AR-NEWS Digest 565

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) 3 ACTIVISTS ARRESTED AT LAB PROTEST; ANOTHER STILL JAILED (US)
     by civillib@cwnet.com
  2) [UK] Draghunts quit talks on Bill to end foxhunting
     by David J Knowles 
  3) (US) Pfiesteria Report Due Today
     by allen schubert 
  4) Call Into Editor - Monday, Nov. 3, 1997
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
  5) Noah's ark update
     by "Vicki Sharer" 
  6) New Club for Deer Hunters
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
  7) Trapping Course
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
  8) McDonald's 95 Billion Served(US)
     by Twilight 
  9) New Book about Companion Animal Foods
     by Hannah Dayan 
 10) Side effects
     by Andrew Gach 
 11) Elephant startved to safety
     by Andrew Gach 
 12) Black Beauty Ranch on Good Morning America
     by Michael Markarian 
 13) Back to basics
     by Andrew Gach 
 14) NY Alert: Walk in the Park is No Picnic
     by Michael Markarian 
 15) NY Alert: Let's Can Canned Hunts
     by Michael Markarian 
 16) IA Alert: Mourning Doves Under the Gun
     by Michael Markarian 
 17) OH Alert: Ban Mourning Dove Hunting
     by Michael Markarian 
 18) (US) Hunger Striker Denied Early Release
     by Michael Markarian 
 19) Carmine not listed on products
     by Hillary 
 20) [MO] Monaco, Rainero a great defender of Whales?
     by Jordi Ninerola 
 21) PA Alert: Calls Needed on Pigeon Shoot Bill
     by Michael Markarian 
 22) Anti Fur Resources for the Coming Season
     by MINKLIB@aol.com
 23) GMA changed once again
     by Michael Markarian 
 24) Re: (US) Endangered Species Act Alert
     by "Christine M. Wolf" 
 25) Yaka's Death
     by Suzanne Roy 
 26) (US) Elk Hunt Wins Out Over Bicycle
     by allen schubert 
 27) Action Alert - Yaka
     by Suzanne Roy 
 28) 17 Year Old Arrested for cat decapitation
     by SMatthes@aol.com
 29) (IL) Fetuses May Carry Mad Cow Disease
     by allen schubert 
 30) We can't keep abusing chimps in name of research
     by Barry Kent MacKay 
 31) 6 Rabbits Liberated in OR
     by MINKLIB@aol.com
 32) (US) Lawyer defends the underdog
     by allen schubert 
 33) Press Release on Louise Woodward's vegetarianism
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
 34) PAK: Indus river's dolphins face extinction
     by Gul Agha 
 35) PK: Partridges face extinction in Sindh, Pakistan
     by Gul Agha 
 36) DAWN RATCLIFFE BACK ON HUNGER STRIKE!
     by liberation2@juno.com
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 22:58:49 -0800 (PST)
From: civillib@cwnet.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: 3 ACTIVISTS ARRESTED AT LAB PROTEST; ANOTHER STILL JAILED (US)
Message-ID: <199711030658.WAA05905@smtp.cwnet.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

URGENT NEWS ADVISORY
November 2, 1997





3 Animal Rights Activists Released; ‘Ape Army' Commander Still Jailed

     DAVIS, Ca. – Three animal rights activists arrested Sunday at a
demonstration at the California Regional Primate Center at the University of
California, Davis campus were released from Yolo County Jail Sunday night
about 8 p.m., 7 hours after their arrests for crossing police barricades at
the facility.

     Katti Louis and Josh Harper, of Portland, OR, and Geoff Denishian, of
Davis, will be arraigned in Yolo County Court Jan. 27 on one count each of
trespassing.

     Still jailed is Rick Bogle, of Portland, OR, who was arrested twice
Saturday trying to setup a table to distribute information about how
primates are mistreated at the UCD lab. Bogle, who's bail is $3,000, will be
arraigned Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. in Yolo County Court.

     The demonstration Sunday was attended by about 30 anti-cruelty activists
from Oregon and Northern California to protest the torture of primates in
research. Similar protests took place at primate labs in Harvard and the
Univ. of Wisconsin Sunday.

     Bogle – a sixth grade teacher from Oregon – has toured the nation in a
cramped pickup truck for the past 3 months holding vigils in front of
primate research centers – there are 7 in the U.S. -- in Washington,
Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Oregon and now California. He was never
arrested, and labs let him distribute literature and even camp in front of
them..

     Not so at UC Davis. Witnesses to the arrests claim that Bogle was not
breaking any laws, and was simply preparing to conduct a peaceful vigil –
one that he has done in 5 other states since July with no arrests or trouble
– in front of the UCD facility.
-30-
Contact: ACLC (916) 452-7179




Activist Civil Liberties Committee
A Legal Aide Project
 PO Box 19515, Sacramento, CA 95819   (916)452-7179   Fax: (916) 454-6150
"PEACE AT LAST"

Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 02:12:21
From: David J Knowles 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Draghunts quit talks on Bill to end foxhunting
Message-ID: <3.0.3.16.19971103021221.32276f7e@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

>From The Electronic Telegraph - Monday, November 3rd, 1997

Draghunts quit talks on Bill to end foxhunting
By Michael Fleet 

DRAGHUNTERS who were negotiating with Michael Foster, the Labour  MP, over
his anti-foxhunting Bill, have pulled out, claiming that it will lead to
"anarchy in the countryside".

The Masters of Draghounds and Bloodhounds Association had been due to be
named by Mr Foster in the Bill as the group that would run what was left of
hunting after the ban. The negotiations allowed Mr Foster to claim that
foxhound packs could switch to draghunting, in which dogs follow a man-laid
scent, within a framework organised by the association.

He has now lost its co-operation after it demanded that its name be removed
from the Wild Mammal (Hunting with Dogs Bill. The association has also said
it is to campaign against the Bill, to be published tomorrow, and has
denounced Mr Foster's claims that its sport could replace foxhunting,
saving thousands of hounds and hundreds of jobs.

Brian Stern, secretary of the association, said yesterday that the Bill
would not only end foxhunting but could also destroy draghunting. The fears
are that "rogue" foxhound packs could say they were draghunting but would
carry on hunting foxes.

 "Our sport would be brought into disrepute and could be destroyed," said
Mr Stern. The Bill is still expected to refer to draghunting but Mr Stern
said he had demanded that the association's name be removed.

The negotiations with Mr Foster had divided the association's leaders from
some masters of foxhounds, who felt that Mr Foster was being given the
implied support of draghunters. A draft Bill stipulated that foxhound packs
would need to join the draghound association if they wanted to switch to
draghunting. 

It would have left the association in a position of enormous power over the
187 foxhound packs. The association's change of heart follows Mr Foster's
failure to assure it that, were the Bill to succeed, it would be given
authority to regulate draghunting.

"I have told him that we are now going to campaign against his Bill," said
Mr Stern. He said that his main interest had always been to ensure that
draghunting would flourish.

Although publicly opposing the Bill, he had begun negotiations with Mr
Foster and the League Against Cruel Sports about organising hunting. When
word leaked out, there were "volcanic" reactions from some masters of
foxhounds and Mr Stern said he had received a death threat from one. "We
have always done what we thought was right and have had to look at what
would happen if this Bill was passed," said Mr Stern.

The Bill's chances of success had been considered small, but it is now felt
that if enough MPs support it at its second reading on November 28 it may
gain Government time.

The difficulty for some Labour MPs has been that many jobs would be lost,
but Mr Foster has tried to allay these fears by saying that draghunting
could take over. Mr Stern said: "We tried to explain to Mr Foster the
complexities of hunting and the different demands of foxhunting and
draghunting but he has been unwilling to learn."

The main problem is the space needed by a draghound pack and the people who
take part. In a draghunt, the trail is deliberately laid over grassland,
which allows for fast gallops and 40 to 90 jumps, most taken at a
breathtaking speed.

It is for the "young and the bold", said Mr Stern. Foxhunting covers a
wider variety of land and has natural breaks that allow children and older
riders the chance to recover their breath.

Each draghunt needs a much larger area, known as "country". Mr Stern had
hoped that his association would be given legal authority to say how the
former foxhound country was divided up for new draghound packs. Mr Stern
said: "Foster played along with that, but it is now clear the Bill will not
have the teeth required.

"I have had foxhound masters say to me they intend to carry on as before
but under the cover of draghunting. It would be no time before our sport
was brought into disrepute and without proper protection it could be ruined."

Anthony Hart, secretary of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, said there
had been "a certain amount of disquiet" about Mr Stern's negotiations with
Mr Foster. "It is not a happy situation because we have always had very
good relations with the draghound people."

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. 

Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 08:06:18 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Pfiesteria Report Due Today
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971103080615.006f34f8@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from CNN custom news http://www.cnn.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------
Maryland State News
Reuters
03-NOV-97

Pfiesteria Report Due Today

(ANNAPOLIS) -- The report on what is causing fish kills in Maryland and
what to do about it is due today. A commission studying the pfiesteria fish
kill is charged with completing its study and reporting to the governor
this morning. Governor Parris Glendening appointed an eleven- member ``blue
ribbon'' panel after thousands of fish began dying in rivers on the lower
Eastern Shore. The fish kills have stopped with the cooler weather, but
scientists are concerned that they will begin again next summer. Among the
controversial recommendations in the report is the elimination of the use
of chicken manure as fertilizer in the affected area. Farmers say the
restrictions will cause a major economic hardship. 
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 97 07:52:01 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Call Into Editor - Monday, Nov. 3, 1997
Message-ID: <199711031347.IAA16791@envirolink.org>

(Tulsa World, Tulsa, OK USA): "Poaching Tame Deer Is No Sport" -
I would like to have some of the hunters out there explain the
sportsmanship in poaching deer at Oxley Nature Center, next to Mohawk
Park. They did, and some of the children found the head out there; the
rest was gone.  (Calls into Editor don't tell the names of who called)

-- Sherrill
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 97 07:59:50 CST
From: "Vicki Sharer" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Noah's ark update
Message-ID: <9710038785.AA878573114@INETGW.WKU.EDU>

     I'm posting a note from Laura Sykes from Noah's Ark Shelter in Iowa 
     reminding people of the trial which starts tomorrow!
      As a reminder, Noah's ark Shelter was broken into last March by 3 
     teenage boys who murdered 17 cats and tortured many others.
     
