake as the resident cormorants and
their offspring were joined by migrating birds from farther north.
Graduate students engaged in the study estimated that residents and
migrants combined consume 40 metric tons of Oneida Lake fish a year. This
seems like a vast amount until you compare it with the 207 metric tons
consumed by walleyes, a favorite catch of sport fishers. Competition
between the two species did not appear to be intense. The dietary staple
of both species was yellow perch but the walleyes consumed mostly fry and
fingerlings while the cormorants preferred larger, year-old fish. These
preferences have the effect of giving the walleyes first crack at this
preferred species in Oneida while the cormorants dine on their leftovers
after they have grown to a larger size.
These modern studies confirm a 1915 assessment by the Canadian Geological
Survey that showed cormorants were not eating young salmon as feared by
commercial and sport fishers, but rather "coarse fish" like sculpins,
cunners, gunnels and eels, i.e. fish with little or no commercial value.
In spite of the lack of evidence that cormorants have an unfavorable impact
on sportfishing, and considerable evidence that they do not,
Representatives John McHugh (R-NY) and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN)
announced their intention to introduce legislation establishing hunting
seasons for double-crested cormorants in order to reduce loss of fish
stocks and interference with recreational and commercial fishing.
New York State Assemblyman Michael Bragman convened a cormorant management
meeting in Syracuse on October 16, 1997. Participants "almost uniformly
described the devastating ecological, economic, and social impacts of
cormorant predation on Lake Ontario and Oneida Lake fisheries, local
businesses, and surrounding communities." Their testimony led Bragman to
call for a cormorant management plan to be formulated before the 1998
spring migration. He voiced the opinion that New York's fishing-related
tourism deserves as much consideration as southern fish farms, which can
get permission to shoot cormorants.
This is true, but only after non-lethal methods to discourage cormorants
from preying from fishing in their ponds have ceased to be effective.
They have permission to shoot only those cormorants actually preying upon
or "about to prey upon" their fish. Experience has shown that non-lethal
methods such as noisemakers regain their effectiveness -- for a time at
least --after birds have been killed or wounded there.
It is understandable that fishers, who have observed cormorants gobbling up
a school of hatchery fish as soon as it has been released and even those
who have watched cormorants dive and come up with a meal while their hooks
remain empty, feel that the cormorants are depriving them of success. It
might help them to understand if they were to read some of the studies
instead of listening to each other's tales of righteous indignation.
Fish and wildlife officials have already developed ways of releasing fish
to avoid cormorant predation. One method is simply to release the young
fish in areas removed from cormorant activity. If this is not possible, as
in a smaller lake, the fish can be released after dark when the cormorants
are sleeping. This works well for rainbows who have to be released in
streams. Another tactic is to make the released before the cormorants
return north in the spring.
Another method being pursued by the Oswego Chamber of Commerce and charter
boat captains is a "net pen" to keep the cormorants from getting at the
young fish. After the fish have had time to acclimate, the captains tow
the pen out into the lake away from cormorant-frequented areas when it is
time to release the fish.
Cormorant populations, which have begun to level out in the Great Lakes,
are controlled to some extent by the number of nesting sites available to
them. Adults who are not successful in commandeering a site either don't
breed or move elsewhere.
These communal nesting sites have given fishers reason to complain
eloquently about the odor caused by the elimination of digested fish, which
does no harm when these sites are not next door to human habitation as is
usually the case. Cormorants can be discouraged from nesting next door by
clearing away their nesting material.
There is another side to cormorant excretions, however. On islands off the
coast of Peru where 10 million cormorants congregate, their droppings are
called guano and are harvested as what horticulturists consider to be the
world's finest organic fertilizer. The moister climate of the Great Lakes
region does not permit the accumulations found in Peru, but the nitrates
and phosphates that wash into the water can help counteract the effect of
the zebra mussels by nourishing diatoms and algae that are the food base of
all aquatic life.
It has been suggested that the larger cormorant population may interfere
with other protected birds. They may have displaced black-crowned night
herons in one instance. Should this become a problem, the cormorants' eggs
can be addled by shaking them or dipping them in oil to prevent them from
hatching. This method will limit local populations to existing adults
which seems much more sensible than shooting cormorants everywhere to make
a difference on a particular island. It also has the advantage of
preventing new birds from moving in after the original occupants have been
killed.
Wildlife populations will generally sort such matters out for themselves,
however, as they did eons before modern humans started to interfere with
their innate population determinants.
The issue for fish farms is different. Unlike the perceived loss to
fishers, theirs is a real one. Ironically they brought it on themselves by
laying out a banquet that attracted fish-eating birds and may well have
contributed to the rise in population by increasing their food supply. The
present policy of USFWS (granting exemptions to kill cormorants in the act
of fishing in these ponds after other aversive methods have become
ineffective) seems like the best solution for the present. The ultimate
solution is for these artificial enterprises, which contribute to water
pollution by keeping fish crowded fin to fin, to be shut down. As that
will not happen this year or next, it seems best to separate their needs
from the needs of those who seek to establish a sport hunting season on
cormorants.
-30-
Useful addresses:
Commissioner John Cahill, Department of Environmental Conservation
50 Wolf Road, Albany NY 12250;
Paul Schmidt, Chief, Office of Migratory Bird Management, USFWS, Arlington
Square,
4401 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington VA 22204
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 23:33:35 -0700
From: buffalo folks
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Montana begins Slaughter of Yellowstone Buffalo AGAIN!: (please
pass this on!) (AR NEWS)
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Yellowstone Bison Lured from Park for Transport to Slaughter:
Attempt to Prevent Possible Slaughter Leads to Arrest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 22, 1998
PRESS CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 23:
Michael Mease, Dan Howells
Friday, January 23, 11:00 a.m.
Emerson Cultural Center
111 S. Grand Ave.
Bozeman, MT
Weaver Room, 2nd floor
Media Contact: Sue Nackoney, (406) 646-0070
FAX: (406) 646 0071
email: mailto:buffalo@wildrockies.org
Yesterday, January 21, the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) scattered
hay at their capture facility outside West Yellowstone, MT to bait buffalo
leaving Yellowstone National Park. They hazed the buffalo who were outside
of the park into the capture facility during the night.
Thursday, five buffalo were captured and shipped off to a slaughter house
in Sheridan, MT. These will be the first buffalo slaughtered by the DOL
this winter. The bison in the trailers were bleeding from gore wounds they
inflicted on each other in the pens and in the transfer process.
The DOL also relocated four of Yellowstone's buffalo away the Duck Creek
drainage, to be released at Horse Butte. These buffalo were marked with
bright orange paint and could be injured.
At 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Buffalo Nations volunteer Dan Howells locked
himself to a trailer getting ready to relocate the four buffalo. With a
kryptonite bicycle lock around his neck, Howells, a 29 year-old non-violent
protester from Michigan, stated "We must stop the buffalo slaughter. These
buffalo do not belong to the Department of Livestock, they belong to the
people of the United States. The buffalo should be allowed to be wild and
free." Howells was cut free from the trailer, and charged with
obstruction, a misdemeanor.
Buffalo Nations believes that the Department of Livestock does not have the
right to capture and slaughter our last wild buffalo herd. Yellowstone's
bison are not livestock, and should not be subjected to conditions which
are alien to them. The DOL has no right to bait wildlife into leaving the
park. Last year, buffalo were indiscriminately shipped to slaughter even
though the tests for brucellosis are at best 70% effective. This resulted
in the slaughter of bison who tested positive at the facility but tested
negative at the slaughterhouse.
Buffalo Nations is calling for the concerned citizens of the United States
to express their outrage to Montana's governor, Marc Racicot (email:
mailto:momholt-mason@mt.gov., mailto:amalcolm@mt.gov), over the
resumed slaughter of this nation's heritage, the last wild buffalo.
Unfortunately, a Federal Judge has already conceded that at least 100 more
can be killed this winter.
******************
Background Information:
* Buffalo Nations is appalled at the Department of Livestock's total
disrespect for human safety. During their past hazing activities, the DOL
sent buffalo running down a residential road where people were standing and
children were walking home from school. In another incident they hazed
bison with cracker-barrels despite the resident's insistence that no bison
be shot or hazed on her land.
* On January 15, Bryce Smedley, a Buffalo Nations volunteer, was confronted
by Mr. Koelzer, the owner of the land where the DOL capture facility is
located. Smedley had entered the property to protect endangered bison.
Koelzer drove into Smedley, knocking him down and ran over his foot.
Smedley sustained minor injuries. "People are putting their lives on the
line every day to save these buffalo. I chose to trespass to protect the
buffalo non-violently and was met with violence," Smedley said. He is
pressing assault charges against Mr. Koelzer and in turn will face
trespassing charges.
* On January 18, a 20 year-old Buffalo Nations volunteer from Livingston
reported that the lug nuts on one of her rear tires had been loosened while
she was in the field. Luckily she discovered they were gone before a
serious accident occurred. Activists are concerned about their safety from
those opposing their efforts.
* Last year, nearly 1100 wild buffalo were slaughtered by the Montana's
Dept. of Livestock and rangers from Yellowstone National Park. These wild
buffalo were leaving Yellowstone National Park in search of food during an
extremely cold and snowy winter. At the beginning of Winter 97-98, there
were less than 1000 wild buffalo left in the lower 48.
* Buffalo Nations is a coalition of Native American Traditionalist and
grassroot activists of all races volunteering to save the last wild buffalo
in the United States.
* Michael Mease, Buffalo Nations co-founder stated, "Buffalo Nations has a
firm commitment to save the buffalo in a non-violent manner. We may
trespass, but we will never endanger anyone's life. Our job is to keep the
buffalo safe from the one agency that still insists on killing them. Our
campaign follows a code of non-violence. Our goal is to protect buffalo
from being killed. Until buffalo treated like all other wildlife and their
fate is no longer controlled by the Montana DOL, Buffalo Nations will be
here to protect our children's heritage."
Buffalo Nations
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070 phone
406-646-0071 fax
mailto:buffalo@wildrockies.org
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 01:52:08 -0500
From: "Bina Robinson"
To:
Subject: Fw: Re your post and bombs.
