AR-NEWS Digest 628

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) [SPA]50.000 animals died in Spain with a Train
     by 2063511 <2063511@campus.uab.es>
  2) [CAT] New Islero's Fan club web
     by 2063511 <2063511@campus.uab.es>
  3) St. Petersburg Times: Circus attack stokes animal rights debate
     by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
  4) St. Petersburg Times: Tiger mauls trainer, brother blasts tiger
     by LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
  5) Save the Sea Turtles - Boycott Shrimp
     by Suzanne Roy 
  6) (US) NY Post: "Buddy 'boy' ... for now"
     by Marisul 
  7) Downed Animals
     by jeanlee 
  8) Info Sought on Monkey Head Transplant
     by baerwolf@tiac.net (baerwolf)
  9) Vigil for Arnold the Tiger Shot in St. Petersburg
     by SMatthes 
 10) Bad news for dog eaters
     by Andrew Gach 
 11) Chimps even more like us than we thought
     by Andrew Gach 
 12) "EXTRA" story on bear hunting
     by NOVENA ANN 
 13) addresses for "Extra" TV Show
     by NOVENA ANN 
 14) Circus Trainer Critical After Tiger Attack
     by NOVENA ANN 
 15) Activism pays off
     by leah wacksman 
 16) Officials afraid to blame China as source of bird flu 
     by Vadivu Govind 
 17) (UK) Vets fear parasite invasion if quarantine is  scrapped 
     by Vadivu Govind 
 18) (UK) RSPCA fears growth of the feral cat 
     by Vadivu Govind 
 19) (UK) Dolly, the cloned sheep, to give birth 
     by Vadivu Govind 
 20) Australia to reject Irish push to renew commercial whaling
     by Vadivu Govind 
 21) Call for group listings in Agenda's 1998 directory
     by "The Animals' Agenda" 
 22) Fw: [PT] Great Britain bans medical experiments on Great Apes
     by paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
 23) Victory at Bluff Point
     by Friends of Animals 
 24) (AU) AWA Direct Action Guide
     by Coral Hull 
 25) Call to Great American Meatout
     by FARM 
 26) [US] NEWS: "Caged gorilla sparks protest with animal rights groups"
     by Steve Barney 
 27) Cats and rats in Vietnam
     by leah wacksman 
 28) Bison protester sentenced
     by leah wacksman 
 29) Admin Note -- Inappropriate Posting
     by ARRS Mail Administrator 
 30) ALERT!!   Vilas Zoo Monkeys to be sent to Experiment Research Center!
     by LexAnima 
 31) Reporting about NADAS  turns personal and ugly
     by "Bob Schlesinger" 
 32) WRPRC's rhesus macagues to be sent to Tulane
     by paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
 33) [US] NEWS: "Plight of caged gorilla angers animal activists"
     by Steve Barney 
 34) US: NEWS: "A home fit for a (gorilla) king?"
     by Steve Barney 
 35) NEWS: "Monkeys threatened by researcher's death"
     by Steve Barney 
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 1998 23:08:25 +0100
From: 2063511 <2063511@campus.uab.es>
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [SPA]50.000 animals died in Spain with a Train
Message-ID: <01IS5GOMK2G8001UU1@cc.uab.es>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Madrid-Sevilla: The AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) the spanish TGV's version, 
killed 50.000 animals in 1997. this train running into cities of Madrid and 
Sevilla, and in the future connected with Zaragoza and Barcelona. It's animals 
was little birds and many mamifers (Cats, dogs and rabbits and others....) 
problaby after their family left in the streets of cities how Ciudad Real or 
Granada. In this cities, the AVE has a square.

Jordi Niñerola
Barcelona.

Visiteu les meves pàgines / Visit my homepages

http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/6506
http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/loge/3128
http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/academy/2855

Date: Thu, 08 Jan 1998 23:11:29 +0100
From: 2063511 <2063511@campus.uab.es>
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CAT] New Islero's Fan club web
Message-ID: <01IS5GSEV85E001UU1@cc.uab.es>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

València: Islero the bull that lost life when the famous spanish bullfighter 
Manolete died in the bullfighting has a fan club. Their web are:

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Vines/7213

Visiteu les meves pàgines / Visit my homepages

http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/6506
http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/loge/3128
http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/academy/2855

Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 16:55:35 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: St. Petersburg Times: Circus attack stokes animal rights debate
Message-ID: <199801090046.TAA21039@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Circus attack stokes animal rights debate

By KELLY RYAN and JOUNICE L. NEALY
St. Petersburg Times, published January 8, 1998 

The question is as old as the circus itself: Should wild animals
such as tigers, lions and elephants be held captive and trained to
entertain the paying public? 

It is a constant public relations battle for circus officials. 

As the big top travels the country,
animal rights activists picket and
demand that trainers stop starving
and mistreating exotic, sometimes
endangered, animals. Circus
performers deny the charges,
saying they love and nurture the
animals. 

That debate rose to a heated pitch Wednesday after a trainer was
mauled during a publicity photo session Wednesday morning at the
Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg. Animals rights activists from
Florida and around the country said this and other accidents are
more common than people realize. 

"I don't consider tiger trainers rocket scientists," said Pat Derby,
founder of Performing Animal Welfare Society, a non-profit group
in Northern California. "Basic animal behavior will tell you that tigers
were not meant to cohabitate with people. Tigers bite when they're
mad. That's what they do. They bite each other." 

Circus officials then are forced to defend their safety records,
saying animal attacks are rare because qualified trainers build trust
with the animals. Consider this comment in May 1997 in response
to the mauling death of the co-owner of the Franzen Bros. Circus
in front of 200 people: 

"Our history shows that . . . there have been fights, people have
gotten bitten or cut here and there," said Rodney Huey, a vice
president at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. "We have
never had a cat trainer killed in the ring or even attacked." 

Wednesday's incident, which attracted international media
attention, did not deter families from attending the evening show. 

On their shoulders, fathers carried little children who were
mesmerized by the bright carnival-like reds and yellows. Mothers
walked hand-in-hand with waist-high escorts, who were pulling
them in the direction of whichever clown caught their eye first. 

Tots begged for the plastic toys with lights inside. And adults made
beer stops. 

The replica of a tiger with its mouth open, used in souvenir photo
booths, remained open for pictures. 

Before the show began, the ringleader explained that the circus
could not present the tiger act because "a very unfortunate
accident" had occurred and a trainer was injured. He thanked the
crowd for its concern and understanding. 

Then he bellowed, almost like the chorus of a song, "And now, on
with the greatest show on earth." 

Until then, some people were unaware of the incident. 

                                         * * *

"I didn't know anything about it, so I'm here at the circus," said Don
Williams of Palm Harbor, who stood out front waiting for some
friends. He and his wife, Bobbie, had been out most of the day and
missed the TV news broadcasts. Still, they stayed because it had
been three years since they last attended. 

Customers buying tickets Wednesday night were notified about the
act's cancellation before they made a purchase. Refunds were
offered until intermission. 

Laurel Braswell and her husband, Reggie, escorted their
daughters past programs and stuffed animals to a precircus
visit with clowns and other performers. 

She broke the news to her oldest daughter, Alexis, 5, before they
arrived. "She said, "Oh mommy that's too bad.' " Braswell did not
tell her 3-year-old daughter, Skylar, because she probably
wouldn't understand. 

Michael Bagley of Clearwater decided to take his family because
"those things happen." Working with wild animals is risky, he said.
Bagley's 4-year-old daughter, Karessa, was most interested in
seeing the clowns and the horses. 

But her grandmother, Wanda Castle of Largo, was upset about the
mauling. "Tigers are my favorite animals," she said. "I almost cried."

Circuses regularly fend off criticism that keeping animals captive is
inhumane. Officials say circuses offer a rare look at exotic animals
and can be a learning experience. 

In a November 1996 letter to the Indianapolis News, a circus
official wrote that the well-being of animals is of utmost importance
and that circuses are regulated by federal animal welfare statutes.

"Ringling Bros. does not tolerate the abuse or mistreatment of any
animals," wrote Andy Ireland, senior vice president for animal
policy and development for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey
Circus. "The cornerstone of all of our animal training is positive
reinforcement through praise, repetition and reward. 

"Many of our trainers grew up with the animals with whom they
work, so relationships of mutual trust and respect are established
from the very beginning. The animals' performances carefully are
designed to mimic their natural athletic abilities and reflect their
individual personalities in an entertainment setting." 

Animal rights activists charge that the animals are mistreated,
starved, kept in cramped quarters and not allowed to exercise for
more than a couple of hours a day. 

"The true feelings of the tigers toward their trainers was shown
today," said Gael Murphy, education coordinator of Tampa-based
Florida Voices for Animals. "It could have been prevented. It never
should have happened. And the tiger shouldn't have died." 

"This is frivolous, unnecessary entertainment," added Derby,
founder of the California group. "It's degrading and demeaning to
them to have to do stupid tricks. And it's dangerous for the
trainers. No trainer has control over the animals. They never do." 

Times researcher Barbara Oliver contributed to this report, 
and information from Times files also was used. 
                                     
©Copyright 1998 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

Letters to the Editor can be sent to: letters@sptimes.com

=================================
Posted by:

Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/

"I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my 
soul by making me hate him." - Booker T. Washington

"...the above also applies to women.  However, I haven't 
quite made up my mind just yet about politicians or talk 
show hosts." - Lawrence Carter-Long








Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 17:12:13 -0800
From: LCartLng@gvn.net (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: St. Petersburg Times: Tiger mauls trainer, brother blasts tiger
Message-ID: <199801090103.UAA22495@envirolink.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Tiger mauls trainer, brother blasts tiger
By LEANORA MINAI

St. Petersburg Times, published January 8, 1998 


ST. PETERSBURG -- His head inches away from the
tiger, circus trainer Richard Chipperfield pursed his 
lips and blew gently, making a fluttering sound that 
tigers take as a sign of affection. 

It was part of a publicity photo session Wednesday 
for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. 

But Arnold, the 350-pound Bengal tiger, reacted 
in the way he would with another tiger: He put the 
trainer's head in his mouth and would not let go. 

In a chaotic few seconds, as the tiger and Chipperfield 
struggled on the ground, workers scrambled to separate 
the two, spraying fire extinguishers, hollering and cracking 
whips to get 11 other tigers back in their cages. 

"The trainer started to bleed almost immediately. I was 
just aghast," said Bill Ledig, who witnessed Wednesday's
mauling with his 2-year-old daughter, Kristyn. 

Moments later, Chipperfield's brother, Graham Thomas 
Chipperfield, grabbed a 12-gauge shotgun and fired five 
times, killing the tiger. 

Chipperfield, 24, was in critical condition late Wednesday
in the neurointensive care unit at Bayfront Medical
Center after three hours of surgery for life-threatening
injuries to the head, said Rob Sumner, Bayfront
spokesman. 

"At this point," Sumner said, "we're taking a wait-and-
see attitude." 

