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AR-NEWS Digest 499
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Sharing the Skies
by Andrew Gach
2) ANIMAL ACTION SHAMES HEALTH CANADA
by Sean Thomas
3) [CA] ICN Corporate Sponsors
by David J Knowles
4) [CA] Future red hot for meat-free products
by David J Knowles
5) [UK] Fwd: BP Tries to Bankrupt Greenpeace
by David J Knowles
6) [US] Fwd: Seattle:Blockade of Factory Trawler Ends
by David J Knowles
7) Duck Hunting
by Mesia Quartano
8) Racing camels in Europe
by Vadivu Govind
9) [UK] Man jailed for microwaving kitten
by David J Knowles
10) [SP] Parents to sue over puma attack on girls
by David J Knowles
11) [India] Monkey business fills Punjab jail
by David J Knowles
12) [UK] Man jailed for microwaving kitten
by David J Knowles
13) [SP] Parents to sue over puma attack on girls
by David J Knowles
14) [India] Monkey business fills Punjab jail
by David J Knowles
15) More Aquariums
by Ty Savoy
16) (US) Regulators Fine Egg Farm $1 Million
by allen schubert
17) (US) Butterfly Popularity on the Rise
by allen schubert
18) WTO Panel: Beef Hormone Ban Illegal
by allen schubert
19) Bovine Growth Hormone: Mad Cow
by allen schubert
20) Companies can say 'NO' to GE on labels
by allen schubert
21) Companies can say 'NO' to GE on labels
by allen schubert
22) EuropaBio: Plan to PR us into GE foods 2/2
by allen schubert
23) EuropaBio: Plan to PR us into GE foods 1/2
by allen schubert
24) Ottawa Citizen, letters to the editor
by Sean Thomas
25) Ottawa Citizen, letters to the editor
by Sean Thomas
26) Anti Fur Resources
by MINKLIB@aol.com
27) WSPA Aids Animals on Volcanic Stricken Montserrat
by fls@wspausa.com (Joanne deMarrais)
28) DON'T EAT, DON'T TELL, Wendy's and the USDA
by "Haptas, Joe"
29) Michelle's in NYC
by Michelle Sass
30) Essex Junction,Vermont: Rodeo Protest 8/27
by Mike Markarian
31) FDA Reform
by DDAL@aol.com
32) [UK] Barry Horne: Prison staff back down
by "Miggi"
33) [UK] Trial and Error - Taken from SchNEWS issue 130
by "Miggi"
34) Trappers Convention Article
by MINKLIB@aol.com
35) Cruelty is not ELLEgant
by "sa338@blues.uab.es"
36) Compassionate Living Festival
by Vadivu Govind
37) Admin Note--was: Michelle's in NYC
by allen schubert
38) Cats burned
by "sa338@blues.uab.es"
39) (US) Dog Survives Being Dragged From Car
by allen schubert
40) (UK) Report: Condemned Poultry Meat Sold for Human Consumption
by allen schubert
41) (UK) Linda McCartney Has Launched an Ambitious Expansion
by allen schubert
42) (AU) Dieters Need Not Shun Beef Australian Study
by allen schubert
43) Fwd: Attempted Piracy in High Seas by US Coast Guard
by David J Knowles
44) [UK] Anti-hunting league expels top officials
by David J Knowles
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 21:04:37 -0700
From: Andrew Gach
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Sharing the Skies
Message-ID: <33F91B55.5F16@worldnet.att.net>
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Why pilots don't like sharing skies with birds
The Christian Science Monitor
BOSTON (August 18, 1997 11:05 a.m. EDT) -- In an era of acute concern
about airline safety, on most days Northwest Airlines pilot Paul
Eschenfelder is forced to give more attention to stray starlings than
the unlikely threat of a terrorist bomb.
"Birdstrikes" don't get much publicity. In fact, pilots have no
instructions in their manuals on what to do if a bird crosses their
path. But collisions with birds are a common threat that, until now,
have attracted little attention.
Just last week, a Delta 737 was forced to make an emergency landing at
Boston's Logan International Airport because one engine ingested a bird
shortly after takeoff. The plane was grounded for repairs, but none of
the 59 passengers was hurt.
The incident highlighted why more than 300 aviation industry
representatives from around the world met at Logan last week to discuss
bird-management techniques at America's airports.
The threat of a birdstrike is considered more serious than ever, in part
because programs designed to protect wildlife have worked, dramatically
boosting populations of many birds in the U.S. That
rebound comes at a time when airplane manufacturers are prone to promote
two-engine - rather than four-engine - planes, like the new Boeing 777.
The U.S. military is particularly concerned. Four major birdstrike
crashes have occurred in the past two years, including an Air Force
AWACS plane in which all 24 crew members were killed.
Commercial-jet windshields and engines have been beefed up to protect
against collisions with fowl, but no one has found a way to completely
bird-proof an aircraft. Some 4,500 birdstrikes are still reported yearly
by commercial and military aircraft, causing about $250 million in
damages.
"If you hit a 10-pound Canada goose on liftoff or landing, it's the
equivalent of 1,000 pounds dropped 10 feet," says Richard Dobeer, a
biologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Research
Center in Sandusky, Ohio. "It's impossible to design an engine to
withstand that kind of damage."
That's why efforts to manage bird populations at airports are so
important, says Dobeer. Several countries, as well one airport in the
U.S., shared their successes at the conference. "It's a complex
endeavor," says Dobeer.
Many airports are located near wetlands, where federally protected birds
proliferate. Gulls are the most serious problem; next is waterfowl -
especially geese; then blackbirds and starlings.
Because many of these birds are protected, the emphasis is on nonlethal
ways of solving the problem. An integrated program works the best,
Dobeer says, because birds adapt to some methods of control.
New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport is considered a model
of the multifaceted approach. In the late 1980s, Kennedy topped the list
of reported birdstrikes in the U.S., with some 300 per year. It has cut
that number by about 75 percent, according to Lanny Rider, manager of
aerospace operations for the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey. But
the numbers are slightly up again this year.
Spending about $500,000 annually, Rider says the program at Kennedy
focuses on the biggest threat - gulls - but also maintains an overall
strategy because birds tend to return. His tactics include:
Runway patrols that fire shotguns with loud shellcrackers, propane
cannons, and tape recordings of different species of birds making
distress calls.
Tall grass. Geese feed on grass, but do not like it tall.
Use of falcons to patrol the airspace. Several other countries, notably
Scotland, have used this method successfully. Kennedy is experimenting
with having falconers on the field from sunrise to dusk. Periodically,
bird owners fly the falcons - predators to smaller birds - over the
airport to scare away other species.
Spraying insecticides several times per year. Gulls feed on insects.
Shooting limited numbers of gulls and starlings, after obtaining a
permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Cleaning up garbage and covering dumpsters. Taxicab drivers are asked
not to feed gulls. Rider's staff also succeeded in getting two landfills
near Kennedy closed.
Canada had a "very serious birdstrike problem at several airports," says
Bruce MacKinnon, a specialist in wildlife control with Canada Transport.
Pilots at the conference were poring over a comprehensive Canadian
manual for airports and pilots on dealing with birds.
But U.S. pilots say they still lack scientific research on how birds
behave when confronted with aircraft and what pilots should do when they
encounter birds. "Some pilots turn their radar on when they run into
birds, or descend rapidly," says United Airlines pilot George Gil. "But
that probably has no effect."
"One new thing I heard here," Gil says, "is that pilots should pull up,
rather than descend, because birds naturally dive."
By FAYE BOWERS, The Christian Science Monitor
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 00:09:52 -0700
From: Sean Thomas
To: ar-news@envirolink.com
Subject: ANIMAL ACTION SHAMES HEALTH CANADA
Message-ID: <33F946C0.6CD0@sympatico.ca>
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Monday, August 18- Researchers at the Frederick J. Banting Research
Center in Ottawa, Canada were met with a shame picket today as Animal
Action conducted another protest at the Health Canada primate facility.
Over the weekend the animal rights group learned of a huge sale of 500
monkeys to private institutions across Canada. This was in conflict
with reports from Animal Resource Division Director, Pierre Thibert's
claims that "barely any" monkeys had ever been sold. The sale took
place over the past year.
To mark the release of the information an activist dressed as a
researcher was forced to carry a placard explaining his crime by two
primate prison escapees. The monkey prisoners then condemned the
researcher to the same fate that most monkeys in Health Canada face; a
life of imprisonment. The researcher was thrown into a cage and loced
inside for the rest of the action.
To give a face to the countless monkeys sold to face certain death, a
chain of 500 pictures of caged macaques was attached across the front of
the building. The building was also covered in chalk slogans.
The sale of the 500 illustrates what Animal Action fears the most;
that the monkeys will be sold off in secrecy.
PLEASE KEEP THE PRESSURE ON HEALTH CANADA TO RETIRE ALL OF ITS
MONKEYS
Sean Thomas
Co-Director, Animal Action
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 21:32:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] ICN Corporate Sponsors
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970818213231.099ff6cc@dowco.com>
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VANCOUVER, BC - Vancouver recently hosted the 21st Quadrennial Congress of
the International Council of Nurses.
Corporate sponsorship of the event was listed in the latest edition of The
Candian Nurse/L'Infirmiere Canadiene, published by the Canadian Nurses
Association, was listed as follows:
Gold Sponsors
The Johson & Johson family of companies
Johnson & Johnson Medical Products
Johnson & Johnson Inc.
McNeil Consumer Products Company
Janssen-Otho Inc.
Silver Sponsors
Apotex Inc. (Canadian generic drug company)
Glaxo Wellcome
'Modern Woman'
Bronze Sponsors
Astra Canada
Becton Dicinson Canada Inc.
Novopharm Limited
Pfizer Canada Inc.
Proctor & Gamble Inc.
SmithKline Beecham Pharma Inc.
Wyeth-Ayerst Canada Inc.
Ministry of Health - British Columbia
Other Sponsors
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Hoechst Marion Roussel
Hyal Pharmacutical Corporation
Midland Walwyn
Hoffman-Laroche Ltd
Medical Research Council of Canada
National Tilden
Special ICN Sponsors
3M Health Care
Regent Medical
The delegates did pass a resolution about cloning and reproduction, which reads:
"Be it resolved that the ICN should take the initiative, in consultation
with other international organizations concerned, to clarify and assess the
ethical implications of cloning for human health and that its findings
should be reflected in the Code of Ethics.