Message-ID: <199801230703.CAA10439@net3.netacc.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
----------
> From: Jonathan Sumby
> To: civitas@linkny.com
> Subject: Re your post and bombs.
> Date: Thursday, January 22, 1998 11:37 PM
>
>
> Hi Bina
> You posted the below:
>
>
> The following items have been condensed from the January 1998
> newsletter of the ALF Supporters Group, London, UK. Posted
> January 22, 1998
> ...
> Four bombs exploded on November 25 at BioChem Pharma, Inc owned
> by Glaxo Wellcome, at Laval, just north of Montreal, Quebec
> following a telephone warning...
>
> Is it possible for you to edit out this or remove it and tell the ALFSG
> newsletter people? I understand that the Montreal police have
specifically
> excluded any ALF type involvement and to claim it as ALF is, I think,
> counterporductive in the outreach to mainstream society as explosives
move
> from ethical direct action involving property destruction to the idea of
> terrorist political agenda. Just a suggestion.
> Yrs,
> Jon
>
>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 15:49:26 +0800
From: bunny
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (Spain)Tularemia outbreak -hares to humans
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980123154204.491fbd2a@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
TULAREMIA, HUMAN - SPAIN
************************
Source: Eurosurveillance Weekly
Outbreak of tularaemia in Castilla y Leon, Spain
Suspected cases of tularaemia were reported by health centres to the
Epidemiological Surveillance Unit in Castilla y Leon, north west Spain, on
30 December 1997. The patients had high fever of sudden onset and ulcers on
hands and/or swelling of regional lymph nodes, and reported having handled
the carcasses of wild hares. A total of 80 suspected cases arising since
the second fortnight in November have been notified.
The Regional Environmental Authority has noted an increase in the number of
deaths of hares since the end of December, mainly in the areas with the
largest numbers of human cases.
--
=====================================================================
========
/`\ /`\ Rabbit Information Service,
Tom, Tom, (/\ \-/ /\) P.O.Box 30,
The piper's son, )6 6( Riverton,
Saved a pig >{= Y =}< Western Australia 6148
And away he run; /'-^-'\
So none could eat (_) (_) email: rabbit@wantree.com.au
The pig so sweet | . |
Together they ran | |} http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
Down the street. \_/^\_/ (Rabbit Information Service website updated
frequently)
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
- Voltaire
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:28:51 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Montana begins Slaughter of Yellowstone Buffalo AGAIN!
Message-ID: <199801231228.HAA05048@mail-out-3.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 23:21:31 -0700
To: stop-the-slaughter@wildrockies.org
From: buffalo folks
Subject: Montana begins Slaughter of Yellowstone Buffalo AGAIN! : (please
pass this on!) (##)
:
Yellowstone Bison Lured from Park for Transport to Slaughter:
Attempt to Prevent Possible Slaughter Leads to Arrest
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 22, 1998
PRESS CONFERENCEá ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 23:
Michael Mease, Dan Howells
Friday, January 23, 11:00 a.m.
Emerson Cultural Center
111 S. Grand Ave.
Bozeman, MT
Weaver Room, 2nd floor
Media Contact: Sue Nackoney, (406) 646-0070
FAX: (406) 646 0071
email: mailto:buffalo@wildrockies.org
Yesterday, January 21, the Montana Department of Livestock (DOL) scattered
hay at their capture facility outside West Yellowstone, MT to bait buffalo
leaving Yellowstone National Park. They hazed the buffalo who were outside
of the park into the capture facility during the night.
Thursday, five buffalo were captured and shipped off to a slaughter house
in Sheridan, MT.á These will be the first buffalo slaughtered by the DOL
this winter. The bison in the trailers were bleeding from gore wounds they
inflicted on each other in the pens and in the transfer process.
The DOL also relocated four of Yellowstone's buffalo away the Duck Creek
drainage, to be released at Horse Butte. These buffalo were marked with
bright orange paint and could be injured.
At 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Buffalo Nations volunteer Dan Howells locked
himself to a trailer getting ready to relocate the four buffalo. With a
kryptonite bicycle lock around his neck, Howells, a 29 year-old non-violent
protester from Michigan, stated "We must stop the buffalo slaughter. These
buffalo do not belong to the Department of Livestock, they belong to the
people of the United States. The buffalo should be allowed to be wild and
free."á Howells was cut free from the trailer, and charged with
obstruction, a misdemeanor.
Buffalo Nations believes that the Department of Livestock does not have the
right to capture and slaughter our last wild buffalo herd. Yellowstone's
bison are not livestock, and should not be subjected to conditions which
are alien to them. The DOL has no right to bait wildlife into leaving the
park. Last year, buffalo were indiscriminately shipped to slaughter even
though the tests for brucellosis are at best 70% effective. This resulted
in the slaughter of bison who tested positive at the facility but tested
negative at the slaughterhouse.
Buffalo Nations is calling for the concerned citizens of the United States
to express their outrage to Montana's governor, Marc Racicot (email:
mailto:momholt-mason@mt.gov., mailto:amalcolm@mt.gov), over the
resumed slaughter of this nation's heritage, the last wild buffalo.
Unfortunately, aá Federal Judge has already conceded that at least 100 more
can be killed this winter.
******************
Background Information:
* Buffalo Nations is appalled at the Department of Livestock's total
disrespect for human safety.á During their past hazing activities, the DOL
sent buffalo running down a residential road where people were standing and
children were walking home from school. In another incident they hazed
bison with cracker-barrels despite the resident's insistence that no bison
be shot or hazed on her land.
* On January 15, Bryce Smedley, a Buffalo Nations volunteer, was confronted
by Mr. Koelzer, the owner of the land where the DOL capture facility is
located. Smedley had entered the property to protect endangered bison.
Koelzer drove into Smedley, knocking him down and ran over his foot.
Smedley sustained minor injuries. "People are putting their lives on the
line every day to save these buffalo.á I chose to trespass to protect the
buffalo non-violently and was met with violence," Smedley said. He is
pressing assault charges against Mr. Koelzer and in turn will face
trespassing charges.
* On January 18, a 20 year-old Buffalo Nations volunteer from Livingston
reported that the lug nuts on one of her rear tires had been loosened while
she was in the field. Luckily she discovered they were gone before a
serious accident occurred. Activists are concerned about their safety from
thoseáá opposing their efforts.
* Last year, nearly 1100 wild buffalo were slaughtered by the Montana's
Dept. of Livestock and rangers from Yellowstone National Park. These wild
buffalo were leaving Yellowstone National Park in search of food during an
extremely cold and snowy winter. At the beginning of Winter 97-98, there
were less than 1000 wild buffalo left in the lower 48.
* Buffalo Nations is a coalition of Native American Traditionalist and
grassroot activists of all races volunteering to save the last wild buffalo
in the United States.
* Michael Mease, Buffalo Nations co-founder stated, "Buffalo Nations has a
firm commitment to save the buffalo in a non-violent manner.á We may
trespass, but we will never endanger anyone's life.á Our job is to keep the
buffalo safe from the one agency that still insists on killing them. Our
campaign follows a code of non-violence.á Our goal is to protect buffalo
from being killed. Until buffalo treated like all other wildlife and their
fate is no longer controlled by the Montana DOL, Buffalo Nations will be
here to protect our children's heritage."
Buffalo Nations
PO Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070 phone
406-646-0071 fax
mailto:buffalo@wildrockies.org
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:32:41 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oprah tapes shows from Texas after day in court
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980123073239.00af81e4@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
(includes highlights of court proceedings)
from Mercury Center website http://spyglass1.sjmercury.com/breaking/
------------------------------
Oprah tapes shows from Texas after day in court (1/22/1998)
The Dallas Morning News
AMARILLO, Texas -- Oprah Winfrey shed her dark suits, reserved demeanor
and an austere courtroom Thursday night to host her first talk show from
the Texas Panhandle.
The premier edition of ``Oprah in Texas'' was an orgy of Texas chauvinism.
Actor Patrick Swayze and country singer Clint Black, both Houston
natives, talked about growing up in Texas. An array of Texas natives --
actors Janine Turner, Lou Diamond Phillips and Felicia Rashad among them --
appeared on videotape to welcome her to Texas.
Clad in a redder-than-red pantsuit, Winfrey danced the Texas 2-step with
Swayze. She liked it enough to pull one of the few men from the audience to
dance with her.
Black welcomed her to Texas with a song encouraging her ``to take Texas
any day.''
Winfrey laughed a lot. She put on a cowboy hat. She slipped on a pair of
size 10 boots. They fit.
During commercial breaks, she chatted up the overwhelmingly female
audience that had waited in line for one of 280 tickets to the show. She
signed autographs.
But she did not talk about her lawsuit against the Panhandle cattlemen
who claim she damaged the beef industry during a 1996 program about mad cow
disease.
``I ain't gonna talk about it,'' she said, drifting into a Texas
dialect. ``You're in Amarillo, so there's beef, beef and more beef.''
The audience didn't care. They weren't there for a lesson on the law.
They came for entertainment. And she gave them what a celebrity has to give
an audience -- a few minutes to bask in the glow.
``She is a light in the darkness for many people,'' Ellen Brister, a
Panhandle native, said after the show. ``She is so gracious and goes out of
her way to create a Texas feel in the midst of what she is facing.''
What Winfrey appears to be facing is several weeks in federal court. At
night, she will tape her talk shows. During a break in Thursday night's
show, she admitted she was tired after almost seven hours in court.
``I'm past tired,'' she said as an assistant dabbed powder on her face
during a break.
The Amarillo Little Theater, which normally resembles a high school
auditorium, had been transformed into a brightly lighted, colorful
television studio.
The theater was the polar opposite of the stodgy federal courtroom that
Winfrey has occupied by day -- a place where the judge allows nary a
whisper from observers.
In the courtroom Thursday, she sat quietly at the defense table with her
attorneys, listening to often grim testimony about the cattle industry.
Michael J. Engler, a feedlot executive whose family brought the lawsuit,
said cows sometimes die in the feedlot from bloat, pneumonia, central
nervous system diseases and encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain
usually caused by virus.
