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AR-NEWS Digest 601
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Monkeypox outbreak in Africa
by Andrew Gach
2) Jane Goodall: Chimpanzees Threatened
by Vegetarian Resource Center
3) Meat and egg processing causes food poisoning
by Andrew Gach
4) Goodall on the bush meat trade
by Andrew Gach
5) Diet prevents cancer
by Andrew Gach
6) Environmentalists seek logging ban
by Andrew Gach
7) That Spin Article
by Hillary
8) [UK] EU brings forward talks on beef ban
by David J Knowles
9) [UK] Water firm banned from using river supplies
by David J Knowles
10) [UK] Minister rules out time for hunt Bill
by David J Knowles
11) [UK/BZ] Rainforest destruction faster than thought
by David J Knowles
12) [UK] Danger: Pigs on drugs
by David J Knowles
13) (HK) Bird Flu
by jwed
14) [CA] SPCA seize 16 horses
by David J Knowles
15) [US] Making a trunk call - by foot
by David J Knowles
16) (CN) Giant panda has cataract removed
by jwed
17) MD:factory farming (fwd)
by Jean Colison
18) The hunger strikers
by Wyandotte Animal Group
19) King Royal Decision
by PAWS
20) RE: Researcher dies of monkey virus
by "D'Amico, Ann-Marie"
21) RE: King Royal Decision
by "D'Amico, Ann-Marie"
22) RE: Reminder: Ch. 7 Poll on Deer Hunting
by "D'Amico, Ann-Marie"
23) For Immediate Release.......Federal & Montana Officials taken to
Court
by buffalo folks
24) HORSE LOVERS: URGENT
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
25) Reminder: Hard Copy Tonight-- Fur story
by "Eric Mindel @ LCA"
26) News: San Francisco Frets Over Pigeon Problem
by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
27) (UK) GANDALF 4
by MINKLIB
28) "sweet revenge"
by eklei@earthlink.net
29) PPI
by "D'Amico, Ann-Marie"
30) NYC EVENTS-Updated
by Hillary
31) Interesting NY Dog Story
by Hillary
32) Newswire: King Royal Circus loses license
by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
33) NADAS - AN UPDATE
by "Bob Schlesinger"
34) (HK)Influenza - bird to man
by bunny
35) Make-A-Wish Duck Hunt Benefit in Mississippi
by "Eric Mindel @ LCA"
36) [UK] Giving free-rangers a six-month runaround
by David J Knowles
37) (Ca) Zoo's Last Inhabitant Dies
by Ty Savoy
38) The Monkey's Revenge
by joemiele
39) APHIS Press Release USDA-APHIS Statement on King Roayl Circus
Decision
by Wyandotte Animal Group
40) APHIS Press Release USDA SHUTS DOWN THE KING ROYAL CIRCUS
FOLLOWING DEATH OF ELEPHANT
by Wyandotte Animal Group
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 21:17:10 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Monkeypox outbreak in Africa
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Monkeypox outbreak in Africa said to be biggest ever
Reuters
ATLANTA (December 11, 1997 6:36 p.m. EST)
The largest outbreak of human monkeypox ever reported has sickened more
than 500 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, U.S. health
officials said Thursday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said children
16 and under accounted for 85 percent of the 511 human monkeypox cases
that have occurred in the former Zaire since February 1996.
The CDC said it was the largest human monkeypox outbreak ever recorded.
Five deaths were recorded, all of the victims aged between 4 and 8.
Monkeypox is a sister virus of smallpox and is generally spread by
squirrels and monkeys in the rain forests of western and central Africa.
Before the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, cases of
monkeypox in humans were rare.
Dr. Brian Mahy of the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases said
the outbreak does not suggest that monkeypox has become more virulent.
"We don't think that the virus has changed in any noticeable way since
the early 1980s," he said.
The increase in monkeypox cases may have occurred because of a
combination of exposure to animals and the end of smallpox vaccination
programs after the illness was eliminated in 1980. The smallpox vaccine
also protected against monkeypox.
"We know that there's been a lot of rebel fighting and disturbance in
that area, which may have resulted in people going out of their houses
to the bush a little bit more," Mahy said. "That could provide much
greater contact with the animals from which this disease is normally
acquired."
Monkeypox resembles smallpox, causing fever, swollen lymph nodes,
respiratory illness and pus-filled blisters on the skin. There is no
cure for the still rare and generally nonfatal viral disease, which
generally lasts about a week.
Mahy said the outbreak of monkeypox does not suggest a resurgence of
smallpox, which was eliminated worldwide in 1980. "It is clearly quite
different from smallpox, and it is not the sort of virus that could
mutate into smallpox. There are major, major differences between the
two," he said.
Last week the World Health Organization said it was not urging the
reintroduction of smallpox vaccination programs in Africa to prevent
monkeypox. Instead, it recommended limited contact with animals caught
in the wild and with people who are believed to have become infected.
By MIKE COOPER, Reuters
***************************************************
If there are "major, major differences" between the two and one can't
mutate into the other, what's the basis of the assumption that smallpox
vaccination protected people from monkeypox?
One can only speculate on the causes of the outbreak, but the
possibility that an infected batch of some vaccination was the source of
the outbreak. That would account for the fact that most of those
stricken have been children who are primary targets of vaccination
campaigns in Africa and elsewhere.
Andy
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 23:19:34 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center
To: AR-News@Envirolink.Org
Subject: Jane Goodall: Chimpanzees Threatened
Message-ID: <199712120423.XAA03046@mail-out-1.tiac.net>
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c The Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -
Chimpanzees already endangered by human-carried diseases and the loss of their
habitat now face an even greater threat - poachers who have traded spears for
automatic rifles.
Jane Goodall, the British scientist renowned for her study of chimpanzees,
said logging roads winding deep into African forests have left chimpanzees
vulnerable to the poachers, who find ready markets for the meat at home but
also as far away as Europe.
While in the past the hunters relied on nets, spears and other traditional
weapons, they now are using shotguns and automatic rifles, enabling them to
kill more quickly, she told a news conference Wednesday.
``I think the bush meat trade is probably the greatest danger in many central
and west African countries today,'' Goodall said. ``What was subsistence
hunting is now business.''
Together with the destruction of forests for firewood and lumber, the hunting
of chimpanzees has reduced their population to 250,000 in 21 African countries
from 2 million at the turn of the century, Goodall said.
Although chimpanzees and gorillas are protected species in the countries where
they are hunted, the laws are poorly enforced and demand for the meat is wide.
Chimpanzee and gorilla are on menus in cities from Cameroon to Congo, and as
far away as Paris and Brussels, according the World Wide Fund for Nature. The
meat is served dried, smoked and as steak or stew.
Goodall, who has studied Tanzania's chimpanzees for 38 years, said she is a
vegetarian because ``I don't want to eat anything that represents fear, pain
and death.''
Lumber companies owned by Germans, Britons, Japanese and Americans are
punching great networks of roads into forests, she said. Human traffic on the
roads expose chimps and gorillas to deadly diseases, including measles and
polio.
Employees of timber companies often rely on bush meat as a source of protein,
and logging trucks are known to ferry large quantities of bush meat out to
cities and towns.
A recent survey by the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Republic of Congo
found meat from 19 gorillas in a market in northern Ouesso over 11 weeks. A
similar study by the International Primate Protection League estimated 400 to
600 gorillas are killed each year in the northern Republic of Congo.
Chimps also are maimed by hunters. In three separate study areas in the Ivory
Coast and Uganda, up to 50 percent of adults chimps had lost a hand or a foot
to snares, Goodall said.
The Jane Goodall Institute, with U.S. headquarters in Silver Springs, Md., is
making plans to help young people in Africa breed cane rats to replace bush
meat, Goodall said.
Goodall, who lives in England and Tanzania, was in Kenya to raise money for
conservation efforts.
AP-NY-12-10-97 1449EST
⌐1997 Maynard S Clark Vegetarian Resource Center info@vegetarian.org
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 21:36:39 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Meat and egg processing causes food poisoning
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Modern food preparation methods contribute to rise of harmful bacteria
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (December 10, 1997 02:11 a.m. EST)
More than a month after eating a salmonella-tainted dish, Martha McNeely
is just beginning to feel like herself again.
"This bout of food poisoning has really been a jolt to my system," said
McNeely, a 51-year-old Washington lawyer who also copes with multiple
sclerosis. "It has set me back a lot."
The salmonella that sickened McNeely, her 15-year-old son and her son's
friend came from a ready-made lasagna dish they ate for dinner in late
October, hospital officials eventually learned.
The culprit? Unpasteurized eggs used in preparing the lasagna at a local
deli were tainted with a virulent salmonella strain that survived baking
in the oven. "It was a real shocker," McNeely said.
The bacteria that caused this isolated case and other dangerous microbes
in food kill 9,000 people every year and sicken millions more, according
to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of
salmonella illnesses alone has doubled over the past 20 years.
Doctors are getting better at diagnosing and reporting food illnesses.
Other factors in increased cases of food poisoning cited by the CDC
include: more people eating out, consumer ignorance about safe handling
of food, and an increased chance of illness among the growing numbers of
the elderly and people with suppressed immune systems, such as AIDS
sufferers.
Increasingly, experts say the efficient global food system that gives
grocery shoppers more choices and lower prices carries the troubling
cost of an upsurge in food poisoning.
The way outbreaks occur also is changing.
In the past, most cases originated in restaurants or at events like
church suppers -- caused by mistakes in the kitchen. Such cases still
happen -- one person died and 750 were sickened by salmonella at a
Maryland church outing last month.
But now there is a bigger problem: Food sometimes is tainted during
processing at the growing number of huge food factories and is widely
distributed before anyone gets sick.
"Industry consolidation and mass distribution of foods may lead to large
outbreaks of food-borne disease," Dr. Sean F. Altekruse, a veterinary
epidemiologist with the Food and Drug Administration, said in a new CDC
report on emerging microbes.
For example, about 224,000 people in many states were sickened by
salmonella in 1994 because tanker trucks used to haul thousands of
gallons of ice cream previously had been used to transport contaminated
liquid eggs, according to the CDC.
"The huge epidemic was the result of a basic failure on an industrial
scale to separate the raw from the cooked," said CDC researcher Robert
Tauxe.
A single day's production at a modern ground beef plant can turn out
hundreds of thousands of pounds of hamburger, which is then quickly
trucked all over the country.
"That means any single problem that happens can be spread very quickly
and cause massive illness before we even know about it," said Caroline
Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the nonprofit Center for Science
in the Public Interest.
Along with the industrial food processing system, Altekruse said the
trend toward large-scale livestock operations in which thousands of
animals are crowded together is another reason for increased problems
with bacteria.
In 1945, for example, about 500 birds were in a typical henhouse. By
1995, houses contained as many as 100,000 hens, which can spread
salmonella through their eggs and in which microbes can quickly move
from animal to animal.
Food poisoning from imported and domestic produce such as cantaloupes,
strawberries, raspberries and tomatoes also has increased recently. The
CDC report identified several causes, including use of contaminated
water to spray the produce and animal manure containing E. coli touching
fruit during picking.
One disturbing trend is that some microbes are developing resistance to
antibiotics used to treat ill people, partly because antibiotics are
frequently given to livestock to prevent disease, serving as an
unintended inoculation for the bacteria that live with the animals.
In Britain, a strain of salmonella called DT104 has proven resistant to
many antibiotics, triggering a jump in human illnesses, said E.M. Foster
of the Food Research Institute in Madison, Wis. More than one-third of
the people infected with DT104 were hospitalized and 3 percent died,
Foster said.
"These figures are very unusual for ordinary salmonella infections and
indicate serious problems ahead," Foster said. The strain is emerging in
the United States.
Food safety experts say the world's governments and private industry
must spend more on research into the causes and prevention of food
poisoning, from the farm to the dinner table, and on identifying how the
bacteria are getting into the food system.
In the United States, a new surveillance system called FoodNet is being
set up to monitor outbreaks. Also, scientists are able to use DNA to
trace microbes that sicken people in many places back to a single
source.
By CURT ANDERSON, AP Farm Writer
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 21:39:43 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Goodall on the bush meat trade
Message-ID: <3490CE1F.36A7@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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Goodall: Illegal hunting is biggest threat to chimpanzees
The Associated Press
NAIROBI, Kenya (December 10, 1997 3:30 p.m. EST)
Chimpanzees already endangered by human-carried diseases and habitat
loss now face an even greater threat -- poachers who have traded spears
for automatic rifles.
Jane Goodall, the British scientist renowned for her study of
chimpanzees, said logging roads winding deep into African forests have
left chimpanzees vulnerable to the poachers, who find ready markets for
the meat at home but also as far away as Europe.
While in the past the hunters relied on nets, spears and other
traditional weapons, they now are using shotguns and automatic rifles,
enabling them to kill more quickly, she told a news conference
Wednesday.
"I think the bush meat trade is probably the greatest danger in many
central and west African countries today," Goodall said. "What was
subsistence hunting is now business."
Together with the destruction of forests for firewood and lumber, the
hunting of chimpanzees has reduced their population to 250,000 in 21
African countries from 2 million at the turn of the century, Goodall
said.