Further be it resolved that the ICN should report to the Council of National
Representatives at its next meeting in 1999."
A planned visit to a rodeo was cancelled. (I did write a letter of protest
about taking a group of so-called "caring" professionals to see an event
made possible by the infliction of pain in other animals, but I am, of
course, unconvinced that these two things were connected.)
The ICN is made up of national nursing organizations and currently has 119
member countries.
David J Knowles
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 21:31:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [CA] Future red hot for meat-free products
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970818213227.099fc2ae@dowco.com>
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>From The Vancouver Sun - Monday, August 18th, 1997
By Petti Fong
Sun Business Reporter
Soy to the world.
After 12 years of hawking hot dogs made from vegetables and soy-protein, and
other meat-like foods such as pepperoni, Yves Potvin is planning to sell his
products to an international audience.
"We are in a business that's growing every year," said Potvin, a fromer
chef, who is not vegetarian. "Our American market is 50 per cent of our
sales now, and it's growing at 80 per cent a year. That's where our growth
potential is."
The meat-substitutes category in the U.S. is growing at a double-digit rate
and annual sales are in the $200-million to $250-million range.
Yves Veggie Cuisine ranks in the top five for the American market and first
in Canada.
A new plant on Annacis Island positions the company to meet the demand,
which Potvin said, is growing at 30 - 35 per cent each year.
Potvin, who founded the firm in 1985, has hired a team of executives to take
over the running the business, so he can concentrate on long-term plans.
The company is already moving into the European market, and will target the
Asian market in two or three years.
"In the Asian market, they love meatballs and pork. In the Japanese market,
they eat a lot of beef patties. The question is to find out what each
country likes and figure out a product. Every country has a dish in which
they use ground meat, ground lamb."
The company is also developing a breakfast sausage and expanding into
entrees such as chili and soups, along with a kosher line. It also plans to
start food service for restaurants, hospitals and airlines.
"We are probably touching five to 10 per cent of the market now. We could
have 40 per cent, if we adapt."
With offices in San Francisco, North Carolina, Toronto and one in London,
England, Potvin said expansion could result in the company going public.
While Potvin doesn't want to reveal sales figures, analysts predict they're
well over $10 million a year.
"I'm a 100-per-cent owner of a company and that'e tough to maintain. Our
company is very capital intensive, therefore you need a lot of cash."
A friend in a similar business in the states went public and was no longer
allowed to manage the company, said Potvin.
"I wouldn't want to go from becoming the CEO to a promoter," he said. "I
wouldn't want to have to have director saying you're not good enough to run
this company any more."
Potvin said he may put Yves Veggie Cuisine on the public market if he
decides to undertake major expenditures, such as buying company refrigerated
units for supermarkets to place the products. That move will cost about $10
million, he says.
>From a competive point of view, Potvin siad he's wary that going public
would reveal the company's expansion plans.
Despite the company's success, Potvin said he had trouble raising the money
for the $5.5 million plant in Delta's Annacis Island.
"It was very humbling to be a succesful business, then do a dog and pony
show in front of the banks."
The Bank of Nova Scotia planned to finance the whole project, but decided at
the head-office level to provide only partial funding. Eventually, Potvin
found the rest, through the help of a broker, from a pension fund.
"I went everywhere to get the financing. We even had the Bank of Italy. The
banker gave me his word. When it went to Toronto, the board rejected the
loan. They said: ' we're not going to invest $4 million in a fake wiener
factory.'"
Hot dogs continue to be the company's biggest sellers, and the plant
produces between 150,000 to 175,000 hot dogs and 16,000 kilograms of food
each day.
Vancouver health-food broker Michael Thoedor said at the rate Yves is
growing, he expects the company to go public within the next 25 months.
"There's good growth potential here. In the U.S., if your product is found
in a big supermarket in a big urban market, you've hit a home run. Yves hit
a home run with this line."
If European expansion is popular, Theodor said another production or packing
facillity overseas may open.
The company is successful, he said, because it reinvented the wheel by
replicating meat.
"There was hot dog. Now you have a tofu hot dog. You have a burger, now you
have a garden burger. Ice cream becomes rice cream. That's how the
health-food industry grew, by replicating existing successes."
There are no Canadian statistics to determine who has what market share,
said Serge Lavoie, the director of the Ottawa-based Canadian Health Food
Association.
"But there'e no doubt, that increasingly, you can get Yves burgers just
about everywhere at the same price as all the others. They're the ones with
the high profile. They're in the mass market."
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 21:32:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Fwd: BP Tries to Bankrupt Greenpeace
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970818213247.099ff05e@dowco.com>
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>From Greenbase - Greenpeace Press Release Server
BP TRIES TO BANKRUPT GREENPEACE
UK, August 18, 1997 - BP has issued a summons for over a million pounds
against Greenpeace and four named campaigners, over the campaign to prevent
climate change on the Atlantic Frontier.
A "schedule of arrestment" issued in a Edinburgh Court of Sessions today
says that BP seeks the sum of "one million four hundred thousand pounds"
from Greenpeace Limited, Sarah Burton, Chris Rose, Liz Pratt and Jon Castle,
and "all moveable things in your hands belonging or pertaining" to them.
The "schedule" is addressed to Greenpeace's bank, the Co-Op, via a branch in
Scotland. A Hearing applying for an interim interdict against the company
and the four, is due in Edinburgh Court of Sessions, tomorrow morning on 19
August.
Chris Rose, one of the named and Deputy Executive Director of Greenpeace UK,
says "BP made stlg1.5 billion profit in its first six months of the year -
it makes more in profit in 48 hours than Greenpeace receives in income in a
year. BP is trying to use its financial and legal muscle to crush defence
of the environment. BP may try to take away our money and our supporters
money - but that will not make BP right, and it will not resolve them of
responsibility for their role in global environmental pollution. BP is
leading the world the wrong direction by opening up fossil fuels that the
climate cannot sustain - but it would rather close down Greenpeace than
change direction and invest in solar power. Greenpeace appeals to the public
for its support.".
With the Government, BP is among 21 oil companies opposing Greenpeace in the
High Court over the lack of protection for the environment in the Atlantic
Frontier oil field. A hearing on leave for a Judicial Review sought by
Greenpeace is due in the London High Court 23/4 September.
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 21:32:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [US] Fwd: Seattle:Blockade of Factory Trawler Ends
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970818213249.099f88b6@dowco.com>
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>From Greenbase - Greenpeace press release server
GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS END BLOCKADE OF FACTORY TRAWLERS
Climbers Begin Long Ascent After 45 Hours on the Aurora Bridge
Seattle, WA, August 18, 1997 (GP) - Seven Greenpeace activists have decided
that they stayed as long as they safely can on the Aurora Bridge in their
bid to blockade factory trawlers in Lake Union. All the climbers agreed
that their protest has been an unqualified success. After making good on
their promise yesterday to rappel down and block any factory trawler that
would try to leave the lake by successfully blocking the Elizabeth Ann, no
other factory trawler has attempted to run the blockade.
"We've done more in the last two days and nights to stop overfishing in the
North Pacific and protect the Steller sea lion than the Fisheries Service
has done in the last 5 years," said Katie Flynn-Jambeck, one of the
Greenpeace climbers.
"These vessels catch hundreds of thousands of tons of pollock in direct
competition with declining populations of sea birds and marine mammals like
the Steller sea lion - this cannot be allowed to continue," said Greenpeace
campaigner Dave Batker. "We will continue to take this campaign directly to
the factory trawlers at the next meeting of the North Pacific Fishery
Management Council", he added. The NPFMC is scheduled to meet here in
Seattle beginning on September 22.
The Steller sea lions were declared endangered under the Endangered Species
Act in May, 1997. Scientists cite reduction in food availability due to
fishing as the most likely cause of the decline. However, no reduction in
fishing in Steller sea lion critical foraging habitat has been enacted by
the NPFMC or the Fisheries Service to help them recover. The catch of
pollock in Steller sea lion critical habitat has actually increased from
200,000 metric tons a year in the late 1970's, to over 800,000 metric tons a
year in 1995.
Many sea bird and marine mammal species that depend on pollock for food have
declined since the 1970s when industrial fishing vessels came to Alaska.
These include seabirds such as red and black-legged kittiwakes and common
and thick-billed murres, as well as marine mammals such as northern fur
seals and harbor seals.
A bill recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives banning factory
trawlers from the
East Coast herring and mackerel fisheries because of their destructive
potential. A companion bill was recently introduced in the U.S. Senate.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 02:00:25 -0400
From: Mesia Quartano
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Duck Hunting
Message-ID: <33F93679.6168@usa.net>
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Duck Hunting:
With breeding duck populations the highest on record, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has proposed expanding season lengths and bag limits
for the 1997-98 duck hunting season. The service also proposed to
continue the popular "Youth Waterfowl Hunting Day" for a second year to
encourage parents and other adults to take children hunting. Forty
states held the youth day last year. The service is predicting a fall
migration of 92 million ducks, topping last year's 90 million and the
highest on record since 1970. The service's breeding duck survey counted
42.6 million breeding ducks in key nesting areas, the highest level
since the survey began in 1955.
Contact Hugh Vickery, USFWS, (202)208-5634.
-------------------------------------------------
From: Environmental News Network, Copyright 1997
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 16:23:05 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Racing camels in Europe
Message-ID: <199708190823.QAA01099@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>South China Morning Post
Tuesday August 19 1997
Racing camels light up crowd in hilarious first for
Europe
DEUTSCHE PRESSE AGENTUR in Berlin
Whether it was the summer heat, the grass as opposed to sand, or the
42,000-strong crowd, Europe's first camel race, held at the Hoppegarten
racecourse near Berlin, certainly triggered surprises.
Some of the camels ran in the wrong direction, others pulled up or would not
budge from the starting line, two threw their jockeys in a tantrum and
three more decided it was more pleasant to chew grass than participate
in races.
The timetable fell hopelessly behind schedule, as Arab trainers dashed
about the course on Sunday trying to capture wayward camels.
But the huge crowd remained good-humoured. Up in the VIP stand,
Germany's Economics Minister, Guenter Rexrodt, was seen roaring with
laughter. "A delightful afternoon's entertainment and relaxation," he
said. "I'm so pleased I brought my family along."