Richard Chipperfield's brother was too distraught to
talk about the attack. 

The incident brought to an abrupt halt the American
debut for Chipperfield brothers Richard and Graham 
Thomas, descendants of one of England's oldest
circus families. 

The two-trainer tiger act at St. Petersburg's Bayfront
Center was canceled, but  the 128th edition of the
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus went on.
The last performance is Sunday. 

The 4-year-old tiger, also known as "Arnie," bit
Richard Chipperfield, as he and his brother 
practiced in the main cage in center ring.
                   
As the other tigers roamed the cage, Chipperfield's 
brother sprayed a fire extinguisher at Arnold, breaking
the grip the tiger had around Richard's head. 

Then, Graham Thomas Chipperfield summoned 
someone to retrieve his 12-gauge shotgun. As his 
brother lay unconscious, and with the tiger secure 
in a cage, he shot to death the cat that Richard had
raised from a cub, police said. 

Graham Thomas Chipperfield, 28, could face criminal 
charges for animal cruelty and discharging a firearm in 
a public place, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill 
Doniel. As a matter of policy, Ringling officials said firearms 
are not used to calm out-of-control animals. 

One woman, who heard about the tiger's death on television, 
showed up at the circus site with a dyed-black carnation with 
a card titled, "With Deepest Sympathy." 

Tammy Guthrie stuck the carnation in the chain-link fence. 

"I'm just showing my sorrow that the tiger was killed," she
said. 

Outside the Bayfront Center on Wednesday, stunned circus
personnel talked about Richard Chipperfield's love for 
animals. 

He was so dedicated, they said, that he did not attend a 
party for the Dec. 27 opening of the circus because a tiger 
was sick. 

"This is a kid who usually is dragging some bale of hay or 
tiger food," said James Ragona, Ringling's ringmaster. "This 
is a kid whose whole life revolves around being with animals." 

Ragona tried to explain what happened to Richard Chipperfield. 

"It is not abnormal for tigers to treat other tigers in this manner 
as a form of affection," Ragona said. 

"Unfortunately," said Ragona, "human beings are not as sturdy
as tigers. What this incident speaks to is that these animals are
trained, but never tamed." 

A Venice, Fla., resident and former trainer who once had a white
tiger act with Ringling said Wednesday's attack had nothing to do
with affection. 

"When you're a trainer, that animal has accepted you as a member of
their species," said Wade Burck, 43, who said he has trained animals
for 20 years for circuses. "By accepting you, they're going to deal
with you in the same respect. A tiger is going to fight you like he
would another tiger." 

That's what one witness recalled. St. Petersburg resident Bill Ledig
and his daughter, Kristyn, were picking out seats for the Wednesday
night show. 

Suddenly, Ledig heard someone shout, "Hey!" 

Ledig turned away from the seats and faced the ring. The tiger had
jumped down from his perch. The trainer's head was in the tiger's
mouth. 

"The trainer was not fighting. His arms were not flailing," said Ledig,
a boat salesman. 

The 11 other tigers jumped off their pedestals and started circling, he
said. Ledig ran to tell someone to call 911. Paramedics, already at the
Bayfront Center, responded within seconds. 

"Oh my God!" Graham Thomas Chipperfield repeated, according to
Ledig. 

"All of sudden," Ledig said, "there was a gunshot. 

"On the third shot," Ledig said, "I was looking down the cages, and I
saw the tiger going from a standing position to the right side then
upside down, and then there were two more shots." 

Rodney Huey, a spokesman for Ringling, said circus personnel are
trained to use tranquilizer guns, but they could not explain why one
was not used on the tiger. 

"It really is a situation of the emotion of the moment," he said. 

Henry Cabbage, a spokesman for the Florida Game and Fresh Water
Fish Commission in Tallahassee, said state law allows people to use
fatal force against a dangerous animal when the animal poses a
danger to other animals or people. 

"When there is nothing else to do," Cabbage said, "that is what you
have to do." 

The Chipperfield brothers' dream was to perform in Ringling. Their act
was well-received in Europe, but they wanted to come to America. In
the act, the brothers stand side by side, working with each of the 12
cats. It is an act they say that has never been done. 

"Tigers are dependable and elegant animals," Richard Chipperfield
recently told the Times. "They are so splendid." 

-- Times staff writers Kelly Ryan and Mary Evertz and Times researcher
Barbara Oliver contributed to this report. 

Letters to the Editor can be sent to: letters@sptimes.com

=================================
Posted by:

Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: LCartLng@gvn.net, phone: 800-348-7387 x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/

"I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my 
soul by making me hate him." - Booker T. Washington

"...the above also applies to women.  However, I haven't 
quite made up my mind just yet about politicians or talk 
show hosts." - Lawrence Carter-Long








Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 20:13:41 -0600 (CST)
From: Suzanne Roy 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Save the Sea Turtles - Boycott Shrimp
Message-ID: <199801090213.UAA03017@dfw-ix11.ix.netcom.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Save the Sea Turtles and the Shrimp---Don¹t Buy Shrimp!

A recent investigation in Texas exposed the appalling fact that shrimp
fishers have been disabling special nets that are used to protect sea
turtles.  For years, sea turtle carcasses with decapitated heads, severed
flippers and smashed shells have been found on Texas beaches.  The Gulf of
Mexico is home to the most endangered sea turtle in the world, the Kemp¹s
ridley.  The Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP) hopes to work with Texas
activists on this issue.  However, any campaign to protect sea turtles must
go beyond turtle excluder devices.  The only true way to save the sea turtle
is to convince people not to eat shrimp!

Please do what you can to stop these atrocities!

Write to:

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt: 1849 C St., N.W., Washington, DC
20002, fax (202) 208-5048.  Request that Padre Island (in Texas) be closed
to shrimp fishing.  

Write to the Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley, Herbert C. Hoover
Building, Room 5862, 14th Street, Washington, DC 20230.  Demand that the
departments of Commerce and Interior increase funding to enforce Turtle
Excluder Devices (TED) regulations, and that they conduct undercover
operations.  Please also ask that they close important migratory and feeding
areas of the Kemp¹s ridley turtle.

If you are interested in assisting with this campaign, please contact Teri
Shore with Sea Turtle Restoration Project, Earth Island Institute, P.O. Box
400, Forest Knolls, CA 94933; (415) 488-0372 or via e-mail at
seaturtles@earthisland.org.

STRP has learned that the Whole Foods in Northern California refuses to sell
only shrimp caught using the TEDs.  Find out what your local Whole Foods is
selling and remind them that the only way to save the sea turtle is not to
sell shrimp at all.


Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 22:11:46 EST
From: Marisul 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) NY Post: "Buddy 'boy' ... for now"
Message-ID: <11aaf96.34b59573@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

>From the New York Post, Thursday, January 8, 1998
by Karen Foerstel

Buddy 'boy' ... for now

   Washington.  The White House yesterday backed away from its promise to keep
First Dog Buddy from becoming an "it."
   White House spokesman Mike McCurry yesterday said no decisions had yet been
made on whether Buddy will go under the knife and be neutered.
   McCurry said dogs generally don't get neutered until they are at least  6
months old.  Buddy turned just 5 months yesterday, and so for the next month,
his manhood will hang in the balance.
   "I haven't heard a discussion of Buddy being neutered," McCurry said.
   McCurry appeared to back away from comments he made earlier in the week
when he insisted that Buddy wouldn't become an "it."
   "Buddy is doing quite well as a he," McCurry quipped earlier in the week
after he referred to First Cat Socks -- who has been neutered -- as an "it."
   If Buddy is allowed to hold on to his reproductive rights, he will no doubt
be in demand as a stud.
   Dog owners around the world would likely line up for a chance to have the
presidential dog father their puppies.
   Buddy's original owner -- Maryland breeder Linda Renfro -- has been flooded
by requests from around the world to adopt Buddy's sister.
   An Italian TV producer offered her a significant amount of money for the
canine sibling.  But Renfro said she plans to keep the puppy for herself and
breed Buddy's nieces and nephews.
   Buddy, whom the Clintons adopted last month, is the first dog to have run
of the White House since the Bush administration.
   George and Barbara Bush's dogs -- Millie and Ranger -- were neutered "for
medical reasons," a Bush spokesman said.
   "If they had been healthy, normal dogs, they wouldnt' have chosen to do
it," the spokesman, Michael Dannenhauer said.  "Mrs. Bush wanted to emphasize
that it wasn't by choice."
   Millie developed lupus after she had puppies, and a doctor recommended she
be spayed to help with the medical condition.
   Ranger, one of Millie's sons, developed testicular problems and a doctor
recommended that he be neutered.
Photo caption: A Eunuch Creature? President Clinton hasn't yet decided if his
5 month old Labrador puppy, Buddy, will be neutered.
----------------------------------------------
The e-mail address for the Post is letters@nypost.com
The snail mail address is The Editor, New York Post, 1211 Avenue of the
Americas, New York, NY  10036
The President's e-mail address is president@whitehouse.gov
His snail mail address is The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW,
Washington, DC 20500
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 1998 22:19:28 -0500
From: jeanlee 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Downed Animals
Message-ID: <34B59740.740A@concentric.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Hi-

Now that our legislators are back at work (?), I'm reposting these two
letters to senators and reps and invite you to copy and/or customize
them and mail them off to your legislators in Washington.

Legislation to help downed animals shows up year after year, but doesn't
generate a lot of interest.  This year the bill has 80 cosponsors in the
House.  That's a little better, but still not good.  Maybe introducing
the possibility of a threat to human health will help.  

I've printed out both letters with original sponsor names and bill
numbers.  The first letter is to your representative, 2nd to your
senator.  GO:



Dear Congressman/woman:

The Downed Animal Protection Act, H.R. 453, introduced by Congressman
Gary L. Ackerman (D-NY), will require that “downers” - those animals
headed for slaughter who are too sick or injured to walk - be humanely
euthanized.   Downers endure brutal handling and neglect at stockyards.
They aren't euthanized because they bring in more money if they reach
slaughter alive.  

Currently, there are NO laws to protect these animals, who despite their
distress are kept alive so they can be sold for food - being transported
to various auctions, stockyards, and on to slaughterhouses.  Larger
animals are dragged along the ground or moved with large forklifts;
smaller ones may be picked up and thrown onto trucks or into holding
pens, often left for long periods without food, water, and veterinary
care.  They are also often abandoned or dumped alive on stockyard
"deadpiles."  

The USDA _does not have the authority to require humane treatment of
animals at stockyards_.  Thus, the passage of this bill is all the more
urgent.  Aside from the issue of cruelty to animals, sending downers to
slaughter could pose a serious hazard to the health of consumers.  In my
opinion, passing the Downed Animal Protection Act is the only way to
prove that government is committed to protecting downers from cruelty
and consumers from unnecessary health risks.  

Please cosponsor H.R. 453.   