Although chimpanzees and gorillas are protected species in the countries
where they are hunted, the laws are poorly enforced and demand for the
meat is widespread.
Chimpanzee and gorilla are on menus in cities from Cameroon to Congo,
and as far away as Paris and Brussels, according to the World Wide Fund
for Nature. The meat is served dried, smoked and as steak or stew.
Goodall, who has studied Tanzania's chimpanzees for 38 years, said she
is a vegetarian because "I don't want to eat anything that represents
fear, pain and death."
Lumber companies owned by Germans, Britons, Japanese and Americans are
punching great networks of roads into forests, she said. Human traffic
on the roads expose chimps and gorillas to deadly diseases, including
measles and polio.
Employees of timber companies often rely on bush meat as a source of
protein, and logging trucks are known to ferry large quantities of bush
meat out to cities and towns.
A recent survey by the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Republic of
Congo found meat from 19 gorillas in a market in northern Ouesso over an
11-week period. A similar study by the International Primate Protection
League estimated 400 to 600 gorillas are killed each year in the
northern Republic of Congo.
Chimps also are maimed by hunters. In three separate study areas in the
Ivory Coast and Uganda, up to 50 percent of adults chimps had lost a
hand or a foot to snares, Goodall said.
The Jane Goodall Institute, with U.S. headquarters in Silver Springs,
Md., is making plans to help young people in Africa breed cane rats to
replace bush meat, Goodall said.
Goodall, who lives in England and Tanzania, was in Kenya to raise money
for conservation efforts.
By KARIN DAVIES, Associated Press Writer
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 21:41:55 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Diet prevents cancer
Message-ID: <3490CEA3.746F@worldnet.att.net>
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Experts say half of all cancers are preventable with lifestyle changes
Agence France-Presse
BOSTON (December 10, 1997 9:07 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - Half of
all cancers can be prevented by simple lifestyle changes, experts
reported Wednesday at the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention.
The authors of the center's annual report put particular emphasis on
preventing colon cancer, which is frequently linked to inadequate
exercise.
Just a half-hour of daily exercise could ward off many cases of colon
cancer, the study's authors assert. They also recommended a high-fiber,
low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
"This newest report actually details practical steps we can take to make
those lifestyle changes," said Graham Colditz, the center's director for
education.
The Harvard Center reported that 60 percent of U.S. adults do not follow
those health guidelines and estimated that 50 percent of American
children are not getting daily exercise.
Researchers said colon cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer
fatalities, resulting in 54,900 deaths in 1997. Some 95,000 new cases of
colon cancer are diagnosed each year, experts reported.
**********************************************************************
It took the experts a while to report what vegetarians have known
for ages.
Better late than never!
Andy
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 21:43:02 -0800
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Environmentalists seek logging ban
Message-ID: <3490CEE6.444D@worldnet.att.net>
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Environmentalists seek ban on logging of national forest areas without
roads
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (December 10, 1997 9:07 p.m. EST)
Environmentalists called on President Clinton Wednesday to bar logging
and road building on all pristine tracts larger than 1,000 acres in
national forests.
Despite the administration's earlier pledges to avoid logging in
roadless areas, at least 50 logging projects are in the works in
untouched stands of national forests with no roads, the Western Ancient
Forest Campaign said in a new report.
Ten proposed timber sales are in Oregon, seven in Colorado and five in
Idaho. Others are at various stages in Alaska, Arizona, California,
Georgia, Montana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and Washington
state.
The environmentalists called on Clinton to declare a moratorium on such
logging at least until the Forest Service can complete an inventory and
adopt a plan for managing them.
"There are few places that have not been paved over or bulldozed for
roads. We are losing these places even before we can inventory them,"
Dominick DellaSala, the World Wildlife Fund's director of U.S. forest
conservation programs, told a news conference.
Clinton said last month he was anxious to establish a new policy on
logging roads and roadless areas: "These last remaining wild areas are
precious to millions of Americans and key to protecting clean water and
abundant wildlife habitat and providing recreation opportunities."
The national forests have 378,000 miles of logging roads -- eight times
more than the U.S. interstate system.
The Forest Service in the 1970s began identifying roadless areas larger
than 5,000 acres. A small portion have been protected but the vast
majority remain unprotected, said Steve Holmer of the Western Ancient
Forest Campaign.
Roadless areas are critical for grizzly bears, lynx, salmon, trout and
other species that require large tracts of undisturbed habitat, the
activists said.
Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck had no immediate comment Wednesday.
But he told The Associated Press earlier that the agency will propose a
new policy before spring for roadless areas as well as construction and
maintenance of existing logging roads.
The Forest Service estimated in 1979 that it had about 80 million acres
in roadless conditions. Environmentalists believe at least 1 million of
those acres are being lost each year.
An Agriculture Department spokesman said at least two of the timber
sales on the list of 50 have been put on hold and are being canceled --
the Slide Hollow timber sale on the Cherokee National Forest in
Tennessee and the Long Draw timber sale on the Okanogan National Forest
in Washington state.
By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press Write
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 01:07:58 -0800
From: Hillary
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: That Spin Article
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971212010756.00d6ed48@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
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SPIN Magazine, December 1997
Marc Herman
On a late August afternoon in the parking lot of a Safeway in San Jose,
California, several members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
are gathered around a vehicle that resembles a very large hot dog. The PETA
volunteers, 15 or so, wave posters of gutted swine hanging from hooks and
chant that hot dogs once "had a face," while to the side, others conduct
interviews more calmly, discussing heart disease rates (high) and the cost
of raising animals for slaughter (also high), the Department of
Agriculture's animal welfare budget (low) and their opinions of the meat
industry's treatment of its livestock (lower).
One of the protesters wears a large, pink pig suit and waves to children,
looking like a lost Disneyland character amid the shouting. Twenty feet
away, the Wienermobile sits idling, a Chevy bus shaped like a frankfurter,
a little bigger than an average RV.
After five minutes of PETA's harangue, the Wienermobile starts up and flees
to a corner of the parking lot. Children and parents who'd been there to
greet the truck head inside Safeway, where a promotion for the Oscar Mayer
company ensues. PETA decides to hang out at the door.
"I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to approach
people," says Andrea Meyer (no relation), standing on a bench and holding
her pig poster against the glass. "And I'm thinking, I'm feeling more and
more that aggression is not the best way. I think education is good and I
think animal activists, myself included, really get carried away a lot of
the time."
A half-minute later her reflection is obliterated by more shouting. The
Safeway door opens, and three boys-four, five, and seven-walk out of the
store with their grandmother. They've just finished singing the Oscar Mayer
jingle. They are smiling broadly and full of random energy, bouncing into
each other for no apparent reason, clearly amped on a hot dog advertising
buzz. Meyer sees them passing by the bench below her and shouts down at the
boys, "Animals are my friends! I don't eat my friends!" a quote from George
Bernard Shaw. The boys seem to take this in stride, brushing it off like a
playground taunt. The grandmother is slightly more frazzled, looking up at
Meyer to judge the threat, and hurrying the children along. Meyer looks
back. "I don't think this is aggressive," she says, "but I think they're
taking it as such."
In a few parts of Montana, you used to be able to buy a shirt that read
PETA: PEOPLE FOR THE EATING OF TASTY ANIMALS. That this uncharitable
sentiment would eventually travel from cattle country to the cities was
perhaps inevitable. But no doubt about it: A backlash against PETA is under
way.
The line between effective aggressiveness and alienating obnoxiousness is
one that PETA has danced upon for some time. PETA has bartered in
confrontation more or less continuously since its founding in 1980 by a
Washington, D.C., animal shelter worker, Ingrid E. Newkirk, and political
science student Alex Pacheco. Since then, the group has grown to become
arguably the most visible animal rights organization in the country, with
offices on both coasts and three foreign countries and an annual operating
budget of $11.3 million. They walk like an army and talk like a ministry.
The group built itself on a mix of direct action and evangelism, attacking
institutions (animal labs, fashion designers, meat producers) while
criticizing choices made by individuals (morals, diets, clothes, consumer
preferences).
When PETA moved its headquarters from the Washington, D.C., suburbs to
Norfolk, Virginia, last year, it's new neighbor in nearby Virginia Beach
was a group that had exploited a similar tactic to great success: the
Christian Coalition. PETA's shock posters of animals suffering in medical
tests and its claims to being a voice for the voiceless are often
note-for-note reprises of abortion pictures waved outside family planning
clinics. At times, PETA seems a model of compassionate living; other times,
it seems like the compassion police. The group demands, on the one hand,
accountability from chicken farmers who de-beak their animals before
killing them, a needless money-saving effort that seems worthy of a closer
look. But it also advocates vegetarian diets for house cats, which are
unambiguous carnivores, inexplicably trying to bend nature to its political
will. It is hard to tell when the group is serious and when it's merely bored.
The group's famous PR efforts-the models posing naked in magazine ads, the
rank-and-file members throwing chicken feed at poultry farmers and dressing
as cows outside Burger Kings-seem forced and condescending. The outrageous
statements in the media, particularly calm off-the-cuff comparisons of
animal laboratories to Nazi concentration camps, quickly lose their meaning
and instead seem like calculated bad taste, insensitive to the point of
toxicity. The group's embrace of the basest aspects of celebrity culture
(Elizabeth Berkley posing for a PETA promotional photo in a tight dress
made of lettuce; Kim Basinger outside an animal testing lab in dark glasses
and a gun moll hat) seems neither bold, clever, nor savvy, but descends
into unintentional self-parody with remarkable speed.
At protests, PETA's members are often hopelessly self-righteous. In
headlines, its leaders appear to be more part of the entertainment industry
than the political world. Conversations with spokesmen in Norfolk often
amount to endless name-dropping exercises: "Paul" (McCartney), "k.d."
(lang), "Alec" (Baldwin), "Melissa" (Etheridge). The group throws parties
at New York clubs and awards dinners in the back lots of Hollywood studios.
What any of this has to do with animals is increasingly unclear. PETA seems
to have become a peculiar sort of political asylum, a wayward home for
conflict addicts, a church for left-wing preachers, and a starfucker
society offering memberships at 15 bucks a year.
Even so, a case was building for a reexamination of animal rights. In June,
several hundred piglets died at a pork farm in North Carolina when the air
was shut off, causing the animals, packed together with only a few inches
between them, to pass out from heat prostration. At the same time, the
media began reporting that fur farms were killing minks by shocking their
genitals, thus producing a heart attack while the animal was still
conscious (a technique designed to prevent the coats from becoming soiled).
Killing by injection-"putting the animal to sleep"-was too costly, the fur
industry argued, even though the final product would be an expensive
luxury, a several-thousand-dollar piece of clothing. Many outside the
poultry industry agreed, meanwhile, that the de-beaking of chickens was
hardly necessary. In August, Harper's magazine additionally reported that
the birds often had their anuses glued shut before slaughter to keep them
from defecating on one another in the coops.
This fall, a drug-testing lab in New Jersey decided to release a number of
dogs that PETA had sent Kim Basinger to free. The Basinger Beagles, 36 in
all, were turned over to The Humane Society, which set about finding them
homes. Earlier in the year, following pressure from the group, NASA had
canceled its role in the Bion project, a joint operation with Russia and
France that involved launching Rhesus monkeys into space to study the
effects of weightlessness. Gillette recently agreed to stop testing its
products on animals, following pressure from PETA. The Food and Drug
Administration even budged slightly on animal testing, suggesting in a
report that it may not always be reliable in predicting a drug's effect on
humans. The New York Times has reported that animal testing has fallen 50
percent since 1968. Two oil companies, Mobil and Shell, agreed to install
mesh caps on smokestacks at their plants to keep birds from being killed by
nesting inside. A complaint by PETA against a furrier in Santa Rosa,
California, led to criminal charges after local law enforcement officials
agreed that the genital electrocution practice was unnecessarily cruel.
These are victories of a sort. But they only go so far. The USDA's animal
welfare desk, the government entity charged with overseeing conditions for
animals, has a budget of only nine million dollars, and animal cruelty
cases often take years to be resolved. The Animal Welfare Act, a 1966 law,
remains the only regulation in the country covering treatment of animals.
It says nothing about birds or fish. It covers dogs and cats in some
situations, but does not affect a single farm animal, of which there are
roughly six billion in the U.S.
Ingrid Newkirk is standing in the lobby of the federal district courthouse
in Norfolk. "Tell them how you torture animals," Newkirk demands, pointing
at the president of Huntingdon Life Sciences, the research lab PETA had
infiltrated with a spy and embarrassed with Basinger. The company, in
response, is suing.
"If they paid those guys [Huntingdon] to make lamp shades out of human
beings, they would do it," says PETA's lawyer, Phil Hirschkop.
"He runs a concentration camp," Newkirk says. A few reporters write this
down. She seems pleased.
Three hours later, she is back at her desk at headquarters in Norfolk, a
blindingly white former cruise line office. She leans forward and drops her
voice to a soft lament.
"When we had an exhibit on the national Mall in Washington," she says,
"people who had been in the Holocaust went and looked at the pictures of
the labs. When they came out they said, 'This was what it was like in the
camps.' "
She winces meaningfully, then folds her hands together in contemplation and
seems to wait for an epiphany. A moment passes. The cat stretches.