Under cross-examination from Charles Babcock, Engler acknowledged that
some of the dying cows throw their heads back and paw at the ground while
in a prone position. He acknowledged some ``overlap'' in the symptoms
between encephalitis and BSE.
Babcock, referring to a U.S. Department of Agriculture manual, called
encephalitis ``a suspected BSE disease.''
The testimony provided a stark contrast to one moment during Thursday
night's show when Winfrey autographed a t-shirt emblazoned with an Oprah
caricature squaring off against a cow in the boxing ring.
The back of the t-shirt said, ``What's the beef?''
During his testimony, Engler said his beef with Winfrey is that she
implied that mad cow disease might be a problem in the United States.
In fact, he said, there have been no proven cases of bovine spongiform
encepholopathy, or BSE, in the United States.
``Has Cactus Feeders (Engler's company) ever tested a cow for BSE?''
Babcock asked.
``We don't have facilities to do post-mortem analysis of brain tissue,''
Engler responded. His company had sent brain tissue to government labs for
testing, he added.
Engler was the first witness called by attorneys for his family and
three other prominent ranching families who bought the lawsuit against
Winfrey and Howard Lyman, a beef industry critic who appeared on the program.
The cattlemen claim false statements on the program called into question
the safety of American beef and caused cattle prices to drop. They claim
more than $10 million in damages. They also are seeking a punitive damages
award from the eight-woman, four-man jury hearing the case.
Winfrey has not acted as a special guest star at her trial. She has been
present at all court sessions and appears to play an active role in her
defense.
A gag order in the case has prevented her and others involved in the
trial from commenting on any aspect of the lawsuit.
Winfrey appeared to grimace Thursday when Engler accused her of inducing
Lyman to say that mad cow disease could ``make AIDS look like the common
cold'' if it ever crossed the Atlantic and came to the United States.
``In my experience, this is an outrageous statement,'' said Engler, a
former scientist who holds a doctorate in molecular biology. ``It makes me
envision something so devastating that it is beyond our comprehension.''
During the program, Lyman also criticized the beef industry for using
cattle meat and bone meal as a protein supplement in cattle feed.
If protein derivatives of just one cow infected with BSE is fed to a
cattle herd, he said, people who eat the infected beef could die from
Cruezfeldt-Jakob disease, a degenerative brain disease.
When the program aired in April 1996, the use of animal protein in
cattle feed was legal. The U.S. government banned the practice last summer.
But Engler said his company already had voluntarily abandoned the
practice by the time the talk show aired because of the mad cow scare in
Great Britain.
Even so, he said, the talk show left the impression that most of the
beef industry had not ended the practice.
``I got the message that we were putting the American public at risk,''
Engler said. ``There is no evidence that BSE exists in the United States.''
But Babcock said the cattlemen's lawsuit is not about messages, but
about the exact words that were spoken on the program.
``Are we agreed that she did not say on the program that beef is
unsafe?'' he asked Engler.
``Granted,'' he responded.
Babcock has argued that Winfrey and Lyman were free to ask questions
about beef industry practices and offer their opinions about mad cow disease.
The plaintiffs, however, said the right to free speech protections in
the U.S. Constitution does not extend to lies and false statements.
None of the cattlemen suing Winfrey was named during the talk show on
mad cow disease. Their company names also were not identified on the program.
Typically, plaintiffs in a libel suit must be named in newspaper stories
or on television programs before they can bring a successful court action.
The cattlemen, however, brought their suit under a 1995 Texas statute
that prohibits ``the false disparagement of perishable food products.''
``When you talk about beef products in the U.S., and we are the largest
cattle feeder in the U.S., I sort of feel like you are talking about us,''
Engler said.
Testimony in what has come to be known as ``the Oprah case'' is
scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. CST Friday. The first edition of ``Oprah in
Texas'' is scheduled to air all over the world Monday.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:45:41 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) New Mexicans rally for Oprah
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980123074539.0069e904@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
(This website has lots of stuff on the trial.)
from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------
@marillo Globe-News: News: New Mexicans rally for Oprah 1/22/98
Web posted Thursday, January 22, 1998 6:42 a.m. CT
New Mexicans rally for Oprah
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey
The Associated Press
SANTA FE (AP) - New Mexico vegetarians have a beef with Oprah Winfrey's
treatment in Texas.
About two dozen environmental and health activists rallied Wednesday at the
state Capitol, shouting: "We support Oprah!"
Texas cattlemen sued the television talk show host for defamation after she
made comments on her show about beef safety.
The trial got under way Wednesday in Amarillo.
The New Mexico protesters, some who said they are vegetarians, said Ms.
Winfrey is being persecuted by a "coddled livestock industry" for telling
the truth.
"We're saying to the people in Texas, to the welfare ranching cowboys,
`We've had enough,"' said Rosemary Lowe of Santa Fe, who heads a group
called People for Native Ecosystems.
"Oprah Si, Meat No," read one protester's sign.
Laws such as Texas' "veggie libel" statute under which the cattlemen sued
are unconstitutional violations of free speech, the protesters said.
They said they wanted to ensure no similar law - which holds liable anyone
who makes false and disparaging comments about food products - is passed in
New Mexico.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:49:20 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Who do you think will win the trial?
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980123074917.0069fea0@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
You can place a vote...see: http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
This is something offered by Amarillo Globe-News concerning the Oprah -
Veggie Libel Trial.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:52:24 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Engler's son on the witness stand
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980123075221.0068ffcc@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web posted Thursday, January 22, 1998 7:44 p.m. CT
Engler's son on the witness stand
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey
By CHIP CHANDLER
Globe-News Staff Writer
A senior vice president of Cactus Feeders Inc. said Thursday that it was
possible that cattle with what the defense characterized as mad cowlike
symptoms were sent to a rendering plant.
Mike Engler - son of Paul Engler, the original plaintiff and owner of
Cactus Feeder Inc. - agreed that more than 10 cows with some sort of
central nervous disorder were sent to Hereford By-Products. He made the
statements during a cross-examination that at times grew heated.
The younger Engler, who has a doctorate in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins
University, was the only witness jurors heard Thursday in the Oprah Winfrey
defamation trial. Testimony will resume Friday morning.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report from which Winfrey
attorney Charles Babcock quoted, encephalitis caused by unknown reasons
could be a warning sign for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow
disease.
Encephalitis was indicated on the death certificates - or "dead slips" - of
three Cactus Feeders cows. The slips then were stamped, "Picked up by your
local used cattle dealer" before the carcasses were taken to the rendering
plant.
Under later questioning by plaintiff's attorney Joseph Coyne, Engler said
he thinks symptoms of encephomyolitis, which include the cow keeping its
head locked in an upright position, were "inconsistent with what was
observed in England" with BSE-infected cattle.
Engler and Babcock sparred frequently as the afternoon's testimony wore on.
Most of their squabbles centered on what was said during the April 16,
1996, "Oprah Winfrey Show," the episode that sparked the lawsuit.
One significant exchange centered around whether Cactus Feeders or any of
the plaintiffs were mentioned by name during the show.
Babcock asked Engler to point out on the show's transcript where they were
mentioned.
Engler said he could not, but said, "When you talk about beef producers in
the United States, and we're (Cactus Feeders) the largest cattle feeder in
the U.S., then I kinda feel like you're talking about us."
The plaintiffs are suing, in part, under Texas' False Disparagement of
Foods Act, meaning they will have to prove the defendants specifically
disparaged the plaintiffs' products.
During direct testimony, Engler outlined the standard procedures for
feeding cattle in feedlots. To do so, he mixed in a large, clear plastic
bowl the ingredients that would make up the 20 pounds of feed a feed-yard
animal eats per day.
The recipe contained 78 percent steamed, flaked whole corn; 10 percent
roughage; 3 percent liquid fat; 2 percent molasses; and 1 percent vitamins
and pharmaceuticals, Engler said. The remainder would be a supplement, an
ingredient bought from feed manufacturers to provide protein. This portion
would be made primarily of cottonseed or soybean meal, but could contain
meat and bone meal.
Before this summer, that meal could have contained rendered cattle parts,
which is believed to have contributed to the spread of mad cow disease in
England, Engler said. The government issued a mandatory ban on such feed on
Aug. 4.
Engler also said statements by defendant Howard Lyman, a guest on the April
1996 show, were inflammatory and false.
He said the statement "100,000 cattle are fine at night, dead in the
morning," made by Lyman, is untrue.
"It simply doesn't happen," Engler said, adding that most cattle that die
are the victims of lengthy illnesses with symptoms that are tracked.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:57:28 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Engler's son testifies
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980123075726.00693ebc@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web posted Thursday, January 22, 1998 2:46 p.m. CT
Engler's son testifies
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey
By CHIP CHANDLER Onlookers surround Oprah Winfrey's
Globe-News Staff Writer bodyguards Wednesday outside the
courthouse. (Henry
Jurors who watched a version of the Bargas/Globe-News)
"Oprah Winfrey Show" on Wednesday
were subjected to an impromptu cooking show today as the cattlemen vs.
Winfrey trial got under way.
The trial pits Amarilloan Paul Engler and other cattlemen against Winfrey,
her production company and a guest on her show. It centers on comments made
in an April 16, 1996, edition of Winfrey's nationally syndicated daytime
talk show that included a segment about mad cow disease and its
implications in the United States.
Mike Engler, Cactus Feeders senior vice president and Paul Engler's son,
was the first witness to be called by plaintiffs when the trial began this
morning.
Mike Engler, who has a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University,
outlined the standard procedures for feeding cattle in feedlots. He mixed
in a large container the ingredients that would make up the 20 pounds of
feed a feed-yard animal eats per day.
The recipe contained 78 percent steamed, flaked whole corn; 10 percent
roughage; 3 percent fat; 2 percent molasses; and 1 percent vitamins and
pharmaceutical. The remainder would be a supplement, bought from feed
manufacturers to provide protein. This portion would be made primarily of
cottonseed or soybean meal, but could contain meat and bone meal.