Sheik Falah bin Zaid, son of the United Arab Emirates President, looked
on with a bemused smile. "I wish everyone a splendid afternoon's
entertainment," he had said shyly in a brief opening speech.
Between races, there were Arab food stalls, belly-dancing in Bedouin
tents and Middle Eastern music.
The big race of the meeting was for the Sheik Zayed Cup. This was the
final race staged in the late afternoon, and was won by Alf Vajewski on
Wobran, a star camel, which won five out of its six events.
Most of the winning jockeys were teenage girls from the Black Forest
who had been flown to Abu Dhabi for three weeks of intensive training in
the desert.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 02:00:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Man jailed for microwaving kitten
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970819020039.095f34fa@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 19th, 1997
Man jailed for microwaving kitten
By Nigel Bunyan
A PARTY guest microwaved a woman's kitten after she rebuffed his attempts to
make a pass at her.
Brendan Blennerhassett, 24, carried out the attack within hours of meeting
Vicky Allen, 20. The 12-week-old kitten, called Jasper, took 10 minutes to
die once it had been rescued from the microwave.
Blennerhassett, of Luton, Beds, was jailed for the maximum six months for
causing cruelty to an animal. Ann Morris, chairman of the bench at
Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, told him: "The torture and death of a
much-loved and defenceless kitten is a thoroughly despicable offence. It was
an inhumane act which can only be dealt with by a term of
imprisonment."
Lawyers for Blennerhassett, who denied the charge, lodged an appeal. The
magistrates turned down a bail application that would have set him free.
Blennerhassett said he had not
seen a cat at the party and suggested that one of his friends might have
carried out the attack.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 02:00:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [SP] Parents to sue over puma attack on girls
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970819020124.095f76b0@dowco.com>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 19th, 1997
Parents to sue over puma attack on girls
By Tim Brown in Madrid
TWO families began legal action against the owner of a puma which they claim
attacked their daughters outside a hotel in Majorca.
Kirsty McQueen, seven, and her friend, Jade Taggart, six, were pinned to the
ground by the animal outside the Lagoon Centre hotel in Puerto de Alcudia,
the girls' parents said.
Jade's father, Terrance Taggart, 41, from Ward End, Birmingham, said the
puma belonged to a man who lived near the hotel. He said he saw the puma off
its leash, fighting a dog in the yard, when he went for a walk on Saturday
evening with eight other tourists, including four
children.
"Suddenly we heard a scream," he said. "We ran up and found the puma had the
two youngest children pinned on the floor. I kicked him in the head but he
hardly flinched. We
got the children and ran inside the hotel."
Mr Taggart and Kirsty's father, Andrew McQueen, 31, from Hodge End,
Birmingham, lodged complaints with the Civil Guard. A spokesman said an
investigation had begun. But he
said the animal was harmless.
The manager of the Lagoon Centre hotel, where the families were staying,
denied that the puma had attacked anyone or tried to get into the hotel.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 02:01:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [India] Monkey business fills Punjab jail
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970819020158.095f9cb8@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 19th, 1997
Monkey business fills Punjab jail
By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi
MONKEYS that harass people in the northern Indian state of Punjab are being
jailed until declared fit for release back into society.
One inmate at a correctional facility for monkeys in Patiala, 200 miles
north of Delhi, was "arrested" at Punjab Agricultural University at Ludhiana
more than a year ago for attacking students and is still held. It has been
reported that another pair, arrested in a Patiala neighbourhood for
snatching handbags and lunch boxes, are being considered for parole.
Wildlife officials running the monkey jail said they were inundated with
complaints about badmash, or ruffian, monkeys but did not have enough
manpower to make arrests. There are around 50,000 monkeys in Punjab, almost
all wild (and some, arguably, livid), with the largest number in Patiala
district. Numbers have increased since monkey exports were banned in the
late 1980s.
Led by the biggest and most vicious animals of the pack, monkey gangs stake
out fiefdoms in crowded neighbourhoods and terrorise the inhabitants.
Officials said several of the leaders had been maltreated by lorry drivers
who chained them to vehicles to act as guards and released them in populated
areas when they became violent.
Attempts to deal with the monkey menace anywhere in India are hampered by
the reverence with which they are treated by Hindus. Hindu religious
sentiment associates monkeys with Hanuman, the mythical monkey god who was
Lord Rama's fearless and loyal assistant in his battle against Ravana, the
evil god king of Lanka (modern Sri Lanka).
Monkeys also menace New Delhi's corridors of power and spread mayhem on the
campus of the nearby All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India's
flagship research institution. Officials walk warily down passageways in the
North and South blocks of the Indian government buildings, looking
apprehensively over their shoulders for fear of being set upon by marauding
monkeys concealed in niches in the Lutyens buildings.
At the All India Institute hospital, ward windows are kept locked against
gangs of monkeys, descended from a number of escapees from its laboratories
in the 1970s. Institute doctors said the animals chased doctors and nurses,
and patients in post-operative wards sometimes surfaced from anaesthesia to
be greeted by grinning monkeys in their beds.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 02:00:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Man jailed for microwaving kitten
Message-ID: <199708191154.HAA16066@envirolink.org>
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 19th, 1997
Man jailed for microwaving kitten
By Nigel Bunyan=20
A PARTY guest microwaved a woman's kitten after she rebuffed his attempts to
make a pass at her.
Brendan Blennerhassett, 24, carried out the attack within hours of meeting
Vicky Allen, 20. The 12-week-old kitten, called Jasper, took 10 minutes to
die once it had been rescued from the microwave.
Blennerhassett, of Luton, Beds, was jailed for the maximum six months for
causing cruelty to an animal. Ann Morris, chairman of the bench at
Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, told him: "The torture and death of a
much-loved and defenceless kitten is a thoroughly despicable offence. It was
an inhumane act which can only be dealt with by a term of
imprisonment."
Lawyers for Blennerhassett, who denied the charge, lodged an appeal. The
magistrates turned down a bail application that would have set him free.
Blennerhassett said he had not
seen a cat at the party and suggested that one of his friends might have
carried out the attack.
=A9 Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
[UK] Man jailed for microwaving kitten
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 02:00:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [SP] Parents to sue over puma attack on girls
Message-ID: <199708191154.HAA16091@envirolink.org>
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 19th, 1997
Parents to sue over puma attack on girls
By Tim Brown in Madrid=20
TWO families began legal action against the owner of a puma which they claim
attacked their daughters outside a hotel in Majorca.
Kirsty McQueen, seven, and her friend, Jade Taggart, six, were pinned to the
ground by the animal outside the Lagoon Centre hotel in Puerto de Alcudia,
the girls' parents said.
Jade's father, Terrance Taggart, 41, from Ward End, Birmingham, said the
puma belonged to a man who lived near the hotel. He said he saw the puma off
its leash, fighting a dog in the yard, when he went for a walk on Saturday
evening with eight other tourists, including four
children.
"Suddenly we heard a scream," he said. "We ran up and found the puma had the
two youngest children pinned on the floor. I kicked him in the head but he
hardly flinched. We
got the children and ran inside the hotel."
Mr Taggart and Kirsty's father, Andrew McQueen, 31, from Hodge End,
Birmingham, lodged complaints with the Civil Guard. A spokesman said an
investigation had begun. But he
said the animal was harmless.
The manager of the Lagoon Centre hotel, where the families were staying,
denied that the puma had attacked anyone or tried to get into the hotel.
=A9 Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
[SP] Parents to sue over puma attack on girls
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 02:01:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [India] Monkey business fills Punjab jail
Message-ID: <199708191154.HAA16098@envirolink.org>
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, August 19th, 1997
Monkey business fills Punjab jail
By Rahul Bedi in New Delhi=20
MONKEYS that harass people in the northern Indian state of Punjab are being
jailed until declared fit for release back into society.
One inmate at a correctional facility for monkeys in Patiala, 200 miles
north of Delhi, was "arrested" at Punjab Agricultural University at Ludhiana
more than a year ago for attacking students and is still held. It has been
reported that another pair, arrested in a Patiala neighbourhood for
snatching handbags and lunch boxes, are being considered for parole.=20
Wildlife officials running the monkey jail said they were inundated with
complaints about badmash, or ruffian, monkeys but did not have enough
manpower to make arrests. There are around 50,000 monkeys in Punjab, almost
all wild (and some, arguably, livid), with the largest number in Patiala
district. Numbers have increased since monkey exports were banned in the
late 1980s.
Led by the biggest and most vicious animals of the pack, monkey gangs stake
out fiefdoms in crowded neighbourhoods and terrorise the inhabitants.
Officials said several of the leaders had been maltreated by lorry drivers
who chained them to vehicles to act as guards and released them in populated
areas when they became violent.
Attempts to deal with the monkey menace anywhere in India are hampered by
the reverence with which they are treated by Hindus. Hindu religious
sentiment associates monkeys with Hanuman, the mythical monkey god who was
Lord Rama's fearless and loyal assistant in his battle against Ravana, the
evil god king of Lanka (modern Sri Lanka).
Monkeys also menace New Delhi's corridors of power and spread mayhem on the
campus of the nearby All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India's
flagship research institution. Officials walk warily down passageways in the
North and South blocks of the Indian government buildings, looking
apprehensively over their shoulders for fear of being set upon by marauding
monkeys concealed in niches in the Lutyens buildings.
At the All India Institute hospital, ward windows are kept locked against
gangs of monkeys, descended from a number of escapees from its laboratories
in the 1970s. Institute doctors said the animals chased doctors and nurses,
and patients in post-operative wards sometimes surfaced from anaesthesia to
be greeted by grinning monkeys in their beds.
=A9 Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
[India] Monkey business fills Punjab jail
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 09:18:44 -0300
From: Ty Savoy
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: More Aquariums
Message-ID: <1.5.4.32.19970819121844.006bb364@north.nsis.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Monday, August 18,
1997
The Halifax Herald
Limited
Canada's oldest aquarium eager to tackle new
projects
By IAN BAILEY / The Canadian Press
Vancouver - If John Nightingale could measure the happiness of his
killer whales, he would.
But the Vancouver Aquarium's executive director can't.
"There is no 'Happy Meter' or 'Contento Meter' you can hook up to a
whale," says Nightingale, 50.
So he doesn't dwell on whether the two whales in a pool at the
facility in Stanley Park are content in an area only a fraction the size of
the sea.
On a bright day, the whales swim in lazy circles before visitors to
Canada's oldest aquarium.