Sincerely yours,



Dear Senator:

The Downed Animal Protection Act, S. 850, introduced by Senators Akaka
(D-HI),  will require that “downers” - those animals headed for
slaughter who are too sick or injured to walk - be humanely euthanized.
Downers endure brutal handling and neglect at stockyards.  They aren't
euthanized because they bring in more money if they reach slaughter
alive.  

Currently, there are NO laws to protect these animals, who despite their
distress are kept alive so they can be sold for food - being transported
to various auctions, stockyards, and on to slaughterhouses.  Larger
animals are dragged along the ground or moved with large forklifts;
smaller ones may be picked up and thrown onto trucks or into holding
pens, often left for long periods without food, water, and veterinary
care.  They are also often abandoned or dumped alive on stockyard
"deadpiles."  

The USDA _does not have the authority to require humane treatment of
animals at stockyards_.  Thus, the passage of this bill is all the more
urgent.  Aside from the issue of cruelty to animals, sending downers to
slaughter could pose a serious hazard to the health of consumers.  In my
opinion, passing the Downed Animal Protection Act is the only way to
prove that government is committed to protecting downers from cruelty
and consumers from unnecessary health risks.  

Please cosponsor S. 850.   

Sincerely yours,
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 22:34:52 -0500 (EST)
From: baerwolf@tiac.net (baerwolf)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Info Sought on Monkey Head Transplant
Message-ID: <199801090334.WAA25593@mail-out-1.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Information Requested:

        Please report on the activities of 
primate tormentor/experimenter Robert White  of Ohio.

I heard a rumor that he was transplanting monkey heads.

steven baer
 
baerwolf@tiac.net
Massachusetts

HOW DEEP INTO SPACE MUST HUMANS GO
BEFORE THEY LOOK BACK AND REALIZE 
ALL THE NEIGHBORS THEY'VE TORTURED ON PLANET EARTH.

Date: Thu, 8 Jan 1998 22:34:25 EST
From: SMatthes 
To: , alf@dc.seflin.org,
        francion@andromeda.rutgers.edu, wao@wildanimalorphanage.org,
        OneCheetah@aol.com, BHGazette@aol.com, CPatter221@aol.com,
        lcanimal@ix.netcom.com, foa@igc.apc.org, DDAL@aol.com,
        MChasman@aol.com, dawnmarie@rocketmail.com, chrisw@fund.org,
        , jdanh@juno.com, Chibob44@aol.com,
        RonnieJW@aol.com, ALFNOW73@aol.com, PetaLaw@cfanet.com,
        KATI2ERIN@aol.com, Ron599@aol.com, editor@usatoday.com
Subject: Vigil for Arnold the Tiger Shot in St. Petersburg
Message-ID: 
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

A memorial vigil for Arnold, the Siberian Tiger, who was shot 5 times after
mauling his trainer during a photo shoot at Bayfront Center (on the water
side) in St. Petersburg, Fl. will be held on Sunday, January 11, from 12 noon
until 1 p.m..  Arnold was shot even though he had been secured in a cage
following the incident.

Please wear black clothing, bring candles, and flowers.

Several individuals and organizations, including PAWS, PETA, and SDA, are
sending flowers daily to the Bayfront Center site of the tragedy.

News reports from the Tampa Bay television stations are incredibly biased.
Several have interviewed the Ramos family as "tiger experts" when the Ramos's
are under USDA investigation for many violations.   Another film clip shows an
exotic cat trainer in Sarasota rolling around on her grassy lawn with her big
cats and saying how well and happy captive wild performing animals live --
animal rights activists just don't know what they're talking about when it
comes to circus animals!!!

The police department is investigating the shooting to determine if animal
cruelty laws will be enforced.  The St. Petersburg Chief of Police is Goliath
Davis, fax # 813-892-5040.  Please let him know that charges should be filed
with the State's Attorney for cruelly and unnecessarily shooting Arnold after
he had been restrained, for discharging a firearm in the presence of citizens
jeopardizing their safety, and for negligence in not using tranquiler darts.  
  
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 1998 21:38:24 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Bad news for dog eaters
Message-ID: <34B5B7D0.52F9@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Bad news for Shanghai dog eaters

Agence France-Presse 

SHANGHAI (January 8, 1998 3:42 p.m. EST http://www.nando.net) - Twice as
many Shanghai dog eaters have contracted a parasitic canine disease this
winter, a news report said Thursday.

The Xinmin Evening News gave no figures but said the disease was caused
because people who cooked dog meat by dipping it in a pot of boiling
soup ate it before it was well cooked.

Another reason was the consumption of meat which had not passed sanitary
tests, the report said, adding that pork, beef and mutton sold in the
market came under state control but there was no control over the sale
of dogmeat.

Shanghainese believe the consumption of dog meat keeps the body warm in
winter.
Date: Thu, 08 Jan 1998 21:42:22 -0800
From: Andrew Gach 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Chimps even more like us than we thought
Message-ID: <34B5B8BE.25AE@worldnet.att.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Chimps even more like us than we thought

Reuters 
WASHINGTON (January 8, 1998 4:54 p.m. EST)

They act like us, they look like us and sometimes they even use language
like us, and now researchers say they have evidence that chimpanzees
have some of the same brain structures for communication as humans.

Chimps, our closest cousins, may have smaller brains, but the part of
the brain believed to control language is similar, neurologist Patrick
Gannon of New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine and colleagues
reported Thursday.

He and a team at Columbia University and the National Institutes of
Health found similarities in the planum temporale, beneath the parietal
cortex near the center of the brain.

The planum temporale is normally bigger on the left side of the brain
than the right in people. It was also enlarged in the same way in all
but one of 18 chimp brains examined by Gannon's team using magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI).

Gannon said the findings supported theories that chimpanzees do use
language, just not in the same way that people do.

"The theories have been that this area is related to schizophrenia,
musical talent, dyslexia -- all of these human traits," Gannon said in a
telephone interview.

"So now it's obvious it's not unique to humans. It throws a spanner
(wrench) in the works."

Many researchers have taught chimpanzees and gorillas sign language and
taught them to communicate using computers and symbols. They note that
chimpanzees share 98 percent of their genes with humans.

"I think that chimps have their own complex form of language that we do
not as yet understand. They are able to understand a lot of the things
(we teach them) and I think the next level will be to try to understand
their language," Gannon said.

"If you ever met a chimp you know immediately they are very bright and
incredibly astute, smart creatures."

The next step would be to study live chimps, using positron emission
tomography (PET) scans to watch their brains at work as they did
language tasks.

"These same areas of the brain are used by people born deaf who use sign
language," he said. "(It seems) this area of the brain doesn't care
where the information is coming from -- it just cares that it's
communication information."

Their paper, published in the journal Science, said it was possible this
area of the brain actually had nothing to do with language, or that
chimps used it for some other purpose.

"I don't think they have a language, but I do agree that they have some
kind of communication system that might be more complex than we have
heretofore thought," Ralph Holloway, an anthropology professor at
Columbia University who worked on the paper, said in a statement.

Chimps probably use a combination of gestures, expressions and sounds to
communicate, Holloway said.

Gannon said he and colleagues had looked at orangutan and gorilla brains
and had found the same similarity. He figures the brain structure dates
back to a common ancestor of all great apes and humans.

Gannon said the findings also supported activists who oppose using
chimps for scientific research. He said many laboratories had already
abandoned using them and now there were many chimpanzees without
anywhere to live.

"Now it's time to make their lives a little more pleasant," he said.

By MAGGIE FOX, Reuters

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

Yes, but... do animals have to be like humans to be treated decently?
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 01:34:14 EST
From: NOVENA ANN 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: "EXTRA" story on bear hunting
Message-ID: <4aa770e5.34b5c4e7@aol.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

The TV show "EXTRA" ran an anti-bear hunting piece 
on Thursday January 8th, 1998. If you have AOL please
go to Keyword:extra to comment on the article. 

Bear Hunting Controversy

There is a controversy brewing over high tech hunting, and the uproar isn't
only coming from animal rights groups.   Some traditional hunters are angry
about new tricks being used to kill bears, and EXTRA investigated their deadly
games. 

It's a graphic image:  400 pound Oregon black bear trapped in a tree, chased
there by a pack of howling hounds.  A hunter takes aim...and shoots...

This method of hunting these shy, solitary symbols of America's great frontier
has been under fire itself.  "There's nothing sporting about that...There's
nothing ethical about that."  Lynn Frichtman has been hunting in the scenic,
snowcapped mountains of  Idaho his entire life.  He believes using packs of
hounds  fitted with radio transmitting collars that allow hunters to track
them from a distance has given the sport he loves a black eye.  "Technological
innovations have made the hunters job easier and the animal is getting further
and further down the teeter-totter and has less of a chance." 

Hound hunters fiercely disagree, arguing that even with trained tracking dogs
bagging a bear is no easy feat.  More importantly, says hunter Dave Bucelli,
treeing a bear with hounds guarantees the animal won't suffer.  "Having a bear
in a tree... stationary...allows you to dispatch the animal quickly and
cleanly." 

But video EXTRA uncovered told a different story.  The shooter took aim, but
his first shot only wounded the bear!  The second shot knocked the bear off
its branch...but it took three bullets to put the bear out of his misery. 

The hound hunters told EXTRA: "In the case of that video...the guy wasn't that
good of a shot..." 

But "that's not unusual at all."  Not unusual. Extremely cruel. And
unsportsmanlike.  So says the Humane Society's vice president Wayne Pacelle:
"There is absolutely no sport in chasing down a bear with dogs with telemetry
collars, treeing him and then shooting him.  It's the moral equivalent of
shooting a bear in a cage in the zoo." 

Pacelle and Frichtman are leading the fight to ban hound hunting in the 17
states that still allow it.  But they're also taking aim at another widely
used hunting method called bear baiting.  "What baiters do is go out in the
woods and dig a hole in the ground in an area where bears are known to have
been...and they put old donuts, stale twinkies, rotting meat...anything that's
legitimate bait...and just wait for the bear to show up." 

It's about as difficult as shooting a parked car, says Frichtman   Hunting
other animals this way is illegal -- A contradiction Dave Bucelli can't
explain.  EXTRA asked: "How is bear baiting any different then putting a salt
lick out for elk...or chumming for fish...both of which are illegal."  "I
don't know how to answer that...It's always been illegal using a salt lick
that I know of...and I never gave that much thought." 

That's exactly why Lynn Fritchman says the entire sport of hunting may be in
jeopardy -- because some hunters don't think about how baiting and hounding
are perceived by the American public:  "They are only hurting themselves by
demanding to retain these methods, which most people find obnoxious.  The
longer they do that the worse hunting is going to appear in the eyes of the
average citizen." 
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 01:47:49 EST
From: NOVENA ANN 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: addresses for "Extra" TV Show
Message-ID: 
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

EXTRA
1840 Victory Blvd. 
Glendale, CA  91201 

E-Mail: prextra@aol.com

Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 04:29:52 EST
From: NOVENA ANN 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Circus Trainer Critical After Tiger Attack
Message-ID: 
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Circus Trainer Critical After Tiger Attack 
01:47 a.m. Jan 08, 1998 Eastern 
By Robert Green 

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Reuters) - A British animal trainer with the 
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus was in critical condition 
after being mauled by a tiger. 