     *****************************************************************
     Vicki,  could you please post on all the = lists that the trial for 
     the Noah's Ark Cat Killings starts on November = the 4th in 
     Bloomington, Iowa and will be covered by Court TV, and other = major 
     news networks and newspapers.  NBC Today show producers are also = 
     returning to do another segment as well as Fox TV News.  Producers 
     from = CBS 48 Hours have been filiming all weekend and are staying 
     through the = trial for their story.----  That way people will know 
     they can watch it  = Also you could tell them that e-mail info is 
     available including = petitions and addresses for mailing protest 
     letters.
     
     Thanks,  Laura

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 97 08:11:33 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: New Club for Deer Hunters
Message-ID: <199711031406.JAA18662@envirolink.org>

(Tulsa World, Tulsa, OK USA): Are Oklahoma deer hunters harvesting far too
many small, immature buck deer? Some officials with the Wildlife Department's
game division are convinced of that, which is one of the major reasons
for changes in our deer hunting regulations.

Next year, Oklahoma deer hunters will be allowed to harvest only two bucks
during all seasons combined, with one major exception. Archery deer hunters
will, however, be permitted to harvest a third buck in December. And archery
deer season will also run from Oct. 1 hrough Dec. 31.

But a statewide organization has already been formed by some hunters who
are trying to change the attitude of most state deer hunters.

"And we certainly want it understood, we're not just promoting harvesting
strictly big, trophy deer by our organization's name, the Oklahoma Trophy
Hunters Association," said the organization's president, Trent Hodgins,
of Holdenville, OK. "We all love to eat venison, and want to do our share
of taking the antlerless deer which always need to be part of our annual
deer season harvest."

The organization's stated goals are to "develop and promote quality
whitetail deer hunting within the state of Oklahoma, and to educate
landowners, lease holders and deer hunters on how to achieve these goals."

Hodgins says that only one out of every 241 bucks harvested in Oklahoma
would qualify as a trophy-class animal. And that's primarily because
most deer hunters - whether with bow, muzzle loader or modern firearms -
will still take the very first legal buck deer which comes by. Most of the
bucks checked-in each year are only 1 1/2-year-old animals, so the Trophy
Hunters Association motto is also "Pass the Buck."

If Oklahoma deer hunters want the opportunity to have some outstanding,
trophy-class animals in our woods and fields, "the hunters will just have
to start being more selective," Hodgins says.

A year's membership is $20. Membership includes newsletters, cap, patch,
decal. The newsletter has excellent hunting tips and reports. For more
info., contact: The Oklahoma Trophy Hunters Association: Hodgins,
615 Berton Street, Holdenville, OK   74848 or call 405-379-5317.
(Written by Sam Powell, World Outdoors Writer.)

-- Sherrill
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 97 08:14:36 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Trapping Course
Message-ID: <199711031409.JAA18907@envirolink.org>

(Tulsa World, OK USA): A certification course on nuisance beaver
control will be hosted Saturday by the First Oklahoma Trappers
and Predator Callers Association. THe four-hour course will be taught
at the Wildlife Department's Expo Square office, beginning at 7:30am.
The course will cover how to control beaver on private and public lands
by the use of both body-gripping and conventional traps. For info., call
(918) 744-1039.

-- Sherrill
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 06:31:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Twilight 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: McDonald's 95 Billion Served(US)
Message-ID: <19971103143123.28093.rocketmail@web1.rocketmail.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii


McDonald's currently posts on it's signs "95 Billion Served" . 
Perhaps it should read 31,666,000 million killed.

At an average yield of 3000, 1/10th lb., flesh patties per animal,
that is the number of animals killed for the greater glory of the Big
Mac (which, by the way, uses 2 flesh patties, making the 31.66 million
number conservative).  It also makes McDonald's the single largest
killer of animals in the world.






_____________________________________________________________________
Sent by RocketMail. Get your free e-mail at http://www.rocketmail.com

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 11:06:11 -0330 (NST)
From: Hannah Dayan 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: New Book about Companion Animal Foods
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Hello

THere was an article in this weekends paper here in Newfoundland about a
new book by Ann N. Martin called "Foods Pets Die For"  (New Sage Press,
$18.95 Canadian). It is about the
pet food industry in Canada (and has some info about US as well).  

A quote:

"Rendering is a cheap viable means of disposal of euthanized pets.  Pets
are mixed with other material from slaughterhouse facilities that have
been condemned for human consumption such as rotten meat from supermarket
shelves, restaurant grease, and garbage".

She also offers some recipes for your companion animals.  



For the animals,

Hannah

Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 07:29:32 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Side effects
Message-ID: <345DEDDC.10F6@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

FDA says diabetes drug may damage liver

Reuters 
WASHINGTON (November 3, 1997 10:16 a.m. EST) 

Warner-Lambert Co. is changing the label on its new diabetes drug
Rezulin because it may cause liver damage, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration said Monday.

It said it had received 35 reports of liver damage among the 500,000
U.S. patients who have taken the drug since it came on the market in
January, and the company was changing its labeling in response.

"These reports ranged from mildly elevated blood levels of the liver
transaminase enzymes to liver failure leading to one liver transplant
and one death," the FDA said in a statement.

"Whether the drug was solely responsible for all of these reports of
liver injury is as yet unknown, due to confounding medical factors in
some of the reported cases."

The FDA said it and Warner-Lambert were recommending that blood levels
of the enzyme be checked regularly in patients taking the drug, known
generically as troglitazone, which works together with older diabetes
drugs sulfonylureas to make them more potent.

"Based on clinical trials, approximately two percent of patients on
Rezulin can be expected to have to stop taking the drug because of
elevated liver enzymes," the FDA said. "Few, if any, of these patients
will go on to develop permanent liver damage if the drug is stopped."
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 07:33:53 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Elephant startved to safety
Message-ID: <345DEEE1.16FD@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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Elephant starved to safety

Agence France-Presse 
LYON, France (November 3, 1997 08:52 a.m. EST) 

Mako, a five-ton elephant, is safely back in his compound after French
zookeepers starved him out of a ditch in which he was trapped for two
weeks.

The 51-year-old Asian beast slipped into the six-foot-deep ditch Oct. 19
at the zoo in Lyon, after sneaking under netting surrounding his
compound.

Initially a crane was brought in, but after several attempts his keepers
were left scratching their heads. Eventually a huge ramp was installed
in the ditch, so he could climb out. 

But Mako didn't like slopes. 

So they appealed to his basic instincts -- rationing food and water
until the aging animal got up the courage to climb out.

The ploy finally succeeded late Sunday night, after four days of anxious
waiting. A presumably relieved Mako is now back on his regular daily
diet of 132 pounds of hay, as well as beetroot, bran and protein mash.
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 07:31:46 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Black Beauty Ranch on Good Morning America
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971103125037.2b874966@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The Good Morning America segment on Cleveland Amory and Black Beauty Ranch
has been postponed until next Monday (November 10).

Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 07:40:26 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Back to basics
Message-ID: <345DF06A.47A8@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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On the lookout for the super germ

Scripps Howard 
TOLEDO, Ohio (November 3, 1997 00:34 a.m. EST) 

Dr. Bruce Janiak is worried. "I'm seeing a patient right now whose leg
is all red, and I'm worried he has a resistant strep infection," said
Janiak, emergency medicine director at Toledo Hospital. "You have to
decide, is it an infection?"

While a streptococcus infection may not sound so bad -- who hasn't had
strep throat at least once? -- that's no longer true. These days, a
doctor cannot count on antibiotics to kill the bacteria that cause
infections because overuse of the drugs has led to resistant strains.

"For some bacteria, we have only one or two antibiotics available that
will treat it," said Dr. Haig Donabedian, associate professor of
medicine and chief of infectious diseases at Medical College of Ohio.

Scientists developed antibiotics in the 1940s, after the discovery of
penicillin in 1939. Back then, people called them miracle drugs because
they could cure killer diseases, such as Staphylococcus aureus (known as
staph), pneumonia, and meningitis. But even then, some bacteria quickly
developed resistance to antibiotics.

Resistance occurs when bacteria mutate, or change, in response to a
threat to their survival.

"Most bacteria mutate quickly, and in areas where lots of antibiotics
are used, this is to their advantage," Donabedian said. "If you give
them a reason to mutate, then they'll take that reason to do it.

"So if you take an antibiotic, 99.9 percent will be killed, and the
remaining 0.1 percent will survive and mutate," Donabedian said. "That
small percentage will grow and spread to other people. Within a day or
two, bacteria can become resistant, mutate, and the mutation will
rapidly spread from bacterium to bacterium like wildfire."

The result? Superbacteria, and lots of them, against which antibiotics
can do little or nothing.  The number of resistant germs means doctors
sometimes have to try several drugs before they hit on the one that will
kill a person's bacteria -- and that's why Janiak worries about his
patient with the red leg.

If doctors suspect an infection, they take a culture, a sample of
bacteria from the infected area. Over the next 24 hours, the bacteria
multiply and medics can identify the strain and what will destroy it.

In the meantime, most doctors order antibiotics, unwilling to take a
chance. Bacteria can kill, as every doctor knows.

"With a staph infection, people could conceivably die without anybody
being able to treat it," said Darrell Stuart, an infectious disease
specialist with Mercy Health Partners. "Sometimes people die before
antibiotics have a chance to be effective."

Janiak, who has testified as an expert witness in court cases, just
heard about such a case in another state. Doctors believed a young woman
had sepsis, a toxic condition that results when disease-causing bacteria
from one area of the body enter the bloodstream and move throughout the
body.

"They treated her with all the appropriate, usual antibiotics and took a
culture, which usually takes 24 hours," Janiak said. The culture showed
the bacteria was a resistant strain, so "they switched to the correct
antibiotic, but the organ damage was so bad, she died within three days
of admission. It wasn't malpractice, it was bad organism. They couldn't
kill it."

Experts say the increase in the number of superbugs results from using
too much of a good thing for conditions that don't require antibiotics.

"At least one factor has been the overuse of antibiotics for a variety
of infections where antibiotics aren't especially effective or warranted
anyway," Stuart said.

In a recent national survey, medical researchers based at the University
of Colorado found that about half the patients with a cold or other
upper-respiratory tract infection, and 61 percent who had bronchitis,
received antibiotics -- even though the drugs have no effect on viruses,
which cause those diseases.

Overall, the researchers found that inappropriately issued antibiotics
accounted for 21 percent of all the antibiotic prescriptions the doctors
ordered.

"Overuse is a constant concern," Janiak said. "The pressure from
patients is enormous. They have built up an expectation that pills cure
everything, so 'I need a pill to cure my problem."'

Even knowing an antibiotic will probably have no effect on a patient's
illness, "doctors will write prescriptions anyway," Janiak said. "We as
physicians know we can be wrong. What if I'm wrong and this patient ends
up critically ill because I don't prescribe it?"

