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AR-NEWS Digest 546
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) (CN) Squirrel exports to see good year
by Vadivu Govind
2) Scientists see flu in fearful form
by Vadivu Govind
3) (AU) Kangaroo meat confusion
by Vadivu Govind
4) Laboratory monkeys face eviction countdown
by Vadivu Govind
5) Urgent Help Needed For Indonesian Animals
by Vadivu Govind
6) [CA] Aquarium Protest
by David J Knowles
7) (ID) Wildlife traders benefit from fires - WSPA PRESS RELEASE
by Vadivu Govind
8) Action Alert - British Government - Right Now!
by BreachEnv@aol.com
9) [UK] Garlic clove a day keeps doctor away
by David J Knowles
10) NJARA Animal Rights Festival
by "veegman@qed.net"
11) Subscription Options--Admin Note
by allen schubert
12) [US] More Urban Deer Killing
by Debbie Leahy
13) (US) Catfish Farmer Brings Up Case
by allen schubert
14) Prairie Chicken Hunt Goes on...
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
15) Pigeons Make Mess of Wagoner, OK
by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
16) WWW Epidemiologic Cohort Study of Diet and Health
by Vadivu Govind
17) Re: Prairie Chicken Hunt Goes on...
by "D.B.Sullivan"
18) [WA] Tribal Opponents Of Makah Whaling Leave For International Whaling Commission
Meeting
by bchorush@paws.org (pawsinfo)
19) NEW YORK TRAPPING ALERT
by CFOXAPI@aol.com
20) (US) Hunger Strike Continues
by allen schubert
21) Public Meeting re:Tule Elk at Point Reyes
by In Defense of Animals
22) PROCTER & GAMBLE PROTESTORS RELEASED
by civillib@cwnet.com
23) (US) Salmonella Used To Fight Cancer
by allen schubert
24) (US) Insecticide researchers win food prize
by allen schubert
25) PBS whale program coming up
by LMANHEIM@aol.com
26) (CA) Lab animal legislation needed
by Stephanie Brown
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:41:59 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (CN) Squirrel exports to see good year
Message-ID: <199710140741.PAA22753@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>South China Morning Post
14 Oct 97
Squirrel exports to see good year via
WTO-inspired tariffs
TOM KORSKI in Beijing
The mainland has cut tariffs on sparkling wine and roses by 16 per cent but
stopped short of rolling back import duties on weasel fur and chewing gum.
Newly introduced Customs schedules intended to promote the government's
bid to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO) include adjustments to
hundreds of obscure tariff codes.
Authorities maintained tariffs of 30 per cent or more on maple syrup,
juke boxes and cravats, but lowered by half the tariffs on statuettes,
fake fur and squirrel tails.
"It'll be a good year for squirrel exports," a US trader said.
The Communist Party slashed the tariff on dog food by 57 per cent - a
welcome tax break for mainland pet-owners who typically pay up to 10,000
yuan (about HK$9,288) in municipal dog registration fees.
"Import duties have been lowered by one-third on anvils, petticoats and
rear-view mirrors, while tariffs on whips and riding crops were slashed
63 per cent - one of the highest reductions of any commodity."
The General Administration of Customs yesterday declined to comment on
the rationale behind the adjustments.
Revisions to duties on 4,874 commodities included an average 30 per
cent cut on lifejackets and hat racks, though the WTO-inspired cuts
failed to bring any relief to importers of antelope horns and badger hair.
For the first time, tariffs on imported imitation pearls are now lower than
duties on genuine pearls, by 13 per cent.
The mainland will impose higher tariffs on imported fireworks than
nuclear reactors, 6 per cent compared with 2 per cent.
The authorities also corrected an apparent anomaly in the 1996 Customs
schedule in which the tariff on enriched uranium was lower than the rate
on imported gravel.
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:42:16 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Scientists see flu in fearful form
Message-ID: <199710140742.PAA24152@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Hong Kong Standard
13 Oct 97
Scientists see flu in fearful form
WHEN German football star Mario Basler misses a World Cup qualifier because
of flu, even the biggest fan realises it is hardly a matter of life and
death. When a strain of the illness kills a three-year-old boy, however,
that is something else.
Researchers are now alarmed that the flu which claimed the boy in Hong Kong
in May could usher in the world's worst influenza epidemic in 29 years.
The boy fell victim to a previously unknown strain _ the H5N1 flu virus. It
was named for the two proteins (H protein and N protein) that the virus
carries on its bumpy, spiny shell.
Both proteins can quickly change their structure, and that is what makes
them so dangerous: if proteins are known to the body's own immune system,
for example through an earlier flu infection,
then the organism is capable of destroying the intruder. But new
combinations of the H and N proteins could allow the virus to take the host
body by surprise.
It was in this way that the Spanish flu claimed more than 20 million lives
within a few weeks in 1918_ more than double the number killed in World War
I, which ended that year.
On 29 October, just a few weeks before the end of the conflict, German
painter Egon Schiele portrayed his wife, pale and burning with fever; two
days later the H1N1 flu virus claimed him, too.
In 1957 Asian flu (H2N2) spread worldwide. In 1968, it was Hong Kong flu
(H3N2).
It can take only a few months or less for the amino acid sequence of the H
and N proteins to change within the shell of the virus, and the human body's
immune system correspondingly loses its ability to
fight off the new strain.
That happens through cross-breeding of two different influenza viruses which
have invaded an organism at the same time, explained Burghard Stueck, a
member of the standing vaccination commission of Berlin's Robert Koch
Institute.
It is therefore no coincidence that Southeast Asia _ a region where millions
of human beings have continued to live in close proximity to ducks and pigs
_ is the cradle for new flu viruses.
The pig serves as a kind of crucible that is equally susceptible to
influenza viruses from water fowl as to those from human beings. However,
according to British scientific journal Nature, the new H5N1 virus from Hong
Kong jumped directly from water fowl to humans.
The most that doctors can do against flu is remain vigilant. In recent years
the World Health Organisation has set up a network of 110 national reference
centres, and each year experts announce the prescription against the flu
agents expected to be rife the following winterThe Robert Koch Institute is
an adviser on flu vaccinations. It advises that even when an entirely new
influenza virus sets off an epidemic, people are best protected when they
are inoculated annually._ Sueddeutsche Zeitung
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:41:51 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (AU) Kangaroo meat confusion
Message-ID: <199710140741.PAA21398@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Hong Kong Standard
14 Oct 97
Aussies in kangaroo confusion
IN a world where millions can be persuaded to buy an electronic gizmo and
pretend it is a loveable pet, you would think that a properly funded
marketing department would have little trouble getting people to eat
kangaroo meat.
There's nothing wrong with the product: it is low in fat, as rich in colour
and taste as beef and costs less than lamb or pork.
Better still, it has what in marketing jargon is called a unique selling
proposition: by eating kangaroos and wallabies rather than cows and sheep,
you help preserve the amazing biodiversity of a wonderful country like
Australia.
And it even comes with a bonus: buying kangaroo meat is a healthier choice
because kangaroos are marsupials not mammals, so there can be no mad
cow-like scenario in which their parasites jump across and infect us.
But the marketing people at the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia
seem to be getting nowhere. They actually seem to be in retreat, abroad and
at home.
