AR-NEWS Digest 535

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) (US) Md. Counties Awash in Pollution-Causing Nutrients
     by allen schubert 
  2) (US) Manure Mushrooms Into Mountain of a Problem
     by allen schubert 
  3) New Humane Way to Keep Unwanted Animals out of the Garden
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
  4) Animal Rights Resource Site
     by allen schubert 
  5) Kitty Turned out to be...
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
  6) Please call on behalf of hunger striker
     by Michael Markarian 
  7) Important D.C. Neiman Marcus Protest
     by "Miyun Park" 
  8) Sierra Club Vegan Initiative
     by farmusa@erols.com
  9) (US) Oklahoma Youth Duck Hunting Days
     by JanaWilson@aol.com
 10) (HK) Small and furry pet trade tip for making money
     by Vadivu Govind 
 11) King Royal Update
     by PAWS 
 12) CLIMATE CHANGE AND COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
     by bunny 
 13) Letter About King Royal
     by PAWS 
 14) (Aust)WA case linked to mad cow disease
     by bunny 
 15) Update on Dawn Ratcliffe
     by Michael Markarian 
 16) Whales under attack i.t. Dom.Rep.
     by Nikolas Entrup <106127.1133@compuserve.com>
 17) Dollar Campaign for Shelter
     by SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
 18) Talk: Org. Post Baby Raccoon On Fire & address (fwd)
     by **** 
 19) UPC'S Karen Davis Speaks at UCSB
     by Andrew Cuk <6500ac0@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu>
 20) ACTION ALERT: BOYCOTT EKCO HOUSEWARES
     by CFOXAPI@aol.com
 21) request for info
     by "Patrick Tohill" 
 22) Re: request for info
     by Michael Markarian 
 23) IDA's website
     by In Defense of Animals 
 24) (US) Deer, Bow And Arrows
     by allen schubert 
 25) (US) Another U.S. Plant Recalls Tainted Hamburger
     by allen schubert 
 26) (US) 6 Animal Activists Arrested Stockyard's main gates
  blockaded in Petaluma 
     by allen schubert 
 27) TEAR UPCOMING EVENTS
     by "Nancy Gomez" 
 28) Copy letter re sportsmen
     by jeanlee 
 29) DALLAS - Event
     by Greg Thomisee 
Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 08:44:19 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Md. Counties Awash in Pollution-Causing Nutrients
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971003084417.006cd7c4@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Washingtonpost.com:
----------------------------------------
                   The Pfiesteria Scare

                Md. Counties Awash in Pollution-Causing Nutrients

                By Joby Warrick and Todd
                Shields
                Washington Post Staff Writers
                Friday, October 3, 1997; Page
                A01

                State policymakers preparing
                to do battle against the
                Chesapeake Bay's fish-killing
                microbe are about to get some
                harrowing news from the
                field: Farm counties of the
                Eastern Shore are awash in
                pollutants linked to
                Pfiesteria piscicida, reports
                show, and the tools now used
                to control them aren't doing
                the job.

                New data emerging in the wake
                of the recent fish kills show
                eastern counties literally
                overdosing on nature's fertilizer -- waste from tens of
                millions of chickens and other livestock. Top poultry
                counties now produce more than enough manure to meet the
                needs of every crop, yet they continue to import
                commercial fertilizers by the thousands of tons.

                Meanwhile, voluntary programs for farmers have backfired
                in some areas by focusing on a single chemical --
                nitrogen -- while allowing other nutrients in the soil
                to build to the point of saturation.

                Some fields are so overloaded with plant nutrients that
                each new rain is washing large quantities of them into
                rivers and streams, where they become a hazard to
                aquatic life, scientists say. Meanwhile, chemicals now
                locked away in soil and ground water will continue
                migrating into waterways for decades.

                The new reports by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
                the federally led Chesapeake Bay Program and other
                agencies highlight the enormous dimensions of the
                agricultural waste problem in the Delmarva Peninsula, a
                region of Delaware and parts of Maryland and Virginia
                that generates about a million tons of manure each year
                and boasts more chickens per acre than any spot in the
                country. In Delaware's Sussex County alone, the annual
                crop of nearly 200 million birds produces enough manure
                to fill 3,700 boxcars in an imaginary train stretching
                from Washington to Fredericksburg, Va.

                Much of that waste soon may have nowhere to go. A study
                by a Delaware engineering firm projects that by 2000,
                Sussex County will have to look outside the region to
                dispose of 90 percent of its poultry waste.

                "With agriculture becoming more concentrated, we've
                changed the way we use the land," said Dennis Keeney, an
                agronomist and director of Iowa's Leopold Center for
                Sustainable Agriculture. "If you import lots of
                nutrients into one spot and can't export them out again,
                it becomes a simple matter of geography."

                No one has scientifically linked pfiesteria to
                agriculture or any other single source, but U.S.
                Environmental Protection Agency officials last week
                cited a "very strong association" between the microbe's
                toxic attacks and high levels of phosphorus and the
                nitrogen in water. Those nutrients come not only from
                animal waste and fertilizer but also from human sewage
                and byproducts of automobile exhaust and factory smoke.

                The EPA, in a report released yesterday, said more than
                half of the nation's 2,000 watersheds face either
                moderate or serious water-quality problems, largely
                because of polluted runoff. EPA officials described
                agricultural runoff as one of the nation's biggest and
                least regulated sources of water pollution.

                In the Chesapeake Bay, agriculture is the largest single
                contributor of unwanted nitrogen and phosphorus --
                accounting for about half of the total, according to the
                Chesapeake Bay Program. And newly compiled data show
                that, while nutrient pollution is declining overall, an
                increasing proportion is coming from farms.

                While states have successfully cleaned up scores of
                sewage plants, officials acknowledge that progress in
                controlling runoff from thousands of farms has been
                slower. It's not for lack of trying: Virginia and
                Maryland together have spent more than $80 million in
                the last five years persuading farmers to reduce
                chemicals running off their land and into the bay.

                Thousands of the region's farmers have responded:
                building sheds to protect poultry manure from rain,
                plowing less frequently to reduce erosion and calling in
                experts who help them use less fertilizer while
                maintaining crop yields. As a result, the use of
                commercial fertilizers has dropped substantially around
                the bay, and the total amount of farm nutrients in the
                bay is also down.

                According to new, unpublished estimates by the
                Chesapeake Bay Program, manure alone accounts for about
                a third of the nitrogen and nearly two-fifths of the
                phosphorus entering waterways on the Eastern Shore --
                more than double the proportion across the Chesapeake
                watershed as a whole.

                In areas where chickens are raised, the polluting
                effects of manure are even greater.

                Around the Pocomoke River, where chicken farms are
                prevalent and pfiesteria eruptions have been most
                virulent, manure provides a majority of the nitrogen and
                phosphorus entering the water, the Bay Program said.

                Even without a proven link to pfiesteria,
                environmentalists say, such figures point to the need
                for manure to be better managed. Much as government
                regulates what factories and sewage plants can release
                into waterways, what farmers put on their crops should
                be controlled as well, they contend.

                Farmers complain, though, that they're being made
                scapegoats for a problem that may have nothing to do
                with them.

                "People are coming up with a solution before they know
                the answer," said Gary Pilchard, Farm Bureau president
                in Worcester County on the Eastern Shore. "People are
                saying the farmer is the problem when the facts aren't
                in."

                Although the pfiesteria questions may never be fully
                resolved, some bay area officials welcome the attention
                now being given to what they describe as one of the
                region's most important environmental challenges.

                The numbers illustrate how daunting the nutrient problem
                caused by chicken waste is.

                The 623 million birds produced in Delmarva in 1995
                produced 800,000 tons of waste -- including tens of
                thousands of tons of nitrogen and phosphorus.