Mike Engler said statements by defendant Howard Lyman were inflammatory and
false.
He said the statement "100,000 cattle are fine at night, dead in the
morning," made by Lyman is totally not true.
"It simply doesn't happen," Engler said.
He went into great detail to explain the health-care procedures at feedlots
and what happens when an animal becomes ill and dies.
Engler also testified that when Winfrey induced Lyman to say mad cow
disease could make AIDS look like the common cold, it was an outrageous
statement. He referred back to his experience at the University of Texas
School of Medicine and said, "The HIV virus and the disease called AIDS
should not be taken lightly and compared to the common cold."
He said 30 million people in the world are infected by this virus and it is
a devastating disease.
Under cross-examination by Winfrey lawyer Charles Babcock, Engler said
Cactus Feeders Inc. did not exist at the time of the show in question. it
was incorporated May 16, 1996, in Nevada.
He was not allowed to testify whether he thought the "Oprah Winfrey Show"
could have been about Cactus Feeders Inc. after objections by plaintiff's
attorneys.
Engler also said he didn't know if Cactus Feeders owned any cows now or at
the time of the show.
Babcock led Engler through a recent history of mad cow disease in England
and Europe. Engler repeatedly said there is no mad cow disease in the
United States. Engler said there could have been British cows in a
meat-and-bone meal fed to American cattle before a ban on British imports
went into effect. He also said that some cattle from countries that
subsequently had mad cow outbreaks could have been included in that protein
supplement.
During court proceedings Wednesday, a big-screen television set was the
main witness.
Jurors were shown edited and unedited versions of a controversial Oprah
Winfrey show, the subject of the lawsuit.
The tapes - which ran a total of two hours - were shown at the agreement of
both parties immediately after opening statements ended Wednesday
afternoon.
The edited tape had about 40 minutes cut, including some discussion by beef
industry experts.
About 90 people, including families of the trial participants and about 30
spectators, filled the courtroom seats at 1 p.m. Wednesday. After a break
at 3 p.m., most of the spectators called it a day.
In opening arguments, attorneys tried to lay out what U.S. District Judge
Mary Lou Robinson called a road map. Attorneys were allowed 30 minutes for
opening statements, and each side split their time between two attorneys.
The owners of the plaintiff cattle companies were painted as family
businessmen by their attorney, David Mullin.
"They did not deserve the false, malicious attacks on their reputations or
their products that occurred on the April 16, 1996, 'Oprah Winfrey Show,"'
Mullin said.
The plaintiffs also argued that the editing was used purposely to tilt the
show against the cattle industry.
"We think we will prove that the truth about American beef was left on the
cutting room floor," Engler's attorney Joseph Coyne said.
Mullin said Harpo Productions Inc. employees and Winfrey herself "intended
it to be a scary show."
"They edited out much of the truth about American beef because the truth is
not as interesting, doesn't create as high of ratings," he said.
Plaintiffs' attorneys both addressed Winfrey's statement, "It has just
stopped me cold from eating another burger."
Mullin said that Winfrey's statement showed she was throwing "the full
weight of her influence and her power behind (guest Howard Lyman's) lies
and affirm them."
Coyne said the case was not about Winfrey's statement but the fact that
"she set out to run ... a scary show."
Winfrey was in court. She appeared calm as she sat facing the eight-woman,
four-man jury.
Defense attorney Charles Babcock said his side would prove unequivocally
that "The Oprah Winfrey Show" did not "slander the plaintiffs, did not
disparage their products or the American beef industry."
He characterized Winfrey as a woman committed to fairness and not someone
who is anti-beef or antirancher.
The plaintiffs "did not lose one penny because of this show," Babcock said.
Engler himself had predicted cattle markets would drop on April 16, 1996,
and made $140,000 on the futures market, Babcock said.
Winfrey's attorney also denied that the show was maliciously edited.
Dr. Gary Weber of the National Cattleman's Beef Association was allowed to
make his statements on the show and the editing was done to avoid
repetition, Babcock said.
Lyman's attorney said the beef industry was simply questioned about its
business and the plaintiffs "don't like being questioned about their
cattle-feeding practice."
Winfrey was correct in asking questions, Babcock said.
"Oprah Winfrey and people like her certainly have the right to, and perhaps
the responsibility to, ask the question, 'Could it happen here?"' Babcock
said.
The plaintiffs will have to prove the defendants knew they were making
false statements about beef.
Plaintiffs' attorneys said their clients lost a combined total of
approximately $10.3 million when cattle prices plunged after the airing of
Winfrey's show.
The case includes Engler and his company, Cactus Feeders Inc.; Texas Beef
Group; Maltese Cross Cattle Co.; Bravo Cattle Co.; Alpha 3 Cattle Co.; and
Dripping Springs Inc. on the plaintiff side. Winfrey, Harpo Productions
Inc. and Lyman are on the defendant side.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:58:36 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@Envirolink.Org
Subject: Marcelle Becker vs. American Airlines Litigation Update
Message-ID: <199801231300.IAA16911@mail-out-2.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Marcelle Becker vs. American Airlines Litigation Update; Final Trial Date
Announced; L.A. Woman's Lawsuit Over Dog Fight in the Sky Will Be
Decided by the People
ááá LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 1998--The Superior Courtá of
California-Los Angeles has recently allowed Marcelle Becker,á widow of
insurance magnate Martin Becker, to continue her lawsuitá against American
Airlines and has established a final trial date forá Feb. 23 in Santa Monica,
Calif.
ááá A jury of the people will finally decide on damages caused toá Marcelle
Becker and her dog, allegedly caused by the captain andá crew on July 6, 1995.
The dog, a Maltese named Dom Perignon,á allegedly died from injuries caused by
the altercation weeks later.áá Those damages in the complaint include physical
assault, falseá imprisonment, intentional injury and cruelty to animals and
others.
ááá The original complaint filed on April 5, 1996, made worldwideá headlines
and has no financial damages specified at this time.áá However, Becker has
spent more than $500,000 in legal fees already.
ááá Becker has decided to donate any and all of her awards forá damages
remaining after paying her legal fees to various animalá rights and humanistic
battery charity programs.á She expects to win.
ááá Becker, a once avid American Airlines traveler, stated:á "I have notá been
able to board any airliner without feelings of absolute trauma. The fear of
the memory of what happened to me is debilitating."
ááá Becker has admitted missing her own mother's funeral because ofá this
fear.á "After what happened to me on that airliner, I have aá right and a duty
to myself and the consumer public to have justiceá served in a court of law.
Let this be a warning and a wake up callá that it is not always the passengers
that cause the problems."
ááá Becker and attorney Gary Dordick are available for interviews.áá -0- NOTE
TO EDITORS: Photographs of Becker's injuries, dog andá background are
available on request.
áááááááááááááá Marcelle Becker vs. American Airlines-áá LA Superior Court
Santa Monica c No. SC041675 - Judge Richard Niedorf
ááááááááááááá Monday, Feb. 23 Dept. A at 8:30 a.m.
CONTACT:
Edward Lozzi, Brian Cowan for Marcelle Becker
and Law Offices of Gary Dordick, 818/995-8036
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:57:01 -0500
From: "Bina Robinson"
To:
Subject: Fw: Excerpts from ALFSG, London
Message-ID: <199801231302.IAA03232@net3.netacc.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
----------
> From: Chris Wright
> To: civitas@linkny.com
> Subject: Re: Excerpts from ALFSG, London
> Date: Friday, January 23, 1998 5:53 AM
>
> On Thu, 22 Jan 1998 15:03:08 -0500, Bina Robinson wrote:
>
> >Eleven activists were sentenced to 3 to 6 months in prison on a minor
> >public order charge for their participation in a demonstration at the
> >premises of an animal exporter. Because the normal sentence for this
tpe
> >of offense is a fine, none were prepared to go to prison, some even
having
> >brought animals to the trial.
>
> Those who were sentenced to 3 months were released on Wednesday
> following an appeal hearing. The judge said that they shouldn't have
> been imprisoned in the first place.
>
> Chris Wright
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 08:05:54 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@envirolink.Org
Subject: PRINCE CHARLES REPORTEDLY BREAKS RIB
Message-ID: <199801231306.NAA04335@mail-out-4.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
áá
ááááá Copyright © 1998 Reuters
ááááá
áá
áá
áá LONDON (January 23, 1998 06:43 a.m. EST
http://www.nando.net) - Prince
áá Charles broke a rib when he fell from his horse in a hunting accident
áá nine days ago, a British tabloid newspaper said Friday.
áá
áá Charles "clutched his chest and writhed in agony" after falling on a
áá steep bank during the ride with friends at Malpas on the north Wales
áá border, The Mirror reported.
áá
áá The Mirror said Charles was now being treated at the Queen Mother's
áá home in the Balmoral estate in Scotland.
áá
áá But the 49-year-old prince has not canceled any public engagements,
áá The Mirror said; on Feb. 2, he is due to leave on a tour of Sri Lanka
áá and Nepal.
áá
áá In fact, Charles already has appeared in public since the injury, the
áá report said, visiting St. Edmundbury's Cathedral in Suffolk on
áá Wednesday before going to Scotland.
áá
áá A spokeswoman for Charles had no immediate comment on the report.
áá
áá The Mirror quoted an unnamed source as saying: "He doesn't know
áá exactly how he did it. One minute he was riding up a hill, the next he
áá was on the ground. He couldn't carry on because it was too sore."
áá
áá A doctor later told Charles he had cracked a rib, and painkillers were
áá prescribed, the newspaper said. It said the prince was bruised and
áá uncomfortable but able to get about.
áá
áá Charles is an avid sportsman and hunter. He broke an arm in two places
áá in a polo accident in June 1990.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 09:34:27 EST
From: AAVSONLINE
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, chickadee-l@envirolink.org
Subject: address needed
Message-ID: <4f381b8e.34c8aa78@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
Does anyone have an address for Adam Weissman or the Student Abolitionist
League? I only have an old NJ address and need to send them bulk information.