Donabedian has a blunter way of putting it.

"Americans have always thought of antibiotics as cheap insurance. Well,
the premium has come due."

In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta
announced the arrival in the United States of a staph germ that can
resist vancomycin, the most powerful antibiotic known. The germ first
appeared in May in Japan. Its immunity to the drug is not total, but it
comes close, the CDC said.

So what can the average person do?

"The only way to get around this is to cut way back on the use of
antibiotics," Donabedian said.

"People need to be aware that antibiotics aren't the answer to what they
have," Stuart said. "If it seems like a minor infection, then limit the
use of antibiotics. And be a little more scrupulous about hand washing.
It is the most important way infections are spread."

(In that vein, the doctors agree that the anti-bacterial soaps touted by
manufacturers do little more to wash away bacteria than ordinary soaps.
Donabedian cautioned that such soaps may cause bacteria to mutate,
leaving only resistant bacteria in your home.)

Mostly, though, avoiding antibiotics means remaining healthy. To do
that, remember the advice your mother gave you: eat right, stay fit, get
enough sleep.

"The answer is, stay healthy and don't do things to screw up your immune
system," said Janiak.  "We ingest millions of bacteria every day. The
issue is keeping your body healthy, because you can't keep bacteria out
of your body. And should you develop a medical problem, seek advice
early. If you wait several days, things may be too far gone to figure it
out."

--By VANESSA WINANS, Toledo Blade
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 09:39:44 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: NY Alert: Walk in the Park is No Picnic
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971103145853.3007c4f6@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

NEW YORK ALERT

A WALK IN THE PARK IS NO PICNIC

Thanks to your letters to the Governor's office, the Department of
Environmental Conservation is proposing regulations to ban traps within 100
feet of paths in recreational areas. This is an improvement over the current
law which actually allows traps to be placed on paths, but much work remains
to be done.

As you may remember, Tony and Meg Massaro's beloved dog, Valentine, died
brutally before their eyes in a body-gripping trap during a morning jog in a
public park. This was a horrifying "welcome" to a family that had just moved
to New York State.

Please write to:

       Governor George Pataki
        c/o James McGuire
        Executive Chamber
        State Capitol
        Albany, N.Y. 12224

Send a copy to:

     Commissioner John Cahill
     Department of Environmental Conservation
     50 Wolf Road
     Albany, N.Y. 12233

You may wish to make the following points in your letter to the Governor:

* THANK him for his help with the proposed DEC regulations on trapping.

* Explain that this is a step in the right direction but that 100 feet is
not enough to guarantee safety for family pets and children. Strongly
request that TRAPS BE BANNED FROM ALL AREAS OF PARKS AND RECREATIONAL
AREAS
including waterways where people and pets swim and wade. Our parks should
not be littered with dangerous traps as Bosnia is littered with landmines.
Participating in a family picnic should not be a Russian Roulette experience
in death or injury.

* "Watch Where You Walk" regulations allow trappers the freedom of an entire
park but they place families in jeopardy since only the trappers know where
the traps are located.

* Explain that traps are not an answer to "nuisance" animals, population
levels, or diseases.  Perceived nuisance problems can usually be alleviated
by non-lethal methods such as placing lids on dumpsters and trash cans.
Population and disease levels are cyclical, and problems can actually be
made worse by trapping.

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 09:40:06 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: NY Alert: Let's Can Canned Hunts
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971103145911.30070e48@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

NEW YORK ALERT

LET'S REALLY CAN CANNED HUNTS

Canned hunts take place in fenced pieces of property where a hunter pays a
fee to shoot a captive animal. This is as sporting as shooting puppies and
kittens in a pet store. 

Responding to the revulsion the public feels about this "business," two New
York State legislators, Assemblyman Stringer and Senator Maltese, sponsored
bills to ban canned hunts. Unfortunately, during the long legislative
process the wording of the bills changed to such an extent that the BILLS NO
LONGER ACCOMPLISHED THE GOAL OF BANNING CANNED HUNTS! Just a few
examples of
exemptions made by the bills are as follows:

* Because the word "take" was substituted with the word "shoot," weapons
such as spears and archery equipment will still be permitted to torment
captive animals.

* Canned hunts are allowed to proceed if they take place in an area of more
than 10 acres. 

* The offspring of animals are allowed to be used in canned hunts.

* Canned hunts are allowed if there is a perceived means of "escape."

Please write to:

ASSEMBLYMAN SCOTT STRINGER
LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BLDG.
ALBANY, N.Y. 12248
(send copy to ASSEMBLYMAN SILVER, SPEAKER, same address).

SENATOR SERPHIN MALTESE
LEGISLATIVE OFFICE BLDG.
ALBANY, N.Y. 12247
(send copy to SENATOR BRUNO, MAJORITY LEADER, same address).

* THANK them for their interest in banning canned hunts. Ask them to SCRAP
THE CURRENT BILLS and REWRITE AND SIMPLIFY THEIR BILLS so that they actually
BAN CANNED HUNTS COMPLETELY. As they stand now these bills are chock full of
loopholes in favor of the canned hunt industry!

* Specifically ask them to BAN CANNED HUNTS REGARDLESS OF ACREAGE.

* Explain that the LOOPHOLES in the current bills, such as permission to use
spears or bow and arrows, the use of offspring of animals, and the legality
of a canned hunt if there is a perceived means of "escape," are all totally
unacceptable.

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 09:40:58 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: IA Alert: Mourning Doves Under the Gun
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971103145958.3007233e@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

IOWA ALERT

MOURNING DOVES UNDER THE GUN!

The well-funded national hunting groups have pledged to spend at least
$100,000 in a legislative attempt to legalize mourning dove hunting in Iowa.
Sport hunters already kill about 50 million mourning doves each year in the
states that allow dove hunting. Adding another state to that list would mean
another half million gentle birds killed for sport every year in the Hawkeye
State.

The legislative session begins in January, so we need to move fast!

(1) Please write letters to the editor of your local newspapers, speaking
out in opposition to dove hunting. State legislators read their local
newspapers as a barometer of public opinion, so letters to the editor are
crucial. Contact The Fund for Animals at (301) 585-2591 or
 if you need the address of your local newspaper or
if you would like to receive a set of sample letters.

(2) Also write letters to your own State Representative and State Senator in
Des Moines. There is no bill number because it has not yet been introduced,
but you can tell your elected officials to oppose any legislation that would
legalize mourning dove hunting. Contact them at:

        The Honorable __________
        State Capitol
        Des Moines, Iowa 50319
        Switchboard: (515) 281-5011

If you do not know who your State Representative and State Senator are,
please call your local library, town or city hall, or League of Women Voters
for assistance.

Here are a few points you may wish to make in your letters:

* Mourning doves are gentle birds that most Iowans enjoy seeing at backyard
birdfeeders. Killing them for sport would be like killing robins or cardinals.

* Mourning doves are not overpopulated and they are not a nuisance to
anyone. They actually help farmers by eating waste grains and seeds.

* The move to legalize dove hunting is being pushed by out-of-state hunting
groups. Mourning doves have been protected for decades, and Iowans want it
to stay that way.

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 09:40:22 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: OH Alert: Ban Mourning Dove Hunting
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971103145941.30070542@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

OHIO ALERT

HELP GATHER SIGNATURES TO BAN DOVE HUNTING

As you probably know, Ohio is currently having its second-ever mourning dove
hunting season, and hundreds of thousands of gentle mourning doves are being
killed and crippled for sport. A group called Save The Doves is still
working to place this issue on the statewide ballot and to let Ohio voters
decide whether doves should be slaughtered or protected.

Many of you helped gather signatures last year, but unfortunately, we did
not gather enough to qualify for the November 1997 ballot. But the
signatures gathered last year will still count, and we can qualify for the
November 1998 ballot with your help!

Save The Doves is very close to the number of signatures to qualify for the
ballot, but they need concerned people like you to circulate petitions and
recruit friends in order to make the final push! They need to turn in
signatures this December to save the bird of peace from hunters.

If you would like to request petitions, please contact Save The Doves at the
following address or phone number. Even if you can only gather a few
signatures, every single signature counts!

        Save The Doves
        PO Box 820
        Perrysburg, OH 43551

        1-800-868-DOVE

We know you've worked hard on this issue, but we must keep the momentum
going. Please write or call Save The Doves today if you can help.

Remember, the petitions must be turned in by mid-December of this year, so
please act quickly. Thank you so much for your continued support!

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 09:49:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Hunger Striker Denied Early Release
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971103150850.118f76fc@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from the POTTSVILLE REPUBLICAN (http://www.pottsville.com)

Hunger striker denied early release

 BY PAULA REED WARD

Saturday-Sunday, November 1-2

 A petition asking for the early parole of the woman on a hunger strike in
the Schuylkill County
 Prison was denied Friday morning. 

 As Dawn M. Ratcliffe, 24, of Charlotte, N.C., grows weaker, her Harrisburg
attorney, Guy H.
 Brooks, requested the court to allow her to finish her prison sentence at
29 days instead of the 45
 she was ordered to serve. For the remainder of the sentence, he requested
the court to allow her
 to complete community service. 

 According to the petition, Ratcliffe was rushed to Pottsville Hospital
Wednesday night because of
 her condition. 

 However, Warden David J. Kurtz, said Friday morning that Ratcliffe has had
no problems and was
 fine. 

 `` Dawn's physical condition had become extremely serious and potentially
life threatening because
 of electrolyte imbalances and deficiencies,'' Brooks said in his petition.
``In addition, it is reported
 that her blood pressure has dropped to 60/40.'' 

 Brooks went on to say that the physician who examined Ratcliffe said ``by
next week, Ms.
 Ratcliffe may be dead or dying.'' 

 Ratcliffe began her hunger strike on Oct. 3 in hopes of urging the state
Legislature to pass a bill
 banning live pigeon shoots. She was sentenced to serve 45 days in prison
for disorderly conduct
 stemming from the 1996 Fred Coleman Memorial Pigeon Shoot, held in Hegins
each year. 

 A bill proposing the ban of pigeon shoots was introduced into the House by
Sara G. Steelman,
 D-Indiana, and now has 46 co-sponsors. 

 However, this week, the Legislature announced a three-week recess, thus
making it impossible for
 the bill to be voted on while Ratcliffe is imprisoned, said Heidi A.
Prescott, the national director of
 The Fund For Animals, a lobbying group against pigeon shoots. 

 ``They don't seem to care at all,'' Prescott said of the Legislature. 