                In theory, poultry manure is an asset, a good and
                inexpensive fertilizer. But in excessive amounts, the
                same nutrients can become hazards to humans and
                wildlife. Nitrates from nitrogen can contaminate the
                ground water that feeds rural wells. In rivers and
                lakes, nitrogen and phosphorus send microscopic algae
                plants into overdrive, spurring population explosions
                that strip the water of vital oxygen.

                The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a state-by-state
                survey to be released this year, recently compared
                manure production against fertilizer needs in each
                county and reached a conclusion that echoed what some
                Eastern Shore environmentalists have been saying for
                years: Major poultry counties of Virginia, Maryland and
                Delaware appeared to have more nutrients than crops
                could absorb before any fertilizers were added.

                New studies also suggest that phosphorus has become a
                bigger problem in the farm belt than previously
                believed. Until now, farmers and soil scientists have
                focused their conservation efforts on controlling
                nitrogen, which dissolves in water and travels easily
                through the soil.

                But decades of applying phosphorus-rich chicken manure
                to fields has raised phosphate levels across the Eastern
                Shore, said Frank Coale, a University of Maryland soil
                scientist. Of soil samples sent to his lab from the
                lower Eastern Shore last year, 91 percent were so rich
                in phosphorus that farmers were told to add no more,
                Coale said.

                J. Thomas Sims, a soil expert at the University of
                Delaware, described the phosphorus problem as "one of
                the real dilemmas with the management of poultry
                wastes."

                "When you apply wastes based on the amount of nitrogen
                the crops need, you always apply more phosphorus than
                the crops need, by a pretty wide margin," Sims said.

                The surplus has prompted some soil scientists to propose
                what was once unthinkable: a moratorium on phosphorus.

                Others contend that farmers should find ways to
                physically remove excess manure from the area,
                preferably by turning it into a marketable product and
                exporting it from the region.

                The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a private environmental
                advocacy group, is urging Delmarva's giant poultry
                companies to share the responsibility for the waste,
                arguing that individual farmers may lack the means to
                solve the problem on their own.

                Environmental groups also are calling on the state and
                federal governments to impose new restrictions on farm
                runoff.

                Congress specifically exempted agriculture from the
                federal Clean Water Act, which sets national standards
                for everything from sewage treatment plants to septic
                tanks. Thus, while a rural homeowner must obtain a
                permit to build a small septic tank, there may be no
                such requirement for the owner of a corporate-run
                chicken farm that houses thousands of animals and
                produces as much raw sewage as a small city.

                Virtually no states regulate poultry waste, even though
                the largest modern farms raise hundreds of thousands of
                birds and produce prodigious amounts of nutrient-rich
                manure. Environmentalists argue that, without permits or
                inspections, there's no way of knowing what happens to
                the waste. In some cases, they point out, regulators
                don't even have access to records that show where the
                farms are located.

                "Even the few regulatory tools that could be used aren't
                applied," said Robbin Marks, of the Natural Resources
                Defense Council. "How do you carry out an inspection if
                there's no record that the farm even exists?"

                That could soon change. In the wake of increasing
                national attention to the waste problems posed by large
                factory farms, the EPA is preparing to increase pressure
                on states to take a tougher line on animal waste. Newly
                revised guidelines to be released within six months will
                urge states to require permits for all large livestock
                operations -- including at least some poultry farms.

                In Maryland, where Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D)
                appointed a commission to look into the pfiesteria
                problem, farmers are preparing to fend off possible
                legislation to dictate how they handle fertilizer and
                animal waste.

                "There's no other business in the state that's
                unregulated like this," said state Sen. Brian E. Frosh
                (D-Montgomery County), a leading environmentalist in the
                legislature and a member of the so-called Hughes
                Commission. "It's the only commercial activity I know of
                that is a major pollution source to the bay that gets
                away scot-free."

Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 08:44:39 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Manure Mushrooms Into Mountain of a Problem
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971003084436.006d1594@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Washingtonpost.com:
------------------------------------------------

                         Manure Mushrooms Into Mountain of a Problem

                         As Maryland Panel Studies the Hazards of Using
                         Chicken Waste as Fertilizer, Alternative Uses
                         Sought

                         By Peter S. Goodman
                         Washington Post Staff Writer
                         Friday, October 3, 1997; Page A22
                         The Washington Post

                         Arkansas chicken farmer Jerry Sherrill has
                         developed an unusual sideline. He makes
                         figurines shaped like ducks, turtles and cats
                         and sells them nationwide in novelty stores and
                         on the cable television shopping channel QVC.

                         He makes them, as it happens, out of chicken
                         droppings.

                         Sherrill's business, Crappy Critters, might not
                         be the model for Maryland officials to follow
                         as they seek to dispose of the mountains of
                         chicken waste strewn across the Eastern Shore.
                         But it is nonetheless a stunning example of the
                         new realities shaping American agriculture:
                         What were once viewed as mere animal droppings
                         are now much more.

                         For years, many Maryland farmers have viewed
                         chicken manure as a ready and inexpensive
                         fertilizer for their crops. But now they fear
                         restrictions on their use of chicken waste, as
                         scientists study whether nutrient runoff has
                         contributed to blooms of the toxic,
                         fish-killing microbe Pfiesteria piscicida in
                         Chesapeake Bay tributaries.

                         Yesterday, Farmers told the Maryland commission
                         looking into the pfiesteria problem that
                         further regulation was unwarranted.

                         "Leave it the way it is now, with voluntary
                         regulations, because it's working," said Robert
                         Fitzgerald, who farms 300 acres in Somerset
                         County on the Eastern Shore. "To try to manage
                         it by regulation is absurd."

                         State Sen. J. Lowell Stoltzfus (R-Somerset)
                         told the commission that "farmers are not
                         criminals who need to be whipped into line."

                         Mark Jenner, an economist with the American
                         Farm Bureau Federation in Park Ridge, Ill.,
                         says that alternatives to traditional
                         manure-handling practices do not necessarily
                         have to be costly and actually could be an
                         economic boon to farmers in the long run.

                         In many states, farmers are turning their
                         animal waste into compost and selling it.
                         Others are reusing the nutrients in chicken
                         waste by processing it into feed for beef
                         cattle. And researchers are seeking ways to
                         burn animal waste cleanly, producing heat or
                         electricity in the process.

                         As Maryland contemplates what to do with its
                         chicken waste, discussion centers on three
                         possibilities. Under one option, waste could be
                         trucked away from the water and sold as
                         fertilizer in places where livestock is in
                         short supply. Another would expand commercial
                         composting of the manure. Finally, there is
                         talk of burning chicken waste to heat chicken
                         houses in winter months.

                         Since most chicken manure produced in the
                         United States today winds up on fields as
                         fertilizer, the most straightforward solution
                         would seem to be ferrying it to places where
                         there isn't much of it. But once the waste is
                         shipped more than a few miles, trucking costs
                         quickly render chicken it more expensive than
                         commercial fertilizers, said Wesley Musser, a
                         University of Maryland agricultural economist
                         who is doing a cost-benefit analysis of that
                         option.

                         Composting, which concentrates nutrients in
                         smaller masses of material, could provide a
                         solution to the high costs of trucking chicken
                         manure. Lewis Carr, a University of Maryland
                         agricultural engineer, is looking to develop
                         the most efficient composting recipe for
                         Eastern Shore chicken waste and to produce a
                         composting business plan for entrepreneurial
                         farmers that is free of mandates. His study has
                         yet to assess the start-up costs of entering
                         the market.

                         But perhaps the most interesting idea for
                         chicken manure disposal is being floated by
                         University of Maryland agricultural scientists
                         Russ Brinsfield and Ken Staver.

                         The two envision manure-fired boilers that
                         would burn chicken waste, producing heat to
                         warm the chicken houses.

                         Such a system would enable farmers to dispose
                         of the manure safely while saving on heating
                         costs.