"I'm not sure what happy in the wild is," says Nightingale.
The fate of the Vancouver Aquarium's whales prompted a tough fight
last year with animal-rights activists.
The park board ended the debate, for now, by curbing the aquarium's
options for acquiring new whales.
In 1997, however, the head of one of North America's key aquariums
is more intent on projects beyond whales that include joint work with
Canada's newest aquariums - facilities in Newfoundland and Toronto.
"We're helping the folks in Newfoundland. We'd help the folks in
Toronto if they asked us," he says.
The looming aquarium rookies put a Canadian twist on a North
American aquarium boom that's included a $96 million renovation of Boston's
New England Aquarium, and a giant centre in Long Beach, Calif.
"Given the number of aquariums that have gone into the United States
in the last five years, it seems they are a highly desirable facility for a
city interested in tourism," says David Bank, past president of the Canadian
Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums.
Vancouver's aquarium, opened in 1956 and now operating non-profit
without direct government funding, seems to pay off for Vancouver.
Every year, it contributes about $80 million to Vancouver's economy.
Attendance was off slightly in 1996 - 849, 502 against an annual average of
866,364. But revenues were up - $10.3 million, compared with $9.8 million a
year before.
Nightingale, former head of Seattle's aquarium, is enthusiastic
about opportunities for joint work with the Newfoundland and Toronto
aquariums. Both are expected to open in 1999.
Nightingale has been a consultant to the Newfoundland project which
is affiliated with Memorial University and likely to be built just outside
St. John's.
Newfoundland's modest facility will be one-tenth the size of an $80
million project that Ripley Entertainment - manager of the Ripley's Believe
It or Not! franchise - plans for Toronto.
"Together we can do things that none of us have the financial or
staff resources to do separately," says Nightingale.
Nightingale is speaking of sharing data on science, marketing
strategies and trading exhibits.
Bank says Nightingale has a point.
"That's one of the strengths of the American institutions. They
(share) so you're not always having to re-invent the wheel," he says.
Estimates of the number of Canadian aquariums varies. Five pass
muster with Banks' association - two in Quebec, one in New Brunswick, the
site at the West Edmonton Mall, and Vancouver's. The latest census at
Vancouver's aquarium shows 56,928 animals. Fifty-thousand are creatures
without backbones like sea urchins and jellyfish.
The rest range from the near routine, like beluga whales and Pacific
salmon, to the utterly bizarre.
The Amazon section, for example, includes arapaima - 40-kg silvery
fish known for leaping from the Amazon River to snatch monkeys and birds
from trees.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 08:18:36 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Regulators Fine Egg Farm $1 Million
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819081833.00703760@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
environmental aspects of factory farming
from AP Wire page:
--------------------------------------
08/18/1997 23:36 EST
Regulators Fine Egg Farm $1 Million
By PAUL SOUHRADA
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Federal safety regulators on Monday proposed
fining the Midwest's largest producer of white eggs more than $1 million
for what they said were life-threatening conditions at one of its eggs
farms.
Employees at AgriGeneral Co. L.P.'s farm in Croton have high levels of
ammonia and dust in the air, drink water contaminated with insecticide
and bacteria from chicken manure and work around unsafe equipment, Emily
Sheketoff, deputy assistant director of the Occupational Safety & Health
Administration, said at news conference.
Among the alleged violations at the farm 30 miles east of Columbus: raw
sewage sitting inch-thick in basements, electrical hazards, and rodent
and insect infestation.
``These dangerous, unhealthy and unlawful conditions are common at
AgriGeneral,'' Ms. Sheketoff said.
An AgriGeneral official said the company was working to comply with OSHA
regulations.
``We have addressed all issues that have been raised, whether we agree
with them or not,'' Andy Hansen, executive vice president, said in a news
release.
The company, which produces about 4.5 million eggs daily, has sales
estimated at $85 million annually. It has an egg farm in northwestern
Ohio and three more under construction or in the planning stages.
AgriGeneral has 15 days to appeal the fines or pay them and submit a plan
for fixing the problems, Ms. Sheketoff said. If the company does not
comply with the order, it faces fines of up to 30 times the original
amount.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 08:20:59 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Butterfly Popularity on the Rise
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819082057.00703760@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
an unusual exploitation of animals
from Ap Wire page:
-----------------------------------
08/18/1997 03:07 EST
Butterfly Popularity on the Rise
By LYNYA FLOYD
Associated Press Writer
WILBRAHAM, Mass. (AP) -- Instead of a rain of white rice after the
wedding ceremony, it was a fragile fluttering of butterflies, their wings
beating orange and black.
``It was fabulous,'' said Diane Doherty of Longmeadow, who freed five
dozen monarchs at her daughter's wedding. ``It was the perfect link
between the religious ceremony and the festive celebration.''
And breeders say sales have soared recently, helped by news reports that
convey the fancy of butterflies taking flight.
``When it comes to one of the most important days of a person's life,
they're willing to spend a couple hundred dollars more,'' said Terry
Terbrush of The Monarchy, a family-owned business in Wilbraham.
Orange-and-black monarchs or yellow-and-black eastern tiger swallowtails
can add a touch of beauty and whimsy to weddings, birthdays, store
openings and other happy occasions. The symbolism of butterflies can even
comfort mourners at a funeral.
``In many societies, they thought that when you died, your soul became a
butterfly,'' said Rick Mikula, of Hole-In-Hand Butterfly Farm, in
Hazleton, Pa.
Mikula has bred, researched and taught about butterflies for nearly two
decades. His seminars have inspired others to start businesses.
For less than $100 a dozen, chrysalides -- the cocoons in which
caterpillars transform into butterflies -- can be shipped to classrooms
for students to hatch and release as an educational project.
For a bit more (it cost Doherty $500 for her daughter's wedding),
butterflies can be shipped overnight, arriving enclosed in envelopes that
participants can open, releasing the creatures into the air.
Jenny Woods, a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals, questioned the conditions in which the butterflies are
transported.
But butterfly growers said they take the utmost care in feeding and
packing the insects. The bugs often sleep while shipped.
``My No. 1 priority is the care of these delicate creatures,'' said
Bethany Homeyer, of Michael's Fluttering Wings in Swinney Switch, Texas.
She said she usually ships only to regions where the butterflies are
native, and in climates where they can survive.
Jon Timko, of Flutterbies in Newark, Del., said his butterflies have been
selling in droves in recent weeks. On the summer solstice in New York's
Central Park, 21 of his monarchs were released to celebrate the longest
day of the year.
``They're incredibly beautiful,'' said Bram Gunther, director of the
Urban Park Rangers. ``They all swooped into the air, and there was a
small cloud of butterflies.''
Some people like the feeling that they are returning butterflies to
nature. Others say it's a good replacement for throwing rice at weddings,
or they go for the mysticism.
When Homeyer ships her butterflies, an American Indian legend usually
goes along with them. One reads: ``To make a wish come true, whisper it
to a butterfly. Upon these wings it will be taken to heaven and granted,
for they are the messengers of the Great Spirit.''
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 08:25:51 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: WTO Panel: Beef Hormone Ban Illegal
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819082548.00700da8@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from AP Wire page:
-----------------------------------
08/18/1997 14:57 EST
WTO Panel: Beef Hormone Ban Illegal
By CURT ANDERSON
AP Farm Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A World Trade Organization panel issued a final report
Monday concluding that Europe's ban on hormone-treated beef is illegal.
While U.S. officials hailed the ruling as a key step in their lengthy
effort to get Europe to lift the ban, the European Union is still
expected to appeal to another WTO body. That could take another 60 to 90
days.
The WTO panel found that Europe's ban on six growth hormones in cattle is
an unfair restriction on trade because it has no scientific basis and
does not mesh with current international safety standards on beef.
``The WTO settlement panel has affirmed what we have known for over nine
years: that European consumers are being denied a high-quality and safe
product due to an import regulation that cannot stand up to the test of
good science,'' said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.
The 1989 EU ban has blocked an estimated $100 million annually in U.S.
beef exports from reaching Europe, officials said. The United States has
retaliated by raising duties on various products from Europe.
Hormones are widely used in the United States to promote growth in cattle
and to increase milk production in cows. The EU ban had cited health
concerns, but scientists have uniformly found that beef produced with
hormones is safe.
U.S. officials have long contended the ban's true purpose is to protect
the European beef industry from American exports and to level competition
within the EU itself.
U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said the EU was attempting
to ``justify trade barriers by thinly disguising them as health
measures'' and that the WTO panel was able to see through that.
``I am pleased that the panel affirmed the need for food safety measures
to be based on science, as they are in the United States,'' Barshefsky
said.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 08:34:00 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Bovine Growth Hormone: Mad Cow
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819083358.0070be1c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from private e-mail:
-------------------------------
rBST/rBGH smuggling still under dispute in Canada
It now appears that there is no way to know whether the allegations of
genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (technically called bovine
somatropin or rBST) being smuggled by farmers from the USA into Canada to
increase milk production in Canadian dairy herds are valid. In a domain
involving multi-billion dollar stakes world-wide, such as the dairy
industry, it is difficult to sort out what is truth and what is public
relations. Also, because of the availability of rBST in the USA, and the
extensive traffic through the USA border, it is impossible for Canadian
regulatory agencies to assess, let alone control, illegal importation of
rBST.
Officially, rBST has not been approved in Canada. Both the National Dairy
Council of Canada (the processing industry) and the Dairy Farmers of Canada
are strongly opposed to the introduction of rBGH at this time, due to
unresolved issues of safety and consumer concern. One important issue is
the claimed increased levels of insulin-like growth factor (a suspected
carcinogen) in milk of cows injected with rBGH. Another unresolved concern
is whether rBGH injections produce mastitis in cows.
..........................................................
Status of rBGH Approval in Canada
As far as rBGH approval in Canada, in media reports this past June,
evaluators at the Bureau of Veterinary Drugs in Health Canada stated that
management in their department were moving to get rBGH approved, without
providing the relevant evaluators with documentation on its human safety.
By law, before rBGH can be approved, evaluators in the Bureau need to
determine its safety. However, management had apparently been pushing for
rBGH approval, while hiding information from evaluators.
With continued concern from the public, scientific evaluators, the
processing industry, and the Dairy Farmers of Canada, the government may be
backing off. However, due to continued lobbying from the biotech industry
for approval of rBGH, continued pressure from the public and industry to
stop rBGH is needed.