"There is no life unworthy of life," she finally says. "There is no
hierarchy of victims that says animals have less of a right to compassion
than humans do." It is clear she believes this and it seems she believes
the Holocaust references are a fair analogy. But it is also clear that they
got noticed.
Ten minutes after leaving Newkirk's office, PETA's Lisa Lange produces a
postcard in the group's public relations room. The photo on the front is of
Elizabeth Berkley, star of Showgirls, wearing the dress made of collard
greens.
"Doesn't Liz look great?" Lange says. "We have several other lettuce ladies
we send to events."
The card and the other lettuce ladies, often PETA volunteers, are part of
the organization's new vegetarianism campaign. If not entirely an attempt
to insult the public's intelligence, the photo seems at least an obvious
appeal to the bottom of the barrel. In the photo, Berkley, who calls
herself a lifelong vegetarian, stands against a burnished, auburn
background with a look of slight weariness, her shoulders back and chest
pushed out, bending herself into a carefully reserved but still fairly
obvious cleavage shot. She appears to be standing on a footstool of some
kind, her legs now representing about four fifths of her body, the tight
green strapless vegetable dress cascading to the floor. The overall effect
is of a pornographic Carmen Miranda, but the picture still works as
shameless celebrity-mongering and momentarily obscures the irony of
promoting vegetarianism with a spokeswoman known for showcasing flesh.
No matter how serious the issues get, the suggestion of ass remains PETA's
calling card. Prior to the Berkley photo, fashion model Joel West dropped
his pants in the middle of Times Square to prove he'd rather freeze than
wear fur. Prior to that, Basinger, a PETA favorite, lay naked on her back
against a black background, leg up, spine arched, looking slightly
airbrushed and tacitly postcoital. Before that was an ad with Kimberley
Hefner, a Playboy model and wife of Hugh, which pictured her peering
fetchingly at the viewer through bedroom hair over the slogan Some People
Need You Inside Them. At first glance, the Hefner ad, confusing and a bit
grammatically challenged, appears to be an ad for either Playboy (where it
appeared) or an escort service. PETA's Lange explains that it was intended
to encourage human organ donation in place of the animal parts used in many
surgical procedures.
Lange heads out of the press office to the PETA video library. It is at the
other end of the hall from the photos of Berkley and Basinger and is
decorated instead with animal testing posters; horrendous images of a
screaming monkey strapped into an iron maiden or a cat with a small metal
box protruding from its head, like some sort of feline mental elevator. The
cat seems oddly placid.
There are slaughterhouse images from fund-raising mailings decorating
individual offices and a photo of a pig, scarred and mistreated, in the
front reception room. Back in the press room, surrounded once again by
naked celebrities, Lange flips through a press kit so full of their
pictures that it looks like an Oscars night photo album.
Making a circuit of PETA's offices is like watching a B-grade slasher film:
a suggestion of sex followed by a lot of gore and then another suggestion
of sex. It's unclear whether one is supposed to respond out of moral
indignation, titillation, celebrity worship, or some complex and disturbing
combination of the three. Taken as the sum of its public campaigns, the
ideal PETA member appears to be Hannibal Lecter.
Here is what PETA did this summer: It dangled a volunteer pretending to be
impaled on a meat hook from a billboard over a freeway in San Antonio; it
pelted members of the U.S. Poultry and Egg Export Council with chicken feed
as they entered their annual convention in California; it did the same
thing to country singer Kenny Rogers (who owns a chain of roasted chicken
restaurants) at his wedding; it dressed several members as chinchillas and
locked them in cages on a sidewalk in Richmond; it called for a ban on
fishing in Walden Pond; it dressed a member in a fish suit to convince
anglers to stop fishing; it hounded the Wienermobile with a person in a pig
suit at every stop, 68 in total, on its promotional tour; and it sent a
person in a cow suit to demand meatless sandwiches at Burger King.
PETA carried out these stunts without apology. "We live in a time of
tabloid journalism," says Lange. "We didn't make the rules but, well, we
play by them."
Other animal activists, however, call this playing by the rules more like
counterproductive bottom feeding. "We're always painted with that brush
'here come those animal nuts again,' " says Roger A. Caras, president of
the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Caras,
clearly irritated, feels PETA "had brought new people" to the animal cause
but in the process alienated many others. He calls the group extremist and
utopian to the point of dismissability.
Lange brushes the accusation off. "We can't air our farm footage on
television. We can't show 'Here's this animal getting its neck broken,' "
she says. " 'Here's this animal getting vaginally electrocuted.' We've
tried. They [television networks] won't show it. So, instead we do
something fun and interesting."
"They want to appeal to the lowest common denominator," says Mary Ellen
Dreyer, a former PETA employee now working for the Animal Welfare
Institute, a Washington lobby. Four years ago, Dreyer was a writer for
PETA's quarterly magazine, Animal Times, a publication that looks like a
sports program and reads like the National Enquirer. Brigitte Bardot is on
the cover of the spring issue, opposing the consumption of horse meat in
France. Inside, Edward Furlong, the kid from Terminator II, is pictured
next to an item lauding him for refusing to wear leather in a Calvin Klein
ad. But his picture also rests beside a column containing another of PETA's
possible falls over the public image edge: a criticism of the New York
Police Department's decision to send dogs fitted with video cameras into
dangerous situations in place of human officers. Furlong is smiling.
"That's what my boss, Ingrid Newkirk, wanted to concentrate on," Dreyer
says. "She used to say that we should go down to the grocery store and look
at People and the Globe. She feels that's going to appeal to the largest
number of people. That is why in many circles they are not taken seriously."
"I found it frustrating," adds Dr. Jonathan Balcombe, another former PETA
staffer, now working for The Humane Society of the U.S. in Washington, D.C.
Balcombe, a biologist, believes PETA can be effective, but said he found
that the group's stunts created a credibility problem that frequently
hampered his ability to get things done.
"In terms of dealing with the legislature or the USDA," says Dreyer, "I'm
able to get more done [without PETA]. I could not call up the USDA saying I
work for PETA and get the same sort of treatment I would when I say I work
here."
Dreyer is currently working to pass a law that would ban "class B" animal
dealers, companies that sell dogs and cats from animal shelters to labs for
use in research. PETA does not usually lobby for laws or regulations.
PETA's Lange says the group supports the intentions of such efforts, but
views them as half-hearted.
"They [Washington lobbies] are pushing for bigger cages," she says.
"Because we're an abolitionist group, we're pushing for no cages."
The refusal to compromise brings a common criticism. "I'm not sure if it
helps or hinders," says the ASPCA's Caras. "But I would rather see a good
law passed banning leg-hold traps in California than [see PETA] walk naked
on the streets of Tokyo. If you do a lot of stunts outside the
Congressional office buildings, then you can't go inside and be listened
to. Stunts go so far. Laws can be enforced."
Stunt politics also have a short half-life. Though television coverage and
media ink seem a sure thing, each progressive shock to the general public's
genitalia yields less of a jolt. Even as most political issues seemed to be
slouching toward sensationalism, the groups that had used outre stunts and
theatrics to put themselves on the map now seem unable to keep people
interested. Christian Coalition rallies are shrinking and their protesters
at school boards and movie studios show in markedly meeker clumps. ACT UP
is a nonentity, out of the public debate, irrelevant. Earth First is lost
in the Idaho trees, at best occasionally confused with a militia group.
PETA, historically one of the most adroit at attracting media attention,
seems to have lost any perspective on its actions. Its members do not see
that they are alienating the very people they desperately need to persuade.
They spend their time railing at their enemies and rallying their
supporters, straining to maintain a fever pitch. But the volume has been
turned up so far that most people cannot tell what is being said or why.
Two weeks after the San Jose appearance, the Wienermobile pulls into the
parking lot of Nob Hill Foods, a supermarket in Walnut Creek, a suburb 15
miles east of Oakland. PETA shows up again, but the protest fails, smaller
and far more subdued this time even than the event in San Jose.
The PETA group, five in street clothes plus one dressed in the pig suit,
are quietly handing out literature, going about their recruiting like a
clutch of smiling Mormons. As in San Jose, they chat people up about heart
disease statistics and talk easily about meat as a wasteful product,
requiring too much grain and water to produce. Unlike San Jose, that's all
they do; there are few ad hominem charges, no random shouts at children.
The people who are here to see the Wienermobile take the literature, but
still resent the protest.
"This is something for kids, it involves children, and I don't think this
is an appropriate place [for a protest]," says Debbie Fraser, a mother with
two daughters in attendance who have just sung the "Bologna" song into the
microphone. "What's done here today has nothing to do with how our children
eat. My oldest is practically a vegetarian."
"School is starting, my son saw this, and asked if I'd come out here and do
[the Wienermobile event] with him," says Rodney Bush, adding that his son
is a vegetarian. "Me and his mother never ate meat."
His son, Brendan, says he thought the protest was okay, but was not sure he
agreed with PETA.
"I eat ham," he says after thinking a moment, like he had just remembered a
lunch last Tuesday. "He's slipping a little," his father allowed. He and
his wife coach Brendan through a few answers, explaining that it is wrong
to kill animals unless you are going to eat them. Brendan watches while his
nods are written down.
A few minutes later, a boy named Josh is at the microphone shouting toward
the PETA member in the pig suit.
"That pig over there, I can eat you," he says. "I can fry you and eat you."
The protesters yell back a few half-hearted rebukes, then decide to ignore
the boy.
Another child runs behind them, picking up the sense that some sort of
argument is under way.
"Meat's good for you," he shouts. "Go meat!"
á
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 23:38:47
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] EU brings forward talks on beef ban
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971211233847.304f3596@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, December 12th, 1997
EU brings forward talks on beef ban
By David Brown, Agriculture Editor
TALKS aimed at lifting the export ban on British beef were brought forward
by the EU Commission in Brussels yesterday to appease farmers angered by
the latest BSE scares in beef and lamb.
A meeting of EU Commissioners that had been scheduled for mid-January to
discuss British proposals to resume exports from herds certified free of
BSE will be held next Tuesday while EU agriculture ministers are also
meeting in Brussels.
The Government's restrictions to ban beef on the bone take effect the same
day.
The decision followed embarrassment in the EU Commission about the row over
recommendations by its scientific steering committee on Wednesday that
mutton and lamb bones connected to the spinal column should be banned from
sale as a precaution against BSE. The shadow cabinet has decided to oppose
the beef on the bone ban because it believes that people should make up
their own minds.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 23:43:06
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Water firm banned from using river supplies
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971211234306.304f9b84@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, December 12th, 1997
Water firm banned from using river supplies
By A J McIlroy
ENVIRONMENTAL groups were claiming an important victory yesterday after one
of the country's 10 regional water companies was told that it could not
raid local rivers to fill reservoirs affected by drought.
Anglian Water, covering Britain's driest region, had applied to the
Environment Department for drought orders to take water from the Great Ouse
and the Nene. The department ordered a public inquiry when wildlife
organisations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds,
protested that the measure could have a disastrous impact on parts of the
Fens in Cambridgeshire which are fed by the rivers. Their concern was
backed by the Environment Agency which wants the water supply industry to
speed up programmes to cut leaks "to ease demand on rivers and aquifers"
that are still suffering because of the driest two and a half years since
records began.
Anglian Water said yesterday it had received the findings of the inquiry
informing the company that the drought orders were being turned down. "The
Secretary of State recognised our need for water but requested that we work
with the Environment Agency and English Nature to study the possible
effects on the environment of taking water from the Ouse and the Nene," a
spokesman said: "We are happy to do this since it has always been our
policy that there should be this kind of co-operation. We decided to apply
for drought orders so we would have the powers to take water from the
rivers should the wetter start to this winter dry up over the next three
months."
The company said its surface reservoirs were recovering only slowly after
six exceptionally dry years since 1989. Pitsford in Northamptonshire was
only 40 per cent full, 12 per cent below what it should be at this time of
year, and Grafham in Cambridgeshire was 47 per cent of capacity, 40 per
cent below its normal seasonal level.
Environmental groups welcomed the decision as a sign that the Government is
taking a tougher line with the water supply industry. The Environment
Agency pointed out that Ofwat, the industry's regulator, has published new
mandatory leakage-control targets expected to cut losses from the 1996-97
level of 4,505 million litres a day to 3,585 million by spring 1999.
The agency said: "This is a step in the right direction. But while a number
of companies are making good progress, others have a long way to go before
we will be satisfied they are making proper use of precious resources."
The agency has warned that parts of the South East may face hosepipe bans
and other restrictions unless there is above-average rainfall this winter.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 23:46:24
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Minister rules out time for hunt Bill
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971211234624.0da72d98@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, December 12th, 1997
Minister rules out time for hunt Bill
By Joy Copley, Political Staff
NO extra time will be provided to enable the anti-foxhunting Bill now going
through Parliament to become law, the Government confirmed last
night.
MPs who voted for the second reading of Michael Foster's Wild Mammals
(Hunting with Dogs) Bill had hoped that the Government would relent and
respond to the 260 majority. But Lord Williams of Mostyn, a junior Home
Office minister, said in a letter that there would be no extra
parliamentary time provided for the Private Member's Bill.