                         The resulting ash -- concentrated nutrients --
                         could be sold as fertilizer or even mixed back
                         into chicken feed as a nutrient-rich
                         supplement. But a few details still must be
                         resolved. The technology must be developed to
                         allow chicken waste to be burned cleanly and
                         efficiently, and the idea must be proved
                         cost-effective.

                         Still, the researchers see burning as a
                         creative way to handle an unsustainable
                         situation.

                         "This isn't pie-in-the-sky," Staver said. "It's
                         worth a good hard look."

                         Said Brinsfield: "In the long run, we're going
                         to have to change our approach to dealing with
                         poultry manure. Just moving it around isn't
                         going to solve the problem."

                         Staff writer Todd Shields contributed to this
                         report.

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 97 08:02:13 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: New Humane Way to Keep Unwanted Animals out of the Garden
Message-ID: <199710031257.IAA02712@envirolink.org>

There is a new patented scarecrow on the market, complete with a two
year guarantee. When it sees an intruder, it instantly releases full
garden hose water pressure towards the trespasser. The effect is both
startling and immediate. Animals quickly get out of the area and avoid
it in the future. Our president of ARF has one and says it works great!

-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 09:39:35 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Animal Rights Resource Site
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971003093933.00723698@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The Animal Rights Resource Site (ARRS) http://www.envirolink.org/arrs/
is back online!  

After the severe hard drive crash last weekend, Envirolink staff has worked
day and night to restore all of Envirolink's web pages and services.  

allen
one planet, many beings
--admin for ARRS http://www.envirolink.org/arrs/index.html
--personal page http://www.clark.net/pub/alathome
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 97 09:15:46 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Kitty Turned out to be...
Message-ID: <199710031410.KAA16259@envirolink.org>

(Fall 1997 ARF Newsletter): Why, look at the cute little kitty that
Elaine Lee, president of ARF, found in the middle of the street!! As it
turned out, this innocent little 6 week old gal turned out to be a bobcat!

Luckily, a gentleman in Broken Arrow took her for rehab and released her
back into a natural setting.

-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 08:12:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, seac+announcements@earthsystems.org,
        en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: Please call on behalf of hunger striker
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971003115020.21e7cfd8@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Dawn Ratcliffe is entering Schuylkill County Prison today at 1:00 PM to
serve a 45-day sentence for participating in a peaceful protest against the
Hegins pigeon shoot in 1996. She has vowed to hunger strike in jail until
the Pennsylvania House of Representatives puts the bill to ban live pigeon
shoots on the House floor for a fair vote.

Please call the individuals below who have been responsible for stalling
this legislation. Tell them to save Dawn's life and the lives of thousands
of birds by bringing the pigeon shoot bill on the House floor for a fair vote.

John Perzel, House Majority Leader
capitol office -- 717-787-2016
district office -- 215-331-2600

Matt Ryan, Speaker of the House
capitol office -- 717-787-4610
district office -- 610-565-3800

Please call repeatedly! Dawn has put her life on the line for a chance to
ban live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania!

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 11:40:01 -0400
From: "Miyun Park" 
To: "AR-News" 
Subject: Important D.C. Neiman Marcus Protest
Message-ID: <199710031545.LAA16746@smtp3.erols.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Last weekend, two activists in Dallas, Texas, were assaulted by a Neiman
Marcus security guard. The activists had been peacefully distributing
anti-fur literature outside of the store. As they were leaving, the
security guard assaulted the female and, when the male stepped in to
protect his companion, he, too, was assaulted. The female was taken to the
hospital where she was diagnosed with having suffered a concussion.

PLEASE join Compassion Over Killing in a national day of action against
Neiman Marcus. We will be protesting the megastore's selling of fur and fur
trim and show our solidarity with the Dallas activists.

DATE:Sunday, October 5
TIME:1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Neiman Marcus at Mazza Gallerie, Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, Md.
METRO:  Friendship Heights Metro Station on the red line (take the Western
Avenue exit)

Speak out for the more than 13 million animals killed for their fur each
year!

Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 11:24:10 -0700
From: farmusa@erols.com
To: Veg-News , David Briars ,
        AR-News 
Cc: geo7@ix.netcom.com
Subject: Sierra Club Vegan Initiative
Message-ID: <3435384A.64FF@erols.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Dear Friends:
   Vegetarian activists in the Sierra Club are trying to amend the
by-laws of the Club to promote plant-based diets.  They need signatures
of Club members to get this question on the national ballot.  If you
know any Sierra Club members, please have them sign the petition below
and send to:  Andrea Wilson, PO Box 719, Redwood Estates, CA  95044;
408-353-2096; 353-1346 fax; geo7@ix.netcom.com; www.webcom.com/geos/    
Deadline is October 24, 1997.  If you would like to join the Club to
support this initiative, please use Code U306 on your application.

SIERRA CLUB SUSTAINABLE DIET INITIATIVE
According to a Worldwatch Institute report written by then-senior 
researcher Alan B. Durning in 1991, "the prospect of 5 billion people 
eating the way Americans do is an ecological impossibility, requiring 
more grain than the world can grow and more energy, water and land than 
the world can supply" (Worldwatch Magazine, May/June 1991, P11).  
Given that the world's current human population of 5.8 billion 
continues to grow by more than 80 million people every year, the 
impossibility of this prospect has only become more apparent.  Since 
then, Worldwatch researchers have calculated that "if everyone in the 
world required as much grain for their diet as the average American 
does, the global harvest would need to be 2.6 times greater than it is 
today ---a highly improbable scenario" (Sandra Postel, State of the 
World 1994, P6).  Given these statements, we must recognize that the 
typical American/Canadian grain-fed animal-based diet is another 
expression of wasteful overconsumption, akin to driving a gas-guzzling 
auto with no emissions-control equipment.  And, just as we recommend 
that people bicycle, carpool, use mass transit and drive efficient 
cars, it is time the Sierra Club made comparable recommendations 
regarding our food choices.  It is this need for change which is the 
impetus behind the following petition.
   Pursuant to Bylaw 11.2 and in accordance with Standing Rule 11-1-1 of 
the Sierra Club, the undersigned members of the Club instruct the 
Board of Directors to certify the following resolution to the Secretary 
for a vote by the Club's membership:
"Shall the Sierra Club (1) replace Paragraph G.2. of the Agriculture 
Policy with the following:  "Food consumption choices in the United 
States and Canada cause excessive damage to the environment.  In 
particular, diets high in animal foods (i.e., meat, poultry, seafood, 
dairy products and eggs) require much greater quantities of land, water 
and energy to produce than do diets high in plant foods (i.e., fruits, 
vegetables, grains and legumes), and also contribute 
disproportionately to global environmental problems (e.g., water 
pollution, climate change, deforestation, desertification, soil 
erosion, loss of species, collapse of ocean ecosystems, and 
agricultural chemical pollution).  Therefore, plant-based diets are 
recommended as the most environmentally sustainable dietary choice.  
Those who choose to include animal foods in their diets should make 
such foods no more than a small part of their total food consumption.  
It is also recommended that all foods be organically and sustainably 
produced, and that all animal foods be produced under humane, 
free-range conditions, with due consideration given to the needs and 
well-being of the animals.", and (2) actively educate its members and 
the public on the environmental benefits of such diets?