After taking off in Germany, kangaroo meat has now lost its place on the
meat counter shelves. A similar debacle is building in Britain, where
leading supermarket chain Tesco is under pressure to halt imports now valued
at A$1 million (HK$5.4 million) a year. In Australia, where three million
kangaroos hop off to slaughterhouses every year, 90 per cent of the
carcass is sold for cents to pet food producers. Kangaroo meat seldom makes
it onto the dinner table.
Because of its terrible stigma, the industry is worth only A$200 million a
year and employs just 4,000 people. There is hardly any growth at all.
The problem, identified succinctly by Victor Bates of prominent New South
Wales kangaroo meat processor Southern Game Meat, is ``culinary cringe'':
people just don't like the idea of eating the flesh of a cuddly animal with
big brown eyes and a pouch.
The problem is particularly acute in Australia, where the kangaroo is on the
national coat of arms, emblazoned on the tails of most of its passenger jets
and often seen adorning the lapels of its sporting heroes.
Michael Archer, professor of biology at Sydney's University of New South
Wales, says the whole thing is a nonsense.
``Why is it that we are happy to kill these things and shove them in tins
and feed them to our pets but we recoil at eating them ourselves and by
doing so ensure their survival? We have to stop thinking of them as a pest
and start thinking of them as a resource,'' Professor Archer says.
He has figures that are hard to argue with: sheep farmers in Queensland are
currently making A$160 million a year from sheep, but incurring land
degradation costs of A$80 million.
They would make a lot more _ and incur no land degradation costs _ if they
switched to kangaroo farming.
The thing about kangaroos, as opposed to imported species like sheep and
cattle, is that they don't damage the delicate biosystem of the outback.
Prof Archer puts it this way: ``These animals have had 30 million years to
learn how to use Australia without damaging it, to convert the resources of
Australia into edible meat.''
But environmental arguments don't seem to cut much ice with ordinary people
or with the International Fund for Animal Welfare, which is leading the
campaign to halt kangaroo meat exports and lobbying for the kangaroo to be
declared a protected species.
The kangaroo needs no protection: there are more of them hopping around the
bush now than when white settlers first arrived two centuries ago and twice
as many as there were a decade ago.
It is strange that the national icon is also a pest, good enough to be fed
to pets but too good to be served to people. _ DPA Features
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:42:09 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Laboratory monkeys face eviction countdown
Message-ID: <199710140742.PAA23119@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>Hong Kong Standard
13 Oct 97
Laboratory monkeys face eviction countdown
FOR a quarter century, the furry residents of two tiny islands in the
Florida Keys have been swinging in the trees, bathing in the subtropical
water and snacking on protected red mangroves.
But what may have seemed like a good idea to Charles River Laboratories and
the state of Florida 24 years ago has turned into an environmental nightmare.
The red mangroves are decimated on Key Lois and Raccoon Key, one of the
islands is badly eroded and the water around the islands is polluted with
waste.
The culprits: about 1,000 Rhesus monkeys bred for research.
``These are healthy, happy monkeys,'' said Curtis Kruer, a biologist and
fishing guide who has campaigned since the early 1980s to evict the
voracious primates. ``They live in their little harems.
They have their breeding groups, a bunch of females to a few males.''
Five years ago, the state and Charles River worked out an agreement that
allowed the company to keep the monkey operation well into the next century
if it would reduce the population, protect the mangroves and start a program
to replant damaged areas.
In 1995, scientists even tried to cage the red mangroves to protect them,
but the monkeys were still hungry after devouring their daily ration of
monkey chow and soon figured out how to get dessert.
Officials with Charles River, a subsidiary of vision care giant Bausch and
Lomb, admitted this summer that their plans to revegetate had been foiled by
the wily primates.
``They ought to run this headline,'' quipped Ed Davidson, chairman of the
Florida Audubon Society,
``Darwin's theory of evolution disproven: Bausch and Lomb's top scientists
consistently outwitted by monkeys.''
After the state complained that Charles River wasn't living up to its
agreement, Circuit Judge Sandra Taylor listened in July to three days of
arguments about the future of the monkey islands.
In early September, the judge ordered Charles River to speed efforts to
remove the monkeys.
Under the decision, the monkeys on 40-hectare Key Lois would have to be off
the island by 1 June 1998. The monkeys on 80 ha Raccoon Key would have to be
off by 1 September 1999.
The company has another 200 monkeys in breeding cages on Key Lois and agreed
to give the island to the state by the end of 2012. Raccoon Key would be
vacated by the end of 2024.
Charles River has requested a rehearing on Judge Taylor's ruling, which only
applied to the free-range monkeys.
The monkeys are bred for scientific and medical research, including the
study of AIDS, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease. They have also been
sold for vaccine testing and National Aeronautics and
Space Administration projects. When the young monkeys reach a year old, they
are trapped and sold for US$1,500 to US$4,000 (HK$11,700 to 31,200) each.
Their isolated island habitat enhances their value, ensuring they are free
from tuberculosis and other diseases. Company officials say such
infection-free animals are a valuable resource for researchers.
But the monkeys have long worn out their welcome with nearby residents in
the Keys _ people attracted to the region by ocean breezes, sparkling azure
waters and a sense of tropical refuge.
They complain of the smell, worry about the mangrove destruction and brood
that a tropical storm could blow monkeys onto neighbouring islands.
Opponents said the monkeys pose a threat because they could reach
neighbouring islands.
For Nettanis Kline, a former nurse who retired with her husband in 1969 to
Summerland Key about 40 km east of Key West, the monkeys aren't good
neighbours. ``We were here long before the
monkeys came,'' she said. ``But they've been there a long time. Nobody likes
them.''
That includes Florida environmental officials.
For years, Charles River and the state wrangled over the environmental
damage and the threat of escapes. Each time, agreements with government
officials allowed the company to keep breeding the
monkeys. Mr Kruer worries the latest ruling allows too much time.
``This order gives them two more years of monkeys eating mangroves, two more
years of water
degradation and two more hurricane seasons,'' said. _ AP
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 15:41:13 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Urgent Help Needed For Indonesian Animals
Message-ID: <199710140741.PAA18530@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
~~~~~~Please help to circulate this urgent appeal for help widely~~~~~~
Dear All,
As you may know from other AR-News posts (25/9/97, 1/10/97, 2/10/97,
7/10/97), Indonesia has been facing a huge problem with forest fires for the
past several weeks.
Rains appeared to have helped last week but there has been a dramatic
increase in the number of new forest blazes reported over the weekend. The
Straits Times reports that satellite pictures from the Environmental Impact
and Management Agency (Bapedal) in Indonesia revealed that there were 35
locations where intense fires were continuing in Kalimantan, 23 places in
Sumatra and two in Java. But there are fears more fires could be raging
which satellite images have been unable to pick up because of the thick
haze. The Hong Kong Standard says a local (Indonesian) environment official
said it could take a quarter of century for central Borneo to recover.
According to some estimates, the fires have destroyed up to 1.9 million
acres of forests.
~Indonesian forests are known to be very rich in wildlife.~
The Orangutan Foundation International is fortunately trying to support the
world's expert on orangs, Dr Birute Galdikas, in her rescue efforts. She is
there to assist in both rescue and environmental assessment for the
Indonesian government. Her Care Center is receiving around 10 baby orphans
each day due to the effects of the fire and pet trade. Dr Galdikas and her
staff have been fighting the fires along with the emergency personnel. The
local PHPA (Nature Conservation agency) is also involved in rescuing animals.