..........................................................
Codex suspends rBGH decision
The international food standards body, the Codex Alimentarius Commission,
decided in June to suspend discussions on introducing rBGH on the world
market. The USA had put forward a proposal that would have supported global
rBGH approval. Technically, the US proposal stated that it was not
necessary to set any "Maximum Residue Levels" (MRL's) of rBGH allowed in
milk, or any "Acceptable Daily Intake" (ADI) levels of rBGH. In practical
terms,the proposal could have allowed industry to use as much rBST as they
wanted, and no one could complain.
However, due to concerns from many countries, the issue was put on hold for
at least 2 years, asking for more evaluation. While official Canadian
Codex representatives supported the USA position, concerns shared by
Canadian evaluators, industry, consumers, and farmers were used by Codex
members in deferring the introduction of rBGH.
_____________________________________________________________________________
article on Howard Lyman and Mad Cow Disease follows:
Food Fight, by Evan Halper
from In These Times (Chicago, Illinois) - August 11, 1997 (page 24-25)
Sidebar: Agribusiness is trying to use dubious new libel laws to control
the national debate on food safety.
In April 1996, as Britain was swept up in a national panic over mad cow
disease -- a sickness diagnosed in U.K. cattle that has been linked to a
handful of cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans -- Oprah Winfrey
devoted an episode of her widely popular show to the threat that the
disease posed to cows and people on this side of the Atlantic.
Winfrey is hardly known for her nuanced, dispassionate examination of the
issues of the day, and this episode was no exception. Howard Lyman of the
Humane Society's Eating With A Conscience campaign, one of Winfrey's
guests, argued that the U.S. beef industry's practice of feeding cows the
ground-up remains of other cows could lead to an outbreak of mad cow
disease in the United States. In fact, Lyman warned the show's millions of
viewers, the United States was heading toward a tragic epidemic.
"You said this disease could make AIDS look like the common cold?" Winfrey
gasped.
"Absolutely," said Lyman.
Gary Weber of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and William Hueston
of the Department of Agriculture argued that feeding rendered cows to other
cattle was perfectly safe, but Winfrey emphatically sided with Lyman. "It
has just stopped me cold from eating another hamburger," she said to
audience applause. "I'm stopped!"
Cattle prices plummeted the next day, and dropped 10 percent by the end of
May. Just days after the show aired, Texas Agricultural Commissioner Rick
Perry called for action under a year-old state law banning disparaging
remarks against perishable food. One of 13 states that have enacted
so-called "veggie-libel" laws, Texas allows growers and ranchers to sue
critics for damages suffered as a result of claims about agricultural
products not grounded in "reasonable and reliable scientific inquiry, facts
or data."
Texas' attorney general chose not to pursue the matter, but a group of
ranchers, led by Amarillo cattleman Paul Engler, filed suit privately in
June 1996. The ranchers charged that the show's "carefully and maliciously
edited statements were designed to hype ratings at the expense of the
American cattle industry."
The case marks the first and only suit to be filed to date under a
food-disparagement law. Proponents of these laws argue that the public
needs to be protected from mavericks who make outrageous claims about the
dangers of modern food technologies. "Part of the incentive is to, at
least, get someone to think twice before making an accusation," says Steve
Kopperud, vice president of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA).
"The producer community and others have grown increasingly concerned by
food scares that hit the media through activists with the price of an ad in
a major publication."
Critics, however, assert that food-disparagement laws tip the scales too
far in favor of the food industry and do significant harm to free speech
rights. They are also concerned that the laws will make it harder for those
outside the scientific establishment to question products and practices
that they consider unsafe.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 08:46:30 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Companies can say 'NO' to GE on labels
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819084627.006d42e0@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
from private e-mail:
-----------------------------
Dear Pure Food People,
US icecream company Ben and Jerry's (1% for peace) have scored a major
victory for us all. They challenged the State of Illinois, to overturn
Monsanto-inspired laws that did not allow products to be labelled as free
of milk from cows treated with Bovine Growth Hormone, an injectible drug
produced by genetically engineered microbes. The case has been settled,
with agreement on a form of labelling which is less direct but enables food
buyers to choose.
Hopefully a lot of other food manufacturers around the world, including
Australia, will seize the opportunity to also fully inform their customers.
The Australia NZ Food Authority has always said counter-labelling would be
permitted, but those who plan to do it are under enormous pressure from the
rest of the industry to keep us in the dark.
To their great credit, despite the pressure, some Australian companies have
decided to label their gene bean-free products. But they need your support.
Please phone to get info on their products and spend your food dollars
wisely. They are:
Pureharvest 03 9579 3422
Aust Natural Foods 1 800 641 614
Simply Better Foods 03 9794 8766
Stay posted,
Bob
PS Leaflets are available for distribution now! Email your orders.
Media coverage of Ben and Jerry's win follows.
_____________________________________________________________________
Thursday, August 14, 1997
Legal Settlement Clears Way For National Anti-rBGH Label
Past Refusals by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago had Created
a National Ban on Labeling; Settlement Ends First
Amendment Lawsuit by Ben & Jerry's Homemade, The Organic Valley - Family of
Farms, Stonyfield Farm and Whole
Foods Market
South Burlington, VT --Manufacturers of ice cream, yogurt and other dairy
products who use milk and cream produced
without the controversial growth hormone rBGH can now say so on their labels.
Under the terms of an unprecedented legal settlement announced today, the
State of Illinois has agreed to permit such
voluntary labeling by natural food companies opposed to rBGH. Since 1994
Illinois has forbidden Ben & Jerry's, Organic
Valley and Stonyfield Farm from adding anti-rBGH labels to their products
and threatened to seize any such products that
were sold there.
Because Illinois represents such a large consumer market, the state's
actions had effectively stopped anti-rBGH labeling
throughout the country, since it is not feasible for nationally distributed
dairy products to be labeled differently in individual
markets. The City of Chicago, which had also told these companies they
could not sell products with anti-rBGH labels also
agreed to the settlement.
Ben & Jerry's, a Vermont based national manufacturer of all-natural
superpremium ice cream and frozen yogurt, initiated and
financed the suit. It was joined by Stonyfield Farm Inc., a manufacturer of
yogurt and ice cream products located in
Londonderry, New Hampshire; Whole Foods Market Inc., the nation's largest
chain of natural food supermarkets, based in
Austin, Texas; and Organic Valley, a farmers' cooperative based in La
Farge, Wisconsin that sells milk, cheese and butter
products.
The suit, which was filed in Federal court in May of 1996 against the State
of Illinois and the City of Chicago, charged that
their prohibition on voluntary anti-rBGH labeling was a violation of the
companies' First Amendment right to honestly
inform customers about the contents of their products amid a controversial
political issue. The agreement announced today
settles that lawsuit and allows the companies to proceed with anti-rBGH
labels.
"The use of bio-engineered growth hormones in dairy cows is inconsistent
with everything we stand for. This settlement is a
great victory for Ben & Jerry's, for our family farmers, and most of all,
for our customers" said Perry Odak, the CEO of Ben
and Jerry's Homemade Inc. who himself grew up on a dairy farm. Noting Ben &
Jerry's spent considerable resources to
resolve this suit Odak added: "We regret that the State of Illinois forced
us into a legal resolution of this matter. However, this
is a fundamentally important issue. Manufacturers should be able to tell
customers how their products are produced and
consumers should have a right to information that allows them to make an
informed choice."
"This win signifies a great step for freedom of speech, consumer rights and
the survival of family farms. Our dedication to
using pure, all natural ingredients and our fight against labeling bans
shows our commitment to supporting our customers
right to know about the food they eat," commented Gary Hirshberg, CEO of
Stonyfield Farm.
Alison Williams, Marketing Director of Whole Foods Market stated: "This
victory is not only significant for the natural foods
companies involved, but for the consumers as well. Our customers have been
concerned about the rBGH issue. As the
nations largest natural foods retailer, we are excited to offer them
products with informative labels that allow them to make
educated choices."
Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, known as rBGH, is a bioengineered
hormone that stimulates a cow's natural body
processes to "trick" it into producing more milk than it otherwise would.
The Food and Drug Administration's hearing on
rBGH in 1993 caused a national uproar. Opponents included public health
experts, consumer groups, environmental
organizations and family farmers.
Opponents argued that rBGH increased the risk that dairy cows would
contract a variety of diseases including mastitis (udder
infections), which would require increased amounts of antibiotics to treat,
and that rBGH threatens the survival of family
farms. It was also noted that the potential health effects on humans who
drink milk from rBGH treated cows have not been
fully resolved. Finally, rBGH is viewed as an unnecessary application of
food technology to boost production of a
commodity that is already in over-supply.
"The family farmers who make up The Organic Valley Family of Farms, are in
this business because we love cows. We
would not knowingly subject our animals to a drug with side effects that
could cause illness, death and create undue stress on
the animal. Utilizing any genetically engineered product is counter to what
we believe in here at Organic Valley," said George
Siemon the cooperative's CEO.
Despite objections, the FDA approved the use of rBGH in November 1993. The
agency did not require foods containing
rBGH to be so labeled, as in the case for irradiated foods, another
controversial technology. Instead it allowed voluntary
labeling.
A 1996 poll commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
performed by researchers at the Universities of
Wisconsin and Oregon showed that 94 percent of more that 1,900 respondents
surveyed nationwide favored labeling that
would allow consumers to distinguish between milk from cows treated with
rBGH and milk from untreated cows. Other
consumer surveys support this finding.
The FDA issued interim guidelines on voluntary labeling in February 1994
setting forth how labels could be worded so as to
be truthful, not misleading and in compliance with food and labeling law.
Most states followed those guidelines, but a
handful of states including Illinois refused to permit any anti-rBGH labeling.
Ben and Jerry's Odak said today he feels confident the label approved in
this settlement with the State of Illinois and the City
of Chicago addresses all legitimate concerns that could be raised by any
state. Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., Stonyfield
Farm and Organic Valley intend to start phasing in the agreed upon label
which says:
"We Oppose Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone. The family farmers who
supply our milk and cream
pledge not to treat their cows with rBGH. The FDA has said no
significant difference has been shown and
no test can now distinguish between milk from rBGH treated and
untreated cows."
Since some of Ben & Jerry's products include "chunks" that contain small
amounts of dairy ingredients those products will
include the further statement: "Not all the suppliers of our other
ingredients can promise that the milk they use comes from
untreated cows."