Signature       Printed Name     Address     Date     Member # if known 
Email/telephone number (optional)

1_______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

2_______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

3_______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________


Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 12:11:29 -0400 (EDT)
From: JanaWilson@aol.com
To: Ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Youth Duck Hunting Days
Message-ID: <971003121021_2088343893@emout04.mail.aol.com>


A/w Okla. hunting news:

  Duck hunters will again have an opportunity to introduce the
young hunters to the sport of waterfowling by taking advantage
of special youth hunting days outside the regular season dates.
  In Zone 1, which is roughly the northwestern quadrant of the
state, this year's youth duck hunting day is this coming Oct. 19th.
The Zone 2, which is the eastern and southwestern part of the
state, youth duck hunting day is on Oct. 26th.  In the Okla.
panhandle, it is today.  Youth hunters must be 15 years of age
or younger and must be accompanied by an adult 18 years or older.
The adult cannot duck hunt, but can participate in other open
seasons.
  A/w Mike O'Meilia, migratory bird biologist for the Okla. Wildlife
Dept, "For waterfowlers, there is no greater gift to conservation
than introducing a youngster to duck hunting."
  The daily bag limit for participating young hunters is the same as
during the general duck season, and all other waterfowl
hunting regulations apply.  The daily bag limit is 6 ducks, and may
contain no more than five mallards of which two may be hens,
three pintails, two wood ducks, two redheads and one canvasback.
  Youth hunting days are outlined in this year's waterfowl hunting
regulations which are are available at sporting goods and
state offices throughout the state.

                                                     For the Animals,
 
                                                     Jana, OKC
Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 00:24:36 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (HK) Small and furry pet trade tip for making money
Message-ID: <199710031624.AAA22658@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>South China Morning Post
Friday  October 3  1997

     Small and furry pet trade tip for making bunny
     money

     FIONA HOLLAND

Exotic rabbits, dwarf hamsters and multi-coloured guinea-pigs will be the
pets to own,     says the man who introduced the chinchilla to Hong Kong.

     His forecast came as a variety of small animals went on display at Pet
Fair Asia 97,     which is expected to attract at least 2,000 traders.

     Small Animal Kingdom managing director Howard Cheung Sin-ho is now
importing     rare breeds of rabbit from the United States to Hong Kong
where they sell for up to     $1,200.

     He started the passion for small animals with the arrival of
chinchillas - the South     American rodent famed for its fur - which sell
for $2,000 each.

The nocturnal rodents have proved so popular that Mr Cheung has opened
outlets in     Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Macau, selling a total of
4,000 chinchillas a     year.

     Now he has even begun local breeding programmes for some of the 45
unusual rabbit     breeds from America, which include long-haired and
lop-eared rabbits.

     Dwarf hamsters - half the size of the regular variety - have proved the
best sellers of all     small animals, mainly because of they cost under $150.

     "There is only one problem with chinchillas - there is only one breed.
There are 45     breeds of rabbit in the United States," Mr Cheung said,
adding that local births would help to bring the prices down.

     Agriculture and Fisheries Department veterinary officer, Dr Howard Wong
Kai-hay,     said pet shops were submitting more applications for smaller
animals, indicating the     increasing popularity of "small, furry things".

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 13:05:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: PAWS 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: King Royal Update
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

The following affidavit was submitted to the USDA by someone who 
witnessed a recent performance of that circus in Missouri.  We are 
re-printing it here (without using the person's name) for your information. 

Affidavit
Description of King Royal Circus
September, 1997

"I was employed at (a zoo) for six years and was a docent for three years 
previous to my employment.  During my nine years there, I raised baby 
hippos, pumas, jaguarundi, caracal, chimpanzees, orangutans, gorilla, 
gobbons, and various hoofed animals, and exotic birds. I have 
considerable experience with exotic animals and know when animals are well 
cared for and when they are not. 

I witnessed a performance of the King Royal Circus in Missouri on 
September 23, 1997.

I saw four elephants on the circus grounds but only three were brought 
out to perform.  The trainer said the baby was too "mischievous" to 
perform. I took that to be a warning sign that something was wrong or 
that the animal was uncontrollable for some reason.  The little elephant 
had such pent up energy that it did not know what to do. Even out of the 
truck it was on a very short chain. In fact, all the elephnat that I 
could see were on extremely short chains and were "cross-chained" --that 
is, chained by both a front and a back leg.  The chains were so short 
that it was impossible for the elephants to move. One baby sat down and 
by doing so was on another elephant's foot.  One elephant was bobbing his 
head seeming to have assumed this activity to relieve stress, as many 
captive animals who need exercise do.  One of the elephants had two dark 
spots on her hind leg--one of the spots was as big as a basketball. The 
two young elephants appeared to me to be thin.

The proximity of all the elephants to the public during the performance 
was clearly a safety hazard and quite unbelievable.  the adult elephant 
could have hurt many people had she decided to relieve stress by going 
for a walk.  The public could have reached out and touched the elephant 
and, had the elephant wanted to "touch" anyone in the audience, she 
certainly could have.  The ring had no barrier betwen the animals and the 
public except a piece of cloth that wouldn't have stopped anything.  I can 
see why a little girl was hurt during a previous performance.  It could 
have happened at any time.  I was told by a trainer that the circus was 
on the road for eight months during the year, so for eight months those 
huge animals receive less exercise that the ordinary human.  This is an 
accident waiting to happen.

It seems to me that the animals' urinating in a public walkway is another 
health hazard.  Thre was one entrance/exit to the circus tent.  The 
elephants and some of the other animals were brought into the circus 
tent for the performance through this doorway.  As the elephants came 
into the tent, they urinated--possibly from fear and anticipation of 
punishment.  when the performance was over, all the people, including 
myself, walked out through that urine. If these animals have salmonella 
and/or tuberculosis, or other diseases, I would be concerned that these 
diseases could be transmitted to circus patrons through this urine--which 
we all took home with us on our shoes. 

The condition of the other animals--a giraffe, a pygmy hippo, one horse, 
and a kangaroo--was abominable.  The giraffe had scabs or places where 
the hair had worn off both knees.  From the knees down, there were 
numerous marks appearing to be old injuries.  His coat was not good. 

The poor kangaroo was dressed in a skirt and muzzled very tightly.  
Boxing gloves were tied onto his hands.  He was used in kangaroo boxing 
which was one of the most pathetic and cruel spectacles I have 
witnessed.  The kangaroo couldn't open his mouth, even slightly.  The 
muzzle appeared painful and too tight.  The King Royal employees kept him 
in such a state of constant agitation, hoping he would jump at them so 
they could "box."   They jabbed at him and teased him and poked him so 
that he would wrestle.  When the animal, in an attempt at self defense, 
would put his feet on them, they would pretend to fall to the floor.  
They used this poor animal in this manner off and on for two hours.  The 
kangaroo kept arching his head way back--proof that the animal really 
felt threatened and was really tring to defend himself.  But, of course, 
he couldn't because he was muzzled and gloved.  I am wondering if the 
children there actually thought this was "natural" behavior and that the 
kangaroo felt no pain or fright. 

The pygmy hippo appeared to have had food withheld until the evening 
performance.  I raised two hippo babies and I have the expertise to know 
that King Royal withheld food from that hippo.  The USDA or humame 
authority should confiscate this animal.  To use hunger as a means to 
FORCE an animal to do a trick for the entertainment of humans is cruel.  
King Royal is using this method--starvation as a tool to make money.  His 
trick is that--when a trainer brings in a rolled up rug with food inside 
it--the hippo nudges the rug to get the food out, thereby unrolling it. 
They also lured the hippo up onto a box with food.  the animal was very 
hungry and began to graze on the grass around the ring. They would not 
let him do this.  It was disgusting to watch. 

The lions and tigers appeared lethargic.  Having raised exotic cats and 
watched the cats in larger circuses, I felt they were not acting as they 
should have.  A big stick, about 3 feel long and 2 inches in diameter, 
was in the hands of the trainer.  This I assume was to keep the sluggish 
cats in line."

The affidavit is signed and notarized. 