Writing to Sir Teddy Taylor, one of the eight Tory MPs who voted for a ban
on hunting, Lord Mostyn said: "The Bill will progress through the Commons
according to normal procedures for Private Members' Bills. The Government's
priority has to be to ensure the successful passage of the full legislative
programme set out in The Queen's Speech."
Government whips have made clear all along that they feared that opposition
by Tory peers in the Lords to the Bill would delay legislation on crime,
education and devolution. Sir Teddy, MP for Southend East and Rochford,
said that the MPs who supported the Bill on second reading would feel
disappointed.
Although the current Bill appears doomed, Tony Blair has indicated that the
Government will allow another opportunity for a ban to become law within
two years.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 00:05:38
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK/BZ] Rainforest destruction faster than thought
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971212000538.0da7a8a2@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>From The BBC website - Friday, December 12th, 1997
A special commission of the Brazilian Congress set up to look into the
activity of logging companies in the Amazon region says it believes the
destruction of the rainforest is proceeding much more rapidly than is
generally thought.
The commission was set up after allegations that companies, many of them
Asian, were carrying out illegal logging.
Its report says the destruction of the rainforest from logging and land
clearance is going ahead so quickly that the Amazon rainforest could
disappear in fifty years' time.
The government's main environmental agency, IBAMA, says it is investigating
and punishing companies involved in illegal logging.
The BBC Brazil correspondent says that although the destruction of the
country's rainforest slowed down in the early 1990s, it has picked up again
in the past few years.
He adds that the government was supposed to have released its latest
figures at the beginning of the month but there has been a delay and there
is speculation in the Brazilian media that the figures will show an
ever-increasing rate of destruction.
Copyright BBC 1997
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 00:09:21
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Danger: Pigs on drugs
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971212000921.0da715f6@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>From The BBC website - Friday, December 12th, 1997
Sci/Tech
Danger: Pigs on drugs
[Picture: piglets on an organic farm "These little piggies live on an
organic farm but others eat antibiotics every day"]
Feeding antibiotics to farm animals is making it harder to fight infections
in people, the World Health Organisation has warned.
It has called for a ban on the practice following evidence showing it can
cause drug-resistant bacteria.
The World Health Organisation's report into the danger posed by animals
brought up on a diet rich in antibiotics comes after a meeting of 70
experts in Berlin.
Feeding animals antibiotics makes them grow faster and protects them from
disease. But a growing number of organic farmers take the view that the
side-effects are too great.
The WHO recommends only giving animals drugs when they are ill and never
administering them an antibiotic used on humans.
It also recommends monitoring antibiotic resistance in food and healthy
animals to prevent outbreaks such as Ecoli 0157, which killed around 20
people in Scotland this year.
Another effect of giving too many antibiotics to animal is growing
resistance to the drugs in people.
Some experts say this has already happened in the case of some diseases.
The British Government has said it will start looking into the problem.
The WHO hopes farmers around the world will also take note.
Copyright BBC 1997
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 16:37:15 +0000
From: jwed
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Bird Flu
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971212163715.007b7820@pop.hkstar.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
South China Morning Post - Friday December 12 1997
SPCA calls for good sense
Pet owners should not get in a flap over the bird flu scare, the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said yesterday.
It urged people not to dump pet birds and called on the Government to
foster a more responsible attitude. The SPCA has received six abandoned
birds in the past two days.
"We hope the Education Department will encourage a calm and rational
attitude to bird keeping and teach common-sense hygiene to people rather
than tell children not to touch animals as this will scare them," said Chow
Tak-sum, the society's public relations manager.
The six birds are now up for adoption.
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 01:04:43
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] SPCA seize 16 horses
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971212010443.29e7b350@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
SPCA seize 16 horses
By David J Knowles
Animal Voices News
LANGLEY, B.C. - Acting on a tip off from a concerned neighbough, SPCA
officials visited three homes in this Lower Mainland town Thursday night
and seized 16 horses.
The homes were all owned by the same woman, who was also the horses'
keeper. SPCA inspectors found the horses in a severe state of
undernourishment, and this was confirmed by a vet brought in by the SPCA.
The horses had no fat reserves and were breaking down muscle in order to
provide energy.
Langley SPCA shelter manager, Brian Nelson, told BCTV the woman felt she
was feeding them well and that the hay she provided was sufficient.
"But you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out horses are
expensive to feed," Nelson added.
He said it appeared to be a case of ignorance, rather than deliberate
cruelty, and that they would work with the woman to find the best solution.
This would most likely involve finding new homes for the horses, after they
were back to their normal weight.
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 01:36:37
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] Making a trunk call - by foot
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971212013637.29e7e690@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>From The BBC website - Friday, December 12th, 1997
Sci/Tech
New research into the behaviour of elephants has suggested they can
communicate over long distances by stamping their feet.
Scientists from the University of California who carried out the work say
they can send messages of alarm this way as far as 50 kilometres.
They made their discovery when microphones on the ground, checking how far
an elephant's cry could travel, were overwhelmed by the thunderous sound of
the foot-stamping.
Lynette Hart, of the University of California, and her colleagues found
that the stomping carried at least five times further than their cries
above or below the surface.
Yet the stomping is almost inaudible in the air, according to findings
reported in the New Scientist magazine.
This explains reports of elephants running away from danger, even when it
is far away.
Copyright BBC 1997
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 19:45:25 +0000
From: jwed
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CN) Giant panda has cataract removed
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971212194525.007b8100@pop.hkstar.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Date: 12/12/97 - Copyright⌐ by China Daily
GIANT panda Mingming, which suffered from cataracts, regained sight in one
eye after a cataract extraction on December 3, Shaanxi Daily reported.
It is the first such operation on a giant panda worldwide, the report said.
It took one hour and 40 minutes to extract the cataract from the iris of
one eye of the nearly 20-year-old panda. The other eye was diagnosed to be
incurable.
An official at the Wild Animal Station in Shaanxi Province was quoted as
saying time is still needed to decide how much sight has been regained.
Around Mid-Autumn Festival in 1993, Mingming was discovered dying by the
roadside by some workers of the Changqing Forestry Bureau in Shaanxi
Province.
The workers notified local protection agencies, and soon the panda was put
under special care.
Mingming was diagnosed as having fallen down the mountains, since it had a
deep cut in the back.
Treatment was later given to the panda at the Provincial Wild Animal Rescue
and Breeding Centre. An ulcer in the cornea and the cut in the back were
healed. Its weight increased from the original 60 kilograms to 78 kilograms.
And the operation this month surely has give the panda some sight, the
report said.
(CD News)
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 07:55:10 -0500 (EST)
From: Jean Colison
To: Ar-news
Subject: MD:factory farming (fwd)
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
letter-to-the-editor
Dead Fish: The Agricultural Link
Friday, December 12, 1997; Page A28
In his Nov. 30 letter, by taking out of context a quotation from the
report of the Blue Ribbon Citizens Pfiesteria Action Commission, Larry
Porter suggested that the commission did not link agriculture and the
poultry industry to dead fish. I sat on the commission, and I believe
Mr. Porter misled Post readers.
Although more remains to be learned about Pfiesteria outbreaks and the
conditions that cause them, there is a well-documented connection
between Pfiesteria-like "algal blooms" and overloads of nutrients (most
notably, nitrogen and phosphorus). And on the lower Eastern Shore,
approximately 70 percent of the nitrogen and 70 percent of the
phosphorus load comes from agricultural sources. The percentages are
even higher in the Pocomoke River watershed.
The Pfiesteria commission report quotes an earlier report from a panel
of scientists known as the Cambridge Forum, which states, "In the long
term, decreases in nutrient loading will reduce eutrophication
[overenriched water], and in this context will likely lower the risk of
toxic outbreaks of Pfiesteria-like dinoflagellates and harmful algal
blooms."
Well-managed farms play an important role in the fabric of life in the
Chesapeake Bay watershed, but too many others -- especially the "factory
farms" that concentrate poultry, cows and hogs at almost unimaginable
densities -- cause problems related to excessive manure production and
fertilizer runoff. A 50,000-bird poultry operation -- not an unusual
size nowadays -- produces as much phosphorus and nitrogen in its waste
as a town of 3,000 people.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has long worked with the state to help
farmers adopt environmentally sound agricultural practices. If our
legislators support creative measures to reduce nutrient pollution,
Marylanders and others in the bay watershed won't have to choose between
strong environmental regulations and thriving agricultural, seafood and
tourism industries.
WILLIAM C. BAKER
President
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Annapolis
⌐Copyright 1997 The Washington Post Company
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 09:45:19 -0500
From: Wyandotte Animal Group
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: The hunger strikers
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19971212144519.22df8c1a@mail.heritage.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
forwarded from private e-mail via request:
>I want to write my next column on the hunger strikers, including but not
>limited to Sue McCrosky, Dawn Ratcliff, Tony Wong and Rich McLellan.
>
>If anybody has email addresses for one or more of the above, please respond
>directly to me. Also need phone numbers for Ratcliff, Wong and McLellan.
>
>Any help gratefully received.
>
>Lynn Manheim
>Letters for Animals
Please reply directly to: LMANHEIM@aol.com
Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
wag@heritage.com
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 10:17:49 -0500 (EST)
From: PAWS
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: King Royal Decision
Message-ID:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
PAWS learned yesterday that the decision of the USDA administrative
hearing on the King Royal case has been handed down. King Royal's
permits have been permanently revoked and they have been fined $200,000.
Thanks to everyone who called, wrote, and faxed the USDA, asking for the
strongest possible judgement in this case.
PAWS will post further details as they develop. We will also post the
official USDA press release when it becomes available.
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 10:19:16 -0500
From: "D'Amico, Ann-Marie"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org,
"'UncleWolf@worldnet.att.net'"
Subject: RE: Researcher dies of monkey virus
Message-ID:
Sweet revenge
----------
From: Andrew Gach[SMTP:UncleWolf@worldnet.att.net]
Reply To: UncleWolf@worldnet.att.net
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 1997 11:57 PM
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Researcher dies of monkey virus
Research worker dies after contracting herpes B virus from
monkey
The Associated Press
ATLANTA (December 11, 1997 9:48 p.m. EST)
A primate researcher has died after contracting the herpes B
virus from
a rhesus monkey in the first known case of the virus being
transmitted
through an eye.
The woman, whose name was not released, contracted the virus
about six
weeks ago and died Wednesday, said Dr. Tom Gordon, associate
director of
scientific programs at the Yerkes Regional Primate Center at
Emory
University.
Gordon, who insisted the infection poses no risk to the public,
said the
woman was struck in the eye by fluid when she was moving a
monkey in a
cage. It has not been determine what the fluid was. The woman
was not
wearing eye protection.
"During this transfer, as she tried to look into the cage to
check the
status of the monkey, something came out," Gordon told reporters
at a
news conference.
"Because it was so minor an event, it was not even viewed by the
individual as serious. She didn't see it as an accident or an
injury,"
he said. "It was only when some symptoms developed 10 days or so
later
that we began to look at it from that point of view."
Yerkes spokeswoman Kate Egan said it is the first known case of
the
virus being transmitted through an eye.
Yerkes officials would only say that the woman was a member of a
research team and would not specify what she did at the center.
Herpes B virus is common among macaque monkeys, which includes
rhesus
monkeys, but is fatal in 70 percent of humans who contract the
disease.
Gordon said only 40 cases of monkey-to-human transmission have
been
recorded since the 1920s, and most of those came
from bites and scratches.
The Yerkes center performs tests on 15 different primate species
to find
cures for AIDS, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's disease and
cancer.
Gordon said Yerkes employees use masks and gloves, and he said
the cage
in this case had a fine mesh to further limit contact.
"This was an extraordinary low-risk kind of activity by any
measure we
have," Gordon said. "There's no way you can get bitten or
scratched
doing what she was doing."
The woman was admitted to Emory University Hospital about four
weeks
ago. Dr. Carl Perlino said she responded well to anti-viral
medication
at first.
"She did do well for perhaps eight to 10 days and then actually
went
home," Perlino said. "The day after she was sent home, I got a
call
saying she was developing weakness in her legs."
The woman's condition worsened, and she returned to the hospital
where
she died.
By STEVE VISSER, Associated Press Writer
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 11:05:04 -0500
From: "D'Amico, Ann-Marie"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, "'paws@CapAccess.org'"
Subject: RE: King Royal Decision
Message-ID:
On my behalf of my group, thank you PAWS and Kim Bassinger for your hard
work, commitment, perseverance and dedication to the circus animals.
After all the bad news we encounter on a daily basis, its rewarding to
hear some good news for a change. This encourages us to continue to
keep the pressure on, get rid of the scum and keeping fighting to free
the animals.
If you have an address for KB, please post.
Tks again -- AM
----------
From: PAWS[SMTP:paws@CapAccess.org]
Reply To: paws@CapAccess.org
Sent: Friday, December 12, 1997 10:17 AM
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: King Royal Decision
PAWS learned yesterday that the decision of the USDA
administrative
hearing on the King Royal case has been handed down. King
Royal's
permits have been permanently revoked and they have been fined
$200,000.
Thanks to everyone who called, wrote, and faxed the USDA, asking
for the
strongest possible judgement in this case.
PAWS will post further details as they develop. We will also
post the
official USDA press release when it becomes available.