_________________________________________________________________________
LAW SUIT CLEARS WAY FOR "FREE FROM rBGH" LABELS
Score one for truth-in-food-labels
===============================
Thursday, August 14, 1997
Legal Settlement Clears Way For National Anti-rBGH Label
Past Refusals by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago had
Created a National Ban on Labeling; Settlement Ends First Amendment
Lawsuit by Ben & Jerry's Homemade, The Organic Valley - Family of
Farms, Stonyfield Farm and Whole Foods Market
South Burlington, VT --Manufacturers of ice cream, yogurt and other
dairy products who use milk and cream produced without the
controversial growth hormone rBGH can now say so on their labels.
Under the terms of an unprecedented legal settlement announced today,
the State of Illinois has agreed to permit such voluntary labeling by
natural food companies opposed to rBGH. Because Illinois represents
such a large consumer market, the state's actions had effectively
stopped anti-rBGH labeling throughout the country.
Ben & Jerry's, a Vermont based national manufacturer of all-natural
superpremium ice cream and frozen yogurt, initiated and financed the
suit. It was joined by Stonyfield Farm Inc., a manufacturer of yogurt
and ice cream products located in Londonderry, New Hampshire; Whole
Foods Market Inc., the nation's largest chain of natural food
supermarkets, based in Austin, Texas; and Organic Valley, a farmers'
cooperative based in La Farge, Wisconsin that sells milk, cheese and
butter products.
The suit, which was filed in Federal court in May of 1996 against the
State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, charged that their
prohibition on voluntary anti-rBGH labeling was a violation of the
companies' First Amendment right to honestly inform customers about
the contents of their products amid a controversial political issue.
The agreement announced today settles that lawsuit and allows the
companies to proceed with anti-rBGH labels.
"The use of bio-engineered growth hormones in dairy cows is
inconsistent with everything we stand for. This settlement is a great
victory for Ben & Jerry's, for our family farmers, and most of all,
for our customers" said Perry Odak, the CEO of Ben and Jerry's
Homemade Inc. who himself grew up on a dairy farm. Noting Ben &
Jerry's spent considerable resources to resolve this suit Odak added:
"We regret that the State of Illinois forced us into a legal
resolution of this matter. However, this is a fundamentally important
issue. Manufacturers should be able to tell customers how their
products are produced and consumers should have a right to information
that allows them to make an informed choice."
"The family farmers who make up The Organic Valley Family of Farms,
are in this business because we love cows. We would not knowingly
subject our animals to a drug with side effects that could cause
illness, death and create undue stress on the animal. Utilizing any
genetically engineered product is counter to what we believe in here
at Organic Valley," said George Siemon the cooperative's CEO.
___________________________________________________________________________
c The Associated Press Aug. 14, 1997
By CURT ANDERSON
WASHINGTON (AP) - Those pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream such as
Cherry Garcia or Chunky Monkey will soon sport labels designed
to appeal to shoppers worried about the use of artificial hormones
in dairy cows.
Although the government says the hormone known as RBGH is safe,
Ben & Jerry's labels now will declare that the farmers from whom it
buys milk have agreed not to use the genetically engineered
substance to increase milk output from their cows.
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. of Burlington, Vt., had wanted to
label its products ``RBGH free,'' but the company ran into trouble
with public health officials in the state of Illinois who said such
language was misleading and could imply there was something wrong
with milk from RBGH-treated cows.
Ben & Jerry's and organic food companies today announced
settlement of a lawsuit against the state in which the parties
agreed to compromise language that will include the statement: ``We
oppose recombinant bovine growth hormone. The family farmers who
supply our milk pledge not to treat their cows'' with the hormone.
The label also states that the FDA has found no significant
difference between milk from RBGH-treated and untreated cows.
National distribution of the anti-hormone labels had been held
up pending resolution of the suit.
Use of RBGH - recombinant bovine growth hormone - has caused
consternation among anti-biotechnology advocates since it was
introduced in 1994. But many dairy farmers viewed it as a means of
boosting milk production by as much as 10 percent.
RBGH is produced naturally in a cow's pituitary gland but can be
injected as a supplement to increase milk output. The hormone is
made by St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. and is now used in 25 percent
of the nation's dairy herd, company spokesman Gary Barton said.
The Food and Drug Administration certified RBGH, also called
RBST, as safe in February 1993, but Ben & Jerry's chief Perry Odak
said the company refuses to buy milk or cream from hormone-injected
cows for any of its products.
``It's both a business decision and part of our social
mission,'' Odak said. ``Consumers ought to be able to know what is
and is not in their products. Our product is all natural.''
Ben & Jerry's sued Illinois and the city of Chicago in May 1996.
Illinois agreed to settle the case because Ben & Jerry's decided
not to use the words ``RBGH free'' on its labels and also promised
to mention that some ingredients, such as milk chocolate, could
possibly come from cows treated with the hormone.
``There is no way to ensure that they do have RBGH-free milk.
That's why we had opposed it,'' said Tom Schafer, spokesman for the
Illinois Department of Public Health. The city of Chicago also had
agreed to the settlement, Schafer said.
The hormone's natural origins make it impossible to detect in
milk from treated cows. FDA says there is no difference in the
composition of milk from treated or untreated cows and that labels
must reflect that fact.
For that reason, Ben & Jerry's can only say on its labels that
farmers from whom it buys about 1.9 million gallons of cream and
1.5 million gallons of condensed skim milk each year have signed
pledges not to use RBGH on their cows.
Nevertheless, food companies like Ben & Jerry's that are
inclined toward the organic end of the market say use of anything
artificial is automatically suspect - Odak calls it ``unnatural and
unnecessary'' - to them.
``You're able to offer a product that is free from a very
questionable additive,'' said Allison Williams, spokeswoman for the
74-store Fresh Fields chain. ``Our customers feel very strongly
about RBGH.''
Fresh Fields' parent company, Whole Foods Market of Austin,
Texas, joined Ben & Jerry's in the lawsuit along with Stonyfield
Farm Inc. of New Hampshire and Organic Valley, a Wisconsin dairy
cooperative.
AP-NY-08-14-97 0901EDT
Copyright 1997 The Associated Press.
___________________________________________________________________________
Settlement Reached in Hormone Labeling Case
Ben and Jerry's, States Agree Food Makers Can Indicate Absence of Added
Product
By Beth Berselli
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 15, 1997; Page A22
The Washington Post
Connoisseurs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream won't have to wonder any longer
whether it's made from milk from cows treated with artificial growth
hormones.
A settlement announced yesterday between
the state of Illinois and a coalition of
organic food companies, including the
Vermont ice cream maker, means in the
future that one glance at the label on a
pint of Cherry Garcia or Chunky Monkey
will tell you whether its cows are hormone-free.
Under terms of the settlement,manufacturers of ice cream, yogurt and other
dairy products that don't use the controversial recombinant Bovine Growth
Hormone (rBGH) can say so on their labels. The decision is expected to
allow them to distribute these anti-hormone labels nationally, Ben &
Jerry's
Homemade Inc. officials said. Consumer
groups estimate that about 5 percent of
dairy farmers inject the hormone into some of their cows.
Illinois is one of four states -- as well
as Hawaii, Nevada and Okla homa -- that
have forbidden these labels. Illinois's
1994 decision to do so basically stopped
anti-rBGH labeling across the country
because it is not feasible for companies
such as Ben and Jerry's to label their
products differently for individual
markets. Dairies haven't typically run
into the same problem because their
products are mostly distributed locally;
several milk producers include
anti-hormone labels on their cartons.
In the settlement, the parties agreed on
compromise language for the new labels.
Ben & Jerry's originally wanted to say
their products were "rBGH free," but
Illinois officials protested that was
impossible to prove and it implied that milk
from treated cows was harmful.
The agreed-upon label reads:
"We oppose recombinant bovine growth hormone. The family farmers who supply
our milk and cream pledge not to treat their cows with rBGH. The FDA has
said no
significant difference has been shown and no test can now distinguish between
milk from rBGH treated and untreated cows."
Additionally, some of Ben & Jerry's
products include "chunks" -- like the
chocolate pieces in Cherry Garcia -- that
contain small amounts of dairy
ingredients. Their labels will include
the further statement:
"Not all the suppliers of our other ingredients can promise that
the milk they use comes from untreated cows."
Ben & Jerry's filed suit last year in
federal court against the state of Illinois and
the city of Chicago, charging that their
prohibition on voluntary anti-hormone
labeling violated the company's First
Amendment right to inform their
customers of their products' content.
Chicago officials also agreed to
yesterday's settlement.
Joining Ben & Jerry's in the suit were
Stonyfield Farm Inc., a New Hampshire
ice cream manufacturer; Whole Foods
Market Inc. of Austin; and Organic Valley
of La Farge, Wis., which sells milk,
cheese and butter products. Whole Foods
Market owns 10 Fresh Fields stores in the
Washington area.
"The use of artificial growth hormones in
dairy cows is inconsistent with
everything we stand for," said Perry
Odak, Ben & Jerry's chief executive.
"We're just pleased because now we can
tell our customers how the products
are made."
Sold by Monsanto Co. of St. Louis, rBGH
is produced in the cow's pituitary
gland but can be injected as a supplement
to increase milk production by as
much as 20 percent. It was approved by
the Food and Drug Administration in
1993 but has remained controversial as
consumers rights activists have
questioned its effects on cows and humans.
@CAPTION: Ben & Jerry's Web site says its
ice cream doesn't contain bovine
growth hormone ("a chemically-intensive .
. . food supply") and that it wants to
say so on its labels.
© Copyright 1997 The
Washington Post Company
____________________________________________________________________________
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 08:46:30 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Companies can say 'NO' to GE on labels
Message-ID: <199708191250.IAA21618@envirolink.org>
from private e-mail:
-----------------------------
Dear Pure Food People,
US icecream company Ben and Jerry's (1% for peace) have scored a major
victory for us all. They challenged the State of Illinois, to overturn
Monsanto-inspired laws that did not allow products to be labelled as free
of milk from cows treated with Bovine Growth Hormone, an injectible drug
produced by genetically engineered microbes. The case has been settled,
with agreement on a form of labelling which is less direct but enables food
buyers to choose.
Hopefully a lot of other food manufacturers around the world, including
Australia, will seize the opportunity to also fully inform their customers.