Richard Chipperfield was undergoing surgery at Bayfront Medical Center 
for severe trauma to the head, hospital spokesman Rob Sumner said. 

Chipperfield, 24, was attacked by a 350-pound Bengal tiger Wednesday 
morning in a nearby arena. 

The tiger bit Chipperfield in the head and other circus performers had 
to force the beast's mouth open to get Chipperfield's head out, St. 
Petersburg Police spokesman Bill Doniel told reporters. 

Chipperfield's brother and fellow trainer Graham killed the tiger with a 
shotgun, Doniel said. The brothers are members of one of Britain's 
oldest circus families, headed by their father, Richard Sr. 

The tiger was one of 14 in the ring at the time. They were being 
photographed for a circus video. 

The circus is performing in St. Petersburg through Sunday as the first 
stop on its 1998 tour. Wednesday night's performance was to go on as 
scheduled but without the tiger act. 

Richard Chipperfield had just joined the circus last month. Graham 
Chipperfield has been with it since 1993. 

In an interview with the St. Petersburg Times last week, Richard was 
quoted as saying, ``Tigers are dependable and elegant animals. I have 
fallen in love with them. They are so splendid.'' But he added that he 
recognized they were wild and dangerous animals. 
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 07:31:04 -0500
From: leah wacksman 
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" 
Subject: Activism pays off
Message-ID: <34B61888.A90A3C46@galen.med.virginia.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Please let me know if this article arrives garbled in your mailbox. 
Thanks.  Marty

Gaithersburg Sees Control, Not Killing, as Solution to Deer Conflict 

By Amy Klein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 9, 1998; Page B04 

Rejecting a proposal that would have allowed sharpshooters to cull
hundreds of deer from a property targeted for development, the
Gaithersburg City Council has endorsed instead a Humane Society plan for
the animals to "coexist" with the city's newest planned community.

The non-lethal plan calls for an eight-foot highway fence and street
reflectors to route the deer to nearby open space before the building
begins.

The fence would keep the deer from wandering across heavily traveled
Route 28, steering them instead to an existing highway underpass leading
to county parkland. 

"At least this way the deer have a chance. It's better than death," said
Allen Rutberg, senior scientist at the Humane Society of the United
States, whose national headquarters are in Gaithersburg.

Questions about the deer arose in connection with Lakelands, a 383-acre
development tract by Muddy Branch Park that is home to about 200 deer
and other animals. Developer Tom Natelli was ready to break ground on
the 1,700-home planned community when he learned about a Gaithersburg
regulation that requires developers to inventory wildlife on their
properties, then develop and pay for a plan for the animals' relocation
or management.

Local planners, conservationists and Natelli proposed that a
sharpshooter be hired to thin the herd. But Tuesday night, at a meeting
that drew about 200 deer-rights activists from across the state and
beyond, the five-member City Council unanimously rejected the idea.

County and state wildlife officials said any solution short of killing
the deer leaves unresolved the problems arising from their presence in
an increasingly developed area.

In Montgomery County in 1996, officials said, 1,800 car crashes were
deer-related, either collisions with the animals or accidents that
occurred when vehicles swerved to avoid them.

"This just adds to the problem of a growing deer population," said Rob
Gibbs, a county wildlife ecologist who supported the sharpshooter plan.
"I don't like the idea of killing deer -- it's distasteful -- but that
doesn't mean it's not the most appropriate
thing to do."

Gibbs said that the animals are running out of places to go in
Montgomery County and that vegetation in county parks can barely sustain
the existing deer herds.

Natelli has said he was never completely comfortable with the proposed
deer kill. He said he consulted ecologists and considered treating the
deer with contraceptives and relocating them, but neither measure seemed
feasible.

Hiring a sharpshooter would have cost $30,000 to $40,000, Natelli said.
Rutberg said the Humane Society does not yet know how much its
"coexistence" plan would cost to    implement. 

City Council members said they had received hundreds of letters from
people all over the country who opposed the idea of a deer "slaughter."
Clark Wagner, urban design director of Gaithersburg, said that according
to sign-up sheets, only about 20 percent of those attending the meeting
were city residents. 

"I think the deer issue has clearly become a regional issue and we need
to hear from everyone," said Stan Alster, an at-large council member.

He said the council was not overly swayed by the out-of-town speakers.
"Personally, I have a problem with the idea of baiting these animals in
and mowing them down." 

                              © Copyright 1998 The Washington Post
Company
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 23:03:07 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Officials afraid to blame China as source of bird flu 
Message-ID: <199801091503.XAA29796@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit



>The Electronic Telegraph
7 Jan 98

Officials afraid to blame China as source of   bird flu
                  By Graham Hutchings in Hong Kong 


                MORE than a week after Hong Kong slaughtered its entire chicken
                  population, there are signs that local officials' fear of
upsetting the territory's   new masters in Beijing is hampering efforts to
wipe out the deadly "bird flu".

                  Not a single Hong Kong official has dared say that the
rare H5N1 virus   originates on the mainland, despite the fact that China is
the source of up to  80 per cent of the territory's poultry.

                  Their timidity appears to be due to the fact that mainland
officials insist that   no cases of infection have been found in either
chickens or humans, and that farms and markets in south China have been
given a clean bill of health.

                  In the face of such assertions by the sovereign power,
Hong Kong officials    seem to have their hands tied in protecting the
interests of their citizens.
                  International experts in influenza brought in to help deal
with the crisis have        also been circumspect, but their caution is
based on scientific rather than   political reasons.

                  They have yet to conduct tests across the border, and will
not begin to do                  so until next week, when they will team up
with Chinese officials. However,   common sense points clearly to the
mainland for the source of the disease.

                  Given that 19 Hong Kong people are known or are feared to have
contracted the virus, and are believed to have done so through contact with
chickens, the situation across the border, where people and poultry are
concentrated in huge numbers, is probably much more serious.

                  This is what many local politicians and people believe,
and some of them  want it acknowledged as a necessary step towards removing
the threat.

                  "What we have is statements from Chinese officials that
there is no bird flu on the mainland," said Dr Huang Chen-ya, health
spokesman for the
Democratic Party. "Unfortunately, these statements are not backed up by
any investigations or evidence."

                  While Hong Kong officials were at first slow to
acknowledge the
seriousness of the crisis, it was likely to be much harder for officials across
 the border to "come clean" over such a sensitive issue, he said.
"There is a psychology that it is good to tell good news stories, and bad to
 tell bad news stories," Dr Huang said of Chinese officials. "I would be very
worried if I was an official in China. If the disease breaks out there, it
would affect many people. Given the [weak] level of control they have
there, it could be very serious."

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. 

Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 23:03:15 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (UK) Vets fear parasite invasion if quarantine is  scrapped 
Message-ID: <199801091503.XAA14864@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit



>The Electronic Telegraph
3 Jan 98

Vets fear parasite invasion if quarantine is  scrapped
                  By David Brown, Agriculture Editor 

                  BRITAIN faces an invasion of deadly parasites and diseases
from Europe  if quarantine controls for pets are scrapped, a leading team of
veterinary scientists said yesterday.

                  They said people and animals were at risk from worms that
burrowed into the heart and from diseases spread by ticks that knocked out
red blood  cells and could cause abortions.

                  These pests and diseases were endemic in parts of Europe - the
Mediterranean region in particular - but had been overlooked as a threat in
Britain because the political debate has centred mainly on rabies.

                  Most vets were not trained to recognise these diseases,
which were
detected regularly in quarantine kennels, they said.

                  An independent scientific panel, headed by Prof Ian
Kennedy, of University  College, London, has been set up by the Government
to investigate
whether keeping imported cats, dogs and other pets in quarantine for six
months should be replaced by other methods allowing freer movement of
pets to and from Britain. It will report later this year. 

                  Veterinary scientists at Edinburgh University's centre for
tropical veterinary  medicine at Roslin, Midlothian, have urged vets,
politicians and journalists to alert the public to the wider risks of
opening the door to a range of pests and diseases now absent in this country.

Seven of them - Archie Hunter, Alan Walker, Keith Sumption, Martyn
Edelsten, Gordon Scott, Morley Sewell and Alex Morrow - have signed a
letter in the latest issue of Veterinary Record, official journal of the British
Veterinary Association, saying: "We are concerned that virtually all the
attention has focused on rabies.

                  "Discontinuation of the quarantine system concerns many
other health issues other than rabies and the public, policy makers and
media should be alerted to this to ensure that it is included in the debate."

                  They said that the dangers included:

                        Leishmaniasis, a disease spread by several species
of sandfly
which affects dogs, cats and people and causes dum-dum fever and sores. Up
to half of dogs in parts of Greece are believed to be affected and nearly 20
per cent of dogs in southern Spain and parts  of Italy.

                        Heartworm, or dirofilariosis, which attacks the
heart, kidneys and urinary tract of dogs and cats. Spread by mosquitoes and
gnats,
symptoms include weak legs, breathing difficulties, loss of weight and
coughing. About 44 per cent of dogs in the Po Valley of Italy are
affected and 33 per cent in the Salamanca area of Spain. 

                        Babesiosis, a tick-borne disease, common in many
parts of
mainland Europe, which destroys red blood cells and can kill within
a week unless treated promptly. Similar to red-water fever in cattle.
Survivors remain poorly for years afterwards. Different strains attack
dogs, cats, cattle, sheep and horses.

                        Ehrlichiosis, spread by ticks, attacks dogs and
people, causing
fever, muscle pains and gastro-enteritis. A strain that attacks horses
causes abortions in mares.

                        Echinococcus granulosus and E multilocularis, two
strains of
tapeworm which attack dogs, foxes and people and are common in
countries bordering the Mediterranean and in central Europe.

                  About seven people a year die in England and Wales from
tapeworms which attack the liver. Once infected, people can be treated only by
surgery, which is often unsuccessful.

The vets said that harmful ticks found normally in southern Europe had
spread already to Sweden since it removed its quarantine controls.

                  Italian hunting dogs were suspected. "Increasing dog
movements will also  increase the risk of introducing ticks," they said.

                  In Britain, deadly ticks from Brittany have been found on
dogs and people in Hull after hitching a ride in a car of returning
holidaymakers who had left their own dog at home.

                  The veterinary team said many vets would encounter those
pests for the  first time as pet movement increased after the removal of
quarantine and  asked: "Is the British veterinary profession prepared for this?"

David Hopper, a vet at Horncastle, Lincs, who also signed the warning
letter, said: "I work in quarantine kennels several days a week and it is hard
enough for people like me to identify diseases from abroad.

                  "There is no structured training course. You pick the
skill up as you go along. What is it going to be like for the normal general
practitioner who
has no experience of quarantine work?" The Ministry of Agriculture said
yesterday: "The independent review on quarantine will be completed within
a few months."

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. 

Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 23:03:21 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (UK) RSPCA fears growth of the feral cat 
Message-ID: <199801091503.XAA19408@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit


>The Electronic Telegraph
4 Jan 98

RSPCA fears growth of the feral cat
By Greg Neale and John Dean 

                    Minister pledges inquiry on 'wild pumas'

                  BRITAIN is facing a huge increase in the number of feral
cats, according to  the RSPCA. It says the cats - pets and their offspring
that have gone wild -  are a problem in both towns and the countryside.

                  The RSPCA has issued an appeal to people who may have been
given   kittens as Christmas presents to make sure that they do not become
unwanted. It is particularly concerned that - unless they specifically want
their pets to breed - cat owners should have them neutered.

                  The charity says that although statistics are insufficient
to chart the growth  of the feral cat population, animal welfare workers
across the country
suggested it was mushrooming.

                  Jo Crozier, an RSPCA spokesman, said that while some
owners took  unwanted pets to the association or animal sanctuaries for
adoption, many
abandoned them. Discarded cats are breeding in many towns, in some
cases establishing colonies, and scavenging from dustbins and rubbish tips.

                  Maggie Eden, the manager of the RSPCA's Great Ayton animal
rescue   centre near Middlesbrough, said the situation had grown worse in
the last decade. "It is way out of control."

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. 



Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 23:03:26 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (UK) Dolly, the cloned sheep, to give birth 
Message-ID: <199801091503.XAA14022@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit



> The Electronic Telegraph
9 Jan 98

Dolly, the cloned sheep, to give birth
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor 


                 DOLLY, the genetically-engineered sheep, is believed to be
pregnant and  her lambs are expected "in several months", it was announced
yesterday.

                  Dr Harry Griffin, of the Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh,
which developed  the cloning technology with neighbouring PPL Therapeutics,
would not say exactly when Dolly, a Finn Dorset sheep, had been mated
because he "did  not want my phone ringing 145 days after that date (the
gestation period)
with media inquiries". Lambs born from two Welsh mountain sheep clones
had demonstrated that they have not been made unfertile by the process
used to create them - nuclear transfer.

                  Morag and Megan, produced by the same process to make
Dolly, were  mated naturally and gave birth to lambs in May and July after
the standard
five-month gestation. "It is further evidence that a cloned animal is fully
operational," said Dr Griffin. One of the two lambs has died.

                  "I don't think that was a particular consequence of being
from a cloned animal and was several weeks after birth," he said. "This is
not uncommon."  The other lamb "is fine".

© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. 

Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 23:03:31 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Australia to reject Irish push to renew commercial whaling
Message-ID: <199801091503.XAA18605@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>CNA Daily English News Wire

AUSTRALIA TO REJECT IRISH PUSH TO RENEW COMMERCIAL WHALING 


Canberra, Jan. 8 (CNA) Australia will strongly oppose an Irish bid to renew
commercial whaling at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in
Antigua next month. 

A spokesman for Australia's Environment Minister Robert Hill told reporters
that worldwide demand for whale meat is too low for commercial whaling to
take off. 

Outgoing IWC head Peter Bridgewater has played down suggestions the IWC
would allow renewed commercial whaling, saying that existing whale meat
supplies are already sufficient to meet the demand in Japan and Norway --
both of which are still doing whaling -- while many other countries,
including the Republic of China on Taiwan, ceased whaling a few years ago. 

The Irish government, through new IWC Chairman Michael Canny, will seek IWC
approval at a special meeting in February for a plan to permit whaling in
the nation's coastal waters if high-seas whaling is banned. 

Most countries, excluding Norway, agreed in 1985 on a permanent moratorium
on commercial whaling, a decision since put under pressure by Japan, Norway
and Iceland, which are all traditional whaling countries. 

The mass circulation newspaper The Australian on Thursday quoted Hill's
spokesman as saying: "The Irish plan for some commercial whaling is
unacceptable to Australia. We would expect there will be other countries who
will similarly find it unacceptable." 

Humane Society International director Michael Kennedy said Australia should
negate the Irish plan by promoting its plan for a global sanctuary and a
worldwide ban in February. 

"We, along with Australia, New Zealand and the United States, ought to be
working very hard to kill this Irish proposal," Kennedy said. 
He said he believes that if these countries stand firm in rejecting the
Irish plan, then the chance of killing the Irish proposal is great. (By
Peter Chen) 

Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 12:14:52 -0500
From: "The Animals' Agenda" 
To: AR-News 
Subject: Call for group listings in Agenda's 1998 directory
Message-ID: <199801091215_MC2-2EB1-E710@compuserve.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit



TO:     Animal Advocacy Organizations
FROM:   The Animals' Agenda
RE:     1998 Directory of Organizations

Your organization is invited to be included in The Animals' Agenda's third
annual "Directory of Organizations," which will be published in the
March/April 1998 (Vol. 18, No. 2) issue.  Readers have found this
compendium to be a valuable resource, making the annual directory issues
among our most popular.  To take full advantage of this issues exceptional
advertising value, you may wish to consider purchasing a display ad, as
well.

The basic directory listing is free. Please submit the following
information (and payment where applicable) by February 6, 1998.  Please
type or print clearly.

1. Name of organization _________________
2. Acronym ___________________________
3. Street address ______________________
4. Mailing address _____________________
5. City/State/Zip _______________________
6. Telephone _________________________
7. Fax _______________________________
8. E-mail ____________________________
9. Web site __________________________
Please complete the following to include additional information about your
organization..

1. To insert one logo from camera-ready artwork provided.  Fee:  $50.  YES
_____
2. To include additional information.  Fee:  $1.20 per word, 20-word
minimum.  Please count all words.  Zip codes count as one word.  Please
attach typed or clearly hand-written text.  YES _____  Number of words
______ x $1.20 per word = $ _____
3. Please check here _____ for information about advertising in The
Animals' Agenda.
4. Please find attached a check made payable to The Animals' Agenda for $
_____.

Please return to The Animals' Agenda by February 6, 1998. (Replies received
after this date are not guaranteed inclusion in the 1998 directory.)

Reply to:
The Animals' Agenda
1998 Directory
P.O. Box 25881
Baltimore, MD 21224
FAX: (410) 675-0066
E-MAIL: office@animalsagenda.org
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 13:34:20 -0600
From: paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
To: "AR-News Post" 
Subject: Fw: [PT] Great Britain bans medical experiments on Great Apes
Message-ID: <19980109133623735.AAA182@paulbog.jefnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit



----------
> From: Janey Reynolds 
> To: primate-talk@primate.wisc.edu
> Subject: [PT] Great Britain bans medical experiments on Great Apes
> Date: Friday, January 09, 1998 6:12 PM
> 
> (from info@pacehq.demon.co.uk [ Janey Reynolds ])
> 
> I would like to challenge PTers with the question - Can a whole country
be
> wrong? This question is to be addressed with relation to the British
> government's recent decision to ban experiments on great apes.  Our
> government has announced that it will not allow great apes (chimpanzees,
> gorillas, bonobos and orang-utans) to be used for medical experimentation
> in future.
> 
> What would people like Joe Erwin and all other great ape experiment
> advocates say to this? That the government is out of step with reality?
> What about dying babies? Would the government representatives give their
> children vaccines, yawn, yawn?
> 
> To clarify the situation for those unaware of Britain's recent step,
> government papers and reports state that no experiments will be granted
> licences if they involve the use of a great ape. However, no actual
> legislation has been introduced yet, because it is so long-winded (like
the
> recent U.K. ban on the testing of cosmetic ingredients) and unnecessary.
> 
>  "We consider current legislation sufficient because it insists on the
> application of a cost/benefit analysis", said Steve Wilkes, Head of the
> Home Office's Animal Scientific Procedures Committee's Department
recently.
> The cost/benefit analysis involves the weighing up of the cost to the
> animal (in terms of suffering) with the benefit to human beings. Only if
> the benefit outweighs the suffering is an experiment granted a licence to
> proceed. "This would never be the case if it was proposed to use a great
> ape'" confirmed Mr Wilkes.
> 
> Home Office Minister, Lord Williams, first announced the decision. In a
> policy statement he proclaimed that there would be no moral justification
> for using these special animals for any kind of experimentation,
including
> AIDS or BSE research. "The government will not allow the use of great
apes
> in future", he said.
> 
> "This is a matter of morality. The cognitive and behavioral
characteristics
> and qualities of these animals mean it is unethical to treat them as
> expendable for research."
> 
> Our government now thinks along the line of one Dr. Roger Fouts of the
> Chimpanzee and Human Communication Centre in Washington, USA, recent
author
> of the book Next of Kin. Fouts has said - "People ask me, wouldn't I use
a
> chimpanzee if it meant saving my child's life? If my child's life was at
> stake, I might want to rip out my neighbour's heart to save him. But this
> doesn't mean I would do so."
> 
> PACE and  its members would like to congratulate our government  on this
> timely stand which is the first in the world to ban the use of
chimpanzees.
> 
> Although our government has made its new position clear to the European
> Commission (at a Commission conference last December), the existence of
the
> Biomedical Primate Research Centre in Holland which holds 160 chimpanzees
> and IMMUNO in Austria, which has 60, may cause significant obstacles on
our
> way to achieving the Europe-wide ban we are calling for.  But such a ban
> will be persued all the more vigorously in the wake of the British
> decision.
> 
> Happy New Year to all.
> 
> JANIE REYNOLDS
> DIRECTOR - People Against Chimpanzee Experiments (PACE)
> 
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 10:34:30 -0800 (PST)
From: Friends of Animals 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Victory at Bluff Point
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19980109133357.11af9242@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Contact: Dot Hayes
(203) 656-1522

Activists Claim A Victory - No Hunting At Bluff  Point in 1998

Darien, CT - Deer at Bluff Point Coastal Reserve will not be hunted
this year and Friends of Animals and Animal Rights Front, based
in New Haven are calling it a victory.  The Department of Environmental
Protection decided On January 2 to avoid the controversial hunt.

FoA president Priscilla Feral says "Bluff  Point is a unique situation, a 
stretch of land in Groton, CT, set aside through a Special Act mandated 
by the General Assembly in 1975. The intention was to safegaurd the land
from intrusion such as hunting.  But, the DEP aborted this mission when 
it turned objecting to the hunt were arrested, last year, when seven were 
arrested and taxpayers paid approximately $40,000 to have 233 deer
killed at Bluff Point in a public hunt.

"Nature regulates deer numbers," says Feral. :Deer increase their reproductive
rate when their numbers decrease, so hunting won't cause a serious reduction
in numbers.  We congratulate the Commissioners on the wise decision to not
hunt the 49 deer, according to the DEP, now at the coastal reserve.
Deer migrate so keeping the number to 25 is impossible.  No barriers or fences
exist.  Local observers saw deer migtrating days after the killing of 233
deer in 
January 1996.