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 12:03:27 -0500
From: "D'Amico, Ann-Marie"
To: mmarkarian@fund.org, "'lgrayson@earthlink.net'"
Cc: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: RE: Reminder: Ch. 7 Poll on Deer Hunting
Message-ID:
latest update: pro hunting 82.7
Non hunting 17.2
Please keep calling
----------
From: Liz Grayson[SMTP:lgrayson@earthlink.net]
Reply To: lgrayson@earthlink.net
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 1997 8:27 PM
To: mmarkarian@fund.org
Cc: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: Reminder: Ch. 7 Poll on Deer Hunting
as of today: pro hunting is 75%
we are 20% (approx)
Liz
Michael Markarian wrote:
>
> The Ch. 7 web site poll on whether deer should be hunted is
running neck and
> neck about 50/50. Please visit the site and vote "NO" if you
have not done
> so already:
>
> http://www.abc7dc.com
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 10:42:48 -0700
From: buffalo folks
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: For Immediate Release.......Federal & Montana Officials taken to
Court
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
December 11th, 1997
For Immediate Release
CONTACT: The InterTribal Bison Cooperative at 605/394-9730.
There will be a hearing in Helena, Montana on December 16th, 1997 at 10:00
at the federal courthouse on the InterTribal Bison Cooperative's (ITBC)
lawsuit to stop the state of Montana's killing of buffalo outside
Yellowstone National Park.
This lawsuit was filed against state and federal agencies and their
department heads (see below) by the Earth Justice (formally Sierra Club)
Legal Defense
Fund on behalf of the InterTribal Bison Cooperative, the Greater
Yellowstone Coalition, the Jackson Hole Alliance for Responsible Planning,
and concerned citizens of Montana. These citizens are... "asking the
federal and state agencies to do the rational thing and learn from last
year's debacle to prevent a repeat of last winter's slaughter," said Jim
Angell, project attorney for the Bozeman office of the Earth Justice Legal
Defense fund.
The action is brought under the National Environmental Policy Act and
the Montana Environmental Policy Act (and their implementing
regulations), and challenges the continued implementation, without
additional consideration and supplemental environmental analysis, of the
Interim Bison Management plan. That plan failed last winter and
Montana needs to look at it seriously and adjust it to protect the
Yellowstone buffalo from slaughter this winter.
ITBC is asking that all friends of the buffalo be present at the courthouse
to show support and protest the massacre of Yellowstone's buffalo.
"We can't stand by and allow a repeat of last winter's slaughter," said
Louis LaRose, Secretary of the ITBC. "If the Native American community
doesn't take a stand on behalf of the buffalo now, we will be standing in
the bison killing fields counting carcasses next spring." For those who
cannot attend, It is being requested that prayers be offered on the 16th.
-30-
MEDIA INFO:
All media is welcome to join us on December 16th.
For further information or an interview CONTACT:
The InterTribal Bison Cooperative 605/394-9730
Additional Information regarding this story:
*ITBC: The InterTribal Bison Cooperative is a tribal organization of 40
American Indian Tribes dedicated to the restoration of buffalo (bison) to
North America, to maintain the cultural and spiritual link between the
people and the buffalo that was forged at the begining of time.
*Defendants:
BRUCE BABBITT, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Interior;
DENIS GALVIN, in his official capacity as Acting Deputy Director of the
National Park Service; MICHAEL FINLEY, in his official capacity as
Superintendent of Yeilowstone National Park;
DANIEL GLICKMAN, in his official capacity as Secretary of Agriculture;
MICHAEL DOMBECK in his official capacity as Chief of the U.S. Forest Service;
TERRY MEDLEY,in his official capacity as Admistrator of the Animal
and Plant
Health Inspection Service;
MARK RACICOT, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Montana;
LAURENCE PETERSEN, in his official capacity as Executive Officer of the
Montana Department of Livestock,
MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF LIVESTOCK, a state agency;
PATRICK J. GRAHAM, in his official capacity as Director of the Montana
Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks;
MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF FISH, WILDLIFE & PARKS.
**********************************************************
For more information about the plight of the Yellowstone Bison
check out this web site
http://www.wildrockies.org/bison
Mitakuye Oyasin (All My Relations)
**********************************************************
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 97 13:04:45 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: HORSE LOVERS: URGENT
Message-ID: <199712121908.OAA10383@envirolink.org>
In the case of Ensign Nobility (renamed "Chance"), a 5-year-old
thoroughbred who was abused and starved to death last year by the Clarks
in Catoosa, OK USA:
Second Chance Equine Rescue Foundation is pressing for full restitution
of all veterinary fees that were paid directly out of the generous
donations from all over the US.
WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW: Please take a moment to call or fax The
Honorable Judge Darrell Shepherd. Ask that he show NO LENIENCY in
the matter of restitution from Mr. Howard Clark. The amount of payment
for services was $1,096.97, which included a discount to the Foundation,
was paid in full shortly after "Chance" left this earth. The total
amount would have been $1,404.30 which we feel isn't too much for Mr.
Clark to pay back into the funds that will be used to save other abused
and neglected horses. We feel that the death of this animal was due to
lack of care and concern about his well-being and that is reason enough
to be forced by the court to pay FULL RESTITUTION! PLEASE call or fax
BEFORE December 17, 1997 at which time a decision will be rendered.
(Howard Clark got off easy - he received 3 years' probation, no jail
time on a felony animal cruelty charge.)
Phone: (918) 485-9599 Fax: (918) 485-8907 to The Honorable
Judge Darrell Shepherd.
PLEASE speak for Ensign Nobility ("Chance") who was unable to speak
up for himself. Thank you for helping!!!!
-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 97 12:20:50 -0000
From: "Eric Mindel @ LCA"
To: "ar-news"
Subject: Reminder: Hard Copy Tonight-- Fur story
Message-ID: <199712121909.OAA10528@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hard Copy will air a 3.5 minute anti-fur story tonight.
Though I haven't seen it yet, I've been told it'll be the hardest
anti-fur piece that's been broadcast on national TV in a while.
Hard Copy's senior producer in L.A. is purportedly somewhat nervous
regarding negative feedback about this piece, so PLEASE write letters of
support if you appreciate the story-- encourage them to continue to do
hard pieces exposing animal cruelty.
Hard Copy
555 Melrose
Hollywood, CA 90038
eric
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 11:33:54 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: News: San Francisco Frets Over Pigeon Problem
Message-ID: <199712121926.OAA13481@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
S.F. Broods Over Pigeon Population
New proposals to curb birds' overpopulation
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco animal control authorities want to declare war,
a humane one of course, on the city's vast pigeon population.
They have outlined a five-point program that they hope can at
least curb the overpopulation of the pesky birds.
Steps proposed by the Commission on Animal Control and
Welfare include the novel idea of giving property tax rebates to
building owners who pigeon-proof their property.
Other ideas include encouraging the enforcement of a ban on
illegally feeding the birds, which is supposed to carry a $25 fine,
getting the city to pigeon-proof all its own buildings, introducing
more pigeon-killing raptor birds into the city and starting a public
education campaign to convince people not to feed any animals
outdoors, including dogs or cats.
But since it is illegal in San Francisco to poison, trap or kill the
birds, authorities admit they face an uphill struggle in the battle
against pigeons.
The whole issue surfaced earlier this year when the management
of a Market Street hotel asked city permission to trap pigeons and
ship them up to Trinity County near the Oregon border. That stirred
a ruckus among animal lovers and also drew opposition from the
state Fish and Game Department, which objected to the idea of
introducing a non-native species into the county.
The pigeons are still hanging around the hotel.
``I really don't have a solution, except to cut down on people
feeding pigeons,'' said Carl Friedman, director of the city's
Department of Animal Care and Control. The idea
is simple -- eliminate the birds' food and they'll go away.
But that won't do much, countered Brian Walton, director
of the Predatory Bird Research Group at the University of California
at Santa Cruz.
Cutting down on available food may keep pigeons away for a time,
but they'll return, he said. The best solution is to destroy pigeon nests
on building ledges or inside abandoned buildings.
``Covering or eliminating their nesting sites can work so they
can't build sites. They'll just go away,'' said Walton.
Since the birds will congregate anyplace they have easy
access to food and water, it's not just people who feed pigeons
who contribute to the problem, Friedman said.
``Don't feed your pets outside and don't think you're doing
feral cats a favor by feeding them outside,'' he said.
And don't leave garbage outside unless it is securely covered.
That can also keep away skunks, raccoons and opossums.
Walton, who testified before the commission in its lengthy
deliberations on its pigeon plan, said introducing more raptors
such as peregrine falcons or red-tailed hawks also won't make
much of a dent in the pigeon population.
There are already many nesting pairs of raptors in the city,
and while they feast on pigeons they just can't kill enough to
make a difference. ``Most raptors in the city range around.
Some cover a few blocks, some many miles. They have to
move around and surprise their prey,'' Walton said.
Friedman and Walton agreed that some commonly tried
solutions won't work. These include installing plastic owls,
which pigeons quickly learn are phony, or ultrasound
devices that only the birds can hear.
Friedman, who has had pigeon problems at his home,
said there are products that can help prevent pigeons
from roosting. Wires or nets can be stretched across
ledges to prevent nest-building.
And there are commercial pigeon-proofing chemicals
that when applied give the birds a hot foot and scare them
off.
Friedman said there is no pigeon contraceptive on the
market that has been approved for use by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
-----------------------------------------------
Contacting the San Francisco Chronicle
The authors (Edward Epstein) email address is: epstein@sfgate.com
Letters to the Editor should be addressed to: chronletters@sfgate.com
Due to space considerations, only letters of less than 250 words will be
considered for publication. Please provide your name and telephone
number along with your letter. You will be called if your letter is being
considered for publication.
Press releases should be sent to: chronfeedback@sfgate.com
Snail Mail Address:
San Francisco Chronicle
901 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
===============================
Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/
"Civil liberties are always safe as long as their exercise doesn't
bother anyone." New York Times editorial, 1-3-41
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 14:32:18 EST
From: MINKLIB
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (UK) GANDALF 4
Message-ID: <5a0c436e.34919145@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit
Please Circulate Widely...
Three Editors Jailed in UK State Repression Against Radical Publications
- Protest and Defiance Grows
1. Statement In Solidarity From The McLibel Support Campaign and London
Greenpeace - 20.11.1997
2. Report from OneWorld Online News Service following the Gandalf
verdict
3. More Detailed Report Of The Gandalf Trial Verdict - by SchNews
4. Statement from 161 Named Supporting Groups and Individuals (Please
Add
Your Details)
Please write to the three jailed editors, cards, postcards particularly
appreciated:
Stephen Booth
HMP Preston,
2 Ribbleton Lane,
Preston,
Lancs. Britain.
Saxon Burchnall-wood,
HMP Winchester,
Romsey Rd,
Winchester,
Hants. SO22. Britain.
Noel Molland,
at same address as above ...
Thanks,
Corporate Watch.
Box E, 111 Magdalen Rd, Oxford. OX4 1RQ. Britain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From the McLIBEL SUPPORT CAMPAIGN and LONDON GREENPEACE
5 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9DX, UK Tel/Fax +44-(0)171 713 1269
THREE EDITORS JAILED IN UK STATE REPRESSION AGAINST RADICAL
PUBLICATIONS - PROTEST AND DEFIANCE GROWS
On Thursday 13th November 1997, the UK 'Gandalf' trial resulted in three
editors of 'Green Anarchist' magazine each being sentenced to 3 years
imprisonment. The
State had brought charges against the editors of Green Anarchist and the
Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group Newsletter (hence 'GA aND ALF')
for
'conspiracy to incite persons unknown to commit criminal damage' - one
ALFSGN editor was found 'not guilty' and 2 other defendants may be tried
at
a later date. An Appeal is being prepared. The 3 convicted defendants
had
merely been performing the public service of publishing news of a wide
range
of current direct actions (in the UK and in other countries) by
progressive
and alternative activists. The court had found this to be 'incitement'.
Please copy and circulate this information everywhere in order to help
strengthen everyone's determination to stand up for basic human rights
under
attack by the British State. The best way to fight for our rights is to
exercise them.
PUBLIC ORGANISING MEETING - for all those who wish to help defend and
support the independant, radical press; to encourage successful,
widespread
defiance of State censorship; and to free the Gandalf 3.
Wednesday 17th December. 7pm.
Conway Hall, Red Lion Sq., WC2 (Holborn tube)
Called by the McLibel Support Campaign and London Greenpeace, and backed
by
the Gandalf Defendants Campaign.
* * * * *
Please read and copy the following documents:
1. Statement In Solidarity From The McLibel Support Campaign and London
Greenpeace - 20.11.1997
2. Report from OneWorld Online News Service following the Gandalf
verdict
3. More Detailed Report Of The Gandalf Trial Verdict - by SchNews
4. Statement from 161 Named Supporting Groups and Individuals (Please
Add
Your Details)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statement In Solidarity From The McLibel Support Campaign and
London Greenpeace - 20th November 1997
We send our solidarity to the jailed 'Gandalf 3' (editors of Green
Anarchist
magazine) and to all those who report, publicise or support the
well-established political tradition of direct physical action to right
wrongs - action against all those powerful institutions which only exist
to
control, exploit and profit from people, animals and the environment.