The Australia NZ Food Authority has always said counter-labelling would be
permitted, but those who plan to do it are under enormous pressure from the
rest of the industry to keep us in the dark.
To their great credit, despite the pressure, some Australian companies have
decided to label their gene bean-free products. But they need your support.
Please phone to get info on their products and spend your food dollars
wisely. They are:
Pureharvest 03 9579 3422
Aust Natural Foods 1 800 641 614
Simply Better Foods 03 9794 8766
Stay posted,
Bob
PS Leaflets are available for distribution now! Email your orders.
Media coverage of Ben and Jerry's win follows.
_____________________________________________________________________
Thursday, August 14, 1997
Legal Settlement Clears Way For National Anti-rBGH Label
Past Refusals by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago had Created
a National Ban on Labeling; Settlement Ends First
Amendment Lawsuit by Ben & Jerry's Homemade, The Organic Valley - Family of
Farms, Stonyfield Farm and Whole
Foods Market
South Burlington, VT --Manufacturers of ice cream, yogurt and other dairy
products who use milk and cream produced
without the controversial growth hormone rBGH can now say so on their labels.
Under the terms of an unprecedented legal settlement announced today, the
State of Illinois has agreed to permit such
voluntary labeling by natural food companies opposed to rBGH. Since 1994
Illinois has forbidden Ben & Jerry's, Organic
Valley and Stonyfield Farm from adding anti-rBGH labels to their products
and threatened to seize any such products that
were sold there.
Because Illinois represents such a large consumer market, the state's
actions had effectively stopped anti-rBGH labeling
throughout the country, since it is not feasible for nationally distributed
dairy products to be labeled differently in individual
markets. The City of Chicago, which had also told these companies they
could not sell products with anti-rBGH labels also
agreed to the settlement.
Ben & Jerry's, a Vermont based national manufacturer of all-natural
superpremium ice cream and frozen yogurt, initiated and
financed the suit. It was joined by Stonyfield Farm Inc., a manufacturer of
yogurt and ice cream products located in
Londonderry, New Hampshire; Whole Foods Market Inc., the nation's largest
chain of natural food supermarkets, based in
Austin, Texas; and Organic Valley, a farmers' cooperative based in La
Farge, Wisconsin that sells milk, cheese and butter
products.
The suit, which was filed in Federal court in May of 1996 against the State
of Illinois and the City of Chicago, charged that
their prohibition on voluntary anti-rBGH labeling was a violation of the
companies' First Amendment right to honestly
inform customers about the contents of their products amid a controversial
political issue. The agreement announced today
settles that lawsuit and allows the companies to proceed with anti-rBGH
labels.
"The use of bio-engineered growth hormones in dairy cows is inconsistent
with everything we stand for. This settlement is a
great victory for Ben & Jerry's, for our family farmers, and most of all,
for our customers" said Perry Odak, the CEO of Ben
and Jerry's Homemade Inc. who himself grew up on a dairy farm. Noting Ben &
Jerry's spent considerable resources to
resolve this suit Odak added: "We regret that the State of Illinois forced
us into a legal resolution of this matter. However, this
is a fundamentally important issue. Manufacturers should be able to tell
customers how their products are produced and
consumers should have a right to information that allows them to make an
informed choice."
"This win signifies a great step for freedom of speech, consumer rights and
the survival of family farms. Our dedication to
using pure, all natural ingredients and our fight against labeling bans
shows our commitment to supporting our customers
right to know about the food they eat," commented Gary Hirshberg, CEO of
Stonyfield Farm.
Alison Williams, Marketing Director of Whole Foods Market stated: "This
victory is not only significant for the natural foods
companies involved, but for the consumers as well. Our customers have been
concerned about the rBGH issue. As the
nations largest natural foods retailer, we are excited to offer them
products with informative labels that allow them to make
educated choices."
Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, known as rBGH, is a bioengineered
hormone that stimulates a cow's natural body
processes to "trick" it into producing more milk than it otherwise would.
The Food and Drug Administration's hearing on
rBGH in 1993 caused a national uproar. Opponents included public health
experts, consumer groups, environmental
organizations and family farmers.
Opponents argued that rBGH increased the risk that dairy cows would
contract a variety of diseases including mastitis (udder
infections), which would require increased amounts of antibiotics to treat,
and that rBGH threatens the survival of family
farms. It was also noted that the potential health effects on humans who
drink milk from rBGH treated cows have not been
fully resolved. Finally, rBGH is viewed as an unnecessary application of
food technology to boost production of a
commodity that is already in over-supply.
"The family farmers who make up The Organic Valley Family of Farms, are in
this business because we love cows. We
would not knowingly subject our animals to a drug with side effects that
could cause illness, death and create undue stress on
the animal. Utilizing any genetically engineered product is counter to what
we believe in here at Organic Valley," said George
Siemon the cooperative's CEO.
Despite objections, the FDA approved the use of rBGH in November 1993. The
agency did not require foods containing
rBGH to be so labeled, as in the case for irradiated foods, another
controversial technology. Instead it allowed voluntary
labeling.
A 1996 poll commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and
performed by researchers at the Universities of
Wisconsin and Oregon showed that 94 percent of more that 1,900 respondents
surveyed nationwide favored labeling that
would allow consumers to distinguish between milk from cows treated with
rBGH and milk from untreated cows. Other
consumer surveys support this finding.
The FDA issued interim guidelines on voluntary labeling in February 1994
setting forth how labels could be worded so as to
be truthful, not misleading and in compliance with food and labeling law.
Most states followed those guidelines, but a
handful of states including Illinois refused to permit any anti-rBGH labeling.
Ben and Jerry's Odak said today he feels confident the label approved in
this settlement with the State of Illinois and the City
of Chicago addresses all legitimate concerns that could be raised by any
state. Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., Stonyfield
Farm and Organic Valley intend to start phasing in the agreed upon label
which says:
"We Oppose Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone. The family farmers who
supply our milk and cream
pledge not to treat their cows with rBGH. The FDA has said no
significant difference has been shown and
no test can now distinguish between milk from rBGH treated and
untreated cows."
Since some of Ben & Jerry's products include "chunks" that contain small
amounts of dairy ingredients those products will
include the further statement: "Not all the suppliers of our other
ingredients can promise that the milk they use comes from
untreated cows."
_________________________________________________________________________
LAW SUIT CLEARS WAY FOR "FREE FROM rBGH" LABELS
Score one for truth-in-food-labels
===============================
Thursday, August 14, 1997
Legal Settlement Clears Way For National Anti-rBGH Label
Past Refusals by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago had
Created a National Ban on Labeling; Settlement Ends First Amendment
Lawsuit by Ben & Jerry's Homemade, The Organic Valley - Family of
Farms, Stonyfield Farm and Whole Foods Market
South Burlington, VT --Manufacturers of ice cream, yogurt and other
dairy products who use milk and cream produced without the
controversial growth hormone rBGH can now say so on their labels.
Under the terms of an unprecedented legal settlement announced today,
the State of Illinois has agreed to permit such voluntary labeling by
natural food companies opposed to rBGH. Because Illinois represents
such a large consumer market, the state's actions had effectively
stopped anti-rBGH labeling throughout the country.
Ben & Jerry's, a Vermont based national manufacturer of all-natural
superpremium ice cream and frozen yogurt, initiated and financed the
suit. It was joined by Stonyfield Farm Inc., a manufacturer of yogurt
and ice cream products located in Londonderry, New Hampshire; Whole
Foods Market Inc., the nation's largest chain of natural food
supermarkets, based in Austin, Texas; and Organic Valley, a farmers'
cooperative based in La Farge, Wisconsin that sells milk, cheese and
butter products.
The suit, which was filed in Federal court in May of 1996 against the
State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, charged that their
prohibition on voluntary anti-rBGH labeling was a violation of the
companies' First Amendment right to honestly inform customers about
the contents of their products amid a controversial political issue.
The agreement announced today settles that lawsuit and allows the
companies to proceed with anti-rBGH labels.
"The use of bio-engineered growth hormones in dairy cows is
inconsistent with everything we stand for. This settlement is a great
victory for Ben & Jerry's, for our family farmers, and most of all,
for our customers" said Perry Odak, the CEO of Ben and Jerry's
Homemade Inc. who himself grew up on a dairy farm. Noting Ben &
Jerry's spent considerable resources to resolve this suit Odak added:
"We regret that the State of Illinois forced us into a legal
resolution of this matter. However, this is a fundamentally important
issue. Manufacturers should be able to tell customers how their
products are produced and consumers should have a right to information
that allows them to make an informed choice."
"The family farmers who make up The Organic Valley Family of Farms,
are in this business because we love cows. We would not knowingly
subject our animals to a drug with side effects that could cause
illness, death and create undue stress on the animal. Utilizing any
genetically engineered product is counter to what we believe in here
at Organic Valley," said George Siemon the cooperative's CEO.
___________________________________________________________________________
c The Associated Press Aug. 14, 1997
By CURT ANDERSON
WASHINGTON (AP) - Those pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream such as
Cherry Garcia or Chunky Monkey will soon sport labels designed
to appeal to shoppers worried about the use of artificial hormones
in dairy cows.
Although the government says the hormone known as RBGH is safe,
Ben & Jerry's labels now will declare that the farmers from whom it
buys milk have agreed not to use the genetically engineered
substance to increase milk output from their cows.
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc. of Burlington, Vt., had wanted to
label its products ``RBGH free,'' but the company ran into trouble
with public health officials in the state of Illinois who said such
language was misleading and could imply there was something wrong
with milk from RBGH-treated cows.
Ben & Jerry's and organic food companies today announced
settlement of a lawsuit against the state in which the parties
agreed to compromise language that will include the statement: ``We
oppose recombinant bovine growth hormone. The family farmers who
supply our milk pledge not to treat their cows'' with the hormone.
The label also states that the FDA has found no significant
difference between milk from RBGH-treated and untreated cows.
National distribution of the anti-hormone labels had been held
up pending resolution of the suit.
Use of RBGH - recombinant bovine growth hormone - has caused
consternation among anti-biotechnology advocates since it was
introduced in 1994. But many dairy farmers viewed it as a means of
boosting milk production by as much as 10 percent.
RBGH is produced naturally in a cow's pituitary gland but can be
injected as a supplement to increase milk output. The hormone is
made by St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. and is now used in 25 percent
of the nation's dairy herd, company spokesman Gary Barton said.