I think they are located in New York. Please respond to me directly. Thanks
Stephanie Shain
American Anti-Vivisection Society
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 09:41:19 -0500
From: Wyandotte Animal Group
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: CNN: Mike Engler testifies
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980123144119.2fbf3934@mail.heritage.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> WINFREY TRIAL: WITNESS CONCEDES MAD COW POSSIBILITY
More technical testimony is expected Friday in Oprah Winfrey's beef defamation
trial in Amarillo, Texas. Former biochemistry professor Mike Engler on Thursday
conceded that the mad cow risk to U.S. beef is a possibility, though there's no
evidence of a threat. A group of Texas cattlemen are suing Winfrey for $10
million. They claim beef sales plummeted after Winfrey swore off hamburgers
during one of her shows, citing the possible risk of mad cow disease.
-->Witness objects to AIDS statements
..... http://cnn.com/US/9801/22/oprah.ap/index.html
Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
wag@heritage.com
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 09:49:38 -0500
From: "Patrick Tohill"
To:
Subject: Fw: [CA] Farmers enduring ice storm `torture chamber'
Message-ID: <01bd280e$2151bce0$LocalHost@siliasmi>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
It occurred to me that there might be other people wondering about the
animals affected by the ice storm, so I am forwarding this to the list....
-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Tohill
To: dknowles@dowco.com
Date: Thursday, January 22, 1998 12:49 PM
Subject: Re: [CA] Farmers enduring ice storm `torture chamber'
>Here is a copy of a press release that we sent out last week on the ice
>storm....It took us a few days just to reach anyone.
>
>We also learned a few things which are not in the release, so here they
are:
>
>It seems that the Montreal area was most affected by power outages,
>etcetera. The presence of the OSPCA in Ontario seemed to have helped. The
>OSPCA was able to shift resources from areas not affected by the storm to
>areas such as Ottawa, Cornwall and Kingston that were hard hit. It also
>seems that in Ontario people leaving their homes for temporary shelters
were
>by and large allowed to bring their pets with them into the shelters. In
>Quebec, there is no central organizing body for humane societies. And
people
>were not allowed to bring animals with them into the shelters.
>
>It was hard to get a complete picture but it appears that the animals most
>affected were the farm animals due to failures in heating and ventillation
>systems. While the storm was severe beyond belief, it appears that
>temperatures were about average for that time of year. Wildlife centres in
>Ontario and Quebec reported few problems, explaining that many of the
>animals are in their winter shelters at this time of year (quite a number
of
>them are hibernating, as well).
>
>More detail follows in the release. I have included contact information for
>the Montreal SPCA and the Sherbrooke SPCA following the release.
>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE Contact: Silia Smith, Regional Director, Canada
> RELEASE: 416-369-0044
> Donations Needed for Pets and Farm
> Animals Affected by Ice Storm
>TORONTO, Jan 16th, 1998--Humane Societies in Quebec are scrambling to help
>companion and farm animals that have become victims of last week's severe
>ice storms.
>The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is helping by
>collecting
>donations and sending financial aid to those humane societies hardest hit
by
>the recent
>crisis. WSPA, which has 30 years experience in hands-on disaster relief,
had
>praise for
>area humane societies.
>"Their quick response, no doubt saved more than a few animals that might
>have froze
>during the storm, and over the days that followed," said Silia Smith,
WSPA's
>Canadian
>Director.
>
>The Canadian SPCA in Montreal has set up a temporary shelter to care for
>more than
>350 animals owned by people displaced during the storm. The Sherbrooke SPCA
>has
>helped close to 1000 animals in the hard hit South Shore region, as well as
>in Granby
>and Ste-Hyacinthe where the storm was particularly severe.
>Some concerns still remain for animals left at home without food and fresh
>water.
>WSPA is urging people in shelters who could not take their pets with them
to
>place
>their pets in temporary care until they can return to their homes.
>With power still out in much of Quebec there are some significant animal
>welfare
>concerns. Farmers have been badly hit. Some farmers have had been forced to
>euthanize dairy cattle which developed lactation fever when they could not
>be milked.
>Reports have been coming in of sheep having died of pneumonia. More than
>half of all
>farms in the region are still without power and are relying on generators.
>Dedicated to helping alleviate animal suffering and prevent cruelty to
>animals in every
>part of the world, WSPA maintains an international disaster relief fund to
>carry out
>animal rescue activities and provide financial aid for animals during times
>of war or
>natural disaster.
>Donations can be made to help the animals by calling 1-800-363-WSPA.
Cheques
>can
>also be sent to WSPA at 44 Victoria St, Suite 1310, Toronto, ON M5C 1Y2.
>
> - 30 -
>
>Contact details for the two area humane societies are as follows:
>
>Montreal SPCA
>"Canadian SPCA"
>5215 Jean Talon Ouest
>Montreal, PQ
>H4P 1X4
>contact: Pierre Barnoti
>(514) 735-2711
>
>Sherbrooke SPCA
>"SociΘtΘ Protrectrice des Animaux de l'Estrie"
>1139 Boul. Queen Nord
>Sherbrooke, PQ
>J1J 4N5
>Contact: Philipe LavontΘ
>(819) 821-4727
>(819) 823-1573
>
>I also had a call in to the Concordia Animal Rights Association (C.A.R.A)
>but was unable to reach them as I only had the number of the Student Union
>and the university was no doubt closed.
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: David J Knowles
>To: ar-news@envirolink.org
>Date: Thursday, January 22, 1998 5:41 AM
>Subject: [CA] Farmers enduring ice storm `torture chamber'
>
>
>>>From The Vancouver Sun website- Thursday, January 22nd, 1998
>>
>>Farmers enduring ice storm `torture chamber'
>>
>>HOLLIE SHAW
>>
>>
>>TORONTO (CP) û Their farms are ravaged, their animals are sick and dying
>>and their morale is crushed.
>>
>>But as thousands of Ontario and Quebec farmers begin a third week without
>>electricity, there may be some relief in sight after the misery caused by
>>the ice storm. Federal Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief announced
>>Wednesday that Ottawa would help pay for storm damages suffered by Ontario
>>and Quebec dairy farmers.
>>
>>"We are ready and willing to cover costs for affected farms after a formal
>>request is made from the province in question and if no private insurance
>>is available," Vanclief told the Dairy Farmers of Canada annual convention
>>in Vancouver.
>>
>>He said the federal and provincial governments should be able to help
cover
>>most of the damage costs, but not all.
>>
>>"Loss of income, loss of opportunity and inconvenience on the other hand
>>are not covered," he added.
>>
>>The announcement likely represents cold comfort for many farmers
struggling
>>to get through each day without power.
>>
>>Farmers are enduring extraordinary hardships and are "on the edge," said
>>Marian Smith, spokeswoman for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture.
>>
>>"It's like a torture chamber out there. Farmers are fending for themselves
>>and they can't see an end to it. It's far from over."
>>
>>Power is trickling back into households in Ontario and Quebec, but the
>>biggest losers are rural customers, especially farmers. It could be
another
>>two weeks before power is restored to some areas.
>>
>>"Not that it was easy for the city people, but farmers don't have the
>>luxury of getting warm at a shelter because they have to stay and take
care
>>of their animals," Smith said.
>>
>>Farmers face myriad losses: their income has stopped coming in and their
>>costs have multiplied.
>>
>>Entire herds of cattle have been wiped out and many farmers owe colossal
>>veterinary bills. Maple farmers have seen their trees decimated. Dairy
>>farmers have been unable to keep up with manual milking demands, causing
>>many cows to become ill with mastitis.
>>
>>It's also expensive to run a generator nonstop, and because many
generators
>>are overworked, they break down and need to be fixed. Other farms
weathered
>>major structural damage such as barns collapsing under the weight of the
>ice.
>>
>>"Entire farms are out of sync and many won't be back on track until next
>>summer. The costs will be astronomical," said Hugh Maynard, spokesman for
>>the Quebec Farmer's Association.
>>
>>Two Ontario farmers have committed suicide and there are rumors about
>>others, Smith said.
>>
>>"But we're trying to downplay that û it seems as though once you hear of a
>>couple doing it, others follow."
>>
>>Dairy farmer Rejean Pommainville, who lives in Russell County southeast of
>>Ottawa, had 18 people sleeping on his floor at the blackout's pinnacle.
>>
>>"Three families were sharing one generator. Then my generator blew up
after
>>four days."
>>
>>But Pommainville, who got his power back after 14 icy days, said he's one
>>of the lucky ones.
>>
>>"Only one of my cows got pneumonia. I'm grateful."
>>
>>Smith said concerned citizens can help Ontario farmers by being aware of
>>the difficulties they're facing, and making a donation to the Ontario
Rural
>>Relief Fund.
>>
>>"It's the long-term effects that worry me. The financial aspect is going
to
>>be a big problem."
>>
>>Copyright: The Vancouver Sun / Southam News 1998
>>
>>[I am awaiting contact details from Quebec about this situation and also
>>that regarding companion animals and wildlife. I will post ASAP.
Initially,
>>I have heard that many people refused to leave their homes despite being
>>without power or heat because they did not wish to abandon their animals.
I
>>also heard there was only a very limited number of shelters that allowed
>>humans to bring their animals with them or shelters for animals. David]
>>
>>
>
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 10:59:21 -0800
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: (US-CO) BOUNTY ON POACHERS
Message-ID: <34C8E888.626D869B@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
EDITORIALS
(Denver Post; 01/25/98)
BOUNTY ON POACHERS
Colorado legislators pushing to impose a $25,000 surcharge on poachers
of trophy animals have our unconditional support.
Commercial poachers quickly are killing off Colorado's biggest and best
elk, deer, bighorn sheep, moose and mountain goats.
They kill the animals, then sell their heads and racks for $40,000 to
$50,000. The waste they leave in their wake is obscene. Poachers, for
example, shot 52 cow elk to death near Maybell in late 1996, leaving the
carcasses to rot.
The beauty they destroy is immeasurable. Sampson, for example, was a
magnificent 1,000-pound bull elk, with a rack of eight points on one
side and nine on the other. He was renowned and beloved in Estes Park -
until a Lakewood man shot him through the heart with an arrow in
November 1995.