 On Tuesday, Prescott visited Ratcliffe in prison and said she looked very
thin and frail. 

 ``Her spirits are still good, but she had declined,'' Prescott said of
Radcliffe. 

 At the urgings of her family and the Fund, Ratcliffe began taking
additional fluids Friday, Prescott
 said. 

 ``I think she ultimately will eat. Dawn is 24 years old, and she has a
lifetime of activism in front of
 her. We don't want to lose her.'' 

 In his petition, Brooks said Ratcliffe has been a ``model prisoner,'' and
has not caused any
 disciplinary problems while in the prison. 

 In addition, he tried to introduce her beliefs into his petition. 

 ``As a demonstration of moral and ethical conviction, Ms. Ratcliffe has
declined solid food and all
 beverages but water and apple juice since her incarceration on Oct. 3,''
Brooks wrote in his
 petition. 

 However, Judge D. Michael Stine, who originally sentenced Ratcliffe to
prison, was not swayed. 

 Because of her lack of cooperation with her pre-sentence investigation,
Stine sentenced Ratcliffe to
 prison. A co-defendant in the case, Brett A. Wyker, was not given any
prison time. 

 At her sentencing on Aug. 29, Stine said Ratcliffe showed no remorse for
her actions and that she
 was not a good candidate for rehabilitation. 

 Both Ratcliffe and Wyker were found guilty of disorderly conduct. Two other
charges, defiant
 trespass and criminal conspiracy resulted in a hung jury. 

Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 15:23:38 -0800
From: Hillary 
To: "VEGAN-L@VM.TEMPLE.EDU" ,
ar-views@envirolink.org,
        ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Carmine not listed on products
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971103152329.0072f52c@pop01.ny.us.ibm.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="us-ascii"



Natural additive not listed on labels, causes reactions


A color additive made from crushed bugs that has been widely
used for centuries can cause severe allergic reactions and should be
listed on food labels, a University of Michigan researcher says.


Carmine dye, made from dried, processed cochineal insects, gives a red,
pink, orange or purple color to foods, drinks, cosmetics, fibers and some
drugs. It is often not listed on food labels because it is considered a
natural additive.


Allergist James L. Baldwin says doctors have suspected for some time that
it might cause allergic reactions in some people. Now he has confirmed
that the extract triggered anaphylactic shock - a rare, severe reaction -
in a patient who had eaten a red popsicle. He has since seen two more
patients with carmine dye allergy. His report will be published later
this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.


No skin test is available to detect antigens to carmine, so Baldwin
conducted an unusual test: He made a serum from the patient's blood,
added carmine and then injected it into her husband's arm - essentially
using his arm as a laboratory to see how the woman's blood reacted to the
carmine. When the husband developed an allergic reaction at the injection
site, Baldwin's suspicion was confirmed.


The woman also often got hives and itchy skin after using cosmetic blush,
which frequently contains the dye. Baldwin says people who suspect they
may be sensitive to it should look for "color added" or "artificial
color" on labels.


"I'm not suggesting carmine's harmful to most people," but the word
"carmine" should begin to appear on labels, he says.


By Anita Manning, USA TODAY



<<<<<<<<



Vegan Standards and Certification Project, Inc.

91 Joralemon Street

Suite 4

Brooklyn, NY 11201

718-246-0014

F: 718-246-5912

email: president@veganstandards.org

http://www.veganstandards.org

Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 20:43:16 +0100
From: Jordi Ninerola 
To: AR News 
Subject: [MO] Monaco, Rainero a great defender of Whales?
Message-ID: <9711032039.AA21738@blues.uab.es>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII


Monaco: The Spanish press said, today, that Rainero Prince said that he's a
great defender of Whales, an a great lover of animals and a great
ecologyst. This week-end Rainero, his daughter Carolina and grandson Andrea
Casiraghi, in accordance spanishes press, went to great shooting. In this
notice appear Carolina with many dead's quails.

Jordi Ninyerola i Maymm
>From Barcelona
http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/6506
http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/academy/2855
http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/loge/3128
SA385@blues.uab.es
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 13:34:58 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: PA Alert: Calls Needed on Pigeon Shoot Bill
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971103185408.5ed703d8@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

PENNSYLVANIA ALERT

BILL TO BAN PIGEON SHOOTS PICKS UP STEAM!

State Rep. Sara Steelman (D-Indiana County) has introduced a new bill to ban
live pigeon shoots, House Bill 1909. The bill already has 46 co-sponsors --
nearly double the amount we had last year! There has been increased
attention to the pigeon shoot issue, and this is the perfect time to
pressure state legislators to take a vote on this bill!

House Bill 1909 is currently in the Judiciary Committee, and we need your
help to bring the bill out for a vote. Please contact the members of the
committee listed below. Ask the chairman to consider House Bill 1909, and
ask the other members to pressure the chairman to do so.

 Thomas Gannon, Chairman(717) 783-6430
  Thomas Caltagirone(717) 787-3525
   Daniel Clark(717) 783-7830
  Frank Dermody(717) 787-3566
  Jerry Birmelin(717) 783-2037
   Harold James(717) 787-9477
   Brett Feese(717) 787-5270
  Joseph Petrarca(717) 787-5142
  Scot Chadwick(717) 783-8238
   Andrew Carn(717) 787-3542
   Lita Cohen(717) 783-2063
   Peter Daley(717) 783-9333
   Craig Dally(717) 783-8573
  Babette Josephs(717) 787-8529
  Timothy Hennessey(717) 787-3431
  Kathy Manderino(717) 787-1254
  Stephen Maitland(717) 783-5217
  David Mayernik(717) 783-1654
  Albert Masland(717) 772-2280
   Don Walko(717) 787-5470
  Dennis O'Brien(717) 787-5689
  LeAnna Washington(717) 783-2175
   Robert Reber(717) 787-2924
   Chris Wogan(717) 787-3974
   Jere Schuler(717) 783-6422

Also contact the leaders of the House of Representatives listed below. Tell
them that as a Pennsylvania resident you are disgusted at their lack of
leadership in allowing pigeon shoots to continue. Tell them that House Bill
1909 deserves a fair vote on the House floor.

 John Perzel, House Majority Leader(717) 787-2016
  Matt Ryan, Speaker of the House(717) 787-4610

And please continue calling and writing your own State Representative and
State Senator. If you do not know who they are, please contact The Fund for
Animals at  or (301) 585-2591. We can look them up
for you and tell you how they voted last time on this issue.

We are now closer than ever before, and your calls and letters really have
made a difference! Thank you for your continued help!

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 16:57:14 -0500 (EST)
From: MINKLIB@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Anti Fur Resources for the Coming Season
Message-ID: <971103165214_-1191791989@emout03.mail.aol.com>

The Holland Reports $8
Holland became the first nation in the world to ban fox farming.  This is a
collection of reports that were submitted to parliament when the ban was
being debated.  It contains a report that is sympathetic to mink farmers, and
is then followed by 12 letters refuting its statements.  This is an excellent
resource for anyone who wants in depth knowledge of the horrors of fur
farming.  Most of the focus is on mink.  The mink ban failed by just a few
short votes.

Animals in Distress tape $5
This tape is perfect for blasting outside of stores that sell fur.  Side 1 is
the sounds of a red fox in distress, while side 2 contains the cries of baby
mink in distress.

Living With Beaver $3
Trappers are known for using beaver control as an excuse for their continued
killing of animals.  This booklet argues that trapping does not control
beaver populations, and provides non-lethal methods that are effective.  It
also details the environmental benefits of having a strong beaver population.

The Final Nail and Final Nail supplement $3
This booklet explains how the ALF is trying to stop the slaughter of fur
animals with a combination of sabotage and live animal liberations.  It
contains a list of fur farms, with complete address, etc. so that these
animal concentration camps cannot remain hidden from the public any longer.

Jaws of Steel by Thomas Eveland $8
This is the most comprehensive anti trapping book ever written.  It covers
the suffering of trapped animals concisely, and refutes all common pro
trapping arguments.

Fur Farming in Finland $2
Finland produces nearly 70% of the worlds ranch raised fox skins.  This
report details the welfare problems inherent on Finnish fox farms.  Very in
depth!

The Fur Industry: An Ecological Nightmare $3
This is a report prepared by CAFT which details the environmental destruction
caused by fur production.  The fur trade claims to be environmentally
friendly, so this is a very important resource for countering those claims.

Memories of Freedom $5
This is the story of the Western Wildlife Cell of the Animal Liberation
Front.  It tells how they targeted, and nearly destroyed, the research arm of
the fur farm industry.

T-Shirts! $15
New anti fur shirt! Front says Stop the Bloody Fur Trade with stop written
over a paw in bloody letters.  The back has a picture of a fox in a cage and
says A Life to Be Taken... In the Name of Vanity. Specify M, L, or XL, as
well as white or natural colored shirts.

Membership is $15 and is a crucial source of our funding.  Support CAFT by
becoming a member.

Send orders to:
Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade
PO Box 822411
Dallas, TX 75382

Please include all applicable info for shipping purposes.
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 13:56:03 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: GMA changed once again
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971103191502.5f4fdcc0@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The Good Morning America segment on Cleveland Amory and his new book, Ranch
of Dreams, has once again been rescheduled. It is supposed to air tomorrow
(Tuesday, November 4th) at aproximately 8:35 a.m.

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 14:12:58 -0800 (PST)
From: "Christine M. Wolf" 
To: twilight13@rocketmail.com, ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Re: (US) Endangered Species Act Alert
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970406165244.403fdb20@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

After receiving calls from some of our members concerning S. 1180, Senator
Kempthorne's dangerous endangered species bill, I feel it is necessary to
clarify that NOT A SINGLE environmental or animal protection organization
endorses this bill.  

The Fund for Animals is opposed to, and is actively fighting, passage of
this bill.

I am re-posting an alert regarding National Endangered Species Act Call-In
Day, which sums up our opposition to the Kempthorne bill.

As always, please feel free to call me with questions on this or any other
legislation relating to animal protection.