Feral says, "Perhaps the new DEP Commissioner, Arthur Rocque, wants to
avoid the public uproar that followed last year's hunt which included a 
candlelight vigil at the home of former Com. Holbrook.  The year before
 about 90 people demonstrated at the Governor's mansion in single-digit
temperatures.  The hunt at Bluff Point was a public relations nightmare
creating an avalanch of anti-hunting sentiment since it began in 1990.



Date: Sat, 10 Jan 1998 10:07:24 -0800
From: Coral Hull 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (AU) AWA Direct Action Guide
Message-ID: <34B7B8DC.5E45@envirolink.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

......RELEASE.....ANIMAL WATCH AUSTRALIA.....10th January, 1998......

ANIMAL WATCH AUSTRALIA in conjunction with Thylacine Publishing is
pleased to announce the online publication of AWA GUIDE TO DIRECT ACTION
AND ANIMAL RESCUE ON AUSTRALIAN ANIMAL FARMS. 

This activists' guide is the first of its kind to be published in
Australia. It supports animal rescue, investigation and non-violent
direct action specific to Australian conditions on Australian animal
factory farms. 

AWA GUIDE TO DIRECT ACTION AND ANIMAL RESCUE ON AUSTRALIAN ANIMAL
FARMS
includes photographs of Australian farms, activists at work, maps and
press releases, and provides basic information for those wishing to
assist farmed animals both in Australia and worldwide.

The guide will be regularly updated and maintained as more information
becomes available to ANIMAL WATCH AUSTRALIA. Please check it out online
at our site below. Any comments and contributions are welcome.

Coral Hull (Site Director)
Animal Watch Australia
http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/animal_watch/au.html
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 21:10:43 -0800
From: FARM 
To: AR-News 
Subject: Call to Great American Meatout
Message-ID: <34B702D3.6E8A@farmusa.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Dear Friend:
   With the holidays behind us, every activist’s mind turns to the first
day of spring on March 20, known to us all as the Great American
Meatout. In the preceding weeks, caring  folks in over one thousand
communities in all fifty states and several Canadian provinces will ask
their friends and neighbors to “kick the meat habit on March 20, at
least for the day, and explore a more wholesome, less violent diet.” 
Supportive media coverage will carry the Meatout message to millions of
others.
   Through the years, the results have been truly impressive:
©  Over 30 million Americans have explored the vegetarian diet
©  Beef and veal consumption are down by 25 and 70%, respectively
©  Most teens think that vegetarianism is ‘cool’
©  Mainstream public health organizations are touting plant-based eating
©  Major manufacturers and retailers are marketing meatless foods.
The best part is that every one percent drop in national meat
consumption prevents the needless suffering and death of 90 million
animals per year - more than the number killed in all US laboratories
and pounds.
   We invite you to join the 14th annual observance of the Great
American Meatout by arranging an event in your community.  It’s easy,
it’s fun, and it’s so satisfying.  
   Please e-mail or call us at 800-MEATOUT to request a free Action Kit.
Join us and thousands of other caring folks in making the 14th
observance of the Great American Meatout the greatest ever.  Alex H.


Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 20:55:40 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News 
Subject: [US] NEWS: "Caged gorilla sparks protest with animal rights groups"
Message-ID: <34B6E32C.38BC4E6A@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------B733F57E0A4413DEA838C3DB"

[Image]
        ------------------------------------------------------------------

1/7/98 -- 7:00 PM

Caged gorilla sparks protest with animal rights groups
     -------------------------

MIAMI (AP) - Animal-rights activists handed Monkey
Jungle a petition Wednesday with 7,000 signatures
asking the tourist attraction to move King, a 450-pound
gorilla, from his cramped cage.

But a lawyer for the tourist site said the 28-year-old
West African silverback isn't going anywhere.

Activists, including primate expert Jane Goodall,
believe King should live among other gorillas at Zoo
Atlanta in a habitat that's more suitable than his
800-square-foot cage.

``To keep him in that ugly postage stamp-sized doghouse
is just dishonest,'' said Joe Taksel, of the Animal
Rights Foundation of Florida. ``He was nearly half dead
when he got here from the circus. Maybe that was the
excuse 17 years ago, but now he's being ignored.''

Taksel and members of the Progressive Animal Welfare
Society presented the petition.

Monkey Jungle hopes to create a new $350,000 habitat
for King adjacent to his current home with the help of
the petitioners and local businesses in Miami, said
Frank Rubino, a lawyer who represents the attraction
and a close friend of Sharon DuMond, Monkey Jungle's
owner.

DuMond understands concerns over King's habitat, but
since Hurricane Andrew hit in 1992, it has been hard
trying to regroup and restore Monkey Jungle, Rubino
said.

Only now is DuMond ready to move ahead with plans for a
15,000-square foot-home for King, who now lives in an
800-square-foot cage. Once it is complete DuMond hopes
a zoo will give Monkey Jungle a female gorilla to keep
the 28-year-old King company.

``Do they really care about King, or are they just
bellyaching?'' Rubino asked. ``Trust me, King is not
going to Atlanta or anywhere else for that matter.
We'll do it with or without outside help.''

As tourists saw King perform, some questioned both
sides of the issue.

``The important thing is his happiness,'' said Luis
Urdaneta, 37, of Venezuela. ``How do we know he will be
happier there (in Atlanta)? The big question is, who
gives us the right to cage these animals at all?''

Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten, or redistributed.

    [Image]
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 21:57:13 -0500
From: leah wacksman 
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" 
Subject: Cats and rats in Vietnam
Message-ID: <34B6E389.689D50DE@galen.med.virginia.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Friday January 9 11:09 AM EST 

Cats off the menu

HANOI (Reuters) - Officials in a northern Vietnam province said on
Friday they were stepping up efforts to tackle rodent infestation -- by
breeding 24,000 cats. 

Dinh Van Hoa, vice-director of the Thai Binh province plant protection
department, told Reuters that local authorities also spent $100,000 last
year on five tons of poison to kill 17 million rats. 

The new cat-breeding campaign will supplement that effort and a popular
cash-for-rodent campaign, which offers farmers about two U.S. cents for
every dead rat they produce. 

Hoa cautioned however that the faced problems. Cat meat is considered a
culinary delicacy in northern Vietnam, and although Thai Binh province
outlawed feline feasts in 1995, cat remains a popular dish. 

"It's difficult for inspectors to distinguish cat and rabbit meat, so
some restaurants still offer this special dish," he said. 

Communal purges on rodents, which eat staple crops such as rice and
sweet potatoes, are common in Vietnam.
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 22:12:14 -0500
From: leah wacksman 
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org" 
Subject: Bison protester sentenced
Message-ID: <34B6E70E.FF94E183@galen.med.virginia.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

01/07/1998 23:31 EST 

 Bison Guts Protester Is Sentenced 


 BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- An activist was sentenced Wednesday to two
years of probation  for throwing bison guts at Agriculture Secretary Dan
Glickman and other officials. 

 Delyla Wilson, co-founder of the Bison Action Group of Bozeman, was
protesting the   slaughter of nearly 1,100 bison that wandered out of
Yellowstone National Park. 

 In October, a federal jury convicted her of congressional assault for
the March 23   incident at a public meeting in Gardiner. In addition to
the probation, she must  perform 100 hours of community service. 

 Wilson, 33, never denied dumping a 5-gallon bucket of entrails on a
table in front of  Glickman and Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., but she said
she had not intended to splatter  the men. 

 Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Gov. Marc Racicot were also at the table. 

 Wilson was convicted in Justice Court of assaulting the governor. That
case is on  appeal.
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 22:53:59 -0500 (EST)
From: ARRS Mail Administrator 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Cc: STFORJEWEL@aol.com, dmcgowan@ra.org
Subject: Admin Note -- Inappropriate Posting
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

This is in support of the new "posting policy" to AR-News (11/11/97).  Now,
STFORJEWEL@aol.com and dmcgowan@ra.org will be banned from posting for a
minimum of 2 weeks for the post:  Re: Fwd: hacker-warning

This has nothing to do with animal rights and, basically, falls into the
category of virus hoaxes.
----------------------------------------------------
Due to the sudden surge of inappropriate postings to AR-News, the Listowner
(me) will implement a new policy in dealing with such postings.  At the
_earliest_possible_convenient_time_, I will ban the offending individual
from posting to AR-News for a minimum of two (2) weeks.  An individual who
repeatedly posts inappropriate material _may_ be banned from posting
permanently.

***NOTE:  If you are banned from posting, be sure to remind me when the two
weeks are up.  The process to REMOVE the person from a "banned" status does
not always work well.  A potential side effect of the process is that it
may "lock" the AR-News list, meaning that no one may post or
subscribe/unsubscribe.

If you have questions as to the appropriateness of a post, DO NOT HESITATE
to contact the Listowner ( ar-admin@envirolink.org ) concerning the
appropriateness of a news item.  I have supported this in the past, though
these discussions did not make it to the list.

I am avoiding making this a "moderated" list (one in which the Listowner
approves/releases posts to the list) as such action will reduce the speed
of posting -- plus, it puts the decision of what is considered "animal
rights" in the hands of one person.  My goal here is to eliminate non-news,
discussion/opinion posts to AR-News and not to decide what is/isn't *animal
rights* and to allow news items to be posted as rapidly as possible.
Further, a "moderated" list would punish the many for the infractions of
the few.  (Something that I found highly offensive since childhood.)

***If you have problems with this policy, please feel free to e-mail me
_privately_ to discuss this.  (Posting to the list would be inappropriate.)

allen
-------------------------------
Please do not post commentary or personal opinions to AR-News.  Such posts
are not appropriate to AR-News.  Appropriate postings to AR-News include:
posting a news item, requesting information on some event, or responding to
a request for information.  Discussions on AR-News will NOT be allowed and
we ask that any
commentary either be taken to AR-Views or to private E-mail.

Continued postings of inappropriate material may result in suspension of
the poster's subscription to AR-News.
Here is subscription info for AR-Views:

Send e-mail to:  listproc@envirolink.org

In text/body of e-mail:  subscribe ar-views firstname lastname

Also...here are some websites with info on internet resources for Veg and
AR interests:

The Global Directory (IVU)
http://www.ivu.org/global
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 23:11:18 EST
From: LexAnima 
To: Wisc-Eco@igc.apc.com, AR-News@envirolink.org, Ecofemnet@aol.com
Subject: ALERT!!   Vilas Zoo Monkeys to be sent to Experiment Research Center!
Message-ID: 
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

-- Please Distribute --

Although the University of Wisconsin had originally promised that the monkeys
housed at the Vilas Park Zoo would have until the year 2002 until they wore
out their welcome and would have to be removed, the University was plainly
pulling a fast one by claiming that NIH funding for the animals would run out
on the 1st of February.  Media reported on Friday evening, January 9th, that
the monkeys will likely be headed to the Delta Research Centre at Tulane
University, to be used by Dr. Gerome (notorious for his involvement in the
Silver Spring Monkey scandle) which is a NIH funded facility.  Activists in
Madison are disgusted to find that the NIH can feed and house the monkeys at
Tulane after the 1st of February, but the NIH will not feed and house the
monkeys in their home of almost 20 years at the Vilas Park Zoo in Madison
after that date.