Consider the paltry consequences for that man, Randal Lee Francis. He
got 90 days in jail and a $6,000 fine for slaying a state treasure.
Later, Francis was convicted of the 1994 killing of an eight-point mule
deer buck outside of Eagle without a license. For that, he was fined
$1,500 and ordered to surrender the buck's head-and-shoulder mount.
Finally, after killing two bull elk in Jefferson County in 1995, Francis
was hit with one of the harshest sentencing packages ever given a
poacher in Colorado. Penalties included two years' incarceration, two
years' work release, 300 hours of community service and loss of hunting,
fishing and driver's licenses.
But Colorado lost one of its finest specimens of wildlife. And the grand
total of Francis' fines doesn't begin to touch the huge profits he would
have made of just one animal's head and rack. The new surcharge, in
legislation sponsored by Rep. Mark Udall, D-Boulder, would at least
impose some reasonable financial penalty on those motivated by greed.
The original bill called for a surcharge of $2,000 to $8,000. An
amendment by Rep. Russ George, R-Rifle, boosted the surcharge, which
would be paid in addition to any other court fines, to $25,000.
While $25,000 may seem a high price, the amount must be high if it is to
deter poachers.
"I don't care if we raise a thin dime," Udall says, "if it stops this
poaching of our trophy animals."
We urge the House Finance Committee to support this legislation, proving
the value that Colorado places on its wildlife.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 11:02:21 -0800
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: (US-TX) Fashion notes: Let the fur fly
Message-ID: <34C8E93D.DD483335@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Fashion notes
(Houston Chronicle; 01/22/98)
Let the fur fly
Yes, fur was back on the runways for winter, but don't think that
protesters have let down their guard.
Dan Mathews, director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,
met with designer Isaac Mizrahi last year to discuss Penthouse
magazine's annual Pet of the Year photo feature; plans included using
another company's fur.
Mizrahi invited Mathews to his November fashion showing and agreed with
Penthouse to replace the real fox jacket offered for the 1998 photo
shoot with a Mizrahi flame-red fake.
North Carolina native Paige Summers is the 1998 Penthouse Pet. Why do we
have the feeling she won't actually be "wearing" the "fur"?
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 01:36:28 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Pisces-new email and old name
Message-ID: <199801231736.BAA27015@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Pisces has reverted to the name of Campaign for the Abolition of Angling.
They're new email is .
Postal address remains:
BM Fish
London WC1N 3XX
Tel/Fax: 0171-2783068
URL is http://www.envirolink.org/arrs/pisces/index.html
- Vadivu
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 15:44:26 -0500
From: crystal1@capecod.net (truddi lawlor)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CA)IFAW assists shelters hit by ice storm
Message-ID: <199801232044.PAA21285@mailhost.capecod.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 13:54:44 +0000
>Subject: International Fund for Animal Welfare assists shelters hit by ice
storm
200 DOGS AND CATS SAVED FROM HYPOTHERMIA DURING QUEBEC ICE STORM
BY IFAW CANADA,
THE SPA SHERBROOKE AND ONE GENEROUS DONOR
Tuesday, January 20, 1998 (Ottawa) - More than 200 dogs and cats were in danger
of succumbing to hypothermia and death after the ice storm last week when the
SPCA in MontΘrΘgie, QuΘbec lost all power and was plunged into darkness and
cold. Today, the animals have heat, light or foster homes due to the combined
efforts of animal welfare organization IFAW (International Fund for Animal
Welfare), the Sherbrooke SPA (Society for the Protection of Animals) and a
compassionate individual from Montreal who bought a second generator for the
shelter at a cost of more than $5,000.
IFAW will add another $10,000 to the pot this week with two donations of $5,000
going towards Emergency Relief Operations at the SPCA MontΘrΘgie and the
Shangri-La Animal Shelter in Franklin Centre, QuΘbec. Both shelters have
"no-kill" policies.
Still without hydro power today, SPCA MontΘrΘgie founder Linda Robertson said,
"I've been struggling with my animals at the shelter and at home. People can't
understand how alone you feel. After four o'clock there's not one light
anywhere. it's eerie. But when I get calls from caring individuals and
organizations like IFAW, it's good for the morale. We need their support
because the whole situation is so overwhelming."
Last Wednesday when Robertson called IFAW for help, Kiki Cliff got busy on the
phone trying to find a generator. Cliff co-ordinates IFAW's "Pet Rescue"
program, and took it upon herself to manage emergency relief donations upon
learning that hundreds of animals were in danger. With no luck anywhere in
Quebec or Eastern Ontario, Cliff finally located one in London and immediately
had it flown to Montreal. Guy Levacher, Quebec co-ordinator for IFAW, then took
the generator from Dorval to the SPCA in MontΘrΘgie - and in a dark, open field
at -20 degrees Celsius, managed to get it up and running. With lights back on
in the shelter, volunteer workers were able to care for the freezing animals.
Unfortunately, the generator wasn't powerful enough to run the building's
heating system, so Levacher surprised his wife by taking 10 cats home to
Montreal. "They were all in one room huddled together in blankets," he said.
The SPA Sherbrooke arrived and took the rest of the cats and most of the
puppies. They also provided Robertson with a cell phone since the accumulation
of ice had toppled more than 100 telephone poles in the area, and at one point
she had been stranded at her rural home with no way of calling for help. "This
area's just devastated," she said. "There's hardly a branch left on a tree."
Robertson took home a small black lab named "Molly" because the dog wasn't doing
too well and needed special care. She also took in a two-month-old puppy.
Although Robertson didn't have power at her home either (also in the MontΘrΘgie
area) she burned wood, old flower boxes and whatever else she could find to keep
her menagerie warm.
Referring to the adult dogs that were never removed from the shelter, Robertson
said, "Now that the generator is working, the dogs are doing fine." A
compassionate, generous individual who wishes to remain anonymous donated a
10,000 kW generator, which has the capacity to run the shelter's heating system.
Evidently, this woman from the C⌠te-des-neiges area got in touch with Levacher,
gave him her credit card and instructed him to buy a large generator from a
store in St-Laurent. She said, "I have no regrets whatsoever and only feel a
great sense of satisfaction at having helped save so many animals from dying of
cold."
Robertson doesn't expect hydro power back on at the animal shelter until early
February or later, and today the well-pump gave up. She's working at getting
the pump fixed, and meanwhile, will find some other way of getting water to the
animals.
For more information call Heather Ritchie, Communications, IFAW Canada: (613)
233-8458, ext. 25.
IFAW Canada provides funding to animal shelters with "no-kill" policies, and
manages Pet Rescue and Emergency Relief programs. Another IFAW goal is to
protect wildlife and marine mammals from the cruelty resulting from commercial
exploitation. IFAW does not oppose traditional subsistence hunting by Native
people.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 15:09:52 -0600
From: Steve Barney
To: AR-News
Subject: [Fwd: Factory Farm Report from Sen. Harkin's office (fwd)]
Message-ID: <34C90720.9AD0F819@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------D050DBD233D5C513B6912423"
Return-path:
Received: from igc7.igc.org (igc7.igc.apc.org)
by VAXA.CIS.UWOSH.EDU (PMDF V5.1-7 #17145)
with ESMTP id <01ISPIZHTZ6O014N5T@VAXA.CIS.UWOSH.EDU>; Fri,
23 Jan 1998 07:50:15 CST
Received: (from ) by igc7.igc.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id FAA02119; Fri,
23 Jan 1998 05:47:25 -0800 (PST)
Received: from mail1.doit.wisc.edu (mail1.doit.wisc.edu [144.92.9.40])
by igc7.igc.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id FAA01947; Fri,
23 Jan 1998 05:47:06 -0800 (PST)
Received: from [144.92.210.125] by mail1.doit.wisc.edu id HAA75836 (8.8.6/50)
; Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:47:01 -0600
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:47:01 -0600
From: jepeck@students.wisc.edu (John E. Peck)
Subject: Factory Farm Report from Sen. Harkin's office (fwd)
Sender: owner-wisc-eco@igc.apc.org
X-Sender: kcbanz@students.wisc.edu (Unverified)
To: wisc-eco@igc.apc.org, pw-list@igc.apc.org
Message-id:
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Precedence: bulk
excerpted from:
>SIERRA CLUB
>DAILY WAR ON THE ENVIRONMENT #7, VOL. III
>January 20, 1998
>
>WATERWAYS II: Manure in your water?
>
>This just in from a report conducted for Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA):
>
>*Sixty percent of rivers and streams have been impaired by
>agricultural runoff.
>
>* In 1996 alone, 40 animal waste spills killed 670,000 fish in
>Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, up from 20 spills in 1992.
>
>*Between 1969 and 1992, the number of farms with broiler houses fell
>by 35%, but poultry production nearly tripled.
>
>*Nationwide, 130 times more animal waste is produced than human waste
>-- five tons for every U.S. citizen.
>
>Tom Harkin thinks we should do something about the manure in
>Americans' water. But Wayne Newton, vice-president of the Iowa
>Cattlemen's Association, is singing a different tune.
>"By and large," says Wayne Newton, "I hate to see the industry get
>over-regulated. I don't think we need a manure cop."
>
In case folks want to see a full version of the Senate Agric. Committee
report, entitled "Animal Waste Pollution in Americ: An Emerging National
Problem," you can access the document via the website:
www.senate.gov/~agriculture/animalw.htm
or call Sen. Harkin's DC office: (202) 224-3254
- John
John Peck, c/o UW Greens, 731 State St., Madison WI 53703 #608-262-9036
"No new faith - not even the most humane and peacable - has ever been
considred 'within the law' by those who were in power." - Emma Goldman
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 16:42:42 -0500 (EST)
From: Jill Howe
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: BSE/CJD kills 7, up to 100 more may be infected (Asia)
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
A brief on CNN reports that an Asian hospital has had 7 deaths from
BSE/CJD. Up to 100 patients may have been infected by heart/lung
diagnostics performed on the patients. It seems that "materials" used
during diagnostics may have had tainted ingredients.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 18:07:44 -0800
From: Mesia Quartano
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: (US-TN) Farm Bureau proposal more trouble for hunters
Message-ID: <34C94CF0.B0A18512@usa.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Farm Bureau proposal more trouble for hunters
(Knoxville News Sentinel; 01/11/98)
The latest group that wants to make life tougher on Tennessee's
law-abiding hunters isn't a bunch of animal rights activists, it's the
Tennessee Farm Bureau. The difference is the Farm Bureau will tell you
it's trying to do the hunters a favor.