******************************************************************
Christine Wolf, Director of Government Affairs
    The Fund for Animalsphone: 301-585-2591
     World Buildingfax:   301-585-2595
   8121 Georgia Ave., Suite 301e-mail: CWolf@fund.org
    Silver Spring, MD 20910web page: www.fund.org

"When a man wantonly destroys a work of man, we call him a vandal.  When he
wantonly destroys a work of nature, we call him a sportsman." 
     -Joseph Wood Crutch

___________________________________________________________________________

An important message from GREEN (Grassroots Environmental Effectiveness Network)

>                        NATIONAL ESA CALL-IN DAY!  
>
>                           TUESDAY, November 4
>
>              Let's hold our elected officials accountable. 
>                 Pick up the phone to protect the ESA.
>             Let the halls of Congress ring on November 4.  
>     All across the country folks will be calling for a stronger ESA.
>
>              Congressional Switchboard (202) 224-3121
>
>* Call your senators and tell them not to support Kempthorne's bill *
>
>         Senator Kempthorne's S. 1180 would jeopardize the mission of 
>         the ESA to recover species in peril.  Kempthorne's S. 1180 
>         would provide:
>
>               o  Special access for special interests
>               o  Taxpayer subsidized habitat destruction
>               o  Roadblocks to recovery
>               o  Weaken protections for species on public & private 
>                  lands
>
>           *  Call your Representative to cosponsor HR 2351. *
>
>        A better bill has been introduced in the House.  HR 2351 
>        would reaffirm and strengthen the nation's commitment to 
>        wildlife and to protect our children's future.  It is 
>        estimated we are losing approximately 100 species every day. 
>        Rather than weaken protection for fragile plants and animals, 
>        Congress should strengthen the ESA, so species do not slip 
>        through loopholes and cracks in the current ESA.
>
>        HR 2351 would:
>
>             o  Conserve declining species before they near the brink 
>                of extinction.
>             o  Place a deadline on listing decisions for candidate 
>                species.
>             o  Provide economic incentives to encourage voluntary 
>                conservation.
>
>
>                      Please distribute widely!
>
> 


At 11:16 AM 11/1/97 -0800, Twilight wrote:
>CRITICAL TIME FOR THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT'S
>FUTURE--By attorney Michael J. Bean, head of EDF's Wildlife
>program.
>
>After nearly six years of stalemate, Congress may finally be
>moving toward consensus on the future of the Endangered Species
>Act. On September 30, by a vote of 15-3, and with the support of
>the Clinton Administration, the Senate Environment and Public
>Works Committee approved a bill to reauthorize the Act. The bill
>(S. 1180) is the result of months of negotiations among
>Committee Chairman John Chafee (R-RI), Democrats Max Baucus (MT)
>and Harry Reid (NV), Republican Dirk Kempthorne (ID), and
>Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. A more far-reaching bill
>introduced in the House by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) has
>improved prospects for House action as well.
>   The Senate is likely to act on its bill first. Rather than
>radically overhauling the existing law, the Senate bill leaves
>in place the law's key requirements: (1) Federal agencies must
>still ensure that their actions neither jeopardize the continued
>existence of endangered species nor destroy critical habitat,
>and (2) private landowners must still refrain from harming
>endangered species by destroying habitat or by other means. The
>bill makes other changes, however, that could be problematic
>unless the concerns below are addressed.
>   The bill authorizes significant new programs to provide
>incentives--in the form of cost-sharing assistance--to private
>landowners who agree to carry out management practices to help
>endangered species. This may be the bill's most positive
>feature, but--as EDF stressed in testimony before the
>committee--the potential benefits of these new provisions will
>only be realized if the programs are assured of substantial
>funding.
>   The bill focuses mainly on the recovery planning process. Its
>intent is to make recovery plans more influential in guiding the
>actions of Federal agencies and others in furthering the
>conservation of imperiled species. To do so, the bill requires
>that plans identify the Federal agencies that could contribute
>most to species recovery and the actions needed from them.
>Today, Federal agencies often ignore recovery plans, since
>nothing obliges them to implement such plans. S. 1180 would, for
>the first time, require relevant Federal agencies to enter into
>formal "implementation agreements" that commit them to carry out
>specific actions in recovery plans. States and private
>landowners may do so as well, and cost-sharing aid to private
>landowners who commit to help carry out recovery programs is one
>of the new incentives created by the bill. A serious concern is
>that the new planning procedures are unduly complex and costly.
>EDF has urged that they be significantly streamlined.
>   The bill makes less substantial changes in "habitat
>conservation plans," the main means of accommodating both
>endangered species conservation and development interests on
>private land. The most significant change is that the bill
>raises the standard for approval of plans that encompass both
>listed and unlisted species (typically plans that cover large
>geographic areas). This desirable change would make it less
>likely that the long-term assurances given to landowners who
>enter into such plans will put species at risk. Nevertheless,
>EDF has vigorously pressed the Senate to add, as a further
>backstop against such risk, a generous "insurance fund" from
>which the Secretary of Interior could draw if he needed to step
>in and correct an inadequate conservation plan. The Miller bill
>in the House also gives assurances to plan participants, but
>limits the impact by imposing bonding requirements on
>participating landowners.
>   The Senate bill also codifies the government's authority to
>enter into "safe harbor" agreements with private landowners.
>EDF, with the generous support of the National Fish and Wildlife
>Foundation, pioneered the safe harbor concept as a means of
>overcoming private landowners' reluctance to create, restore, or
>enhance habitat for endangered species. The bill also authorizes
>cost-sharing assistance to landowners who enter into such
>agreements. The active management needed by many endangered
>species is expensive; cost-sharing will help landowners who
>might otherwise be unable to bear alone the costs of carrying
>out essential actions for improving the well-being of endangered
>species.
>   The House is likely to await Senate action--which could come
>very quickly--before it begins a serious reauthorization effort.
>None of the House conservatives who in the last Congress backed
>a radical overhaul--indeed, a virtual repeal--of the Endangered
>Species Act has yet shown any inclination to follow the lead of
>their Senate counterparts who have moved toward the middle in an
>effort to find consensus. If the Senate passes its bill, it will
>likely put pressure on House members not to let the issue die,
>as it has done in each of the last three Congresses.
>   Ending the six-year impasse over the future of the Endangered
>Species Act is critically important. The status quo, in which
>the great majority of imperiled species are not making clear
>progress toward recovery, is simply not adequate.
>
>                    EDF Action Alert
>Senate action is likely in the very near future. You can
>help by urging your Senators now to (1) add an assured source
>of substantial funding to S. 1180 so that the proposed new
>landowner incentives programs (and the habitat conservation plan
>insurance fund) can accomplish their full potential benefits,
>and (2) reduce the cost and complexity of the new recovery
>planning procedures.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>_____________________________________________________________________
>Sent by RocketMail. Get your free e-mail at http://www.rocketmail.com
>


******************************************************************
Christine Wolf, Director of Government Affairs
    The Fund for Animalsphone: 301-585-2591
     World Buildingfax:   301-585-2595
   8121 Georgia Ave., Suite 301e-mail: CWolf@fund.org
    Silver Spring, MD 20910web page: www.fund.org

"When a man wantonly destroys a work of man, we call him a vandal.  When he
wantonly destroys a work of nature, we call him a sportsman." 
     -Joseph Wood Crutch

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 17:18:03 -0600 (CST)
From: Suzanne Roy 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Yaka's Death
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 Copyright 1997 The Chronicle Publishing Co. 
 
                          The San Francisco Chronicle
 
                    OCTOBER 31, 1997, FRIDAY, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A19 

LENGTH: 622 words 

HEADLINE: Popular Orca Makes Her Last Splash 
Marine World's Yaka dies after 27 years of shows 

BYLINE: Pat Walsh, Chronicle Staff Writer 

DATELINE: VALLEJO 

BODY: 
    Yaka the killer whale, a beloved performer who made a lot of big
splashes in the Bay Area for decades, has died after a long illness. 

   During her 27 years with Marine World Africa USA, the 32- year-old,
20-foot, 10,000-pound orca displayed her high-leaping aquatic talents to
more than 30 million park visitors. 

   Test results from a necropsy were not available, but pneumonia brought on
by a respiratory fungal infection was probably what killed her Wednesday,
Marine World officials said. 

   Yaka, who had been sick, had not been performing regularly during the
last three months. Her surviving partner, Vigga the female orca, had been
carrying the act -- although Yaka, even in her weakened state, was always
eager to get back before crowds in her few low-key appearances, her trainers
said. 

   ''Yaka was like a member of our family,'' said Terry Samansky, director
of marine operations for the park. ''We spend eight to 10 hours a day with
these animals; sometimes we spend more time with these animals than our own
families.'' 

   The whale shows, which feature full breechings, fast swims and even whale
kisses, draw thousands of Bay Area schoolchildren to Marine World every
year. The most popular spot at the shows is right up front, where the kids
can get soaked as the gigantic mammals leap into the air and flop back into
the water. 

   Curtis Puderbaugh, a 7-year- old second-grader at Pueblo Vista
Alternative Elementary in Napa, said he considered himself lucky to have
caught one of Yaka's final shows with his class last Friday. 

   ''I'm totally glad I got to see her before she died,'' he said. ''I'm
glad we went, 'cause if we went today, we wouldn't have got to see her.'' 

   However, not everyone was a fan of Yaka's show -- most notably some
animal rights activists who have long viewed her stint at Marine World as
cruel captivity, not entertainment. 

 
 
   In Defense of Animals, a Mill Valley animal advocacy group, issued a
statement yesterday calling for an end to the Marine World whale show and
the release of Vigga -- now the only remaining captive orca in Northern
California -- into the wild. 

   ''We are deeply saddened by the death of Yaka this week,'' wrote the
group's president, Elliot Katz, in a press release, ''but take comfort in
the fact that, after 28 years of captivity, her spirit is finally free.'' 

   The group maintained that Yaka's life -- despite the fact that she was
the third oldest orca in captivity -- was cut short by being kept in a tank
instead of the ocean. ''Female orcas in the wild live an average of 50 years
and have a maximum life expectancy of 80 to 90 years,'' said Katz. 

   ''That's not correct,'' said Jeff Jouett, Marine World spokesman. ''The
average life expectancy of orcas in the wild is 25 years. Females live
longer than males and may reach early 40s.'' 

   The grieving park staff canceled the whale show Wednesday and yesterday,
but it may resume this weekend for the season's park finale, depending on
the condition of Vigga. 

   ''Vigga's doing fine,'' said Samansky. ''She's interacting with the staff
great. She's acting as normal as possible.'' 

   Killer whales, technically known as Orcinus Orca, are actually the
largest members of the dolphin family. Their fast speeds and strong, sharp
teeth arguably make them the most successful sea predators. They have a diet
of fish, sea lions and even sharks. 

   Yaka was captured off the coast of British Columbia in 1969. Vigga is 10
years younger and was taken near Iceland in 1981. 

   Yaka's remains were taken to a rendering plant Wednesday, to be divided
between scientific agencies for research. Whatever is left will be used for
fertilizer and other purposes, park officials said. 