Three
years in jail, just for publishing news! Meanwhile the establishment
press
continues to enthusiastically advocate and support all manner of
military
and other governmental violence, and the ever growing plunder of our
lives
and our environment by ruthless Corporations.
There are many parallels with the McLibel case which was a failed
attempt by
McDonald's and the UK courts to suppress and silence growing public
criticisms of the business practices of a transnational corporation in
particular and of the food industry (and of capitalism) in general.
McDonald's spend $2 billion annually advertising and promoting
themselves,
forcing their idiotic propaganda into our homes and onto our streets -
propaganda which even the McLibel trial judge had to agree was
'exploiting
children' and a deceptive 'pretence'. Yet, similar to the Gandalf case,
the
laws enable the powerful to seek to censor and criminalise the public
dissemination of just the kind of sensible, alternative points of view
which
people everywhere are crying out for.
Anti-McDonald's campaigners around the world responded magnificently to
this
attempted censorship by stepping up the dissemination of leaflets, 3
million
of which were handed out in the streets of the UK alone during the
duration
of the case. Two days after the mixed verdict in June, another 450,000
were
distributed. It came as no surprise when the Corporation completely
capitulated 28 days later, abandoning all legal attempts to halt
publication
of the leaflets or to recover any of the estimated 10 million pounds it
had
spent on the case.
The hypocrisy of the legal establishment was laid bare. Despite the
High
Court finding McDonald's guilty on many points, no sanctions were
ordered
against the company and the profiteering junk food Corporation continues
to
operate in exactly the same way. However, the anti-McDonald's campaign
continues to grow as do the general feelings of public revulsion against
the
company and all it stands for. We believe that it has been thereby
demonstrated that repressive laws can be exposed and made unworkable by
organised, mass defiance backed by public awareness and support. In the
same
way, State attacks on independant publications can be successfully
defeated.
We hope and trust that this latest crude attempt at intimidation will
also
cause outrage and widespread defiance, including ever greater
circulation of
the kind of information which the State is trying to suppress. It is
vital
that all progressive groups and papers report examples of direct action
by
the public against companies and governmental bodies which are the cause
of
the problems we face today. It's these problems of injustice,
oppression,
exploitation and environmental damage that are a constant incitement to
everyone to get organised, to create resistance and to take direct
action
for a better world.
We pledge to throw our weight behind the campaign to defend the right to
report news of direct actions, and to free the editors of Green
Anarchist.
This is a campaign that can and must be won.
In solidarity,
The McLibel Support Campaign and London Greenpeace
For more details and offers of support, contact the Gandalf Defendants
Campaign, P.O. Box 66 SG1 2TR Or check out the website:
www.cbuzz.co.uk/SchNEWS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Publish and be jailed: UK journalists get three years in conspiracy case
--------------------
By Mark Lynas
OneWorld News Service
http://www.oneworld.org/
18 November 1997
London, UK
--------------------
Three British journalists received jail sentences of three years each
last
Friday after being found guilty of publishing in their newspaper
information liable to 'incite' others to commit 'criminal damage'.
In a judgement which has sent shockwaves through Britain's environmental
and animal rights movement, Judge David Selwood called Saxon
Burchnall-Wood, Noel Molland and Stephen Booth "terrorists" as he
sentenced
them to lengthy prisons terms after a 12-week trial at Portsmouth Crown
Court. All three are appealing.
The trial centred around the radical Green Anarchist newspaper, which
regularly publishes reports of environmental and animal rights actions
which have taken place around the UK. The prosecution accused the Green
Anarchist journalists of 'conspiracy to incite persons unknown to commit
criminal damage'.
The case has been dubbed the 'Gandalf Trial', an acronym of Green
Anarchist
and ALF (Animal Liberation Front), whose press officer Robin Webb and
Support Group newsletter editor Simon Russel were both acquitted.
Another
Green Anarchist defendant, Paul Rogers, had his case 'severed' due to a
witness dispute - but it will be resumed in the new year.
Freedom of speech organisations fear the outcome of the Gandalf trial
could
have a major 'chilling' effect on the reporting of social and
environmental
campaigns by the UK media - who could in future be accused of
'incitement'
for merely reporting on the activities of protesters.
Jo Makepeace from the weekly 'alternative news' publication SchNEWS
said:
"This ludicrous sentence is just trying to scare us into silence, but
the
last thing the defendants would want is for people to stop taking part
or
writing about direct ation. As far as we are concerned it is business as
usual."
A spokesperson from Corporate Watch, a OneWorld Online partner which
publishes a magazine aimed at informing anti-corporate campaigners, told
OneWorld: "The laws used in this case could be used to imprison
thousands
of people who are publishing information about ethical and environmental
issues. The Gandalf case has major implications for press freedom in the
United Kingdom."
Over seventy representatives of the alternative press issued a statement
calling attention the the Gandalf case in September. "Without a fearless
and free press there can be no informed discussion and participation in
public life," it said. "It is vital that the press unite to defend the
basic freedoms under attack in this case. It is not for the police to
determine the limits of our discussions."
The magazine Index on Censorship, also a OneWorld Online partner,
campaigns
to promote freedom of expression world-wide. News Editor Michael Griffin
told OneWorld: "We think it is an outrageous intrusion on press freedom
to
send people down for three years just for printing words."
Major questions have been raised by the defendants as to the fairness of
the judicial procedure in the Gandalf case, especially with regard to
the
involvement of the British security services. The first day of the trial
was held in secret, while the judge and the prosecution decided which
documents were too sensitive to be released either to the jury or to the
defence.
'Public Interest Immunity Certificates' - the use which famously
consigned
two innocent men to jail in the Matrix Churchill case - mean that vital
secret evidence may have been withheld from the defence. "National
security
is obviously much more important than natural justice," a Gandalf
Defendants Campaign spokesperson told OneWorld. "So much for a free
society."
The defence also claims that the military connections of Judge Selwood,
who
spent most of his career as a Major-General in the British Army, made
him
unfit to hear the case. The defendants also claim that five of the
jurors
had military or arms trade connections. "It's no co-incidence that
Portsmouth was chosen," said one defendant. "It's a highly conservative
military-dependent area with the second highest conviction rate in the
country."
John Wadham, of the National Council for Civil Liberties in the UK, told
OneWorld: "We're especially concerned about the use of conspiracy and
incitement laws in this case - we belive that in general people should
be
held to account for what they do, not what they agree to do. This is
particularly important with regard to freedom of expression."
The Gandalf case was reportedly the culmination of 'Operation
Washington' -
which at its height involved some 60 police officers, and saw 55 raids
across the UK in 1995-6. The Gandalf defendants claim that they were
infiltrated by a secret police 'agent provocateur' who assisted in the
writing of many of the articles later found to be 'inciting'.
The defendants campaign also claims that the case was an effort to
define
environmental activism as 'terrorism' in order to give a new role to the
MI5 security service in post-Cold War UK politics.
A Hampshire police spokesperson contacted by OneWorld refused to
comment,
saying that any statement would prejudice further court hearings
surrounding the case.
The Gandalf Defendants Campaign can be contacted at PO Box 66,
Stevenage,
SG1 2TR, United Kingdom.
To write to the prisoners send a letter to HMP Winchester, Romsey Road,
Winchester S022 5DS. Always include prisoner numbers: Saxon
Burchall-Wood
CK4321, Noel Molland CK4322, Stephen Booth CK4323.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is information from SchNEWS news service - on their
website
every week @ www.cbuzz.co.uk/SchNEWS
and you can subscribe (if you don't already) by sending a message
'subscribe' to
TRUTH R.I.P.
============
THREE PEOPLE IMPRISONED FOR WRITING ABOUT DIRECT ACTION
[PLEASE READ AND SIGN THE STATEMENT OF SUPPORT THAT FOLLOWS]
Today [Friday 14th Nov '97] three editors of Green Anarchist (GA) Noel
Molland (24), Steve Booth (38) and Saxon Burchnall-Wood (24), are
starting a three year sentence convicted of `conspiracy to incite
criminal damage'- simply for reporting on direct action in the pages of
their organ. A fourth man, Simon Russell, editor of the Animal
Liberation Front Supporters Group (ALF SG) newsletter, was found not
guilty.
After a trial ( nicknamed `GANDALF'- GA aND ALF) lasting nearly three
months and costing 2 million pounds the jury took an incredible four
days before delivering a verdict that has sent shock waves through the
world of alternative press.
"This ludicrous sentence is just trying to scare us into silence, but
the last thing the defendants would want is for people to stop taking
part
or writing about direct action. As far as we're concerned, it's business
as
usual."
- Jo Makepeace, SchNEWS
The trial was the culmination of Operation Washington which, according
to police, had been running for two years, and at its height involved 60
cops. Throughout the course of 1995/6, 55 raids were made across the UK,
with people getting their doors kicked in for such trivial reasons as
buying a GA t-shirt mail order and writing to one of the defendants
while he was on remand!
>From the very beginning the trial quickly degenerated into a farce:
* One defendant, Paul Rogers, was severed from the current trial when
his barrister resigned rather than call a secret state witness
* The extensive use of Public Interest Immunity orders meant that
many
documents couldn't be shown to jury or defence
* Judge Selwood, an ex major general in the army, at one point
described
Green Anarchist as "the most contemptuous document I have ever
seen in my entire career ".
* At one stage Sgt Gunner, one of the Operation Washington team was
sent on a week long all expenses paid `fact finding' trip to Italy,
because he believed that someone in Italy had receieved a letter from a
defendant that was relevant to the investiagtion!
* One of the defendants was accused of the `crime' of putting a
report
about the Justice Department on the internet. In fact it was North
American ALF SG co-ordinator Darren Thurston who did and the court
agreed legal aid to fly him in from Vancouver, Canada. However on
arrival at Heathrow, he was immediately deported as an `undesirable
alien' on advice from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police! (that
country's equivalent of the Special Branch)
And as one defendant pointed out to SchNEWS: "It's no co-incidence that
Portsmouth was chosen- a highly conservative military dependant area
with the second highest conviction rate in the country."
Conspiracy
----------
The case has highlighted the whole issue of Britain's conspiracy laws
which according to StateWatch are "the most repressive in Europe."
According to the prosecution, even just reporting the facts about animal
liberation or eco-defence actions constitutes incitement, let alone
printing opinions in favour of these. As you can imagine many believe
the conspiracy/incitement laws to be a bit of a `catch all', with its
heavy penalties making it a useful tool in surpressing direct action
after the failure of the Criminal Justice Act.
The implications could affect the whole of the alternative media -
during the trial magazines such as the Lancaster Bomber, and early
issues of Do
or Die - the journal of Earth First! were held up as material likely to
incite.
As the statement of solidarity - signed by over 300 groups and
individuals pointed out "It is vital that the press - alternative,
independent, radical, liberal and establishment - unite to defend the
basic freedoms under attack in this case: freedom of speech and freedom
of the press. It is not for the police to determine the limits of our
discussions........ It is not the reporting of direct action which
incites further direct action; environmental degradation, animal abuse,
economic injustice, attacks on freedom, weapons exports, nuclear
weapons, lack of democratic process - these, among many others, are the
inciting factors."
What Now?
---------
All three are immediately to appeal their convictions; meanwhile the CPS
are attempting to bring Paul Rogers to trial next year, while Robin Webb
who was acquited last December is facing an appeal by the Crown
Prosecution to prosecute later this month.
Prison address: Write to the 3 `guilty' men at: HMP WINCHESTER, Romsey
Rd, Winchester, UK, SO22 5DS. As we went to press, the 3 hadn't been
issued numbers, but the prison told us mail would still get to them. -
contact Green Anarchist BM 1715, London WC1N 3XX for more details .
Fax number of GANDALF support group: 00 44 1474 815 458.
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 13:39:19
From: eklei@earthlink.net
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: "sweet revenge"
Message-ID: <3.0.1.16.19971212133919.37d7a032@earthlink.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The "sweet revenge" remark about the young woman who died at Yerkes from
Herpes B infection absolutely sickens me. I realize that AR-News is not
for commentary, but I felt compelled to respond.
Eric Kleiman
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 16:42:21 -0500
From: "D'Amico, Ann-Marie"
To: "'ar-news@envirolink.org'"
Subject: PPI
Message-ID:
The Animals Agenda
Nov/Dec 1997
PROTESTING PRIMARILY PRIMATES
It is a sad day for the animals when I must request that my name be
deleted as an Animals' Agenda benefactor. Although the donation is
irrevocable, I wsh to dissociate the Alexander Foundation from your
magazine. You decided to run a public relations story on Primarily
Primates, Inc. (PPI) ("Happy Endings; The Buckshire 12," Vol. 17, No.4,
p.38) with the full knowledge that I, along with primatologist Roger
Fouts, Doris Day Animal League executive director Holly Hazard and
Carole Noon, had visited PPI and found the facility to be disgusting.
We suggested that Wally Swett not acquire any new animals until he could
adequately accommodate those already in his care.