The problem is a piece of legislation that was introduced at the
Legislature in 1997 and is about to emerge from a study committee in
time for the 1998 session. If passed, the bill will require all hunters
hunting on private property to carry written permission from the
landowner or face a citation and a fine.
The Farm Bureau's position is this: Under the present law landowners who
don't have their lands posted according to strict guidelines that
include signs and painted boundaries don't have enough weapons to fight
trespassers. If the land is properly marked and posted, hunters have to
have written permission to be on the property and can be cited on the
spot by authorities. On land that is
not posted according to the law, property owners have to swear out
warrants if they want trespassers prosecuted.
The new law would make it simpler for all land owners to have unwanted
hunters - not to mention hikers, bikers, anglers, bird watchers, etc. -
cited on the spot for trespassing. Officers from the Tennessee Wildlife
Resources Agency would simply ask to see the written permission when
they were checking licenses.
No permission? You get a ticket.
It's simple, to the point and a potential Pandora's Box for a lot of
hunters. At least the ethical ones who obey the law.
I have permission from more than a dozen farmers not only to hunt on
their land, but to bring guests. Under the proposed law, not only would
I have to have my permission slip, but each guest would need one as
well.
What if I had a friend or relative in from out of town and we decided to
go hunting on the spur of the moment? Can't do it. Legally we will have
to get another permission slip if the bill becomes law.
A friend of mine hunts on a farm owned by a man who can't read or write,
but the man has to be able to write out a permission slip for my friend
to keep hunting there. There is a good chance this wouldn't be an
isolated case.
I know a landowner who lives out of state, but doesn't care if his
property is hunted. Most people who live in the area know the owners
don't care and take advantage of the good hunting. Now everyone will
have to get on the phone and ask for written permission.
The way the proposed law is worded I would have to have permission from
my mother to hunt on her property in Powell.
And, of course, some land owners are simply not going to want to put in
writing what they are more than willing to give verbally. Liability
issues, real and imagined, seem greater when there's a paper trail.
And if the burden of the proposed law isn't enough to wilt the
enthusiasm of the hunters, think about the added pressure this would put
on TWRA.
Rhedona Rose, director of public affairs for the Farm Bureau, said TWRA
officers simply will ask to see permission slips when they are checking
licenses.
The officers will have to learn who owns what piece of property and what
the boundaries of that property are. It won't hurt for them to learn
each individual's landowners handwriting, too.
And chances are the legislation would require that TWRA be the body
responsible for enforcing the law for hunters and non-hunters alike. But
TWRA doesn't normally check non hunters for licenses . . . so maybe it
wouldn't be that simple after all.
Of course, various anti-hunting organizations have jumped on board in
favor of the bill because anything that restricts hunting in any way is
good for them and bad for hunters.
The bottom line question is this: Is the law needed at all? Hunters who
are ethical already follow the law and ask permission before hunting a
piece of property. If the property owner says no, that is the final
word. Those hunters who knowingly trespass on private property probably
will keep doing it.
The law would be another level of bureaucracy for the ethical hunter,
another rule in the book to simply be ignored by the unethical.
Monday in Nashville the Study Committee, chaired by District 14 Rep.
H.E. Bittle, will hear final arguments for and against the bill. From
there it will head into the Legislature to either become law or die.
May it rest in peace.
********************
end of article
********************
"Hunters who are ethical"? Oxymoron, anyone...
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 18:24:52 -0800
From: Karen Purves
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: USFWS user fees
Message-ID: <34C950F4.14E3@earthlink.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
To view the entire Federal Register notice for the USFWS proposed rules
regarding user fees for license holders, go to:
http://www.gpo.ucop.edu
click on "search federal register"
then enter the date (1/22/98) and the page numbers (3298-3301) and hit "run
search".
Karen E. Purves, M.A.
API--Midwest Regional Office
3540 N. Southport Ave., Suite 254
Chicago IL 60657-1436
ph: 773/975-7840
fax: 773/975-7924
email: samneph@earthlink.net
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 21:11:27 -0500
From: Wyandotte Animal Group
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: USDA Seeks Comment on Interstate Movement of Sheep and Goats
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19980124021127.0bf76b5a@mail.heritage.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> Dawn Schu (301) 734-7255
> dschu@aphis.usda.gov
> Jerry Redding (202) 720-6959
> jredding@usda.gov
>
>
>USDA SEEKS COMMENT ON INTERSTATE MOVEMENT OF SHEEP AND
>GOATS
>
> WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 1998--The U.S. Department of Agriculture is
>seeking public comment on potential regulation changes to improve
>control and limit the spread of scrapie, a serious neurological disease of
>sheep and goats.
>
> "We are concerned about the possibility of scrapie being spread from
>one state to another," said Joan M. Arnoldi, deputy administrator for
>veterinary services with the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
>a part of USDA's marketing and regulatory programs mission area.
>"These changes would help protect all American livestock."
>
> APHIS is seeking public input on whether and how APHIS should
>restrict the interstate movement of animals from states that do not
>quarantine infected flocks.
>
> Current APHIS regulations only apply to flock owners who wish to
>move sheep interstate. Intrastate movement of animals from infected
>flocks is not restricted and poses a risk of transmitting scrapie to other
>animals within a state. These other animals could then spread the
>disease interstate.
>
> Commenters are asked to address areas that apply to possible state
>quarantine standards, the alignment of federal interstate movement
>restrictions with state standards, and Voluntary Scrapie Flock
>Certification Program standards.
>
> For further information, contact: Joseph VanTiem, Senior Staff
>Veterinarian, National Animal Health Programs, VS, APHIS, 4700 River
>Road, Unit 46, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1231, (301) 734-7716.
>
> This notice is scheduled for publication in the Jan. 26 Federal
>Register.
>
> Consideration will be given to comments received on or before March
>27. An original and three copies should be sent to Docket No. 97-093-1,
>Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Suite 3C03, 4700
>River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238.
>
> Comments may be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building,
>14th Street and Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C., between
>8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays. Persons
>wishing to review comments are requested to call ahead at (202)
>690-2817 to facilitate entry into the comment reading room.
> #
Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
wag@heritage.com
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 22:04:19 -0500
From: jeanlee
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Companies that test
Message-ID: <34C95A33.4208@concentric.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
The American Anti-Vivisection Society has a feature in their "Activate
for Animals" newsletter called "Animal Testing Companies of the Month."
They suggest letters or phone calls telling how you feel about animal
testing. I usually address the letter to the attention of Consumer
Relations, or some such title. This month's companies are:
Dow Brands, 9550 N. Zionsville, Indianapolis, IN 46268. (317)
873-7000.
Arm & Hammer, 469 Harrison St., Princeton, NJ 08543. (800) 624-2889.
Kimberly-Clark Corporation, P.O. Box 619100, Dallas, TX 75261. (800)
544-1847.
AAVS adds a disclaimer that the listing is based on information at the
time of production (December, '97.)
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 23:32:36 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Statement about 'cattle eating cattle' is basis of suit
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980123233233.00b34524@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web posted Friday, January 23, 1998 7:17 p.m. CT
Statement about 'cattle eating cattle' is basis of suit
By CHIP CHANDLER
Globe-News Staff Writer
Statements that cattle eat cattle were unfair and are a major reason for
the lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey, one of the plaintiffs testified Friday.
The defamation case against Winfrey recessed for the weekend on Friday
afternoon. The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Monday.
Bill O'Brien, managing partner of Texas Beef Group, said Friday that he
thought viewers of the April 16, 1996, show were left with the impression
that "cattlemen are grinding up cattle parts and pouring them in the
troughs . . ."
"What we're doing is the furthest thing in the world from that," O'Brien
said.
Jurors were shown a video clip compressing nine statements similar to
"cattle are eating cattle" that were said on Winfrey's show.
But similar statements in other media outlets were not objectionable, he
said.
Ranchers feed cattle "the rendered parts of cows and sheep," according to
an April 1996 Newsweek article introduced by Winfrey's attorney Charles
Babcock.
The use of "rendered" makes that statement acceptable, O'Brien said.
"That's a very important distinction."
The war of words continued throughout O'Brien's cross-examination
testimony. He will resume testifying on Monday.
In other court matters, Perryton Feeders withdrew its motion to leave the
case after filing it on Tuesday, according to court documents.
The feed yard had filed a motion to withdraw after U.S. District Judge Mary
Lou Robinson granted a defense motion to exclude evidence that feed yards
suffered financial damage on customer cattle they were feeding at the time
of the show.
However, paperwork filed Friday said Perryton Feeders Inc. withdrew that
motion during a pretrial conference at 9 a.m. Tuesday morning before the
jury selection began. The Court will not rule on the motion, according to
the brief.
Globe-News Farm and Ranch Editor Kay Ledbetter contributed to this report.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 23:36:08 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Cattleman says show was scary
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980123233606.00b343f4@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web posted Friday, January 23, 1998 1:37 p.m. CT
Cattleman says show was scary
Cattleman testifies that show was purposely `scary'
By KAY LEDBETTER
Farm and Ranch Editor
The "Oprah Winfrey Show" was different than many
other media accounts of the mad cow disease
situation because her show made it scary, according to Bill O'Brien,
managing partner of Texas Beef Producers.
O'Brien was the second witness to be called by plaintiffs in the cattleman
vs. Winfrey trial.
Cattle futures markets locked down the daily limit on April 16, 1996, an
extremely unusual move, O'Brien said.
He said when the program aired, it had a message that American beef was
unsafe.
"You had a video of cattle falling down, playing boom, boom, boom - scary
music in the background; sound bites of inaccurate information and Oprah
over there cheerleading it on and putting her stamp of approval on all of
it," O'Brien said.