 

 

GRAPHIC: PHOTO,Leah Schaffer, who has trained orcas at Marine World for five
years, comforted Vigga, Yaka's partner , BY SAM DEANER, THE CHRONICLE 

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH 

LOAD-DATE: October 31, 1997 
 
 
                    Copyright 1997 The Hearst Corporation 
                           The San Francisco Examiner
 
                   October 30, 1997, Thursday; Second Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A-10 

LENGTH: 298 words 

HEADLINE: Marine World's popular killer whale dies at 32 

SOURCE: OF THE EXAMINER STAFF 

BYLINE: ANASTASIA HENDRIX 

BODY: 
   Yaka the killer whale, a popular performer who wowed Marine World /
Africa USA crowds for nearly three decades by sending her 10,000-pound, 20
-foot-long body soaring through the air, has died. She was 32. 

    Yaka had performed regularly until Aug. 2, when she was afflicted with a
sinus infection and pneumonia, according to park spokesman Jeff Jouett. "We
had been very concerned about her for months, but we are still very
devastated by her death," he said. She died Wednesday. 

    Yaka, who was the third-oldest killer whale in captivity, came to the
park from waters near British Columbia in 1969 and quickly became one of the
park's star attractions, Jouett said. 

    And her trainers adored her as much as those who marveled at her from
the stands. 

    "Yaka was intelligent, cooperative, gentle and cautious," he said,
adding that her personality also boasted a bit of playfulness. 

    "She was known to test her new trainers by intentionally doing things
the wrong way just to check their reactions," he said. "But whenever they
were in the water with her she was always very gentle with them." 

    Her trainers and a team of veterinarians cared for Yaka over the last
several months, giving her medications and treatments that cost more than $
1,000 a day and totaled more than $ 89,000. 

    They were also with her Wednesday, when Yaka sank to the bottom of her
pool around 1:30 p.m., but could not revive her. 

    "It's like the loss of a family member, they are really devastated,"
Jouett said. 


    "All of her training and cooperativeness really made her a champion
during her veterinary care," he said. "She allowed us to take blood samples
almost daily and put endoscopes down her blow hole while she patiently
waited at the side of the pool." 
    A necropsy is planned. 

GRAPHIC: PHOTO Caption 1, Trainers say the 10,000-pound killer whale Yaka,
which performed for nearly 30 years, was intelligent and gentle. 

LANGUAGE: English 

LOAD-DATE: October 31, 1997 


Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 18:18:05 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Elk Hunt Wins Out Over Bicycle
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971103181802.006f3218@pop3.clark.net>
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A sad outcome....
from CNN custom news http://www.cnn.com/
--------------------------------------
Wyoming State News
Reuters
03-NOV-97

Elk Hunt Wins Out Over Bicycle

(JACKSON) -- A chance to bag an elk has proven to be more enticing than a
new ountain bike. Wyoming Game and Fish agents say 70 youngsters were given
the choice between participating in the National Elk Refuge's annual youth
elk hunt or receiving a one-thousand-dollar mountain bike offered by the
Fund for Animals. All 70 chose the elk hunt. The Fund for Animals, based in
New York, offered the youths the bike if they would turn in their refuge
permits and promise not to hunt anymore in 1997. According to a Game and
Fish news release, none of the youths opted for the bike. The special elk
hunt was offered last month for youngsters aged 12 to 17. 
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 17:18:13 -0600 (CST)
From: Suzanne Roy 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Action Alert - Yaka
Message-ID: <199711032318.RAA17655@dfw-ix16.ix.netcom.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

  DATE:  October 31, 1997Contact:  Donna Hertel, 630-801-3262
              Chicago Animal Rights Coalition
                         
DEATH OF ORCA WHALE 
URGENT - LETTERS NEEDED

Animal activists reacted with outrage today to the news that Yaka, a 32-year
old orca whale at Marine World Africa, USA died on October 29 after a
lengthy illness.  We are sorry that Yaka is gone, but take comfort in the
fact that after living a desperate life amusing the public, she is free of
her chains. 

It is time for Marine World to permanently close its marine mammal show and
to begin rehabilitating its remaining orca for release to the wild.  Female
orcas in the wild live an average of 50 years, and a have a maximum life
expectancy of 80 -90 years.  Marine World falsely states that orcas live
longer in captivity than they do in the wild.  Approximately 38 orca and
dolphins have died prematurely at this park, and Yaka's death once again
proves that Marine World lies.

Last week, IDA wrote to Marine World requesting that the park work with orca
researcher Dr. Paul Spong to establish a telephone hook up between Yaka and
native pod in the Pacific Northwest.  IDA and Dr. Spong said they had hoped
that the sound of the ocean and her family would boost the ailing whale's
spirits and contribute to her recovery.  The park did not responded to IDA's
request.  

Spong has been studying Yaka's family (the A5 pod) in the wild for the past
27 years, and has long advocated the return of captive orcas to their
natural families.  Spong said:  "Yaka should have had a chance to rejoin her
family.  For years we've known exactly which family Yaka belongs to. Her mum
is still alive, so are two sisters.   It would have been simple to put them
back together again.  Yaka was little more than 30 years old when she died.
This is the prime of life for an orca female in the ocean.  Under  normal
conditions she would have probably been a young mum by now, helping to carry
on the ageless traditions of her family.  All she had to offer is now,
forever, gone."

In the 1960s and 1970s,  nearly 70 orcas disappeared from the Pacific
Northwest as a result of captures.  According to Spong, many died out right
during botched capture attempts. Most of the others died shortly after
capture.  Yaka was one of just three whales who survived to face the reality
of confinement and the demands of relentless performances. 

It can't be imagined how people who hold orcas captive can sleep at night
knowing what they have done to these wonderful, intelligent animals.  They
are in an indefensible position and they know it.  This is an industry that
abuses and ultimately murders animals for profit.  At the very least, they
owe it to the public to debate the captivity issue.

PLEASE CALL AND FAX:  

The Hon. Gloria Exline
Mayor, City of Vallejo
707/648-4377 (ph)
707/648-4426 (fax)

Gary Storey, CEO
Premier Parks, Inc.
405/475-2500 (ph)
405/475-2555 (fax)

Demand that the park discontinue its marine mammal act and rehabilitate
Vigga, the surviving orca for release.  Also demand that Terry Samansky, the
park's marine mammal curator, publicly debate Steve Hindi of the Chicago
Animal Rights Coalition.  

Thanks.

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 18:26:27 -0500 (EST)
From: SMatthes@aol.com
To: 
Cc: alf@dc.seflin.org, francion@andromeda.rutgers.edu, OneCheetah@aol.com,
        nnetwork@cwnet.com, dnation@juno.com, BHGazette@aol.com,
        CPatter221@aol.com, lcanimal@ix.netcom.com, foa@igc.apc.org,
        DDAL@aol.com, jdanh@juno.com
Subject: 17 Year Old Arrested for cat decapitation
Message-ID: <971103182140_-1711138657@mrin41.mail.aol.com>

Charlotte County, Florida--- Sarasota In Defense of Animal has learned that
Justin Aaron Hensley, 17, was booked in the Charlotte County, Florida jail on
October 31, 1997 on a charge of cruelty to animals.  Investigators (verified
by law enforcement reports) say Hensley, along with another youth, a female,
 used a machete to decaptitate a cat, stored its head in a refrigerator
overnight and later hung it on someone's front doorknob.  A child found the
severed cat's head hanging on the doorknob at his home in Punta Gorda,
Florida.  According to the report, Hensley has confessed that he stabbed a
dark colored calico cat in the back with a serrated and straight-edged
machete on the second floor of another male's house.  After the cat fell from
the second story to the ground and crawled under a riding mower to seek
refuge,  Hensley then used a rake to pull the cat out, wrapped it in a
blanket and took it to an undisclosed location to sever its head. 

The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office Incident Report number is:  97077747

This case will receive special handling because Hensley is a juvenille.
 However, telephone calls can be made to express your outrage for this crime:
 
State's Attorney:  Joseph D'Alessadro, telephone:  (941) 335-2700
The judge for this case is:  
Judge Ken Heymans, telephone:  (941) 637-2291

Animal cruelty is running rampant in the State of Florida -- especially among
juvenilles. Phone calls from caring individuals from around the world will
let the justice system know that the world is watching these cases. 

Thanks from Sarasota In Defense of Animals



Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 18:37:17 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (IL) Fetuses May Carry Mad Cow Disease
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971103183714.006f5c84@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page http://wire.ap.org/
-------------------------------------------------------
 11/03/1997 18:03 EST

 Fetuses May Carry Mad Cow Disease

 JERUSALEM (AP) -- Some women who underwent in-vitro fertilization in
 Israel recently may be carrying fetuses infected with the human variant
 of Mad Cow disease, a Health Ministry official said Monday.

 The Haaretz newspaper reported that hundreds of fetuses may be infected
 as a result of being grown on a protein from a donor who died of
 Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

 Health Ministry spokesman Yair Amikam confirmed that hundreds of women
 were treated with the infected blood, but only some of them became
 pregnant. Even in those cases, Amikam said there was only a small risk
 the babies born would develop the condition.

 ``We told the couples not to halt their pregnancies, as there is only a
 very minimal chance of infection,'' Amikam told the AP.

 He did not give exact numbers or identify the donor.

 According to Amikam, eight in-vitro fertilization labs used the man's
 blood. Amikam said they were informed by the company who provided the
 donor's blood that he had died of Mad Cow disease.

 Eating meat from cattle tainted by the disease is believed to cause the
 brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, which has killed at
 least 20 people, mostly in Britain.

 The outbreak of the disease in Britain caused a crisis in the European
 Union last year. Beef exports from Britain were banned, and the EU had to
 pay farmers across the EU billions of dollars to prop up prices as
 consumers shunned beef.

Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 19:57:54 -0800
From: Barry Kent MacKay 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Cc: zoocheck@idirect.com
Subject: We can't keep abusing chimps in name of research
Message-ID: <345E9D42.4942@sympatico.ca>
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Nature Trail, by Barry Kent MacKay
The Toronto Star, November 1, 1997

We can't keep abusing chimps in name of research

Science is expected to be objective, non-political, non-biased and to go
where the data take it. But scientists are human

Science teaches us that humans evolved from ancestors common to other
primates.  The chimpanzees share 98.4 per cent of our DNA.  That 1.6 per
cent difference is the foundation of a subjective, political and biased
view that has caused too much of the scientific community to fear going
where the data take it.

However, a striking exception is Roger Fouts, a professor of psychology
at Central Washington University, in the state of Washington, and
co-director, with his wife, Dorothy Fouts, of the Chimanzee and Human
Communications Institute.