Funds collected by OFI for this crisis will be earmarked for emergency
rescue, relief and forest rehabilitation. Please mark it as being "For the
Indonesian forest fires". Personal cheques, money orders, MasterCard & Visa
will be accepted.
You can send it to:
Orangutan Foundation International
822 S. Wellesley Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
USA
OFI's email is and their URL, http://ofi.net
I do hope you can help. I am sitting here with my eyes watering and my
throat sore from the effects of the haze, many here are ill and those who
can afford it have left the country temporarily and this is all the way out
in Singapore.
I shudder to think about the animals at the disaster scene.
Please Help Them.
Thank you very much.
For the animals,
Ms Vadivu Govind
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 02:13:40
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Aquarium Protest
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971014021340.23ff197a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
By David Knowles
VANCOUVER, BC - 15 protesters took part in a peaceful demonstration outside
the Vancouver Aquarium Monday.
The protest, organized by Animal Allies and the Coalition For No Whales In
Captivity, was held to mark the death of Finna, the aquarium's 21-year-old
male orca who died last week.
Protestors carried mock tombstones, each one remembering a cetacean who
have died at the aquarium.
Media turnout was good, with all four local TV stations, both local
newspapers and several radio stations in attendence.
Toni Vernelli, of Animal Allies, stated that the Vancouver Aquarium was a
dnagerous place for whales and dolphins, with at least 23 dying prematurely
in the tiny tanks.
"It's time for them to swallow their pride, admit the failure of their orca
captivity project, and shift their focus into rehabilitation research and
eventual release," said Vernelli.
One TV reporter, from Global TV (formerly known as U.TV) put the aquarium's
marine mammal curator, Clint Wright, on the spot by asking him if he
thought keeping whales in captivity was cruel.
Wright replied, after thinking for a few minutes, that the reporter was
really asking him if he thought Wright was cruel. He went on to say,
obviously, that he didn't think he was.
BCTV reported that there was an agreement between aquaria signed last year
which prohibited the sale of whales between them, and that the last whale
to be sold was Keiko.
However, several local activists who were contacted tonight were not aware
of this agreement, and wondered where BCTV got this information from.
Members of the public appeared unmoved by the protest, but attendence at
the facility is down from last year's figures.
[If anyone can confirm that this agreement is real, or just a figment of
someone's imagination, please e-mail me privately. Toni is on a
pre-arranged visit to her home city from England, where she now lives. She
was involved in Animal Allies before she left for Britain. Animal Allies is
a Vancouver-based animal-rights group and has no connection with any
similarly-named groups.]
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 17:29:59 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (ID) Wildlife traders benefit from fires - WSPA PRESS RELEASE
Message-ID: <199710140929.RAA31495@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
WSPA PRESS RELEASE
8 Oct 97
Indonesia's Fires Drive Endangered Orang-utans into the Arms of Wildlife Traders
Many endangered species, including the orang-utan, are being driven straight
into the arms of illegal wildlife traders by the forest fires that are
raging across Indonesia. Thousands of animals in Borneo and Sumatra have
already died in the fires and over a million acres of prime forest habitat
has been destroyed. An animal rescue team from the World Society for the
Protection of Animals (WSPA) is now on standbay to assist with the recue of
orang-utans from the
fires.
Victor Watkins, WSPA's Director of Widlife, said, "Sadly, much of the forest
has been destroyed by the fire, driving orang-utans straight into the arms
of hunters and widlife traders. Efforts to control the fires have come too
late to prevent them from wrecking havoc on Indonesia's widlife."
Orang-utans are being killed as they come out of the burning forest seeking
safety from the fires. Any orphan babies that are found are usually taken
and sold on to animal dealers. Some end up as exotic pets, but most die of
stress and disease.
Victor Watkins recently took part in a raid to confiscate one such victim, a
baby orang-utan which had been taken by a farmer in a small village north of
Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The farmer was planning to sell it to an animal
dealer, having killed its mother with a machete when she fled the flames and
entered his land. Luckily, WSPA was able to help confiscate the orang-utan
and take it to the Wanariset Orang-Utan centre before it was sold.
Although once spread throughout South East Asia, orang-utans are now only
found on Sumatra and Borneo. There are estimated to be around 30,000
orang-utans left in the wild . This endangered species is already
threatened with habitat loss due to deforestation from the logging and
mining industries. In addition, hundreds are taken each year for the
illegal widllife trade.
WSPA funds the Wanariset Orang-Utan rescue and re-introduction project in
Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, on Borneo where orphaned young apes are cared
for and prepared for eventual release into 100,000 acres of protected forest
in the south of the island. The centre is currently taking in new casualties
from the fires every week, including sun bears and gibbons as well as
orang-utans. WSPA is sending urgent supplies of veterinary materials to the
Wanariset Orang-Utan Rescue Centre.
Interviews, photographs and braodcast-quality footage available on request.
For further information, please contact:
Jonathan Owen, WSPA Press Officer: 0171 793 0540 (mobile: 0467234689)
WSPA Headquarters:
2 Langley Lane
London SW8 1TJ
United Kingdom
Email
Website http://www.way.net/wspa
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 05:46:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: BreachEnv@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Action Alert - British Government - Right Now!
Message-ID: <971014054600_1233467607@emout14.mail.aol.com>
As you'll all know by now, the British Fisheries Minister has at last come
out
of his closet. He's going to back the re-start of commercial whaling within
EEZs at the IWC. Like a lot more, he made great promises until he got the
power!
Please inundate the following with faxes, emails and phone calls before he
gets
the chance to do his dirty work. Below is a copy of our letter to him today,
in case it helps.
Elliot Morley MP
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, & Countryside
3, Whitehall Place
West Block
LONDON
SW1 2HH
tele: +44 (0)171 270 8669 or 8663
Fax: +44 (0)171 270 875
email: parlsecc@sec.maff.gov.uk
Rt Hon. Tony Blair Prime Minister
tele: +44 (0)171 270 3000
Fax: +44 (0)171 925 0918
No email.
Rt Hon. John Prescott Minister for the Environment (Morley's boss)
tele: +44 (0)171 890 3000
Fax: +44 (0)171 890 4455
No email.
Elliot Morley M.P.
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Countryside
Open Letter To Elliot Morley,
Re: British Government's Position On Whaling
We have read with horror, your reported comments in the Electronic Telegraph
today and of your attempts to justify an incredible reversal in British
Government's Policy on the whaling issue to other M.P.s.
I would remind you that, until 6 short months ago, the United Kingdom
supported a position on whaling defined by the then Conservative Government's
Fisheries Minister Tony Baldry's statements to the 48th (1996) International
Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting which insisted:
"'... the United Kingdom Government has now concluded that there are wider
reasons for opposing commercial whaling. It meets no pressing nutritional,
economic or social needs and is strongly opposed by the vast majority of our
citizens." "As the growing global demand to watch whales in the wild
demonstrates, it is possible for local communities to derive substantial
benefits from whales without the need to kill them."
As Tony Baldry said, the overwhelming majority of British people were in
favour of this position and since May, you have presented no evidence that
the
hearts and minds of the British people have changed, they have merely changed
their rulers in the hope of something better.
At the May election, the Labour Party stood on a platform of a wide ranging
'commitment' to animal welfare issues. In your leaflet 'New Labour, New
Britain, New Life For Animals, you state "We are the only Party with firm
Policies" and the Labour Party stands for:
"The hunting and killing of whales causes appalling cruelty, and threatens
the
survival of some species..." "On welfare and conservation grounds, we are
completely against commercial whaling...."