***********************


To demand confiscation of the King Royal animals, call Mike Dunn at (202) 
720-4256 or fax him at (202) 720-5775.
Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 01:18:03 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: CLIMATE CHANGE AND COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19971004010243.2f6785fc@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

CLIMATE CHANGE AND COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
****************************************


Date: Thurs., 2 October 1997
From: Eurosurveillance Weekly Contents, Oct. 2, 1997
      http://www.eurosurv.org/weeknews.htm#lass
 
Suspected cases of Lassa fever or other viral haemorrhagic fevers in the
developed world throw clinicians, public health workers, and journalists on
the alert. The possibility that grave, exotic diseases from the tropics
might threaten the life expectancy of those of us who live in temperate
regions seems unthinkable.  Yet predictions of global warming reported last
week in the British Medical Journal (1) suggest that our feeling of
security is unjustified and imprudent.

An intergovernmental panel has predicted that the average world temperature
will rise by between 1C and 3.5C in the next 100 years, a faster rate of
change than has been seen in the 10,000 years since agriculture and human
settlement began (1).  The resulting disturbances of ecological systems may
influence the incidence and distribution of infectious diseases through
several mediating processes - the range and activity of vectors and
infective parasites, the local ecology of water and foodborne infective
agents, population displacement and damage to infrastructure as a result of
a rising sea level, and other
socioeconomic effects.
 
Increasing temperatures and rainfall could increase the areas vulnerable to
such vector-borne diseases as malaria and dengue fever, in particular
extending to higher altitudes, as studies making use of natural climate
variability have already shown.  About 45% of the world's population now
lives in potentially malarious areas.  Mathematical models suggest that the
proportion could rise to 60% in the next 100 years.  Risks of tick-borne
viral encephalitis, leishmaniasis, Lyme disease, and cholera might all
extend to wider geographical areas.

An editorial accompanying the paper mentioned above describes the
unsustainable pattern of consumption in the world's rich countries as the
force driving climate change (2).  It notes the carbon dioxide emissions
caused by transporting food thousands of miles to fill supermarkets visited
by people who arrive in their carbon dioxide-emitting cars.  It calls for
locally-based agriculture, greater emphasis on public transport, cycling,
and walking, and improvements in energy efficiency in homes.  Readers are
invited to calculate their own contribution to carbon dioxide production
using a form on the
British Medical Journal's website
.  Give it a try.

References:
 
1. McMichael AJ, Haines A. Global climate change: the potential effects on
health. BMJ 1997; 315: 805-9
2. Read C, Stott R. Climate change - thinking widely, working locally,
acting personally. BMJ 1997; 315: 758-9
 


---

===========================================

Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

Email>  rabbit@wantree.com.au

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

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Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 13:27:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: PAWS 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Letter About King Royal
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

The following letter was sent by PAWS to Mike Dunn at the USDA, thanking 
him for pushing for a permanent revocation of King Royal's permits but 
also demanding that their animals be confiscated!  King Royal appears to be 
planning to retain the animals and rent them out, should their permits be 
revoked. 

10/3/97

Mike Dunn
Assistant Secretary
USDA

Dear Mr. Dunn, 

Thank you for your ongoing attention to the situation involving the 
animals with the King Royal Circus and for your office's decision to seek 
permanent revocation of that circus' permits. 

In the past month, since the death of Heather in Albuquerque, PAWS has 
been monitoring the OTHER UNIT of King Royal circus.  We have received 
video tape and eye witness accounts from individuals around the country 
and we have also sent our own investigators to view the animals still 
traveling with that unit.  In addition, a retired zoo employee residing 
in a town where King Royal recently performed, viewing the animals in late 
September and wrote the affidavit which I am enclosing with this letter.  
The animals these various individuals have seen include a boxing 
kangaroo; a pygmy hippo; a giraffe; zebras; and elephants, including 
Mickey. all of these witnesses believe that the animals are in very poor 
condition.  This should certainly be no surprise to anyone considering 
the condition of the animals in the other unit.  It is obvious that what 
they saw in September is King Royal's normal standard of care and there 
is little hope for improvement. 

It is my strong belief that all of the animals in this unit are in a 
grave situation and the conditions in which they are forced to survive 
are life-threatening.   I am, therefore, urging you once again to enforce 
the Animal Welfare Act and seize these animals. 

I am also enclosing a copy of an ad that has been appearing in "Circus 
Report" for the past few weeks and which indicates that King Royal Circus 
is planning to lease its animals to other people should its licenses be 
revoked.  I cannot tell you how terrible this would be and I certainly 
hope that the USDA will put an end to the abuse that is rampant in this 
traveling show. 

If there is any question about the placement of these animals, the 
Albuquerque situation has surely demonstrated that there are good people 
both in zoos and sanctuaries who are willing to take these animals in 
order to get them out of this terrible situation. 

I will be attending the hearing in Albuquerque along with other 
representatives from PAWS.  I hope that the outcome is a good one for the 
animals. 

Sincerely, 

Pat Derby
Director
Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 01:36:36 +0800
From: bunny 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (Aust)WA case linked to mad cow disease
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19971004012155.2f678622@wantree.com.au>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

WA (West Australian) case linked to mad cow disease.
The West Australian Newspaper(Fri October 3rd)
By Amanda Bower.

A WA woman is in Royal Perth Hospital with symptoms of a new strain of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that has been linked to mad cow disease.

RPH neurologist Graeme Hankey said yesterday it was unlikely her condition
had been caused by eating infected beef or lamb.

Australia has no recorded cases of mad cow disease and no cases of the new
human strain.

"I would be quite stunned if it was", Dr Hankey said. "But I think we need
to be on the look-out."

The disease came to prominence in Britain. In March 1996, the European Union
put an embargo on British beef.

The WA woman, in her early 20's had not been overseas or eaten British beef.
She had symptoms of both strains of the disease. Steps had been taken to
rule out the possibility she had an unrelated condition that mimicked the
systems.

Diagnosis of either form of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease,or CJD, was only
possible from an autopsy.

The first type of CJD disease occurs in one person per one million. The
average age of victims is 60. Symptoms include visual and mental deterioraton.

The second variant - known as nvCJD-was identified in Britain last year. Of
about 16 cases worldwide there are no known Australian victims.

The nvCJD hits younger victims and there are additional symptoms of
behavioural and psychological disturbances slurred speech and lack of
coordination.

Peter Buckman, Agriculture WA's acting chief veterinary officer, said there
were no animals infected with mad cow disease in Australia.

End.

NB A friend of mine's mother supposedly died of CJD 18 months after visiting
the UK,about 2 to 3 years ago.


===========================================

Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

Email>  rabbit@wantree.com.au

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
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       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
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      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/













Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 10:52:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Update on Dawn Ratcliffe
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971003143042.5317b62a@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Dawn Ratcliffe entered Schuylkill County Prison today at 1:00 PM to serve a
45-day sentence. Two television stations and several newspaper reporters
were present as she read a statement and answered questions before entering
the jail. Dawn announced that she will hunger strike in prison until the
Pennsylvania House of Representatives puts the bill to ban live pigeon
shoots on the House floor for a fair vote.

Please send cards, letters, and notes of encouragement to Dawn:

Dawn Ratcliffe
c/o Schuylkill County Prison
230 Sanderson Street
Pottsville, PA 17901

Dawn will be in lock-down for the first 48 hours, and will have no access to
phones. Visiting hours at the jail are Tuesdays and Saturdays from 7:00-8:00
PM. (She will not be allowed to have visitors this Saturday because she will
still be in lock-down.) The media is allowed to visit Dawn at any time.

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 14:09:05 -0400
From: Nikolas Entrup <106127.1133@compuserve.com>
To: AR-NEWS 
Subject: Whales under attack i.t. Dom.Rep.
Message-ID: <199710031409_MC2-22B3-62E@compuserve.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Disposition: inline

PROTEST LETTERS NEEDED

Whale and Dolphin Protection is still under attack in the Dominican
Republic (D.R.).

a. A new decree is in place eliminating the protection of whales and
dolphins in D.R. waters

The Decree 319-97:

eliminates  the extension of the Silver Bank Sanctuary 
eliminates the protection of other cetaceans in dominican waters 
capture of dolphins for commercial purposes will be possible (which was
prohibited by a decree before)

b. REQUEST in your writing:

· Restore the legislation prohibiting capturing, harrasment of marine
mammals in dominican waters
· Restore the legislation prohibiting commercial use of marine mammals that
come to shore dead, dying or in bad shape.
· Restore the members of the Comision Rectora that were eliminated
particularly the Fundacion Dominicana de Estudios Marinos..