The purpose of my initial visit to PPI in 1996 was to see the facility
first-hand before making a considerable donation. Later, I made a
return visit along with Fouts, Hazard, and Noon. I was sickened by what
I saw, as I am with Agenda's publishing only what Swett and Stephen
Tello had to say about PPI, rather than the ugly truth. PPI is
precisely the type of establishment that I would target for a protest
demonstration; it was filthy!
Employees and volunteers at PPI have been complaining about the neglect
and abuse of its animal residents for years. For example, a caretaker
told me that although a number of cinderblock housings needed cleaning,
Swett forbade it, saying it was not a priority because no one could see
inside them. I vividly recall seeing a monkey in apparently critical
mental and physical condition whose self-mutilation left what appeared
to be tendons dangling from his legs.
We cannot continue to allow a place that so grossly misrepresents itself
as a sanctuary to continue to dupe people into believing it is even
minimally redeemable. Last year, I informed Agenda of the despicable
conditions I witnessed at PPI. Why, then, did you run an article
without investigating the charges made by so many credible activists?
It's time to stop the animal abusers, not to provide the pages of The
Animals' Agenda as a means for free advertising!
Nanci Alexander, The Alexander Foundation, Boca Raton, FL
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 17:21:47 -0800
From: Hillary
To: veg-nyc@waste.org
Subject: NYC EVENTS-Updated
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971212172139.00e6f980@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii"
******************************************
UPCOMING EVENTS IN NYC
******************************************
Friday December 12, 5:30 p.m.: Big Apple Circus Protest. Meet at 62nd and
Columbus Avenue. (ADL)
Saturday December 13 7 pm to Midnight: Big Apple Vegetarians Holiday
Party-and celebrate Joan Zacharias' 40th!! (At FFF, the cops thought she
was 30!!) You must call Jean at 718-855-6030 before 10 pm to see if
there's room. 122 West 27th Street (between 6th & 7th Aves.) $22 for
members/$27 non-members
Friday, December 12 6:30-9:00 p.m. 3rd Annual Sierra Club Holiday Party
Horticultural Society of NY 128 West 58th Street (near 6th Ave) $25 per
person - $40 for two, RSVP: (212) 869-1630
WE'RE HITTING MACY'S IN TWO BOROUGHS: CHOOSE ONE, BUT BE
THERE!!
Saturday December 13 (1-3 p.m.): Anti-Fur Protest at Macy's Brooklyn,
Fulton Mall, Brooklyn. (ADL) Take the F to Jay Street, or take the 4, 5,
2, 3, N or R and ask for directions to Fulton Mall. (F brings you the
closest, the others about 5 blocks away)
Saturday December 13 (11:30 a.m.): Anti-Fur Protest at Macy's Herald
Square Broadway Entrance between 34th and 35th (PETA)
Tuesday December 16th (12-1 pm) Lunchtime Anti Fur Demo at Rockefeller
Center 5th Avenue Between 50th and 49th Streets. Have fun with Friends of
Animals with street theatre!
Tuesday December 16th (7-8 p.m.): With a few other protesters, "speak
out" to fur wearers in an area populated with fur-wearers. Avery Fisher
Hall, Lincoln Center 62nd to 65th Streets, cross st. Between Amsterdam
and Columbus (PETA)
Wednesday December 17th (11:30 am): Protest in front of Vogue for their
promotion of fur. Let 'em know that fur is NOT fashionable (350 Madison
between 44th and 45th) (PETA)
Wednesday December 17th (5:30 p.m.-7:00pm) Join Friends of Animals at
Balthazar, 80 Spring Street. The occasion? To protest at Vogue's Holiday
Party for Vogue's continued and relentless promotion of fur as
fashionable, trendy and "back". A recent front page article was entitled
"How to Buy a Fur". Now, if that doesn't warrant some serious
protesting, I don't know what does. The protest oughta be a
blast--they'll be videos of the horror of fur trapping so everyone
attending the party will understand the reality of fur.(FOA)
Thursday December 17th (12-3 pm) Anti-Fur Fashion Show. A fun and
innovative way to demonstrate our abhorrence of fur--come and see what
it's all about! For Location, call Matt at FoA at 212-247-8120
Friday December 19th (6-8 p.m.): Anti-Fur Leafletting at Macy's Herald
Square (ADL)
Saturday December 20th (1-3 p.m.): Protest at Zamir's Furs 90 West
Houston Street between Thompson and Laguardia) (ADL)
******************************************************************************
Sunday December 21 11am HUGE DEMO! Macy's Herald Square. This will be
BIG! For more info, contact Adam at 212-966-5244 or Mike at 800-473-5490
(CAFT)
******************************************************************************
December 23rd (6-7 pm): With a few other protesters, "speak out" to fur
wearers in an area populated with fur-wearers. Metropolitan Opera, 70
Lincoln Center Plaza. 64th
and Broadway., (cross st. Between Columbus and Amsterdam (PETA)
Sunday December 28th (1-3 p.m.): Bloomingdale's Fur Protest (59th and
Lexington Avenue) (ADL)
Thursday, January 1 (11:30 a.m.): Time to Stop Wearing Fur Protest! Meet
at NAtural History Museum, 79th Street and CPW (PETA)
Tuesday January 6th (7-8 p.m.) With a few other protesters, "speak out"
to fur wearers in an area populated with fur-wearers. NYC Ballet 20
Lincoln Center Plaza 64th and Broadway., (cross st. Between Columbus and
Amsterdam(PETA)
Thursday January 22 (7-8 p.m.): With a few other protesters, "speak out"
to fur wearers in an area populated with fur-wearers. NYC Ballet 20
Lincoln Center Plaza 64th and Broadway., (cross st. Between Columbus and
Amsterdam (PETA)
Saturday, January 17th (11:30 a.m.): Anti-Macy's Protest! Meet at Macy's
Herald Square *Broadway entrance between 34th and 35th* (PETA)
Monday January 26th (6:30-7:30): With a few other protesters, "speak
out" to fur wearers in an area populated with fur-wearers. Metropolitan
Opera 70 Lincoln Center Plaza. 64th and Broadway., (cross st. Between
Columbus and Amsterdam (PETA)
Wednesday, January 28th (11:30 a.m.): Protest Vogue's continued promotion
of fur. Meet at Vogue 350 Madison Avenue between 44th and 45th (PETA)
Contacts:
PETA: Toni Vernelli 212-677-9764
CAFT: Adam 212-966-5244 or Mike 800-473-5490
ADL: Justin 800-459-3109---Always call to confirm ADL events!<<<<<<<<
FOA: Matt 212-247-8120
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 17:37:46 -0800
From: Hillary
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Interesting NY Dog Story
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971212173731.0073bdd4@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
A Woman and Her Dogs Stymie Landlord, City
By JANE H. LII
NEW YORK -- Until May of last year, block 7206, lot 259, was just a
garbage-strewn half-acre in Staten Island's Industrial Loop. But then it
became home to a woman, her three trailers and her dogs -- more than 50 at
last count, and multiplying.
The lot's owner, John Devine, says he has been trying since January to
get the woman, who calls herself the Rev. A. Gail Arnold, off his lot, not
because she has too many dogs but because she is not paying rent. But
instead he has run into a particularly knotty Catch-22.
Despite what his lawyer, David Meth, says are two eviction orders from a
court, city marshals have declined to turn Ms. Arnold out because the
animal shelter under city contract has refused to accept her dogs and laws
prohibit marshals from making animals homeless while enforcing a court
order. The shelter will not accept the dogs partly because they are afraid
of lawsuits from the litigious Ms. Arnold.
"My life has been pure hell for the last year," Devine said. "I have
tried to abide by the law and settle the matter through the courts. But I'm
being penalized by everybody along the way."
The issue between Devine and Ms. Arnold is money more than dogs. Devine
said Ms. Arnold owes him nearly $15,300 in back rent since August 1996. He
said she had agreed in May 1996 to lease the lot for $900 a month and had
put down $1,800 in cash for the first two months' rent. But he said she had
not paid him a cent since and that he could not afford to let her go on
living rent-free while being saddled with $6,000 in real estate taxes a year.
Ms. Arnold, who is vague about many aspects of her life except to say
that she is the head of the Sacred Life Church, an entity with no physical
location, disputes Devine's claim. She said she did not owe any rent
because the lot could not be connected to gas, water or electricity. She
said this lack of basic service has forced her to abandon a plan to build a
200-dog kennel on the site.
"The fact that I'm stuck here is his doing," said Ms. Arnold, who lives
in a trailer on the lot. "He has no right to evict me."
Ms. Arnold's ferocity is well known among the city's animal care
agencies. Since 1990, under the name Adrienne Lindner, she has filed
numerous lawsuits against the American Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals.
When the ASPCA confiscated her dogs, alleging mistreatment, Ms. Arnold
waged a two-year legal battle against the agency, forcing it not only to
return her dogs but to pay the costs of their feeding and care at the ASPCA
shelter for the duration of the court case.
Fearing the same result, the Center for Animal Care and Control, which
takes in some 200 strays and abandoned animals daily, has steadfastly
refused to accept her dogs. Fred Winters, a spokesman for the city's
Department of Health, which oversees the shelter, said it was not obliged
to take in animals during civil matters.
"Besides, based on this person's history, we can anticipate that the
shelter might be enjoined from doing anything to these animals other than
holding them for upwards of up to a year or more," Winters said. "This
means that as long as they are held there, other animals would have to be
euthanized more quickly and would have less of a chance to be adopted."
Marilyn Haggerty-Blohm, the shelter's executive director, said it would
take in the dogs only if ASPCA inspections found signs of abuse or if
Devine agreed to pay for their boarding, at $10 a day for each dog. But
Peter Paris, a spokesman at the ASPCA, said recent inspections found the
dogs to be adequately cared for. During the day, the friendlier dogs are
allowed to roam the garbage-strewn lot while the few vicious ones are tied
up. Ms. Arnold said the dogs sleep in the three trailers at night.
Until a home can be found for the dogs, it seems that Ms. Arnold and her
pack can stay on the lot for as long as they want to.
"The law stipulates that marshals have to find shelter for the animals
before they can enforce a warrant," said Kevin Ryan, a spokesman for the
city's Department of Investigation. It is a misdemeanor to make animals
homeless, he said.
But this is little comfort to Devine. "Everybody is protected in this
case but the real victim, me," he said.
Ms. Arnold said she would be willing to move, if someone could offer her
a comparable piece of land to house her dogs.
"God told me to take care of them," she said. "I'm not going to abandon
them.'
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 14:42:34 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Newswire: King Royal Circus loses license
Message-ID: <199712122233.RAA18930@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Great news! Fabulous work by everyone
who worked on this. 'Tis nice to see the
'good guys' win one...
Lawrence
============================================
Circus loses license over elephant's death
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Reuters) - A traveling circus
whose elephant was found dead inside a trailer in New
Mexico has had its license revoked and was ordered
by a federal judge to pay a $200,000 fine, officials said
Friday.
Department of Agriculture Judge Victor Palmer ruled
Thursday that the Texas-based King Royal Circus
abused three elephants and eight llamas and
permanently barred it from exhibiting animals
in the future.
It was believed to be the largest fine ever imposed
in an animal abuse case in the United States and the
circus claimed it was unfair.
"We thought that evidence was available which
showed this was simply an accident. These sanctions
and the revocation of the license is not an appropriate
remedy," attorney Ron Koch said, adding that the
circus would appeal the ruling.
Albuquerque police discovered the animals crammed
in a poorly ventilated trailer last August. One elephant,
an 8-year-old African elephant named Heather, had died.
The case provoked a nationwide outcry from animals
rights activists who appealed to the federal government
to intervene.
"This was no accident," said Lisa Jennings of Animal
Protection of New Mexico, Inc.
"This is the way they do business and it's the way a
lot of circuses do business. The less money and the
less care they put into the animals, the more money
they make and that's the bottom line," Jennings said.
Palmer said in his ruling that the circus's violations
were "severe and directly affected the health and
well-being of the animals," and "were part of a
long-term failure to provide adequate care."
The city of Albuquerque took away the circus's other
two elephants and eight llamas after the incident and
is holding them at a city park. Koch said the circus
planned to sue the city to regain custody of the
animals.
REUTERS
Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/
"Civil liberties are always safe as long as their exercise doesn't
bother anyone." New York Times editorial, 1-3-41
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 15:30:26 -0800
From: "Bob Schlesinger"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: NADAS - AN UPDATE
Message-ID: <199712121530260490.014EDD33@pcez.com>
Medford Oregon
December 11, 1997
Jackson County Officials Prohibit Photographing or Visiting Nadas
In a fax to Robert Babcock, attorney for Nadas' owner Sean Roach, the assistant county
counsel
for Jackson County Oregon stated that Jackson County would not consider a humanitarian
request to permit an independent photographer to take pictures of Nadas before he is put to
death. Nadas is the 3 year old collie/malamute mix that has been sentenced to death for allegedly
chasing a horse and has been impounded for over 15 months. Sean has been barred from visiting
Nadas and had requested photographs of his dog since he had taken very few of them before his
dog was taken from him by an animal control official. That official, without a warrant, removed
Nadas from Sean's property in September 1996.