"We share our planet with a wide range of creatures - Labour believes it is
our responsibility to treat them humanely."
Now the confidence trick becomes clear. Where is the evidence of action on
these fine words now Mr. Morley; now that you are openly backing the
resumption of commercial whaling in whatever form; a practice that is well
proven (by evidence already supplied to you by ourselves and many others) to
be totally unnecessary and intrinsically inhumane?
1992 IWC Workshop on Whale Killing Methods adopted the following Definition
of
Humane Killing of an animal: "... causing its death without pain, stress or
distress perceptible to the animal" (IWC/44/REPHK), as provided in the 1980
IWC Workshop on Humane Killing Techniques for Whales report (IWC/33/15);
For the whaling you are now advocating within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs)
- which totals some 25% of the world's oceans (or equivalent to an area of
more than the world's second largest body of water - the Atlantic Ocean!) -
will you now also advocate the electric lance as a secondary killing method
after these whales are speared with explosive harpoons? The very implement
that the previous British Government fought long and hard to ban and the IWC
itself, at its 47th (1995) Annual Meeting the Commission, urged the
Contracting Governments to suspend the use of the electric lance as a method
of killing whales (IWC/47/50)?
Or perhaps you prefer the whalers to use the 'cold' harpoon for this job, the
wicked tool still favoured by the Japanese, even since its ban by the IWC in
1986? Or will you stand back and watch the great whales slaughtered with
rifles? Which is it to be Mr. Morley?
Condoning ANY commercial whaling will not stop Norway or Japan from
slaughtering whales, indeed, we believe it will only encourage them. Standing
up for your people and making it plain that Great Britain is a part of the
modern, enlightened world that will no longer tolerate hideous destruction
and
cruelty for money is the only, long term way. By this New Labour policy, you
are doing no more than caving-in to the pressures engineered by these two
states and other minority whaling interests on IWC member countries for their
own degenerate ends. If there is no intention to allow whaling around the
coast of Britain, why then do you indulge them? Support for the *Irish
Government's 'Final Solution' for whales will bring dishonour to both our
Nations, making us all, quite rightly, pariahs of the world.
So much for Tony Blair's New Nation Image, the new era of "modernisation",
"integrity", "justice" and "compassion". At your first challenge, for the
sake
of expediency, you are capitulating to the old, outdated, discredited and
cruel. You leave the concerned British public who looked to you and your
Government for leadership, and millions upon millions of others world-wide,
in
despair.
David Smith
Campaigns Director.
* A copy of our Open Letter To The Taoisech Of Ireland dealing with this
subject is available on request. Mr. Morley has already been sent a copy.
cc All Members Of British Parliament
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 02:40:03
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Garlic clove a day keeps doctor away
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971014024003.098768fe@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, October 14th, 1997
Garlic clove a day keeps doctor away
By Aisling Irwin, Science Correspondent
A CLOVE of garlic a day may indeed have the power to ward off infections
from the common cold to E coli, scientists have discovered.
Researchers have found the mechanism by which fresh garlic disarms many
poisons found in bacteria, viruses and fungi.
The discovery provides a more robust underpinning for claims that garlic
can ward off diseases, keep cholesterol levels down and behave as an
anti-oxidant.
The scientists, from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel,
announce today that they have developed a technique for isolating the
compound in garlic called allicin.
Allicin begins to decay as soon as it has formed and has to be kept in a
freezer at -79C. But researchers, led by Professors David Mirelman and Meir
Wilchek, have found a way of producing it in large quantitites, opening the
door to much more detailed study.
Prof Mirelman said: "It has long been argued that garlic can fight a wide
range of infections and now we have provided biochemical evidence for this
claim."
Peter Josling, of the Garlic Information Centre in Battle, East Sussex,
said: "Most of the medical research indicates that the benefits come from
one clove of garlic a day." He said that it should be chopped, not crushed,
for maximum benefit.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 06:49:49
From: "veegman@qed.net"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, Bedford@Palsplus.org,
mbrownblaeuer@lowemcadams.com, amachi@bergen.org,
lisa_donnelly@hotmail.com, JILLD@aol.com, VincenzaM@Juno.com.,
enigma@nerc1.nerc.com, kelsay@bergen.org., sincag2@aol.com
Subject: NJARA Animal Rights Festival
Message-ID: <3.0.2.16.19971014064949.2ab708f8@qed.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hello Folks,
Point your browser to: http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/njara/eco.html
The NJARA 6th annual Animal Rights Festival will be held on Saturday,
October 18, 1997 at the John E. Toolan Camp, 11 Roosevelt Drive, Edison, NJ
08837
Registration begins at 10 am
Workshops begin promptly at 10:30 am
Join people from all over NJ, PA, & NY in an exciting day packed with
workshops, great vegan food, & much more...
Featured workshop leaders Diane Beeney (geneticaly engineered food),
Lawrence Carter-Long (vivisection), Stuart Chaifetz (hunting), Terry
Fritzges, Susan Gordon, and Sue Alderman (Glorious Grains - cooking class),
Joe Miele and Christine Matyasovsky (Federated department stores and the
fur trade), and Freeman Wicklund (Harnessing the power of non-violence),
will bring you the issues in a positive, enlightening way that is both
energizing and activating.
Call NJARA at (732) 446-6808 for a detailed schedule of the day's events.
Tickets are $3 in advance and $4 at the door.
There will be vendors offering their cruelty free products and books,
activity booths and information booths for the most active of activists.
The lunch and desert menu is 100% vegan. Be sure to try the stromboli,
lasagne, un-chicken sandwiches, non-meatball hero's, baked tofu strips, and
other goodies.
For a day of activism and empowerment be sure to join us at the Animal
Rights Festival.
For more information please contact NJARA at (732)446-6808. You may E-mail
NJARA at: njara@superlink.net
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 08:18:03 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Subscription Options--Admin Note
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971014081800.006ddf10@clark.net>
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again...
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In text of message: unsubscribe ar-news
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Here are some items of general information (found in the "welcome letter"
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Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 07:45:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debbie Leahy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] More Urban Deer Killing
Message-ID: <01IOSFDDMCIA92LSW9@delphi.com>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
ANOTHER URBAN DEER KILL
The large-scale killing of urban deer has spread from the Chicago
area to collar counties and now to Fermilab, site of the U.S.
Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in
Batavia, Illinois. The ten-square-mile facility intends to kill
hundreds of deer as part of a prairie restoration project to
satisfy a distorted environmental agenda of habitat manipulation.
An article just appeared in a neighborhood Sunday paper
announcing a "public input" meeting on the slaughter this
Thursday evening (Oct. 16). The lack of adequate notice is
likely intentional and the invited speakers at this forum are
four deer-killing proponents and zero deer protection advocates.
Please call Fermilab's Office of Public Affairs as soon as
possible to insist the meeting be re-scheduled to incorporate a
balanced panel which includes animal protectionists. These one-
sided propaganda sessions are simply a vain attempt to convince
the public that environmental "experts" deem the killing as
necessary without exploring other options.
Call Fermilab at 630/840-3351.