O'Brien, who has been trading thousands of head of cattle in the market for
at least 20 years, said the markets are very complex and they work on every
piece of information in the world.
When judgments are made, they balance all the information and prior to the
"Oprah Winfrey Show," the story of the safety of American beef was
presented as a non-event for U.S. beef. That all changed with the "Oprah
Winfrey Show," O'Brien said, because of her forum and editing.
"It scared people and it scared the markets," he testified.
Before O'Brien took the stand, Mike Engler, a Cactus Feeder senior vice
president, returned to the stand for redirect questioning by plaintiffs'
attorney Joe Coyne.
He clarified that the death certificates discussed Thursday were not the
complete file. He said the cows in question died in a hospital where the
medication and diagnosis are done and where doctors and veterinarians do
their work.
Engler also was asked again to address the issue of meat-and-bone meal not
being a cow. It was pointed out that tires and insulin both are derived
from a cow, but "you never heard a diabetic say they were taking a cow
shot," he said.
O'Brien said he thought viewers of the April 16, 1996, show were left with
the impression that "cattlemen are grinding up cattle parts and pouring
them in the troughs . . . ."
"What we're doing is the furthest thing in the world from that," O'Brien
said.
O'Brien testified that he had written a letter to the Texas Cattleman's
Beef Association president.
In the letter, O'Brien wrote that the association should be prepared for
"the likely discovery of a BSE animal in the U.S. cattle herd."
On the stand, O'Brien said that the word "likely" was a typographical
error.
"I have never said `likely'," he said.
O'Brien also testified that he timed Harold Lyman and three cattle industry
experts on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" in question in both the edited and
unedited versions. According to his calculations, O'Brien said 67 percent
of what Lyman said was broadcast; while only 25 percent of what cattle
proponents said was aired.
What was said, what wasn't said and what was implied during the April 16
show was at the center of a Thursday's testimony by Engler.
Engler, son of Paul Engler, the original plaintiff in the suit, was the
first witness called in the case being tried in U.S. District Court in
Amarillo by Judge Mary Lou Robinson.
He was the only witness Thursday.
"You would recognize that neither your dad nor your company was recognized
by name" on the show in question, said Charles Babcock, Winfrey's attorney,
to Engler.
"When you talk about the beef industry and we are the largest privately
owned feeders in the nation, I would take it as aimed at us," Engler said.
Another issue Babcock and Engler spent much time discussing was the
statement by Howard Lyman, a guest on the show, concerning "feeding cows to
cows." Babcock asked Engler if he wouldn't agree the statement was true
because meat and bone meal were being used as a protein source.
"No," Engler said. "Meat and bone meal is not cows. It's not the same as
feeding cows to cows. A reasonable person knows what a cow looks like, and
this doesn't look like hamburger, meat or a cow."
Engler said the pelletized version of meat and bone meal has broken down
the substances and changed the composition through cooking and
sterilization.
Engler spent considerable time with plaintiff attorney Joe Coyne,
discussing his concerns with Lyman's statement about mad cow disease making
AIDS look like the common cold.
In cross-examination, Babcock said, "You know Ms. Winfrey was aware before
the broadcast that Howard Lyman had the thought in his head that in the
next 10 years, BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) would make AIDS look
like the common cold."
Babcock asked Engler if Winfrey's comment "that's an extreme statement"
wasn't an indication Winfrey was not embracing Lyman's comment.
"No," Engler said. "She didn't question him. To me, frankly, she was trying
to be provocative."
Barry Peterson, Lyman's attorney, also questioned Engler about the
statement that BSE doesn't exist in the United States, saying it can't be
proven because only dead cattle can be tested and he could not say for
certain that no cattle in Cactus Feeders Inc. yards had BSE.
"I can tell you within a certain confidence there is no BSE," Engler said.
During Thursday morning testimony, Engler said the show was inflammatory in
nature and contained numerous false statements.
"I got the message that we (cattlemen) were putting the American public at
risk, and that's not true," he said. "Due to the editing of the show, she
or her company gave Howard Lyman the last say and that was cattlemen were
putting the American public at risk."
Engler maintained cattle are not rounded up in the United States and ground
up to be fed back to cattle, as stated by Lyman on the show. He said there
are not 100,000 cattle live at night and dead the next morning without any
known cause, as Lyman also stated on the show.
Common causes of cattle death in feedlots are bloat and pneumonia, Mike
Engler said. He said when a cause was not known "we perform a necropsy to
examine internal organs to determine what caused them to die." He also
testified that uncertain cases were sent to a veterinary diagnostic lab for
further testing and the cattle carcass was incinerated.
However, in cross examination, Babcock went through 13 cases with Engler in
which cattle had died at one of three feedlots owned by Cactus Feeders Inc.
where the death circumstances were questionable.
Babcock said in each case feedlot health records had not been signed by a
doctor. He said encephalitis was the diagnosis in several cases, but there
was no indication the brain had been sent to a laboratory for further
examination and in most cases, the carcasses had been sent to the "local
used cow dealer" for rendering.
Encephalitis could be a symptom of bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
Babcock said, quoting from a U.S. Department of Agriculture BSE follow up
study published in April 1996.
Under redirect by Coyne, Engler said the death certificates taken out of a
lot of other files kept by the feed yard might only indicate the doctor
forgot to sign the slips.
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 23:39:57 -0500
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Witness testifies some ill cattle sent to rendering plant
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19980123233955.00b35fc0@mail.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web posted Friday, January 23, 1998 5:49 a.m. CT
Witness testifies some ill cattle sent to rendering plant
By CHIP CHANDLER
Globe-News Staff Writer
A senior vice president of Cactus Feeders Inc. testified Thursday that
cattle with central nervous system diseases were sent to a rendering plant.
Attorneys for talk-show host Oprah Winfrey tried to link those diseases
with mad cow disease during a sometimes heated cross-examination.
Mike Engler -- son of Paul Engler, the original plaintiff and owner of
Cactus Feeders Inc. -- agreed that more than 10 cows with some sort of
central nervous system disorder were sent to Hereford By-Products.
The younger Engler, who has a doctorate in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins
University, was the only witness jurors heard Thursday in the Oprah Winfrey
defamation trial. His testimony will resume this morning.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report from which Winfrey
attorney Charles Babcock quoted, encephalitis caused by unknown reasons
could be a warning sign for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow
disease.
Encephalitis was indicated on the death certificates -- or ``dead slips''
-- of three Cactus Feeders cows discussed in court. The slips then were
stamped, ``Picked up by your local used cattle dealer'' before the
carcasses were taken to the rendering plant.
Under later questioning by plaintiff's attorney Joseph Coyne, Engler said
he thought symptoms of encephomyolitis, which include the cow keeping its
head locked in an upright position, were ``inconsistent with what was
observed in England'' with BSE-infected cattle.
Engler and Babcock sparred frequently as the afternoon's testimony wore on.
Most of their squabbles centered on what was said during the April 16,
1996, ``Oprah Winfrey Show,'' the episode that sparked the lawsuit. Engler
said during direct testimony that he felt the show contained numerous false
statements.
He said Winfrey and guest Howard Lyman seemed to say that the cattle
industry was not in favor of a ban on ruminant feed, believed to have
caused the spread of mad cow disease in England. Such feed includes
processed animal parts.
He said the cattle industry had asked the Food and Drug Administration to
impose a mandatory ban on that feed weeks before the show aired.
One significant exchange centered around whether Cactus Feeders or any of
the plaintiffs were mentioned by name during the show.
Babcock asked Engler to point out on the show's transcript where they were
mentioned.
Engler said he could not, but said, ``When you talk about beef producers in
the United States, and we're (Cactus Feeders) the largest cattle feeder in
the U.S., then I kinda feel like you're talking about us.''
The plaintiffs are suing, in part, under Texas' False Disparagement of
Foods Act, meaning they will have to prove the defendants specifically
disparaged the plaintiffs' products.
During direct testimony on Thursday morning, Engler outlined the standard
procedures for feeding cattle in feedlots. To do so, he mixed in a large,
clear plastic bowl the ingredients that would make up the 20 pounds of feed
a feed-yard animal eats per day.
The recipe contained 78 percent steamed, flaked whole corn; 10 percent
roughage; 3 percent liquid fat; 2 percent molasses; and 1 percent vitamins
and pharmaceuticals, Engler said. The remainder would be a supplement, an
ingredient bought from feed manufacturers to provide protein. This portion
would be made primarily of cottonseed or soybean meal, but could contain
meat and bone meal.
Before this summer, that meal could have contained rendered cattle parts,
which is believed to have contributed to the spread of mad cow disease in
England, Engler said. The government issued a mandatory ban on such feed on
Aug. 4.
Later, Babcock and Engler fought over Lyman's statement that ``cows are
eating cows.''
Engler would not concede, as Babcock wanted, that rendered cows can still
be considered cows when part of bone and meat meal.
Corn is processed into fructose, which is then used in soft drinks, Engler
said.
``When people drink Cokes, they don't say they're drinking corn,'' he said,
arguing that a similar process happens with rendered cows.
During the day's testimony, Engler also said statements by Lyman were
inflammatory and false.
He said the statement ``100,000 cattle are fine at night, dead in the
morning,'' made by Lyman, is untrue.
``It simply doesn't happen,'' Engler said, adding that most cattle that die
are the victims of lengthy illnesses with symptoms that are tracked.
When questioned by Lyman's attorney, Barry Peterson, Engler said he did not
know whether cattle with BSE might have been imported from England or other
countries before bans on those countries' cattle were enacted.
Peterson focused on the only known case of BSE in Canada. He said cattle
from that herd were brought to America. Though most were found and
destroyed, some could not be located, he said.
``You can't tell me today that some of those cattle were not turned over to
a renderer?'' Peterson asked.
``Nor can I say they were,'' Engler answered.
Winfrey appeared tired during testimony, at times resting her face in her
hand. The eight-woman, four-man jury appeared attentive through most of
Thursday's testimony, though by the end of the day, some seemed restless.
|
|