We need support of all institutions, persons  interested in the well being,
protection of whales and marine mammals so that  Art. 22 of the Decree
233-96 is restored where: The establishement of the Marine Mammals
Sanctuary of DR  be maintained in its extended form to include Samana,
Navidad and Silver Banks.

Fax protest letters to:

Lic.Omar Ramirez, Direccion Nacional de Parques, Santo Domingo. 
Fax. + 1 809 472 4012 

Please email or fax me all protest letters, so that I can transfer them to
our contact person in the D.R. (Fax. + 43 1 479 14 09)

THANK YOU


Niki Entrup
Marine Mammal Consultant
email: 106127.1133@compuserve.com
Fax. + 43 1 479 14 09

Short Background information:

The three main important reproductive areas are Samana coastal waters,
Navidad and Silver Bank. Main important is the protection in the Samana
area since whale watching is increasing.

The Manatee Park (new amusement park with a dolphinarium) will succeed on
the captivity debate if we do not stop this decree. A workshop initiated by
the Comision Rectora on Marine Mammals in Captivity, set up for October the
14th, is eliminated.  

The Comision Rectora, a multinstitutional organization that administered
the Sanctuary is an appropiate authority since it includes all institutions
related to the management of marine mammals. There was already a great
improvment in Samana whale watching activities during 1997 Whale Watching
season. A permit system was set up, a dayly inspection system was
established to prevent whales & dolphins from harrassment, staff got
educated, educational programs were planned etc..

Particularly it is well known the work of Fundacion Dominicana de Estudios
Marinos presided by Idelisa Bonnelly de Calventi  in the declaration ,
development of the Sanctuary in all its stages. She was included  in 1988
in the list of Global 500 PNUMA recognition in defense of environment .
With the decree  No. 319-97 she was dismissed and is no longer working for
the Comision Rectora !!!!!
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 97 13:10:48 UTC
From: SDURBIN@VM.TULSA.CC.OK.US
To: ar-news@Envirolink.org
Subject: Dollar Campaign for Shelter
Message-ID: <199710031805.OAA13160@envirolink.org>

(Tulsa, OK) Kennel cough and upper respiratory infections (such as
distemper and feline herpes) are viral, and transmitted via airborne
bacteria.  These diseases are highly contagious to other pets, fatal
to some, especially the weaker and younger ones. Since large numbers
of stray animals are coming to the shelter daily, something must be done
to reduce the risk of these diseases being spread.

There is a way in which the Tulsa Animal Shelter can help reduce the
spread of bacteria at the Animal Shelter...simply by installing
ceiling fans in strategic areas throughout the area.

Dr. Max Rust, shelter veterinarian, has come up with Dr. Rust's Droplet
Nuclei theory:  Instead of allowing the bacteria laden particles of
moisture to hang in the air, floating from one pen to another (and
from one pet to another), the increased air circulation will disperse
the molecules and force them to attach to hard surfaces and to the
floor where they can be dried out and killed with the daily disinfecting
of the area.  He recommends increasing the air exchange rate from the
current 2-1/2 to 8 times per hour to circulate more air and take one step
closer to a healthier environment at the shelter. In order to achieve this
goal, 42 fans would be needed to cover the area for the 188 runs and 92
cages at the shelter. This increase of air circulation has proven to be
highly effective in other hospital and boarding facilities implementing this
type of improvement.

Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) is committed to assist in purchasing the
fans needed at the shelter, at an estimated cost of $8,400. Although
our financial resources don't allow for large expenditures such as this,
we know our volunteers and supporters will always come to our aid when
there is an urgent need, and what can be more urgent than giving innocent
animals a chance at life?

We ask that you help us with our endeavor on this. We have a dollar
campaign started. We're asking people to please send one dollar and a note
saying, "For the Fan Fund," to ARF, PO Box 471483, Tulsa, OK 74147-1483.
For more information, you can email Elaine Lee, President of ARF, at
ELEE153@AOL.com             Thanks so much.

-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 15:07:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: **** 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Talk: Org. Post Baby Raccoon On Fire & address (fwd)
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 07:56:15 -0400
From: Ronnie Flesch 
To: WLREHAB@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU
Subject: Talk: Org. Post Baby Raccoon On Fire & address

Back in August,Eugenio Gallizzi  27 DeSoras Way   Glen Cove,NY  11542 ( just
in case you wanted to send hate mail)  didn't want this family of Raccoons
stealing his grapes.  He built a trap and waited.  When a baby was caught in
the trap, he poured gasoline over it and set it on fire.  It was 4:30 in the
morning.  The neighbors heard the cries of the baby and of the mother trying
to rescue him and called the police.  He was arrested and Joan Philips of the
Glen Cove animal shelter came for the raccoon but he was to far gone to be
saved and was put down.  Joan is active in animal cruelty cases and has been
following this one very closely.     She kept the cage and took pictures of
the baby.   Since she is not on line I told her I would post what happened
 and she said our letters did help. This case is a class E felony.  This
Eugenio is a real sleaze.  he looks like a pimp   you  know  slicked back
hair, skinny mustache.

Send your letters to:  Honorable Richard McCord,  City Justice, 9 Glen
Street, Glen Cove,   NY 11542

Tell him not to accept a plea bargin.   We want this to go to trial.  The
next hearing is October 14th.  If it goes to trial the date is October 21st.

And just to answer a post,  yes in lieu of a fine a donation should be made
to The Wildlife Rehab Center of Long Island since we are the only ones that
handle raccoons, but I said to the DA in jest that this guy should clean  my
cages.  I would  not allow an outsider near my animals.  It was the thought
of this guy empting litter pans of 25 raccoons in freezing cold weather then
spilling all the poop all over himself . No he should be locked up and have a
cellmate named Bubba.

Thanks,

Ronnie Flesch
8 years
NY State Certified For Raccoons

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 12:50:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: Andrew Cuk <6500ac0@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu>
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: UPC'S Karen Davis Speaks at UCSB
Message-ID: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


The UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center
presents a lecture in the
Research Focus Group Series:

                 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
                 *                                 *
                 *           KAREN DAVIS           *
                 *                                 *
               *       Author, Activist,        *
      *    Founder and President of     *
                 *     United Poultry Concerns     *
                 *                                 *
                 ***********************************

                  THE MORAL DILEMMA OF DOMESTICATION

                 ***********************************

     Thursday, October 16th
                at 4:00 PM

            1174 Humanities & Social Sciences Building
              University of California, Santa Barbara
     parking lots 22 or 23


"The Moral Dilemma of Domestication" explores two opposing opinions of the
role of animal agriculture: it has civilized us; it has hindered
civilization.  ASPCA president Roger Caras says, "We are nothing culturally
and socially without domestic animals, or at least we would never have
become anything."  By contrast, Jim Mason argues in his book Unnatural
Order, "Animal domestication has brought great damage to the human mind and
culture, and, thereby, to the social fabric."