---------------------------------------------------------
Illinois Animal Action
P.O. Box 507
Warrenville, IL 60555
630/393-2935
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 08:28:33 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Catfish Farmer Brings Up Case
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971014082831.006ee9a8@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
(of interest to those interested in animal farming and impact on environment)
from CNN web page:
--------------------------------
Reuters
14-OCT-97
Catfish Farmer Brings Up Case
(SAN ANTONIO) -- For the first time in Texas history, a government body
will meet today to discuss issuing permits to pump water from the Edwards
Underground Aquifer. For centuries, dating back to Spanish colonial times,
the right of free capture has ruled. That meant landowners had unlimited
right to the minerals under their land, including water. Many farmers,
ranchers, and property rights advocates are angry over the new regulation.
A man who wants to build a water-guzzling catfish farm on his property in
Bexar County, will request 40-Million gallons of water a day, one- fourth
of the entire amount used by the city of San Antonio.
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 97 07:46:43 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Prairie Chicken Hunt Goes on...
Message-ID: <199710141246.IAA08444@envirolink.org>
Tulsa, OK, USA: Prairie Chicken populations are down so drastically, there
is only a daily limit of one bird, two in possession after the first day.
Hunting season for Prairie Chickens is Oct. 18-19.
________________________________________________________________________
This just confirms that hunters are interested in killing - not in
preserving wildlife, as they claim.
-- Sherrill
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 97 08:22:35 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Pigeons Make Mess of Wagoner, OK
Message-ID: <199710141324.JAA11643@envirolink.org>
Wagoner, OK, USA: At Green Country Optical, Greg Passmore has a large
storefront window which, unfortunately, allows him to see the catastrophe
outside his downtown business.
His, along with other downtown businesses, has a pigeon problem. A problem
with pigeon droppings, to be exact.
The pigeons gather in large flocks and roost on the ledge.
"I was out here the other day firing off a slingshot at them. It
just gets so frustrating," he said.
The matter has come up at two recent meetings of the Wagoner City Council.
The council members' first action was to put up nylon netting and board up
downtown buildings owned by absentee landlords. Some traps have been set
and those pigeons caught humanely destroyed, said James Jennings, who is a
member of the council and a downtown business owner.
-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 1997 00:18:47 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: WWW Epidemiologic Cohort Study of Diet and Health
Message-ID: <199710141618.AAA09730@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Originally posted to Sci-Veg. Re-posted here with permission of writer.
You can forward it wherever you want.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi All:
Without commenting specifically on the proposed (or in progress?) Klaper
study, I invite all sci-veg subscribers and their friends and colleagues
(and their
friends and colleagues ...) to participate in our on-line attempt at conducting
epidemiologic cohort studies. The more people that participate the better! We
hope to eventually enroll tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of
people. The study is not limited to veg*ns, but we have built in "skip"
patterns to allow people who don't eat red meat (or poultry, or fish, or dairy)
to skip through those food lists when reporting what they eat. We've also
included a number of food items that don't usually end up on dietary assessment
instruments in U.S. studies. Please email me directly for further information,
if curious. However, the "consent" form probably answers some of the major
issues (though not necessarily study design issues).
The URL is:
http://www.epi.umn.edu/~health_survey/health_survey.htp
Thanks,
Larry
*************************************************************************
* JOIN OUR WWW EPIDEMIOLOGIC COHORT STUDY OF DIET AND HEALTH AT
*
* http://www.epi.umn.edu/~health_survey/health_survey.htp *
* ----------------------------------------------------------- *
* Lawrence H. Kushi, Sc.D. email: kushi@epivax.epi.umn.edu *
* Division of Epidemiology telephone: 612-626-8578 *
* Univ of Minnesota School of Public Health FAX: 612-624-0315 *
* http://www.epi.umn.edu/~health_survey/personal/kushi/lhkhomepage.html *
*************************************************************************
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 11:36:09 -0500
From: "D.B.Sullivan"
To: ,
Subject: Re: Prairie Chicken Hunt Goes on...
Message-ID: <199710141642.LAA24867@pearl.mhtc.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
----------
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Prairie Chicken Hunt Goes on...
Date: Tuesday, October 14, 1997 2:46 AM
Tulsa, OK, USA: Prairie Chicken populations are down so drastically, there
is only a daily limit of one bird, two in possession after the first day.
Hunting season for Prairie Chickens is Oct. 18-19.
________________________________________________________________________
This just confirms that hunters are interested in killing - not in
preserving wildlife, as they claim.
-- Sherrill
I thought these birds were endangered.....
Foolish to hunt these birds . Any info on the
restoration efforts in OK or the Southwest.
With 99 % of the prairie gone these birds have dropped accordingly ...
DBS
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 10:51:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: bchorush@paws.org (pawsinfo)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [WA] Tribal Opponents Of Makah Whaling Leave For International Whaling
Commission Meeting
Message-ID: <199710141751.KAA28714@k2.brigadoon.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
October 15, 1997
PRESS EVENT
For Immediate Release
Contact: Will Anderson
Tribal Opponents Of Makah Whaling Leave For International Whaling Commission
Meeting
PAWS To Present Humanitarian Of the Year Award At Sendoff
On Wednesday, October 15, a delegation consisting of Makah tribal members
Alberta Thompson and Mabel Smith, and Will Anderson from the Progressive
Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) will be leaving for the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) meeting in Monaco. Prior to takeoff, PAWS will present Ms.
Thompson with their Humanitarian of the Year Award for her work on behalf of
gray whales.
The award will be presented in SeaTac's GFP Board Room at 9:15 AM where
media interviews can be conducted.
This is Ms. Thompson's second trip to an IWC meeting to oppose her tribe's
bid to take five whales per year. Ms. Smith is a former Makah Tribal
Councilwoman. Under the current Makah Government proposal the tribe would
also be allowed to wound an additional number of gray whales in their
attempt actually kill them. This is called the struck and lost allowance,
which would bring the total possible number of whales wounded to thirty-four
over four years time. The Makah propose to combine hand-held harpoons with a
50 caliber gun to effect the kill. They will present their proposal to the
IWC which meets annually to regulate whaling internationally.
For over two years PAWS and other environmental organizations have worked
diligently, yet quietly, with tribal members to seek a solution to this
controversy. Said PAWS' Will Anderson, "We are keenly aware of the history
of genocidal treatment of native Americans. Therefore, PAWS and others have
chosen to work with tribal members who opposed the hunt before we contacted
them. That has included conducting a whale watch out of Neah Bay, the center
of Makah culture, and offering to support the Makah government in
alternatives to whaling they might choose. Unfortunately, the tribal
government fails to recognize how they are being used by commercial whalers
to restart commercial whaling, now banned."
For several years, Japan, Norway and others have argued for small-type
coastal whaling for their countries where there is a cultural but not
subsistence basis for their request. The Makah have no demonstrable
nutritional need, having last whaled 70 years ago. Environmentalists believe
that giving permission to the Makah on purely cultural grounds will
strengthen Japan, Norway and others countries who are lobbying to reopen
whaling on the basis of their cultures which they argue are as meaningful as
that of the Makah or any one else's.
Directions To Press Event/GFP Board Room, located in the Main SeaTac
Terminal, South Mezzanine Level. Enter the terminal on the ticketing level
and proceed to the elevator located between the Delta and Continental
counters. Get off on the Mezzanine level and follow the signs.
Bob Chorush Web Administrator, Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
15305 44th Ave West (P.O. Box 1037)Lynnwood, WA 98046 (425) 787-2500 ext
862, (425) 742-5711 fax
email bchorush@paws.org http://www.paws.org
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 16:00:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: CFOXAPI@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: NEW YORK TRAPPING ALERT
Message-ID: <971014155750_58912109@emout04.mail.aol.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=unknown-8bit
*** ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE ***
ACTION ALERT
SPEAK OUT AGAINST SPURIOUS PROPOSED TRAPPING CHANGES IN NY!