The monkeys have lived in Madison in the same colony since their enslavement
from the jungles of Thailand decades ago.  This means that the Vilas Park Zoo
monkey colony is unique in all the world.  However, the University of
Wisconsin, although having used the monkeys for its own research purposes in
the past, will not pay for the monkey's current room and board.  The public
has reacted strongly against breaking the monkey clan up like slaves from an
auction block.  When the University used the February 1, 1998 deadline for the
150 or so individuals to be removed from the Dane County park, it was
speculated that the University just wanted to get rid of the controversial
animals as fast as it could.

Now that the University has admitted that they intend to send the monkeys to
Delta, it seems certain that the alleged lack of NIH funding was a ruse
designed to protect what was left of the University Primate Center's
reputation.  The University seems unable to free itself from public scandle.
The normally supportive local press had bashed the Primate Center for
violating their own agreement with the County Zoo to use the monkeys for only
behavioural, not invasive, research.  Additionally, the whereabouts of some of
the monkeys still appears unknown and it seems probable that some individuals
may have been used by vivisectors for painful or invasive experiments.

It is not surpising that the news of the monkeys transfer came the day after
local attorney Richard Bolton, and monkey protectionist Kim Bauers argued on
behalf of  the monkeys' in Dane County Circuit Court.  The Judge has allowed
the plaintiffs another seven days to try to find presendential case law
protecting monkeys but obviously this is a cutting-edge area of law and after
a thoughtful three and one-half hours of argument, the Judge has indicated he
will not likely find on the monkeys behalf.  Please call this caring and
compassionate Judge and ask him to issue a court order sending the monkeys
back home to Thailand.  Judge Patrick J. Fiedler's direct line is (608)
266-4325.

The only hope for the monkeys now, for their lives, and the lives of their
offspring is to be sent to a Thailand monkey sanctuary.  This sanctuary has
received awards and has been recognized for their reputable care of Thailand's
indiginous species.  However, the monkeys will not go to this sanctuary if the
University has its way.  Without a larger public outcry, the monkeys' fates
are sealed.  They need you to pick up the phone and make a call on their
behalf immediately.

Please call the Dane County Board of Supervisors at (608) 266-4121 and beg the
Board and County Executive Kathleen Falk (formerly the State's Public
Intervenor and premier environmental protectionist) to move the monkeys to the
sanctuary in Thailand, the monkey's former home.  Please send your letters
immediately to 210 Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard, Madison, Wisconsin
53703.  

Thank you on behalf of the animals,


D'Arcy Kemnitz
(608) 286-5952
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 20:39:06 -0800
From: "Bob Schlesinger" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Reporting about NADAS  turns personal and ugly
Message-ID: <199801092039060210.02849CC4@pcez.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

January 9, 1998
Medford Oregon
-----------------------

The following article was published today as the lead story in the Medford Oregon Mail Tribune. 
The author of the article interviewed me as well prior to publishing.  It was clear from his
comments to me, and from the nearly libelous tone of this article that he is 'out to get' dog owner
Sean Roach and prefers writing a character assassination piece to dealing with the actual issues of
what is happening to the dog, why the County will not let anyone see Nadas, whether he is even
still alive, and why the County will not consider permitting him to be adopted by any of a number
of individuals and organizations from out of state. 

The Mail Tribune serves most of Southern Oregon and has a web site at
http://www.mailtribune.com.  You can send comments to the paper at tellus@mailtribune.com or
letters to the editor at letters@mailtribune.com.  You might want to comment on their peculiar
brand of smear journalism.

I have some additional comments at the end of the piece.

Bob Schlesinger
Ark Online
http://www.arkonline.com
-------------------------------------------------------------

   Horse owner says she's not villain in Nadas saga

   Dog's owner less than neighborly, she says

   By ALBERTO ENRIQUEZ

   Medford resident Michelle Morgan says she's tired of being painted as a dog-hating villain in the
   story of Nadas, a collie-malamute mix sentenced to die for chasing livestock.

   "I'm sick of it," Morgan says. "It's not our fault. It's not the state's fault. It's Mr. Roach's fault."

   Sean Roach, who owns Nadas, was living in a duplex on Lone Pine Road just west of Foothill
   Country Store when his dog was seized in September 1996.

   Morgan lives in the next house to the west. It is separated from Roach's old apartment by a field
   and a fenced pasture. In '96, Morgan was renting the pasture and keeping her son's 12-year-old
   gelding, J.R., there behind a three-strand barbed-wire fence and an electric wire.

   On Sept. 10, 1996, Morgan filed the horse-chasing complaint that led to Roach's dog being
   picked up.

   Morgan says Roach was not only an irresponsible pet owner but an unapproachable neighbor
   because of his abusive treatment of the dog and the often unsavory company he kept.

   Morgan says Roach endangered cattle and motorists by allowing his dog to run loose, and when
   warned, took to chaining him unattended for hours at a stretch -- letting him howl day and
night.

   Far from an isolated case, the horse-chasing incident was part of a long-standing pattern of
   neglect and abuse, Morgan says. She says the badly spooked gelding would have run through
the
   three-strand barb-wire and been severely injured had she not intervened immediately.

   She also says Roach has persistently denied or misrepresented the facts, starting with the dog's
   real name: Natas.

   Roach tells a different story, one that has won him coverage in the National Enquirer tabloid
and
   the support of farflung animal rights activists.

   A Lake Oswego animal rights attorney has appealed the Nadas case to the Supreme Court. A
   Hillsboro man maintains a Nadas Web site invoking a national boycott of Jackson County
   employers. A Chicago professor recently issued an ambiguously worded Internet 

   alert seeking three "real activists" who "know the lay of the land" to travel to Oregon to save
   Nadas (see related story).

   Neighbors closer to the situation largely agree with Morgan's version of events.

   "His name is `Satan' spelled backwards," says Frank Scarlata, owner of the Foothill Country
   Store. "It gives you an idea of the people that owned it."

   Scarlata says he knows the dog's real name because Roach boasted about it in his store.

   Scarlata says nearby horse and cattle owners, who kept their own animals fenced, shouldn't be
   blamed for Nadas' predicament.

   "It's sad that they're making a federal case about it because nobody ever cared for that dog,"
   Scarlata says. "It howled at all hours. Sometimes at 2 and 3 in the morning. To tell you the
truth, I
   felt sorry for it because it was a nothing dog. I mean nobody cared for him."

   Neighbor Orville Zollman says he, too, felt sorry for the dog -- but he had to shoo it away from
   his neighbors' livestock more than once.

   "It wasn't just running that horse once," Zollman said. "It was every other day -- cattle too. You
   ought to have seen where he had him staked, where there was no place to lie down, and he had
   to sprawl across the top of an A-frame. He'd howl all day if he was chained."

   Zollman said he'd often seen the dog harass cows and calves in an adjoining pasture.

   Although Roach says he never saw his dog bother the cattle, Zollman says he saw Roach
whistle
   the dog back on more than one occasion when the dog was chasing cows.

   Cattle owner Art Duer kept his cows in a pasture just south of Lone Pine Road. His complaint
   led county animal control officers to cite Roach in December 1995.

   "If it had happened again, he was to be put down," Duer says. "It wasn't a one-time thing. If it
   happened again, I would have killed it myself."

   Roach says he's seen no proof his dog was among the cattle, and the horse-chasing was
   witnessed only by Morgan's 13-year-old daughter.

   County officials say they required Roach to license and vaccinate his dog -- and warned him that
   if his dog were seen chasing livestock again, it would be euthanized. Roach has acknowledged
   receiving the warning, but said he didn't understand it included "chasing."

   That makes Morgan's blood boil.

   "I've known about that law about all my life," she says. "When you license your dog, they give
   you the law. You can't just let your dog run loose. His dog was unvaccinated. What if a raccoon
   with rabies had bit him and he had bit a child?"

   She's equally steamed about those -- including the Mail Tribune editorial board -- who think the
   law needs to be changed so that dogs are not put to death if they chase without injuring.

   "There's no way a dog could hurt your horse?" she says. "That's naive. Horses have been run
   through fences before and killed. Chasing is enough.

   "Why should he get to be so irresponsible, and us always have to worry? I'd had enough. He
   wasn't the kind of neighbor who I felt I could go and talk to."

   Second chances merely leave others at the mercy of irresponsible pet owners, she says.

   Roach says he'd now settle for having his dog adopted out of state -- if the courts and county
   would allow it.

   "If he'd put just a tenth of the care into it that he has since," Morgan says, "none of this would
   ever have happened."

Copyright © interRogue & The Mail Tribune 1997, Medford, Oregon USA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some Additional comments: (of mine)

Character assassination pieces are often used to divert attention from the real issues of a story. 
That seems to be the case here.  Since I have personally met both Sharon and Sean Roach - they
are kind and gentle people, this is clearly an attempt by people with a vendetta to discredit them. 
Ms. Morgan's statements are not credible. She has changed her story considerably from what she
testified to at the original animal control hearing.  At that time only her 13 year old daughter had
witnessed the "chasing".  These are in the record of that hearing.  Now she claims to have run out
into the middle of a field with a galloping horse and single handedly prevented him from crashing
into her fence and protecting him from almost certain injury.  I do not know much about the other
neighbors quoted but since emotions are riding fairly high on this issue it is not surprising that a
mob consciousness is building.

Date: Fri, 9 Jan 1998 22:43:28 -0600
From: paulbog@jefnet.com (Rick Bogle)
To: "AR-News Post" 
Subject: WRPRC's rhesus macagues to be sent to Tulane
Message-ID: <19980109224623837.AAC203@paulbog.jefnet.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Just announced on local Madison TV:

The fate of the rhesus macaque colony belonging to the Wisconsin Regional
Primate Center housed at the Henry Vilas Zoo has been announced by the
University of Wisconsin, Madison.

The rhesus colony will be "taken in" by the Louisiana Regional Primate
Research Center, sometimes referred to as the Delta Primate Center.

Peter Gerone, Delta's director is known for his willingness to enter into
animal rights controversies; Gerone took the Silver Spring monkeys when no
other facility was willing to accept them.

The Delta center, in Covington Louisiana, specializes in the study of
tropical infectious and parasitic disease.  There are currently at work on
a project to increase their "infant harvest" by 150 babies a year.  Infants
at the cener are "harvested" from their mothers before they are three days
of age and moved into peer-age nursery cohorts.

This zoo colony was being secretly used as breeding stock for the Wisconsin
Primate Center, and along with the stump-tailed macaque colony, is at the
center of a continuing scandal illustrating the lack of honest public
disclosure by the center's staff.  The hidden sale of the monkeys to other
facilities generated $200,000.  The University says there is no money to
provision the monkeys at the zoo as they discuss plans to begin
construction on a new $8 million lab.       

Zoo officials state that it will be sad to see them go but have made no
effort to keep them at the zoo. 


Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 21:12:36 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News , GAP@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] NEWS: "Plight of caged gorilla angers animal activists"
Message-ID: <34B6E724.D7DFD841@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------0D7A0D3166ADCFD6857766C9"

Posted: 2:04 a.m. Jan. 6, 1998         
Plight of caged gorilla angers animal activists



By JODY A. BENJAMIN Miami Bureau
       Four times a day, a 450-pound
silverback gorilla jangles keys and
squats on command for a paying public.
      At one of South Florida's top
tourist attractions, King entertains in
a cage of black bars that has been his
home since 1979.
      But now a storm is growing over
his treatment. Animal rights activists,
including renowned primate expert Jane
Goodall, say King's cage is akin to a
torture chamber.
      "It's deplorable and despicable,"
said Joe Taksel, of the Animal Rights
Foundation of Florida and one of the
leaders of a protest set for Wednesday.

      Taksel and thousands of others
want King moved from Monkey Jungle in
south Miami-Dade County to bigger and
more hospitable quarters in Atlanta.
His cage now is 30 by 40 feet, they
say.
      Monkey Jungle owners say the
gorilla is well cared for. They have no
intention of releasing him to another
place.
      While critics claim the gorilla
is frustrated and depressed, the owners
say King is healthy and happy.
      "Who can say they really know
what King thinks?," said Monkey Jungle
General Manager Steven Jacques. "He is
a gorilla. Nobody can get inside his
mind."
      Monkey Jungle purchased King from
a circus in 1979. Circus trainers
removed the gorilla's teeth. Monkey
Jungle says that makes it unlikely that
he can now survive among other apes.
      For years, Monkey Jungle has
planned a $150,000 upgrade to his bare
quarters, but since Hurricane Andrew
hit the area in 1992, the attraction at
14805 SW 216th St. has suffered
financial losses.
      In October, animal rights
advocates stepped up pressure. They
complained that Monkey Jungle has not
kept up with places such as ZooAtlanta,
which allows primates four acres and
playmates. They say King occasionally
bangs his head against the bars and
sometimes refuses to cooperate during
the performances.
      ZooAtlanta has successfully
re-introduced two other once-isolated
gorillas to a habitat with other
gorillas. Both apes are now healthier.
One of them recently became a parent.
      "He needs a larger habitat and he
needs companionship,"said Dan Wharton,
director of the Central Park Zoo in New
York. "We know as managers of gorillas
that this is far from an acceptable
situation for King."
      On Wednesday, several animal
rights groups -- likely without Goodall
-- will deliver 6,000 signatures urging
King's transfer. Groups from around the
world have joined the movement in
recent weeks, including PAWS --
Progressive Animal Welfare Society.
      But Monkey Jungle says there is
no need to move King to Atlanta. It
recently moved forward the renovation
schedule for King's cage to this
spring.
      "It's not the nicest-looking
facility," said general manager
Jacques. "It's old, but there is
nothing wrong with it."
      Monkey Jungle charges the public
$11.50 for adults and $6 for children
to view its primate exhibits, including
King.
      In October, the attraction passed
an unannounced inspection by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, as it has
many times before.
      Monkey Jungle has no history of
complaints against it, federal records
show.
      On Monday, the tourist spot
issued a statement saying it was
providing the best home for King.
      "When an animal is abused or
removed forcefully from the wild, his
or her care must be evaluated
individually . . . We are making his
life as comfortable as possible."
                                 
[Image]

 [Sun-Sentinel] Copyright (c) 1998, Sun-Sentinel Company and South Florida
Interactive, Inc.
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 21:20:51 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News , GAP@envirolink.org
Subject: US: NEWS: "A home fit for a (gorilla) king?"
Message-ID: <34B6E913.3E6C1CA1@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 8bit

Posted: 1:36 a.m.          
A home fit for a (gorilla) king?
Jan. 8, 1998

By JODY A. BENJAMIN Miami Bureau
       Animal rights activist Joe
Taksel was surprised with warm smiles
at Monkey Jungle on Wednesday when he
arrived to complain about the care of
a 450-pound gorilla named King.
      Taksel gave Monkey Jungle owner
Sharon DuMond 7,000 signatures
seeking King's transfer from Monkey
Jungle, one of South Florida's
biggest tourist attractions.
      DuMond acknowledged King's
present home is substandard. She will
ask the public to contribute an
estimated $350,000 to build the
gorilla a better home.
      "I think King would be very
happy here," said DuMond. "He'd love
a new exhibit."
      Taksel was not persuaded. The
65-year-old family-owned preserve
doesn't have enough space to provide
properly for King, Taksel said. He
also thinks King needs the company of
other gorillas. King, a silverback
western lowland gorilla, is the only
gorilla at Monkey Jungle.
      "They don't have the money and
they don't have the expertise,"
Taksel said. "Now they want the
public to donate to a failing
business."
      Last month, primate expert Jane
Goodall wrote DuMond asking her to
allow King to move to Atlanta. There,
King would have access to larger
grounds and would live with other
gorillas.
      "It is a well-known fact that
gorillas live in social groupings,"
wrote Goodall. "I hope you will allow
King to relocate to Zoo Atlanta where
he can live amongst his kind."
      On Wednesday, members of
Taksel's group -- the Animal Rights
Foundation of Florida -- carried the
petitions inside a wooden crate of
black bars. They said the box
symbolized King's captivity. They
also held up drawings done by Dade
school children with messages like,
"Let Him Go!," and "Let King Be
Free!."
      King's trainer, Tina
Casquarelli, denied that the animal
is poorly treated. She said South
Florida schoolchildren would lose the
benefit of seeing a gorilla close to
home. She would rather see a bigger
area built at Monkey Jungle.
      "What they say hurts me because
I know they don't know anything at
all about King," Casquarelli said.
      "I am King's eyes, ears and
mouth. If he were unhappy I would be
the first to speak up about it --
even if I had to go against my boss."


 [Sun-Sentinel] Copyright © 1998, Sun-Sentinel Company and South Florida
Interactive, Inc.


Date: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 22:14:07 -0600
From: Steve Barney 
To: AR-News ,
        AnimalLib-List ,
        Wisc-Eco@igc.apc.org
Subject: NEWS: "Monkeys threatened by researcher's death"
Message-ID: <34B6F58F.89A4D63F@uwosh.edu>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: MULTIPART/MIXED;
BOUNDARY="Boundary_[ID_zSWIPds+vBmXWPLuQdhfIw]"

(January 6,1997)
                 [Wisconsin State Journal -- Past Stories]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                  Monkeys threatened by researcher's death

          Herpes B transmission hurts cause of Vilas Zoo primates

John Welsh
Wisconsin State Journal

     Last month's mysterious death of a young primate researcher in
     Atlanta may be the final blow to Madison's large monkey colony at
     Vilas Zoo.

     Investigators believe the 22-year-old scientist was exposed to
     the monkey-borne herpes B virus when an unknown fluid from a
     monkey splashed into her eye.

     The death marked a new way of transmitting the deadly disease
     from monkeys to humans, raising new questions about public
     exhibitions of macaque monkeys such as the one at Vilas Zoo.

     With the federal government already pulling its funding for the
     150 monkeys owned by the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research
     Center at Vilas Zoo, the monkeys' future was already bleak.

     But on Monday, zoo director Dave Hall said he didn't think the
     research center's stump-tailed macaques or the rhesus monkeys
     both members of the macaque genus were appropriate animals for
     the zoo given the new information on transmission of the virus.

     ''It does definitely make a significant impact,'' Hall said. ''My
     personal opinion is that it's probably not an appropriate species
     to have at the zoo given the developments about the herpes B
     virus.''

     Hall's boss, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, agrees with
     that assessment, staffers said.

     ''It seems unwise to retain the monkey exhibit there,'' said
     Helene Nelson, Falk's chief of staff.

     But others, including local animal rights activists working to
     keep the animals at the zoo, said it is an overreaction to say
     the 30-year-old exhibit is now dangerous to the public.

     ''It sounds like a PR blitz to get rid of these animals,'' said
     Tina Kaske, executive director of the Alliance for Animals.

     She said a Plexiglass shield, which is in place during the colder
     months, is sufficient to protect visitors.

     Since 1933, there have been 40 cases of monkey-to-human
     transmission of the herpes B virus, which is fatal to about 70
     percent of the humans who contract it. Among macaques, the virus
     is common but causes few problems more serious than cold sores.
     Before last month's death, researchers believed humans were only
     vulnerable if they were scratched or bitten by an infected
     monkey.

     There has been no documented case of a zoo worker or zoo visitor
     contracting herpes B from a monkey, said Donald Lindburg, editor
     of the journal, Zoo Biology.

     He said previous stories of primate workers being exposed to
     herpes B have caused zoos to get rid of macaque populations. He
     said he feared last month's death of the Atlanta researcher would
     spark similar moves.

     ''I don't want to minimize the loss of a human life,'' said
     Lindburg, who also is director of the behavioral division of the
     San Diego Zoo. ''But this needs to be put into context. This is
     not seen as a great threat.''

     Lindburg visited Madison two years ago for a conference and came
     away impressed with the Vilas Zoo monkey house, which has one of
     the largest macaque colonies in the world.

     ''They have an extremely valuable resource,'' he said. ''You
     aren't looking at two furry creatures asleep in the back of the
     cage. You are looking at a vigorous colony that is very active.''

     The Milwaukee County Zoo has 32 Japanese macaque monkeys in its
     Monkey Island exhibit. With a system of shrubs and a 10-foot
     moat, zoo visitors are protected and there are no changes planned
     in the exhibit, said Jan Rafert, the zoo's curator of primates
     and small animals.

     ''The distance should be significant enough that the possibility
     of disease transmission is nil,'' he said.

     UW-Madison, which oversees the Wisconsin Regional Primate
     Research Center, is investigating placing the Vilas Zoo monkeys
     at centers in Thailand, Europe and the United States. After the
     center ended behavioral studies of the zoo monkeys last year, it
     lost the federal funding for their upkeep.

     The Alliance for Animals is organizing a fund-raising effort to
     keep the monkey colony in Madison.

     Vilas Zoo does have a variety of other primates including spider
     monkeys, ring-tailed lemurs, squirrel monkeys and cotton top
     tamarin monkeys. None of those are members of the macaque genus
     and do not pose a threat for herpes B transmission.

                       Talk back to our journalists
                   --------------------------------------

      Subscribe to the printed version of the Wisconsin State Journal

                                 [Image]

                              [Newsworks.com]

                           Return to madison.com

            All rights reserved. © 1996 Madison Newspapers Inc.

     If you have questions or comments about this page, please contact
                     pfanlund@statejournal.madison.com.




ARRS Tools  |  News  |  Orgs  |  Search  |  Support  |  About the ARRS  |  Contact ARRS

THIS SITE UNDERWRITTEN IN PART BY:
Gorilla Foundation

The views and opinions expressed within this page are not necessarily those of the
EnviroLink Network nor the Underwriters. The views are those of the authors of the work.