Chimpanzees often use hand gestures to communicate among themselves. 
Actual signs vary from population to population, just as dialect and
language vary in humans.

Realizing that, Fouts wondered whether chimps could be taught American
Sign Language, the method developed to allow deaf people to communicate
non-verbally.

Washoe, a chimpanzee who had outlived her usefulness to NASA's space
program, was the first of her species to master sign language.  Other
chimpanzees have learned, with chimps teaching chimps.  They also taught
Fouts and other humans, shattering preconceived concepts about
chimpanzee intelligence and reasoning ability in the process.

But the work threw a glaring spotlight on the morality of abusing
chimpanzees in scientific research.  If chimps could think, extrapolate,
anticipate, display sorrow, joy, self-awareness, friendship and love,
and could even communicate, is there moral justification for their
abuse?  In preference to facing the question, the scientific community
turned its collective back on Fouts.

By the time it was discovered that chimps do not get AIDS, there were
hundreds of them, many in sterile, solitary confinement, in various
medical laboratories.  Fouts' concern for those animals and their
suffering drove him to seek to break through that bias and to provide
the chimpanzees with compassion and respect.

Fouts continued his work in the face of peer pressure and resentment and
cuts in funding.  When I discussed this with him last week, he said, "It
wasn't bravery on my part, so much, as the need to be able to live with
myself."

Washoe and Fouts have gained widespread media attention but now the full
story has been chronicled in Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught
Me About Who We Are, by Roger Fouts and Stephen Tukel Mills.  The book,
published by William Morrow and Co., costs $32.95.

I have the pleasure of introducing Roger Fouts next Tuesday evening,
when he will give a public talk at the Ontario Institute for Studies and
Education, 252 Bloor St. W., at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets, which cost $10, can
be reserved by phone at 416-285-1744, e-mail at zoocheck@idirect.com or
fax at 416-28504670.  The talk offers a good opportunity to buy the new
book and have it autographed.

-30-

Note...the amount of the book is in Canadian currency; it's $25
hardcover in the U.S., and "next Tuesday" means Nov. 4

Cheers,

Barry

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 19:02:44 -0500 (EST)
From: MINKLIB@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: 6 Rabbits Liberated in OR
Message-ID: <971103183236_-122969806@emout09.mail.aol.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=unknown-8bit
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

For Immediate Release:
November 4, 1997






Underground ALF Frees Rabbits 
>From Defunct Mink Farm

Hebo, OR--In a communiqué sent to an unrelated Dallas animal rights group,
the underground Animal Liberation Front has claimed credit for an October
29th raid that led to freedom for 6 rabbits that were being held at a former
mink farm.  The group claimed that the mink farm was closed down, but that
the owner seemed to be getting into the rabbit fur and meat business.

Along with the communiqué the ALF sent photographs of masked individuals
holding two of the rabbits that were going to be placed into loving homes.

“We are glad to see that these 6 rabbits won’t have to worry about being
killed and skinned, or even eaten.  While we are unsure of exactly what fate
these rabbits were being bred for, we can rest assured that since they were
in the hands of a former fur farmer, it wasn’t going to be nice” stated J.P.
Goodwin, director of the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, the organization
which received the ALF communiqué.

The ALF is the subject of an ongoing federal grand jury investigation in OR.
 The group claimed credit for a raid on a Mt. Angel, OR fur farm last May, at
which 10,000 mink were released.  The group also took responsibility for a
fire that destroyed the Cavel West horse slaughterhouse in Redmond, OR.

In October the group raided 7 mink and fox farms, mostly in the midwest, and
released approximately 20,000 animals from their cages.  Groups such as CAFT
have shown support liberation actions where animals were spared a certain
death by such means as gassing, neck breaking, or anal electrocution.

-30-


Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 20:11:24 -0500
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Lawyer defends the underdog
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971103201111.006f6848@pop3.clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Newsworks.com http://www.newsworks.com/ and Detroit News
-------------------------------------------------
October 11, 1996                                            

Lawyer defends the underdog

Caption: "As a kid growing up, I nursed all the ailing animals of   
the neighborhood," says attorney Michael Rotsten, who now definds
them. Photo by Los Angeles Times

By Bettijane Levine / Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES -- If the defendant has wings, fins, fur, tails, scales, paws
or claws, there's a good chance its attorney is Michael Rotsten.

Perhaps the only lawyer in Southern California with an almost exclusively
animal clientele, Rotsten says he deals with elephant-sized problems as
well as little barks and bites.

And then there are the various oddball occurrences you would never think of
until they happen to your animals or to you. Like the woman wearing a clown
suit who was hit by a cow. And the pet shop owner charged with illegal
possession of freshwater stingrays.

Next month, Rotsten will go to court in Orange County to conclude what has
turned out to be a more serious case. It involves an injured 8-year-old
Yorba Linda boy and a 4-year-old bull mastiff named Boo.

No one disputes that Boo caused Zachary Anderson Jr., a neighbor, to
require multiple stitches after the child entered Boo's dog yard and was
"pinned" by the 140-pound pooch.

"But the evidence doesn't substantiate the allegation that the child was
bitten," Rotsten says. "It indicates the child sustained injuries from the
claws on the dog's paws, and that it was the dog's weight and size that
caused him to do damage."

He adds: "It is awful that it happened."

Rotsten, 54, says he loves kids, and is a father and grandfather himself.
But should Boo's crime be a hanging offense?

"No way," Rotsten says. And, after the Orange County Animal Control tried
twice to kill the dog, he went to court to prove that Boo is no killer
himself.

"Expert witnesses testified that a dog of that size and power was not
trying to kill the child. If he'd wanted to, boom, the child would be dead.
The dog pinned the boy, who came into his territory at night, and he did
what a bull mastiff is born to do. It was totally explainable."

The judge apparently agreed. It was decided that Boo will not be put to
death; that, in fact the Orange County Animal Control decision to kill the
dog was "not based on the evidence and was clearly an abuse of discretion."

On the other hand, it also determined that Boo was "vicious under law,"
because he had caused substantial damage to the child.

Boo's owner, Stephen Williams, a CPA who hired Rotsten and has so far spent
$10,000 on the case, says his next goal is to get his family pet out of the
cage in which he has languished for nine months.

In October, a judge will determine under what conditions the animal can be
set free.

The case has brought Rotsten international attention. Calls and e-mail from
Europe and around the United States request his advice on animal matters,
or simply congratulate him for choosing nonhuman clients.

Don't confuse his specialty with animal rights, he is quick to tell you,
"because animal rights generally involve large, socially oriented and
generic issues such as product testing on animals and environmental
problems" affecting creatures great and small. Those issues, Rotsten says,
he works on occasionally and usually pro bono.

But the bread-and-butter of his practice tends to be the "everyday problems
and disputes" related to animals. Some tend to be a bit more ... unusual.
Like the clown vs. cow case. (He represented the clown.)

"There she was, in costume, directing traffic into an open house that was
for sale. A cow was meandering down the street, on the loose. It swung its
head at her, threw her down so that she tweaked her back and hurt her jaw."

It turned out, Rotsten says, that the cow's owner had been cited weekly for
more than a year for escaping cows. "We wound up settling the case out of
court because they finally saw I was crazy enough to try it in court. My
reputation is that I'm aggressive, and I'll try anything. They can't scare
me off."

Then there was the great stingray sting. His client "had an aquarium store
and about 17 of these freshwater fish. California Fish and Game
(Department) seized them and charged him with illegal possession of a
prohibited species. But we prevailed," Rotsten says in his bland, low-key
manner.

The case was thrown out of court, and his client released, he says, when
Rotsten proved that stingrays had never been officially designated a
prohibited species by the California Legislature -- even though the Fish
and Game Department had requested such a designation. His client never got
the stingrays back, however.

"The offensive part is that Fish and Game raided my client's store, threw
the fish into a sack where they died on the spot, and loaded them into an
evidence freezer."

He also does a fair number of pet warranty cases, where people buy an
animal from a shop or breeder, then find it is desperately ill. Rotsten
considers himself a defense lawyer and rarely takes cases to prosecute an
animal. When he does, it's because he believes the animal has bitten or
hurt someone as a result of being improperly cared for by its owner.

"I'll take the case to hopefully prove to an owner that he has to be more
responsible and treat his pet better."

He never takes cases in which a person requests the destruction of an
offending animal. "Because no matter what happened, it is almost always the
owner's fault, not the animal's."

Rotsten, who practiced criminal law for more than 20 years, until about
1990, says his people cases had become "a little bit boring to me, and the
nature of my practice had changed. I still loved it, but I was tired of it
too."

He was casting about for new challenges when he noticed a committee was
being formed within the bar association to help protect animal rights.
"I've always been into animals. As a kid growing up ... I nursed all the
ailing animals of the neighborhood. I wanted to be a veterinarian."

After working on a few cases, he says he realized that none of his
colleagues on the committee had practices restricted to animals. It was a
niche that hadn't been filled.

"It sounded crazy. But then I took a course, and I decided to envision such
a practice, and see if I could make it come true."

Copyright 1996, The Detroit News
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 20:22:13 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: Veg-Boston@waste.org, Veg-NE@waste.org
Subject: Press Release on Louise Woodward's vegetarianism
Message-ID: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 2 Nov 1997 14:13:48 -0500 (EST)
From: "A. Hogan" 
To: chickadee@envirolink.org
Cc: "A. Hogan" 
Subject: Britons claim Louise Woodward is vegetarian, blame US judicial ,
system, Framingham State (fwd)

One hopes this appalling verdict on Louise Woodward (even alternate jurors 
were shocked) can soon be thrown out and this abysmally mistreated young 
woman can put her New England nightmare as much behind her as she 
possibly can, though nothing can restore the lost time and emotional 
tumult caused her. The prosecutors and jurors in this case surely must be
philosophical if not biological 
descendants of the presecutors in the Salem [MA] Witch Trials of 1692. It 
makes me deeply ashamed of my generally beloved home state.--a r hogan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Louise Woodward at Framingham Correctional

>http://www.townonline.com/newton/oldarchive/071697/029283_0_no_071697_09c87
a0464.html

FRAMINGHAM -- MCI-Framingham officials told Louise Woodward's mother 
that the 19-year-old au pair will not receive special vegetarian meals 
as she awaits trial on charges she murdered 8-month-old Matthew Eappen. 
Susan Woodward requested the meeting, which was held last Friday, with a 
deputy superintendent at the facility after she visited her daughter, 
who has been a vegetarian for at least two years, and reportedly 
discovered she had not eaten for some 36 hours. 