In January of this year, Valentina, the beloved dog of an Niskayuna
family was brutally killed in a Conibear trap while playing along the Capitol
District’s Mohawk River bike trail with her guardians. The trap, set
ostensibly to catch raccoons, was set in an area frequented by families,
companion animals and children which is perfectly legal according to the
Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) state trapping regulations.
Dangerous and lethal traps may be placed on virtually every inch of NYS
except on a public highway and 100 feet from a school, school playground,
building or church. The DEC is fighting to keep it that way.
In response to this tragedy and to ensuing public outcry against the use of
cruel and indiscriminate traps in recreation areas in the state, the DEC has
proposed new trapping regulations for certain parts of New York.
Unfortunately, the proposed regulation changes are a sham. The DEC has
proposed the use of "pet proof traps" which will allow trappers to use the
same cruel and indiscriminate traps, but will require that body-gripping
traps "be placed in a box or other type of container which precludes a dog
from making contact with the trap"...Additionally, trappers using
body-gripping traps set on land would not be allowed to use either meat or
fish, including by-products, as a bait or attractant at the trap site." No
trap is completely selective and it is possible that cats, small dogs,
non-target wildlife and young children will be hurt by these traps. The
regulation changes will only affect Conibear traps size 160 (5" jaw spread)
or larger. Even though Conibear traps of the size 110 or 120 (4" jaw spread)
are frequently used, trappers will be able to continue using these devices in
high recreational use areas with no restrictions whatsoever. Additionally,
trappers will be allowed to continue placing any non-meat/ fish bait or lure
at the trap site, which can attract companion animals, as well as non-target
wildlife. Leghold traps will not be affected by these regulation changes and
trappers will be able to continue using them in parks and other recreational
areas. The proposed regulations completely exempt the northern tier of NYS
including trails in the Adirondacks from these regulation changes.
Please help the furbearing animals of New York by writing to both the DEC
and to Governor Pataki about the DEC’s proposed trapping regulation changes.
Please send your comments BY NOVEMBER 15th to:
1) Mr. Gerald A. Barnhart/ NYS Division of Fish, Wildlife & Marine Resources/
50 Wolf Road/ Albany, NY 12233 Phone= (518) 457-5690 Fax= (518) 457-0341
2) Governor George Pataki/ c/o Mr. James McGuire, Deputy Counsel/ State
Capitol/ Albany, N.Y. 12224. Phone= (518) 474-8390. Fax= (518) 474-8099.
Points you may want to include in your letter (in addition to the above
mentioned points):
* The proposed regulations are not meaningful since traps are incompatible
with parks, hiking areas and areas where families and companion animals
recreate. ALL traps, including legholds, should be permanently banned in ALL
recreational use areas in NYS.
* "Pet proofing traps" is not effective enough to protect all companion
animals and children from harm and is an attempt to appease the public
without addressing the real problem of the dangers posed by indiscriminate
traps.
* Rockland County recently banned traps in the entire county, yet the DEC
refuses to ban traps even 500 feet from a path on which families walk.
For more information please contact Camilla Fox at API (916-731-5521) or
Marion Stark at the Fund For Animal’s Albany, New York office (518-478-9760).
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 18:16:39 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@manatee.envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Hunger Strike Continues
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971014181636.006d93e8@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
---------------------------------------
Pennsylvania State News
Reuters
14-OCT-97
Hunger Strike Continues
(POTTSVILLE) -- A North Carolina woman who was arrested and sentenced to
45-days in prison for attempting to break- up the annual Labor Day Pigeon
Shoot in Hegins, Schuylkill County, is in the 12th day of her hunger
strike. Twenty- four-year old Dawn Ratcliffe has refused to eat since her
incarceration earlier this month. A Schuylkill County hearing examiner
ruled yesterday that the animal rights activist would not have to be
institutionalized and force- fed. Ratcliffe has promised not to eat until
the General Assembly adopts a law that would ban live bird shoots.
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 16:30:54 -0700
From: In Defense of Animals
To: ar-news@manatee.envirolink.org
Subject: Public Meeting re:Tule Elk at Point Reyes
Message-ID:
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
ATTEND PUBLIC MEETING ON OCTOBER 25!
On October 25, 1997 at 10:30 a.m. at the Dance Palace, 503 B St. in Pt.
Reyes Station, at a public meeting of the Point Reyes National Seashore
(PRNS) Citizens Advisory Commission, the park service will present a
proposal for the management of a unique herd of tule elk in the seashore.
Several years ago, the park wanted to shoot 30-40 female elk each year to
control the herd's numbers. Now under new management, the PRNS has
proposed a progressive and humane approach to population control involving
contraception and relocation of some animals to another part of the park.
Opposition from animal advocates killed the park service plan to shoot the
elk four years ago. Now, we need a strong show of support for the park
service's plan for the elk at the October meeting to once again counter the
sport hunting and ranching interests that want to see hunting of these
once-endangered elk. It will be well worth the long drive to Pt. Reyes to
help implement this program to save the elk and set a precedent for humane,
non-lethal population control of wildlife in our national parks. For more
information or information about carpooling, call In Defense of Animals at
415/388-9641 or email us at ida@idausa.org.
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 17:09:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: civillib@cwnet.com
To: ar-news@manatee.envirolink.org
Subject: PROCTER & GAMBLE PROTESTORS RELEASED
Message-ID: <199710150009.RAA25951@smtp.cwnet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 14, 1997
Activists Lock Down, Temporarily Close Down
Procter & Gamble Factory; 4 Arrested, Released From Jail
SACRAMENTO, CA -- Three activists who locked themselves to a
highly-flammable methyl alcohol storage tank Monday at the Procter & Gamble
plant here to protest the firm's cruel treatment of animals were released
from Sacramento County Jail Monday night. A juvenile was released earlier
from the Youth Authority.
The four, Kevin Keller, 20, and Josh Trenter, 21, both of San Francisco,
and Mike Kennedy, 19, of Davis, and an unidentified 17-year-old juvenile
from the San Francisco area, were arrested after they had to be cut away
from the railing atop a 44-foot storage tank at Procter & Gamble after a 3
and ½ hour standoff with authorities. They used kryptonite locks to fasten
themselves to the tank. Nearly 2 dozen police and fire units responded to
the "emergency" at the highly-volatile plant.
Charges, which originally included felony vandalism for the cost of cutting
the protestors free from the railing on the tank, were reduced to
misdemeanor trespassing, vandalism and obstruction of a police officer.
Arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 13, 8 a.m.
Activists were protesting Procter & Gambles policy of torturing and killing
thousands of animals every year -- including rabbits, mice and guinea pigs
-- to test new products. Hundreds of other companies never test on animals,
yet their products are certified safe for human use. Procter & Gamble
refuses to stop the cruel tests.
A series of militant demonstrations will take place around the world Monday
and Tuesday -- including a Tuesday protest at P&G's annual shareholders
meeting in Cincinnati. U.S. demonstrations are expected at P&G facilities in
Anaheim; Sacramento; Middletown, CT; Pensacola; Chicago; Amherst, MA;
Concord, MA; New York; Rochester, NY; Philadelphia; Dallas and Green Bay.