Karen Elizabeth Davis is the founder and president of United Poultry
Concerns, Inc.  She has a PhD in English from the University of Maryland,
where she was a teacher for 12 years in the English Department at College
Park.  She has published many articles on English literature, college
teaching, healthy eating and animals.  Karen Davis is the author of
"Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry
Industry" (The Book Publishing Co. 1996), a children's book,"A Home for
Henny" (1996), and a cookbook, "Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey: A
Poultryless *Poultry* Potpourri" (The Book Publishing Co. 1993).  Prisoned
Chickens was recommended by Publishers Weekly as a "thoroughly researched
analysis of the gruesome, dirty and brutal lives of factory-farmed
chickens."  Her writings have appeared in The Faculty Voice, Journal of
English and Germanic Philology, The Animals' Agenda, The Animals' Voice,
Between the Species: A Journal of Ethics, The New York Times, The
Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor and many other forums.  Her
article, "Thinking Like a Chicken: Farm Animals and The Feminine
Connection," appears in Animals and Women, Feminist Theoretical
Explorations (Duke University Press 1995).  In 1990, Karen Davis founded
United Poultry Concerns, a non-profit public education organization that
addresses the treatment of domestic fowl in food production, science,
education, entertainment, and human companionship situations.  UPC promotes
the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl, humane
education, and a humane lifestyle through its quarterly Newsletter
"Poultry Press" and many other publications.


        ********************************
          For more lecture information
              or for assistance in
           accommodating a disability:
            please call 805-893-3907
        ********************************


       Co-sponsored by the
 Environmental Studies Program &
IHC Human/Animal Relationships RFG.

*Note:  If you are a faculty member or graduate student in the Santa 
Barbara area, and are interested in joining the UCSB Human/Animal 
Relationships Research Focus Group, please contact:
   cuk@humanitas.ucsb.edu
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 16:05:47 -0400 (EDT)
From: CFOXAPI@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: ACTION ALERT: BOYCOTT EKCO HOUSEWARES
Message-ID: <971003160336_-1463568919@emout04.mail.aol.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=unknown-8bit



                                 ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE

                                                  ***ACTION ALERT***

                                 Help Force EKCO Housewares Out of the 
                                       Business of Producing Cruel Traps!

The Ekco Group Inc., known for its bakeware and cooking accessories, also
produces a line of leghold traps.  Under its Woodstream subsidiary, Ekco
manufactures Victor leghold traps and Conibear body gripping devices, two of
the most common trap brand names and two of the most inhumane, indiscriminate
traps on the market today.

Products made under the Woodstream subsidiary account for less than 15% of
Ekco’s total profits.  The company would not be jeopardized if it stopped
manufacturing cruel traps used to kill animals for the fur trade.  Please
help us flood Ekco Group Inc. with letters urging it to get out of the
business of promoting cruelty to animals!

What you can do:

*Boycott all Ekco products which include Ekco and Bakers Secret bakeware,
Farberware bakeware, Ekco kitchenware, Ekco and Wright-Bernet cleaning
products, Havahart live traps (other brands of live capture traps are
available), Victor "pest" control products, and VIA kitchen, bake, and
pantryware.  Encourage your friends and family members to do the same.

*Write a letter to the CEO of Ekco Group Inc. and tell him you object to
their promotion of the use of traps known to cause serious injuries, pain and
suffering to animals.  Remind Ekco that 74% of the American people oppose the
use of leghold traps according to a recent national poll.  More than 80
countries and six states have banned or severely restricted the use of
leghold traps.  Traps are indiscriminate and catch many non-target animals,
including threatened and endangered species, companion animals and even
people.

 Contact:
Malcolm L. Sherman, CEO
Ekco Group Inc.
98 Spit Brook Rd Suite 102
Nashua, NH 03062
Phone 603-888-1212
Fax 603-888-1427

Sample letter:

Malcolm L. Sherman, CEO
Ekco Group Inc.
98 Spit Brook Rd Suite 102
Nashua, NH 03062

Dear Mr. Sherman,

I am contacting you because I recently learned that Ekco Group Inc. produces
cruel devices used to trap animals under your Woodstream subsidiary.  

As a person who cares about the humane treatment of all animals, I am very
disturbed to learn that a company, well known around the world for its
bakeware products, is in the business of manufacturing traps and promoting
cruelty to animals.  

Despite the fact that more than 80 countries have banned the leghold trap,
the U.S. continues to use this barbaric device.  Leghold traps are known to
cause serious injuries to animals, including broken bones, severed tendons
and painful lacerations.   Because body-gripping traps are inherently
indiscriminate, many non-target animals are maimed in these devices,
including threatened and endangered species and companion animals. 

A recent national poll showed that 74% of Americans oppose the use leghold
traps.  As a company, you are clearly out of step with the American public in
your promotion of such cruel trapping devices.

 On behalf of the 4.5 million animals that are trapped every year for the
commercial fur trade, I urge you to get out of the business of trap
production.  Until Ekco Group Inc. stops manufacturing cruel traps, I will
not buy your products and I will encourage my colleagues, friends and family
to do the same.

Sincerely,



Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 16:16:06 -0400
From: "Patrick Tohill" 
To: 
Subject: request for info
Message-ID: <199710032015.QAA00107@bretweir.total.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

If anyone has any good info on avoiding nuisance wildlife such as skunks or
raccoons (what kind of things attract skunks and raccoons to homes or
campsites, humane methods of deterring nuisance wildlife, and info on what
do if sprayed by a skunk) or knows where I can find it, please email me
privately at wspacomm@total.net

Regards

Patrick Tohill
Communications Officer
WSPA Canada

The World Society for the Protection of Animals has been at the forefront
of animal protection and wildlife conservation for more than 40 years. The
only international animal protection organization recognized by the United
Nations, WSPA represents more than 300 member societies in over 70
countries.

Visit WSPA's website at http://www.way.net/wspa/
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 14:15:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Markarian 
To: wspacomm@total.net, 
Subject: Re: request for info
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19971003175334.55cf612e@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The Fund for Animals has a fact sheet online called "Bats in Your Belfry?
Humane Ways to Solve Wildlife Problems" --
http://www.fund.org/facts/wild4_nuisance.html

Also, the HSUS has a new book for sale called "Wild Neighbors" which
addresses these issues in detail.

At 04:16 PM 10/3/97 -0400, Patrick Tohill wrote:
>If anyone has any good info on avoiding nuisance wildlife such as skunks or
>raccoons (what kind of things attract skunks and raccoons to homes or
>campsites, humane methods of deterring nuisance wildlife, and info on what
>do if sprayed by a skunk) or knows where I can find it, please email me
>privately at wspacomm@total.net
>
>Regards
>
>Patrick Tohill
>Communications Officer
>WSPA Canada
>
>The World Society for the Protection of Animals has been at the forefront
>of animal protection and wildlife conservation for more than 40 years. The
>only international animal protection organization recognized by the United
>Nations, WSPA represents more than 300 member societies in over 70
>countries.
>
>Visit WSPA's website at http://www.way.net/wspa/
>
>

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 16:12:44 -0700
From: In Defense of Animals 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: IDA's website
Message-ID: 
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

In Defense of Animals has finally launched its website which can be found
at www.idausa.org. where you be able able to find updates on our campaigns,
action alerts, press releases and other resources. If you have any
questions, comments or suggestions, please contact us at: ida@idausa.org


Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 19:37:46 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Deer, Bow And Arrows
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971003193732.0071240c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from CNN web page:
---------------------------------
October 3, 1997 7:35 pm EDT 
Pennsylvania State News
Reuters
03-OCT-97

Deer, Bow And Arrows

(STATEWIDE) -- The six-week archery deer season opens tomorrow sending more
than 350-thousand hunters into Penn's woods. About seven-thousand deer were
killed during opening day last year, however, only two-percent of archers
are usually able to bag a deer. The Pennsylvania Game Commission says the
success rate for bow and arrow hunters is low because the hunters have to
get to within 20-yards of the animal. This year, officials say white-tailed
deer hunting prospects will be good to excellent. One-hundred-thousand of
the one-point-two-Million deer herd are expected to be taken. 
Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 19:55:07 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Another U.S. Plant Recalls Tainted Hamburger
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971003195504.0068ccf4@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Yahoo news page:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday October 3 6:40 PM EDT

Another U.S. Plant Recalls Tainted Hamburger

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - For the second time in less than two months, a beef
processing plant in Nebraska agreed to a federal request that it recall
hamburger because of bacteria contamination, the U.S. Agriculture
Department said Friday.