Department of Correction spokesman Tony Carnevale confirmed Susan 
Woodward met with an official to discuss, among other things, meals at 
the prison. 

The corrections department "certainly disagrees that her physical well 
being is in jeopardy because of a lack of a special meal," Carnevale 
said. 

"One of the issues certainly was the issue of meals, and the request to 
provide a special vegetarian meal," Carnevale said. "Our response was 
what had been publicly said earlier, and we explained it to Mrs. 
Woodward. Should you eliminate the meat portion, then the minimum 
(nutrition) requirements would be met and you wouldn't go hungry." 

As to a lack of protein or other essential vitamins or minerals, 
Carnevale said by eating other foods served at the facility, one can 
keep a proper diet. 

"Again, there's enough in other portions of the meal, whether it's fish, 
whether it's rice or beans or bread -- there's enough protein in other 
parts of the meal should you eliminate the meat, you can certainly 
(maintain a proper diet)," Carnevale said. 

Woodward underwent a medical exam, the results of which were shared with 
the family, he said. 

"I can't discuss that other than to tell you she's in excellent health," 
Carnevale said. "We're not going to be providing a (vegetarian) meal to 
her or anyone else." 

State Rep. Kay Khan, D-Newton, who works on prison issues, checked into 
the Woodwards' claim. 

Kahn said a staff member in her office spoke with a legislative liaison 
for the Department of Correction. 

"What was related to us, in this particular situation regarding Louise 
Woodward, is that she evidently has a job in the kitchen," Kahn said. 
"According to the Department of Correction, she has (access) to fruits 
and vegetables and so forth. The nutritionist they use has reviewed the 
food and feels that without any of the meat, the food is balanced." 

Kahn has requested a menu from the facility, she said. 

The issue of a proper diet was only one of several that Susan Woodward 
brought to the attention of the deputy superintendent, Carnevale said. 

He characterized those issues as "the usual concerns and complaints 
(brought) any time they have a family member in custody." 

"I'm not going to get into specifics," Carnevale said."They were not 
beyond the usual gripes anyone has when they're confined." 

Woodward won't get special meals in prison 
1997 Maynard S. Clark     Vegetarian Resource Center
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 22:19:14 -0600
From: Gul Agha 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: PAK: Indus river's dolphins face extinction
Message-ID: <199711040419.WAA01319@ganges.cs.uiuc.edu>



             Pollution threatens blind dolphin's existence

                             By Bhagwandas

[From Dawn daily newspaper, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan]

 KARACHI, Oct 29: The population of blind Dolphin, a rare species found
 only in the Indus River and also called the Indus dolphin, is not
 increasing rapidly though it is not hunted widely and is also
 protected under the relevant wildlife protection laws.

 The latest census, conducted by the deputy conservator of Sindh
 Wildlife, Hussain Bux Bhagat, in April - June 1996, put the entire
 population (346 in April 1980) of the Indus dolphins at 458, which is
 divided in 17 schools (groups). Some 150 dolphins are also reportedly
 living in the Indus flowing in the Punjab region.

 Before the construction of various barrages on the mighty Indus, the
 blind dolphin used to cruise in its entire 3,500-kilometre course, but
 currently its habitat has shrunk drastically and the mammal is found
 mostly in the 170-kilometre stretch between Sukkur and Guddu barrages,
 which was declared the dolphin reserve in 1974.

 There is only a four-member, a supervisor and three game watchers,
 Sindh Wildlife staff, who neither has a boat nor a vehicle, looking
 after the entire 170-kilometre reserve.

 Since living in the heavily silted Indus River the dolphin's eyes
 could provide a very limited vision which was not sufficient for
 navigation, so through evolution, in hundreds of thousands of years,
 the native Pakistani mammal has an extremely developed sonar system
 which helps it hunt the fish, navigate safely and detect the danger.

 Traditionally the dolphin - that is declared as vulnerable in the
 cetacean Red Data Book of 1991 - used to be netted to extract its oil
 for use as a liniment, but this use has also minimised owing to the
 widespread availability of modern medicine. Some fishermen also use
 the oil for proofing of their boats.

 Being a unique aquatic mammal, living submerged most of the time, it
 has to come to the surface for breathing air. Some of the dolphins
 drown when caught in the fishing nets which keep them under water for
 longer periods.

 Chemical fertilizer and deadly pesticide infested agricultural
 run-offs in to the Indus are also having their effect on the dolphins.


 Another major threat being faced by the Indus dolphin is the
 establishment of various private sector industries and a couple of
 thermal power houses (at Guddu and Sukkur) of WAPDA, which are pouring
 their untreated and highly hazardous effluent into the river, besides
 raising the temperature of the recipient water.

 Various towns and cities on the banks of the Indus are also
 contaminating the river by pouring their untreated municipal sewage.

 Exploration, drilling and other operational activities in the Kadirpur
 (Ghotki) Gas field, and drilling in the main river stream etc. are
 reportedly threatening at least five dolphin schools - at Tori,
 Jungan, Bindi, Begari and Tegani - comprising nearly 110 dolphins.

 The nature conservationists and wildlife lovers have urged the
 government to conduct a scientific study to find out the reasons as to
 why the dolphin population was not increasing rapidly and what effects
 the chemical and other pollution was having on the dolphins. They fear
 that chemical pollution might have disrupted the reproductive system
 of the dolphin. They have also demanded that fishing operations in the
 dolphin reserve be monitored so that sufficient fish stock for the
 consumption of the dolphins could be maintained.





Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 22:43:26 -0600
From: Gul Agha 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: PK: Partridges face extinction in Sindh, Pakistan
Message-ID: <199711040443.WAA01343@ganges.cs.uiuc.edu>


>From Dawn (daily newspaper), Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. 

Please feel free to write politely worded letters to the Hon. Liaqat
Ali Jatoi, Chief Minister, Government of Sindh, Karachi, Pakistan.
You might remind him that such hunting will devastate Sindh's heritage
that he is sworn to protect and that it is also contrary to the
highest Sufi ideals held by the people of Sindh.
-----------
                     Partridges facing extinction

                        By Niaz Mohammed Khan

SANGHAR: Already facing extinction in Sindh, the grey and black
partridges will be at the mercy of hundreds of hunters, mainly VIPs
and foreigners, during the five-month hunting season that has started
on Nov 1.

The gun-totting hunters will comb woodlands and by the end of the
season, hundreds of partridges would have been killed. Till a decade
back these pretty birds were found in abundance and road travellers
from Sanghar to Hyderabad or Jamrao used to see a lot of grey and
black partridges roaming the area.

However, such sights no longer exist.

Estimates show that during a single hunting expedition, more than 800
birds are killed. Besides, an indiscriminate use of pesticides and
deteriorating environment is also contributing to the elimination of
partridges in the province.

At present some partridges can be seen in sanctuaries owned by PML(F)
chief Pir Pagara. Locally known as Rakkh, these sanctuaries are
situated in Dehs of Akanwari, Haran Thari, Dubbi, Kut near Paksari,
Joggianji Bhit, Janib Dhoro, Khohri Belo, Nian and Khambro where
hunting is strictly prohibited and violators are required to pay
Rs1,000 fine for each killed bird.

But even in these areas, poachers for quite some time now have started
using nets and traps to catching the birds. The construction work on
Chotiaryoon Reservoir is also going to affect wildlife in Dehs of
Akanwari, Haran Thari and parts of Dubbi.

Allah Warayo Behan, the chief of Dharti Dost Sangat [Friends of the
Earth Association], and Mir Mohammed Nizamani, a local landlord, have
suggested that the government should reserve at least one Deh and
declare it as a wildlife sanctuary besides [imposing] a five-year ban
on hunting.

Mr Behan has blamed the game wardens and game watchers for the
declining wildlife population through organized hunting expeditions.

He demanded that game wardens should be a non-political person and
area the District Commissioner and SSP [senior police officer] should
also be made responsible for wildlife preservation.

Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 23:36:43 -0500
From: liberation2@juno.com
To: AR-NEWS@envirolink.org, ar-wire@waste.org
Subject: DAWN RATCLIFFE BACK ON HUNGER STRIKE!
Message-ID: <19971103.233646.12494.1.liberation2@juno.com>


I received a letter from Dawn today dated 10-30. This is the last
paragrapgh(Dawn, when you're out & maybe read this & hope you don't mind
me posting it!)

"Then thay took me back to prison & I phoned my parents to tell them not
to panic, & both of them were yelling & frantic about their fear that I
would die.  After shouting back & forth, I said that I would consider
their advice, in an effort to calm them down.  In reality, I'm continuing
with the hungerstrike despite pressure from my parents, the Fund & tons
of others.  I made a commitment to hunger strike on behalf of those
innocent creatures & I'm not backing down."

Geez, what can I say about this girl?  She's about as dedicated &
commited as they come and the pigeon's in their silence surely thank
her!!!!

But, as everyone's probably well aware this is a very dangerous situation
now!  Tomorrow will Dawn's 33rd day of not eating.  I, like everyone else
am extremely worried about her.  She's one of our best-- the animal's
can't afford to lose her.  But, at this point now, I think all of us
should quit trying to force her to eat &  respect her decision.  This is
DAWN'S decision, no one's else & at this point I think the best we can do
is support that decision.  She's probably so weak now the last thing she
needs is to be arguing with activists.  Dealing with her parent's is
probably hard enough...  I DO NOT WANT DAWN TO DIE, but she's going to do
what she want's.  If she decides to eat or she decideds to not eat we
need to support HER decision 100%.

Finally EVERYONE!!!!!! NEEDS to be at this protest for Dawn on
Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Whether you are a grassroots activist or work for a
national organization, whether you are a conservative or a millitant
activist  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do ANYTHING & EVERYTHING within your power
to make it to this protest.  Most of us are as broke as can be, but if
you want to come & just can't afford it please post something because if
enough of us pull together we might be able to afford to get more
activists there.  

Dawn has risked her freedom & now her life is in danger because of a
beautiful beleif.   Are we going to act up & fight back for Dawn
Ratcliffe & the pigeon's in Pennsylvania?  You bet we are!!!!!!  This
week please show Dawn, in whatever way you deem necessary, that we
support her!  To not do something, is to dishoner Dawn & all of the
innocent pigeon's who are killed just about every weekend in
PA!!!!!!!!!!!

BE THERE ON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PS- remember that Dawn was sentenced to 45 days to one year.  I think
that she will be released on her 45th day, but who knows for sure?! 
Also, Dawn mentioned in her letter that in 7 days(from her  last ER
visit) that she would be readmitted in 7 days regardless of her health.  

-Kim



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