International protests will include those in Australia, South Africa,
Brazil, Canada, England, Wales, Finland, France, India, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden.
Concern about P&G's treatment of animals has heightened recently with the
release of undercover video footage showing the abusive treatment of monkeys
used in tests of a P&G product at a contract laboratory in New Jersey. P&G
fired the lab after the revelation.
In Defense of Animals and a number of community-based grassroots
groups are coordinating the actions.
-30-
Contact: Activist Civil Liberties Committee (916) 452-7179
In Defense of Animals (415) 388-9641 (ext. 23)
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 22:00:07 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@manatee.envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Salmonella Used To Fight Cancer
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971014220004.006c234c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
-------------------------------
10/14/1997 19:26 EST
Salmonella Used To Fight Cancer
By BRIGITTE GREENBERG
Associated Press Writer
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- Scientists have found a potential use for
salmonella bacteria, combining them with anti-cancer genes and letting
them loose on tumors.
Strains of salmonella engineered to carry genes that go after cancer were
found to target and slow the growth of tumors in mice, Yale University
researchers reported in Wednesday's issue of the journal Cancer Research.
The bacteria were shown to somewhat prolong the life of the mice but did
not always eradicate tumors, the researchers said. The bacteria alone may
have some effect in fighting cancer, they said.
``After the salmonella are introduced into the mouse blood stream, they
seek out tumors, multiply there in great numbers, and -- by mechanisms
not fully understood -- dramatically slow the rate of tumor growth and
prolong life,'' said John M. Pawelek, a Yale cancer biologist.
While as few as 10 unaltered salmonella bacteria could kill a mouse, mice
injected with 10 million cells of the mutant salmonella showed no signs
of salmonella poisoning, Pawelek said.
The focus of the research was not finding a cure for cancer but a vehicle
for delivering a variety of anti-cancer genes under study.
The mutated salmonella do not kill the animal because the bacteria can
only survive inside the tumor, where they are fed with necessary sugars
and amino acids, Pawelek said.
``We have genetically engineered the salmonella so that they do not set
off the immune system alarm. These things are now like stealth bombers,''
he said.
Donella Wilson, scientific program director in the research department of
the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, said the findings are promising
because until now scientists have been unable to find a way to target
tumors alone.
``It's very interesting,'' she said. ``They have a few more questions to
answer experimentally ... but the idea is very good.''
Wilson said her main concern is whether a person's metabolism could allow
for the salmonella to live outside of a tumor. She also said the research
does not account for whether the salmonella or the anti-cancer genes or
some combination of both are responsible for destroying tumors.
Savio Woo, director of the Institute for Gene Therapy and Molecular
Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, said the new strategy
is attractive and deserves additional investigation, but he had some
reservations.
``The potential limitation is the interaction with the host immune
system. When the host immune system mounts an antibody response, that
could limit the effectiveness for long-term treatment,'' he said.
The Yale researchers expect within a year to approach the Food and Drug
Administration for approval of human trials.
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 22:17:08 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@manatee.envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Insecticide researchers win food prize
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971014221705.006ddf60@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
---------------------------------
Insecticide researchers win food prize
October 14, 1997
Web posted at: 2:59 p.m. EDT (1859 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two American
pest control researchers received this year's
World Food Prize Tuesday for their work on
reducing insecticide use while maintaining or
increasing yields.
Ray F. Smith, 78, and Perry L. Adkisson, 68, will
share the $250,000 cash award that accompanies the
prize.
A statement accompanying the award said their work
on new approaches to agricultural pest control had
sparked a global ecological revolution, reducing
insecticide use on U.S. crops alone by 50 percent.
Their approach -- known as "integrated pest
management" -- employs combinations of biological,
ecological and chemical techniques to protect
crops from insect damage in an environmentally
safe manner.
Smith worked at the University of California,
Berkeley, and Adkisson was a professor and
administrator at Texas A&M University.
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 22:31:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: LMANHEIM@aol.com
To: ar-news@manatee.envirolink.org
Subject: PBS whale program coming up
Message-ID: <971014222929_1722101927@emout19.mail.aol.com>
A-Rs might want to watch PBS's Frontline on November 11. "In the Company of
Whales."
Lynn Manheim
Letters for Animals
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 11:48:35 -0400
From: Stephanie Brown
To: ar-news@manatee.envirolink.org
Subject: (CA) Lab animal legislation needed
Message-ID: <3.0.2.16.19971014114835.384f1130@idirect.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
[This article from the Ottawa Citizen is the last in a series of three
about laboratory animal issues in Canada. The first two articles dealt
with toxicology research on monkeys, and the second, with Health Canada's
Primate Breeding Centre in Ottawa.]
'Offshore shelter' for cruelty
Canada's lax laws make it a potential haven
for animal research considered too inhumane
elsewhere, Donna Jacobs writes.
Donna Jacobs
Citizen Special
Canada could become the
world's "carte blanche shelter"
for animal research too
inhumane or too marginal for
other industrialized countries to
permit, says the chief
veterinarian at the University of
Alberta.
"Do it here -- no questions
asked," Dr. David Neil says.
"It would be like an offshore
tax shelter system," said Dr.
Neil. Anyone could do research
with "absolutely no controls or
surveillance. Unless I am
overtly cruel, I can do what the
hell I like."
Dr. Neil is the former chief of animal resources division for Health
Canada's health protection branch in Ottawa.
While scientists in the U.S. work under "all kinds of careful constraints,"
he says, Canada has no national legislation to protect research animals.
Except for Ontario, which has the Animals in Research Act, the country
could become a refuge for research rejected elsewhere.
"Forget Animal Acts (in the U.S.). Leave the land of the free and come to
the land of the free-for-all at 70 cents on the dollar."
Speaking for the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Science
(CALAS) in Montreal recently, he said his 600-member organization "cannot
and will not accept this." CALAS is composed of directors of animal
research facilities, lab animal technicians and scientists from university,
industry and government.
Dr. Neil said that Canada could become an ideal haven for inhumane
research because it uniquely combines a sophisticated scientific capability
with a lack of controls on animals used in testing, research and teaching.
The Criminal Code's Cruelty to Animals section of 1892 is still in effect
and merely forbids anyone to wilfully cause, or permit, an animal to suffer
"unnecessary pain, suffering or injury." Alberta has a law that covers
animals in university research.
A new national law should cover "the smallest mouse" used in research, he
told The Citizen.
The animal should be under professional surveillance, well-fed and looked
after every day of its life until the day it dies. Competent reviewers
should rule on the quality and humaneness of the research it is being used
for.
"It's not happening," he says bluntly.
Such a comprehensive law might have shut down Health Canada's primate
colony in Tunney's Pasture, or forced the department to provide a proper
primate centre, he says. While the department didn't mean to be overtly
cruel, the managers "knew damned well" that they needed acres of covered
space in a Canadian city with a milder climate. In the U.S., these primate
centres are more than large; they are designed specifically around primate
behaviour.
The Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC), the only national watchdog,
repeatedly approved the colony in its numerous inspections although its
specific findings never were released.The council gets its funding from the
federal government and from Canada's two principle granting agencies -- the
Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council (NSERC).
Dr. Neil says that the CCAC is in a conflict of interest. Its biggest
customers are also its funding sources."Can they objectively look at
advocating animal welfare, principally? Is it the Canadian Council on
Animal Care -- or the Canadian Council on the Care of Investigators and
their Animals?"