Beef America Co. of Norfolk, Nebraska issued the recall for 443,656 pounds.
However, it is not expected to grow to the size of the recent massive
Hudson Foods Inc. recall that eventually ballooned to 25 million pounds, a
USDA spokeswoman said.

Officials with USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, after reviewing
records at Beef America plant, believe the current recall encompasses all
the possibly contaminated meat, the USDA spokeswoman said. There have been
no reported illnesses from the suspicious beef.

In the Hudson case in August, the recall became so large because the firm
had a practice of reworking beef left over at the end of a shift into the
next day's production. That made possible a continuous chain of
contamination of the potentially deadly strain of E.coli known as 0157:H7.

Beef America does not appear to have followed the same procedure, thus
limiting the size of the recall, the spokeswoman said.

At the USDA's request, Beef America one month ago ordered a recall of about
200 pounds of ground beef shipped from the plant to a Virginia grocery
store.

Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 20:14:56 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) 6 Animal Activists Arrested Stockyard's main gates
  blockaded in Petaluma 
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19971003201453.0068ccf4@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from San Fransisco Chronicle web page:
------------------------------------------------------------
6 Animal Activists Arrested
Stockyard's main gates blockaded in Petaluma 

George Snyder, Chronicle Staff Writer

PETALUMA 

Petaluma police arrested six animal rights activists yesterday on trespass
charges after they blocked the main entrances to a local stockyard and
slaughterhouse. The six had locked themselves early yesterday morning to
55-gallon drums filled with concrete to block the two main gates at the El
Rancho stockyard. The protest caused police to close a half-mile section of
Petaluma Boulevard North, a major artery just east of Highway 101, until
late yesterday. A similar protest was held last year, resulting in several
arrests. Hope Fauna, a spokeswoman for a coalition of animal rights
organizations around the Bay Area, said the six -- who were not immediately
identified -- were part of a larger group of about 25 protesters honoring
the birthday of the late Mahatma Gandhi, a vegetarian, and World Farm
Animals Day, both of which are today. ``The Animal Rights Direct Action
Coalition is doing this to stop the slaughter for the day,'' she said.
``Most of the animals here are either from dairy ranches or are for veal
production. We're here to show our compassion for the lives of the animals
and to let people know they can live a healthier life on a vegan diet. We
can eventually go home, . . . but the animals that come here don't have
that choice.'' Police Captain David Long said the road was blocked to avoid
potential injury to protesters sitting along the roadside and to protect
their civil rights. During the protest, some puzzled ranchers pulled up
with loads of livestock but were eventually able to unload their animals by
using a side entrance. 
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 20:33:44 -0500
From: "Nancy Gomez" 
To: 
Subject: TEAR UPCOMING EVENTS
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

TEAR UPCOMING EVENTS

TEAR is dedicated to the promotion of animal rights and the elimination of
cruelty to animals.  

Saturday, October 11, TEAR will be having it's annual membership drive with
guest speaker Carol Adams presenting a visual presentation of the sexual
politics of meat.  Meeting begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Center for Community
Cooperation,  2900 Live Oak, Dallas.
Please call 972-623-6170 for more information or to RSVP.

Tuesday, October 14, TEAR will be protesting against Procter and Gamble. 
The protest is scheduled around the corporation's annual shareholders
meeting.  The protest will begin at 11:00 am.  
12221 Merit Dr.
Dallas, TX 75251
Please call Nancy Gomez @ 972-444-0143 for directions.

Friday, October 17, Slaughter House Focus Group Meeting
This meeting will be to organize and plan for the Slaughter House Campaign
6:30 p.m.
715 Valley Vista #2022
Arlington, TX 76006
Please call Christi Robinson @ 817-261-0474 for more information and
directions.

Friday, October 24,  Carriage Horse, TEAR will be leafleting and getting 
petitions signed in order to ban Carriage Horses in Dallas.
7:00 p.m..
In front of Planet Hollywood in the West End
Please call Nancy Gomez for information or directions @ 972-444-0143

Sunday, October 26,  join TEAR in Austin, TX, for the 9th Annual Lone Star
Vegetarian Chili Cook-Off, 12:00 noon to 5 p.m..  Contact Greg at  972 418
8169 for additional information.

Saturday, November 8, General Monthly Meeting
1:30 p.m.. @ The Center For Community Cooperation
2900 Live Oak
Dallas, TX 

All activist are encouraged to wear their tear T-shirts to all events.  To
contact TEAR directly please call our voice mail at 972-623-6170 or for the

most up to date information call 972-418-5398. 
----------



Date: Fri, 03 Oct 1997 22:23:43 -0400
From: jeanlee 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Copy letter re sportsmen
Message-ID: <3435A8AF.35EB@concentric.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1


Hi All-

Here's a letter to copy and send to your representative and senators in
Washington.  I've printed out both letters with the proper bill numbers.
If you don't know who represents you, phone 1-800-688-9889.  Here are
the letters:

Dear Congressman/Woman:

Congressman Randy Cunningham (R-CA) has introduced H.R. 1719, a bill
called The Sportsmen’s Bill of Rights Act.  I am affronted that
sportsmen, which is a euphemism if I’ve ever heard one, think they
should have their RIGHTS and opportunities to fish and hunt be enhanced
and protected by force of law by making it more difficult to limit
hunting and fishing on public lands.  These public lands belong as well
to a large majority of people who don’t fish or hunt.  In my opinion,
individual uses of  public lands are privileges.  Protecting the land
and the animals on it should be our top priority, not the wishes of any
special interest group.

Please oppose H.R. 1719.

Sincerely yours,


Dear Senator:

Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-AL) has introduced S. 751, a bill called
The Sportsmen’s Bill of Rights Act.  I am affronted that sportsmen,
which is a euphemism if I’ve ever heard one, think they should have
their RIGHTS and opportunities to fish and hunt be enhanced and
protected by force of law by making it more difficult to limit hunting
and fishing on public lands.  These public lands belong as well to a
large majority of people who don’t fish or hunt.  In my opinion,
individual uses of  public lands are privileges.  Protecting the land
and the animals on it should be our top priority, not the wishes of any
special interest group.

Please oppose S. 751.

Sincerely yours,
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 23:49:45 -0400
From: Greg Thomisee 
To: BlindCopyReceiver:;@compuserve.com
Subject: DALLAS - Event
Message-ID: <199710032350_MC2-22BA-3D11@compuserve.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Disposition: inline

THE SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEAT
        slide show

        A PRESENTATION BY CAROL ADAMS
        
                1:30 PM, SATURDAY 
                        OCTOBER 11, 1997 

CENTER OF COMMUNITY COOPERATION 
        2900 LIVE OAK 
                DALLAS, TX 

                BROUGHT TO YOU BY 
                        T.E.A.R. 
        TEXAS ESTABLISHMENT FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS 

Join the Texas Establishment for Animal Rights (TEAR), in its fight for 
animal rights by attending  their annual membership meeting, October 
11, 1997, at the Center for Community Cooperation, 2900 Live Oak St., 
Dallas.  Special guest speaker, Carol Adams, feminist activist and 
author, will  be showing a provocative and dynamic slide show 
presentation of the ideas developed in her classic book, The Sexual 
Politics of Meat. 
 
The slide show explores the way women, and especially women of color, 
are depicted as animals, or animal-like, and the way that animals, 
particularly animals destined to become “meat”, are represented as 
female or as sex objects. 
  
Please RSVP by October 8, to TEAR at 660 Preston Forest Center, Suite 
354, Dallas, TX  75230-2718 or call 972-623-6170.  FREE.   
 
Seating is limited.  Refreshments will be served.  


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