Assistant Jackson County Counsel Steven R. Rinkle issued the following statement:
"I have conferred with my clients and been instructed to advise you that Jackson County will not
permit an independent photographer access to Mr. Roach's dog for photographs, and will not
permit Mr. Roach to visit the dog. However, in the event that the opinion of the court of appeals
stands, Jackson County is willing to take photographs of Mr. Roach's dog prior to being
euthanized, and to forward the photos to you for delivery to Mr. Roach. I also need to advise
you that Jackson County will not consent to an extension of the stay of execution."
This statement was made in response to a request by Mr. Babcock for access by a photographer
as well as consideration by the county to consider an offer made by Best Friends Animal
Sanctuary in Utah to adopt Nadas. Sean Roach had agreed to the adoption if it meant the life of
his dog could be spared. Jackson County rejected the offer, as they are only interested in putting
the dog to death.
Attorney Babcock currently has a petition pending before the Oregon Supreme Court to review
this case. As a result of the statement made above, Mr. Babcock has filed an emergency motion
with the Oregon Supreme Court preventing Jackson County officials from immediately carrying
out this sentence in the event that the court either rejects hearing the petition, or rules adversely.
This was done in order to permit time for reconsideration, which is permitted under Oregon's
rules of appellate procedure. A delay of 21 days was requested.
Meanwhile, Friends of Nadas, who have organized a boycott of Jackson County businesses and
tourism have stated that the boycott will be extended until all three of the current County
Commissioners are removed from office should Nadas be killed.
Full background information about this story, was posted at AR-NEWS previously. For complete
contact and Urgent Action information, either review the story at http://www.arkonline.com, or
send email requesting further details to bob@arkonline.com
-Bob Schlesinger
Ark Online
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 1997 08:20:19 +0800
From: bunny
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK)Influenza - bird to man
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19971213081341.1abf9f12@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
INFLUENZA, BIRD-TO-MAN - CHINA (HONG KONG)
***********************************************
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 16:07:32 -0800
Nine members of a hospital staff here have been sent home on sick leave
amid fears they could have contracted a deadly new strain of flu that
previously only infected birds, a health official said. The nine all
reported "flu-like symptoms" after coming into contact with two patients
infected with the H5N1 "bird flu," said a spokesman for the Hospital
Authority, which operates major public health services here. One of the
patients, a 54-year-old man, died last Friday and the other, a 13-year-old
girl, remained hospitalized in serious condition.
Some 90 hospital staff had contact with the pair and it was "not uncommon"
for up to 10 percent of employees to suffer minor ailments at any time, the
spokesman added. The nine staff members on sick leave had been tested for
the virus, and officials were awaiting the results, she said. Local and
international experts are frantically searching for the source of the
virus, which first appeared in humans when it killed a 3-year-old boy here
in May. A 2-year-old boy was also infected but later recovered.
The last time a new flu strain broke out in Hong Kong was in 1968. That
strain, which killed tens of thousands, became known as Hong Kong flu.
Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148
========================================================
Email> rabbit@wantree.com.au
http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)
/`\ /`\
(/\ \-/ /\)
)6 6(
>{= Y =}<
/'-^-'\
(_) (_)
| . |
| |}
jgs \_/^\_/
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 97 17:36:11 -0000
From: "Eric Mindel @ LCA"
To: "ar-news"
Subject: Make-A-Wish Duck Hunt Benefit in Mississippi
Message-ID: <199712130024.TAA22941@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hi all
After receiving word that the MS chapter of Make-A-Wish Foundation was to
receive revenue from a duck hunt organized by Wildlife Incorporated, LCA
contacted the national Make-A-Wish office in Arizona and spoke with Kelly
Taft.
Ms. Taft called our representative back on December 12 to assure LCA the
MS chapter of Make-A-Wish would not accept money from the duck hunt.
Anyone know otherwise?
She additionally curtly asked our representative to pass this on to our
"colleagues at The Fund For Animals." Seems like the Fund strongly
submitted a wish and got it. :)
eric
Eric Mindel
Last Chance for Animals (LCA)
eric@lcanimal.org
http://www.lcanimal.org
8033 Sunset Blvd., #35
Los Angeles, CA 90046
310/271-6096 office, 310/271-1890 fax
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 18:34:24
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Giving free-rangers a six-month runaround
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971212183424.196f3e80@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Saturday, December 13th, 1997
Giving free-rangers a six-month runaround
Jonny Beardsall meets a turkey farmer gearing up for Christmas.
Denis Peirson, 62, rears free-range Bronze turkeys on his 135-acre mixed
farm near Kirkby Fleetham in North Yorkshire. Feeding his birds on
additive-free food specified by the Traditional Farm Fresh Turkey
Association, he is the association's only free-range grower in the country.
He is married to Yvonne and has two daughters, Karen and Joanne, and a son,
Steven, who assists him. He has moved four miles (as the crow flies) in his
life, and the happy turkeys provide a seasonal return of ú6,000 a year.
What's so special about a free-range bird?
It's had a better life than a bird raised inside. It won't grow as big
because it is running about all day, but it tastes like turkeys used to.
They are meaty and carry less fat. The hens are smaller but some people
prefer the taste.
Free-range turkeys are dark in colour, like a game bird, but when you get
close, you can see lots of lovely bronzes and reds - really lovely colours.
People like to think of them running about and are prepared to pay a bit
more for them.
How much are they?
Around ú2 a pound. The white-feathered birds kept in sheds could sell for
as little as 50p a pound for a frozen bird. The association sends us
flat-pack boxes to sell ours in. They are ingenious - just a few shakes and
pokes and there's a box with a handle. In goes the bird and it's ready for
a car boot on Christmas Eve.
What are their rarefied lives like?
They arrive here by van in July - 250 tiny day-old chicks. They've been
sexed, so we get half and half and can rear them separately - we don't want
any fighting or bullying. We put them in a shed under infra-red lamps on
wood shavings in pens made from rings of hardboard. As they get bigger, we
remove the pens and dim the lights until they are feathered and quite
happy. Depending on the weather, we let them into a run outside. When they
get more adventurous, the stags have 10 acres of grass to run about in and
the hens have five acres. They come in at night.
Do they know when it's tea time?
Yes. I walk into the field with a food bag and they come in. They know when
to head home. I don't count them; it's just a case of looking around, and
they shout if they are left on their own. You can hear them from way off.
They wouldn't want to stay out in case Brer Fox pays a visit.
Are they able to fly?
They can, but not very far. As some birds weigh up to 15lb, they do well to
get airborne at all. When I let them out, some will suddenly take off and
land, say, 100 yards away.
How do you kill a turkey?
We place them headfirst into a suspended funnel so they can't flap about.
When their head shows through the narrow end, a quick touch with a
hand-held electrode stuns them and it's all over. Then we cut their throats.
Describe a killing day.
I have sheep to feed, at around 7am, before breakfast, which is porridge
cooked by me. I don't let the birds out. When the three or four pluckers
arrive, we crack on. Catching the birds is quite a job, and I'm quite slow
so I leave it to my son. We switch the lights off so he doesn't have to
charge all over the shed. He grovels around on all fours and grabs them one
at a
time by the feet. They can give you a nasty whack in the face, so we hold
them upside down so that they don't flap. There is little stress. As soon
as we've killed and bled the first one, we pluck it. The bird is hung for
at least a week before being dressed just before Christmas. We wear
waterproofs as it's quite messy work. We stop for a sandwich, but not a
turkey one.
We finish early in the evening when we've done, say, 50 birds.
Do you think they know when they are about to 'get it'?
They're aware that something is going on but they wouldn't know what. It's
a matter of just creeping into the hut quietly.
Do you ever feel close to them?
I don't recognise individuals - they're just a group to me. They are very
social birds and I can walk right through them. I think they just see me as
the man with the bag. They wander about all day scratching for insects, and
they'd get into the garden given the chance. There was a time when I was
always shooing them off the lawn. They eat anything.
If you had a lottery win, would you give up turkey farming?
Yes, I would, but it depends on how many noughts were on the end. I drive a
second-hand Toyota Carina now so I'd probably go out and buy a new Range
Rover.
⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 22:58:44 -0400
From: Ty Savoy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (Ca) Zoo's Last Inhabitant Dies
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19971213025844.00759d88@north.nsis.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
(Ca) Zoo's Last Inhabitant Dies
Dec 12 (CP) -- Polar bear Tuk, who arrived at the Stanley park Zoo in 1962
and was its last inhabitant, has died of pneumonia.
Tuk died surrounded by the park's wildlife staff.
Wildlife manager Mike ManKintosh said Tuk was among six polar bear
cubs that arrived at the zoo 35 years ago.
They were born on Southhampton Island in Hudson's Bay and donated to
the city park board by the Hudson Bay Company.
There won't be any more bears, or other caged animals in Stanley
Park, after voters decided in 1993 to close the zoo.
Tuk survived longer in captivity than he would have in the wild,
where polar bears generally live up to 25 years, said MacKintosh.
His favorite Tuk story is about the time in the early 1980's when
someone tossed a kitten into the polar bear pool. Tuk jumped in, delicately
removed the kitten with his teeth, licked it dry and tucked it safely under
his paw.
MacKintosh said zoo staff never knew whether Tuk was showing
compassion, or simply saving the kitten for a later snack.
The kitten was removed safely.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 21:59:02 -0500
From: joemiele
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: The Monkey's Revenge
Message-ID: <3.0.5.32.19971212215902.007a53e0@qed.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 18:40:26 EST
>Reply-To: LMANHEIM@aol.com
>From: LMANHEIM
>Subject: The Monkey's Revenge
>
>Just heard on NBC Headline News at 3 am, not verbatim:
>
>A female researcher has died from the Herpes B virus contracted from a rhesus
>monkey. Fluid from the monkey entered the woman's eye, infecting her as she
>transferred the animal from one cage to another at the Yerkes Primate
>Institute in Atlanta.
>
>Terrible, isn't it?
>
>Best,
>Lynn Manheim
>Letters for Animals
>
>P.S. Someone please pass this on to ar-news. I seem to have accidentally
>closed myself out of that list.
>
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 23:04:56 -0500
From: Wyandotte Animal Group
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: APHIS Press Release USDA-APHIS Statement on King Roayl Circus
Decision
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19971213040456.2e0f0790@mail.heritage.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> Jim Rogers (301) 734-8563
> jrogers@aphis.usda.gov
> Jamie Ambrosi (301) 734-5175
> jambrosi@aphis.usda.gov
>
>
>
>USDA-APHIS STATEMENT ON KING ROYAL CIRCUS DECISION
>
> RIVERDALE, Md., Dec. 11, 1997--"The animals are the real winners in
>this case," said Michael V. Dunn, assistant secretary of agriculture for
>marketing and regulatory programs. "This decision sends a strong
>message that owners and operators cannot cut corners when it comes
>to the health and well-being of their animals. This is a great example of
>how state, local, and federal officials can work together to ensure swift
>justice."
>
> #
Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
wag@heritage.com
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 23:05:57 -0500
From: Wyandotte Animal Group
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: APHIS Press Release USDA SHUTS DOWN THE KING ROYAL CIRCUS
FOLLOWING DEATH OF ELEPHANT
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19971213040557.2db736b8@mail.heritage.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> Jim Rogers (301) 734-8563
> jrogers@aphis.usda.gov
> Jamie Ambrosi (301) 734-5175
> jambrosi@aphis.usda.gov
>
>
>USDA SHUTS DOWN THE KING ROYAL CIRCUS FOLLOWING
>DEATH OF ELEPHANT
>
> RIVERDALE, Md., Dec. 12, 1997--A U.S. Department of
>Agriculture administrative law judge has found John Davenport,
>a licensed exhibitor operating as the King Royal Circus in Von
>Ormy, Texas, guilty of violating the Animal Welfare Act.
>
> "The animals are the real winners in this case," said Michael
>V. Dunn, assistant secretary of agriculture for USDA's marketing
>and regulatory programs. "This decision sends a strong
>message that owners and operators cannot cut corners when it
>comes to the health and well being of their animals."
>
> Davenport was fined $200,000 and his license to operate as
>an exhibitor under the AWA was permanently revoked. He is
>also permanently disqualified from applying for another. He has
>30 days to appeal this decision.
>
> "This is a great example of how state, local, and federal
>officials can work together to ensure swift justice," Dunn said.
>"And, it should send a message to operators who feel they can
>circumvent the Act. They cannot. We will not allow it."
>
> An investigation into John Davenport's activities began several
>months ago when a King Royal Circus elephant died in a
>transport trailer in Albuquerque, N.M. USDA issued a complaint
>in August charging Davenport with several violations of the AWA.
>Those charges were addressed at an administrative law hearing
>in Albuquerque in October.
>
> Davenport has five previous investigations on record with two
>resulting in action. A 1992 investigation resulted in a warning
>ticket for recordkeeping non-compliance and a 1996
>investigation resulted in a consent agreement between USDA
>and Davenport.
>
> The AWA requires that regulated individuals and businesses
>provide animals with care and treatment according to the
>standards established by APHIS. Animals protected by the law
>must be provided with adequate housing, handling, sanitation,
>food, water, transportation, veterinary care, and shelter.
>
> The law covers animals that are sold as pets at the wholesale
>level, transported in commerce, used for biomedical research, or
>used for exhibition purposes.
>
> #
Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
wag@heritage.com
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