He wants the CCAC to be "autonomous, independent and distanced from all
such potential influences."
Despite assessments, colony monkeys living in single cages and going days
without exercise is "totally unacceptable" and is bound to provoke public
criticism over such solitary confinement. "If you start doing that kind of
work and applying that kind of restraint and social deprivation on
non-human primates, inevitably you're going to have the public up in arms."
"These are very, very intelligent animals -- our cousins, if you like.
They're very aware and have psychosocial needs. People relate to what
monkeys are feeling.
"I had a friend in the U.S. who had spent most of his life doing medical
testing on animals. One of the female monkeys was finally in the stages of
dying as a result of the research.
"He went into the room. She put her arm out through the bars so she could
hold his hand. She wanted him there. She needed him to be with her.
"When I was listening to him tell this story, I was thinking, 'Why does
that surprise me? These animals are very highly developed.'"
He says that Canadians are under the comforting illusion that the current
system protects animals when, in fact, it has always been just "a paper
tiger." And, ironically, it was the federal government, itself, which
unmasked it to solve a $150,000 cost overrun on a $1 million budget.
Last year, the fund-strapped council started to charge $1,700 for its
inspection services for all animal labs and facilities except those in
universities. Universities are automatically assessed because their
research runs mostly on grants from MRC and NSERC. This left the government
and industry to fund their own inspections.
Dr. Neil wants to preserve the CCAC as a nation-wide advocate for animals
by supporting it with "enabling legislation." It could read something like
this: "It is unlawful to use animals for the purposes of research, testing
and teaching in Canada, except in institutions which are in compliance with
the guidelines of the CCAC, as verified by a triennial review of facilities
and procedures by official representatives, etc."
The system worked for 20 years, partly because its founding director, Dr.
Harry Rowsell, "was able to make it roar quite convincingly," says Dr.
Neil. It assumed quasi-regulatory powers to the extent that today it
assesses 170 government, university, and industry facilities that use
animals.
Technically speaking, it was a voluntary assessment. But in reality, the
council had the power to shut down a lab project -- or an entire animal
centre -- if it judged that the research was inhumane or the animals were
poorly cared for or housed. The standard research institutions had to meet
was the council's own very specific guidelines. But small, independent
biotechnology companies who can't afford the levy or don't want to run the
risks of opening their lab doors to the council, can and do opt out of the
system now that they have to pay.
"CCAC can say, 'We'll come and look at you and assess you, and make you all
clean and nice for serveral thousand dollars.' The companies can just say
'Get lost!' and there's nothing the CCAC can do about it."
However, even if every research project in Canada were equally assessed,
the sytem still suffers inherent weaknesses that make animals vulnerable to
the self-interest of research institutions.
For example, the CCAC board has 25 members, and only three come from the
Canadian Federation of Humane Society. The majority of members are from
industries or institutions that need animals to continue to do their work.
Another long-time criticism of the CCAC is that it operates in secrecy
because panel members are gagged by a confidentiality agreement. They
cannot disclose the condition of the animals they see.They are limited to
writing a report with recommendations, which the institution answers.
For Stephanie Brown, chairman of the experimental animal committee of the
Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, this confidentiality "is a
betrayal of the principles of openness and public accountability." She
says: "Canadians pay for most of the research in this country through their
tax dollars and they have a right to know what goes on."
The humane society faces a "frustrating pattern" of defeated reforms, she
says. It asked the CCAC to publicly name institutions whose animals are
subjected to substandard practices. It asked the CCAC to upgrade its
standards for non-human primates so Health Canada would have to improve
conditions for its monkey population which has sometimes exceeded 1,000 and
now stands at 860. The CCAC defeated both resolutions at its board meetings.
Dr. Gilly Griffin, a phyiologist and information officer at CCAC, says that
confidentiality allows for open discussions with institutions and their
researchers. She likened the relationship to the trust between a doctor and
a patient.
In fact, the decision to keep CCAC findings a secret rests with the
institutions themselves.So, while the assessment of Health Canada's primate
colony and the department's response were confidential, she says, "Health
Canada is free to disclose or not to disclose it."
She says that the new user-pay plan for animal labs and facilities grew out
of a protest by the MRC and NSERC. They objected to subsidizing the
increasing number of assessments at government and industry animal labs and
facilities.
"If we'd have said, 'Okay, we'll continue to cover everybody, they would
have just cut us back more." She says CCAC is in negotiations to find new
funding sources.
Meanwhile, she concedes that "a few private industries" have opted out of
assessments. They are small biotech companies or businesses that do animal
testing on a contract basis and so "set up and close down again."
She estimates that CCAC covers 98 or 99 percent of all animal research
facilities. "I worry about institutions that aren't being assessed by us.
Private companies want to be seen to do the right thing and to follow the
general practices of the country where they operate."
Dr. Griffith says that federal legislation for research animals is unlikely
because it's expensive, rigid and contradicts the anti-regulatory mood of
government. Such a law might involve setting up an expensive inspection
agency. Under the CCAC now, the travelling assessment panels are composed
of volunteer scientists and animal welfare representatives. At the current
fast-breaking pace of biotechnology, a federal law would be much slower to
adapt than a set of guidelines.
However, CCAC's dependence on volunteers is also a weakness in the
system. It relies on volunteer animal care committees in each research
institution. Ideally, both animal users and non-users -- scientific,
institutional and community members -- sit on committees.
"They don't all function effectively," Dr. Griffin concedes. Some lack
community representatives and thus institutions police themselves. Others
fail to meet frequently enough to properly protect the animals. The
guidelines only require them to meet once a year.
Good animal care committees look at whether the animals are housed well,
whether the facility is under good management. They're concerned over how
research protocols address an animal's pain, distress and the use of good
painkillers and anesthetics -- especially in death-as-an-endpoint research.
This fatal research is, says Dr. Neil "a hot potato" that assessment panels
are acutely aware of. "The question -- we're very critical of one another
in this area -- is at what state of the animal's distress do you intervene
and decide that the experiment needs to be terminated? What size should a
tumour be allowed to grow to or how far along a progressive disease should
an animal
be allowed to go?
"There's always a temptation for the scientist to want to go a little bit
further to see how the disease progresses. The lab animal vet wants to say,
'That's enough.'
"When is enough enough? It's a very subjective call."
As a panelist, he has also called for different housing, constant
round-the-clock surveillance and earlier euthanasia than the researcher
wanted in order to end an animal's suffering.
Sometimes CCAC panels close down animal facilities outright. They closed
his university's animal housing in 1987 and ordered the animals to be put
into temporary housing until renovations were completed.
He says that Canada would have a good system if it were more independent of
granting agencies -- "the perceived foxes" -- and if it covered every
research facility. The basic system was so good that he and other Canadian
scientists have helped institutions, including the massive National
Institute of Health, set up animal care committees cross the the U.S.
Rather than wait for provincial legislation, he says, Canadians need a
national law that "befits a civilized and decent people." A coalition among
the humane movement, CALAS, the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal
Medicine, and individuals within the research community shows the push from
many sides for a universal advocacy for the welfare of animals. The
Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, which represents 100 animal
welfare organizations and 200,000 Canadians, has long advocated passage of
such a law.
Legislation would put real teeth in the CCAC tiger's mouth, he says. "It
would put us in the forefront, where we once were."
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Stephanie Brown Toronto, Canada
e-mail: brown@idirect.com
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