The Food and Drug Administration certified RBGH, also called
RBST, as safe in February 1993, but Ben & Jerry's chief Perry Odak
said the company refuses to buy milk or cream from hormone-injected
cows for any of its products.
``It's both a business decision and part of our social
mission,'' Odak said. ``Consumers ought to be able to know what is
and is not in their products. Our product is all natural.''
Ben & Jerry's sued Illinois and the city of Chicago in May 1996.
Illinois agreed to settle the case because Ben & Jerry's decided
not to use the words ``RBGH free'' on its labels and also promised
to mention that some ingredients, such as milk chocolate, could
possibly come from cows treated with the hormone.
``There is no way to ensure that they do have RBGH-free milk.
That's why we had opposed it,'' said Tom Schafer, spokesman for the
Illinois Department of Public Health. The city of Chicago also had
agreed to the settlement, Schafer said.
The hormone's natural origins make it impossible to detect in
milk from treated cows. FDA says there is no difference in the
composition of milk from treated or untreated cows and that labels
must reflect that fact.
For that reason, Ben & Jerry's can only say on its labels that
farmers from whom it buys about 1.9 million gallons of cream and
1.5 million gallons of condensed skim milk each year have signed
pledges not to use RBGH on their cows.
Nevertheless, food companies like Ben & Jerry's that are
inclined toward the organic end of the market say use of anything
artificial is automatically suspect - Odak calls it ``unnatural and
unnecessary'' - to them.
``You're able to offer a product that is free from a very
questionable additive,'' said Allison Williams, spokeswoman for the
74-store Fresh Fields chain. ``Our customers feel very strongly
about RBGH.''
Fresh Fields' parent company, Whole Foods Market of Austin,
Texas, joined Ben & Jerry's in the lawsuit along with Stonyfield
Farm Inc. of New Hampshire and Organic Valley, a Wisconsin dairy
cooperative.
AP-NY-08-14-97 0901EDT
Copyright 1997 The Associated Press.
___________________________________________________________________________
Settlement Reached in Hormone Labeling Case
Ben and Jerry's, States Agree Food Makers Can Indicate Absence of Added
Product
By Beth Berselli
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 15, 1997; Page A22
The Washington Post
Connoisseurs of Ben & Jerry's ice cream won't have to wonder any longer
whether it's made from milk from cows treated with artificial growth
hormones.
A settlement announced yesterday between
the state of Illinois and a coalition of
organic food companies, including the
Vermont ice cream maker, means in the
future that one glance at the label on a
pint of Cherry Garcia or Chunky Monkey
will tell you whether its cows are hormone-free.
Under terms of the settlement,manufacturers of ice cream, yogurt and other
dairy products that don't use the controversial recombinant Bovine Growth
Hormone (rBGH) can say so on their labels. The decision is expected to
allow them to distribute these anti-hormone labels nationally, Ben &
Jerry's
Homemade Inc. officials said. Consumer
groups estimate that about 5 percent of
dairy farmers inject the hormone into some of their cows.
Illinois is one of four states -- as well
as Hawaii, Nevada and Okla homa -- that
have forbidden these labels. Illinois's
1994 decision to do so basically stopped
anti-rBGH labeling across the country
because it is not feasible for companies
such as Ben and Jerry's to label their
products differently for individual
markets. Dairies haven't typically run
into the same problem because their
products are mostly distributed locally;
several milk producers include
anti-hormone labels on their cartons.
In the settlement, the parties agreed on
compromise language for the new labels.
Ben & Jerry's originally wanted to say
their products were "rBGH free," but
Illinois officials protested that was
impossible to prove and it implied that milk
from treated cows was harmful.
The agreed-upon label reads:
"We oppose recombinant bovine growth hormone. The family farmers who supply
our milk and cream pledge not to treat their cows with rBGH. The FDA has
said no
significant difference has been shown and no test can now distinguish between
milk from rBGH treated and untreated cows."
Additionally, some of Ben & Jerry's
products include "chunks" -- like the
chocolate pieces in Cherry Garcia -- that
contain small amounts of dairy
ingredients. Their labels will include
the further statement:
"Not all the suppliers of our other ingredients can promise that
the milk they use comes from untreated cows."
Ben & Jerry's filed suit last year in
federal court against the state of Illinois and
the city of Chicago, charging that their
prohibition on voluntary anti-hormone
labeling violated the company's First
Amendment right to inform their
customers of their products' content.
Chicago officials also agreed to
yesterday's settlement.
Joining Ben & Jerry's in the suit were
Stonyfield Farm Inc., a New Hampshire
ice cream manufacturer; Whole Foods
Market Inc. of Austin; and Organic Valley
of La Farge, Wis., which sells milk,
cheese and butter products. Whole Foods
Market owns 10 Fresh Fields stores in the
Washington area.
"The use of artificial growth hormones in
dairy cows is inconsistent with
everything we stand for," said Perry
Odak, Ben & Jerry's chief executive.
"We're just pleased because now we can
tell our customers how the products
are made."
Sold by Monsanto Co. of St. Louis, rBGH
is produced in the cow's pituitary
gland but can be injected as a supplement
to increase milk production by as
much as 20 percent. It was approved by
the Food and Drug Administration in
1993 but has remained controversial as
consumers rights activists have
questioned its effects on cows and humans.
@CAPTION: Ben & Jerry's Web site says its
ice cream doesn't contain bovine
growth hormone ("a chemically-intensive .
. food supply") and that it wants to
say so on its labels.
=A9 Copyright 1997 The
Washington Post Company
____________________________________________________________________________
Companies can say 'NO' to GE on labels
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 08:57:12 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: EuropaBio: Plan to PR us into GE foods 2/2
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819085710.00711574@clark.net>
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from private e-mail:
-------------------------------------
LEAKED DOCUMENT ON EUROPABIO PR STRATEGY
PART 2 of the leaked PR strategy from Burson Marstellar
-------------------------------------------------------------
30. In summary then, we recommend :
Top of the chain (food and retail) :
Independent from suppliers (and each other)
Separation (choice) seen to be an option
Support/endorse regulators
Bottom of the chain:
Do not speak for the top of the chain
Defer to regulators
Do not be seen to fight separation
Concentrate region-wide on environmental benefits
Concentrate locally on economic benefits
Implementation
31. Focus of EuropaBio effort : the most urgent (and resource
intensive) task in our view is to organise the bottom-of-chain media
campaigns on environmental and economic benefits. Top-of-chain
communications may require less direct EuropaBio effort and
involvement 9althoug we stress their importance for the full
strategy).
32. Pan European strategy & individual Member State implementation :
The bottom-of-chain campaign needs to be conceived and planned in a
regional framework, but actual media campaigns (for both environmental
and economic benefits) will need to be tailored and conducted in
target countries. This "localisation" of the stories is crucial not
only to actually connect to consumers but also to overcome the
perception that US interests have co-opted an unwilling Europe. The
environmental and economic benefits need to be interpreted and
portrayed through story-telling in the national mand local context,
taking into account the cultural, historical and economic
characteristics which determine public perceptions on the agri-food
issue at those levels.
33. (For example, in Spain, the issue of water pollution is one of
very few environmental issues of concern to the majority of Spaniards.
Sensitivity on this issue is due in particular to historical water
shortages. Media campaigning in Spain on the desireability of crop
varieties requiring fewer pesticides can be effectively positioned to
exploit this perceived vulnerability. However, such a specific
positioning would be less relevant in Ireland, a country with an
abundant water supply.)
34. We see the following countries as first priority:
* France
* Germany
* Italy
* Spain
* U.K.
* Belgium
* The Netherlands
* Ireland
* Denmark
Second priority include:
* Austria
* Finland
* Sweden
* Portugal
* Greece
* Norway
* Switzerland
35. We propose that the campaign in the U.K. and Ireland be run three
to four weeks ahead of implementation in other countries, in order to
ensure that lessons learned can be applied elsewhere.
Start-up and operational approach
36. using the Burston-Marstellere bio-issues network, we need to
review the medoia coverage at regional and target-country level over
the last eighteen months - essentially to pinpoint key media outlets
and individuals. We will also need to review previous communications
efforts made by EuropaBio, SAGB, ESBNA, and individual members, and
individual members, in addressing public concern over agri-food
biotechnology.
37. We will also need to review with EuropaBio task force members the
list of forthcoming new agri-food sector applications, and to map them
for their potential interest profile by country and for Europe. (For
example, a genetically engineered Mediterranean crop would be dealt
with differently from a northern european cereal.)
38. Story opportunities can then be slected and developed for both
region-wide and local placement (keeping in mind that basic principles
for generating news value and managing media relations). This will
involve particularly indentifying both bio-industry and third party
spokespeople willing and able to contribute to the story.
39. Effort will then shift to actual media placement for potential
story. The mix will typically include a selection from trade press,
and local, regional and national media, including print, radio and
television.
A campaign plan
40. Hereunder we present a draft campaign plan to show how it would
run in practice :
Weeks 1-2 * Review of current jounralistic opinion in all markets
* Compile list of applications due into market place
in
the next 3
years
* Correlate with regions of use
Weeks 2-4 * Prompt media use ion trade press of relevant sector
* Prepare economic and environment case
* Tailor case to specific regions of use providing
local
news
hooks and personal story
Weeks 4-8 * Place story with local/regional radio and press
* Collate coverage in a package to demonstrate
"growing
interest around the country"
* Present national journalists with evidence of
interest
and fresh 'national' story * Introduce
link to international congress
* Maintain 'firefighting' capacity for instant
response
to critical stories in all markets
Weeks 8-12 * Stories now have life of own requiring managment rather
than prompting
* Integrate with preparations for congress
* Prepare schedule of all journalists providing postive
coverage
weeks 1-12 * Correlate speakers/experts at congress with
coverage * Prepare new follow-up story linking local story to
international congress
Weeks 12-16 * Seek local/regional coverage that has "taken off" on
issue and convert into national story
* Take national stories with cross border application and use in
other markets, having modified in the light of experience
* Ramp up reference to congress
Weeks 16-20 * Sell in congress to media
* 'Teaser' release to all radio, TV stations in
Europe
* Follow press release with sample local stories
and
description
of remote facilities to conduct interviews with key congress
experts
Weeks 20-22 * Arrange radio interview schedule
* Prepare standard TV shots of congress venue and
key
speakers
for distribution to TV channels for 'cut in'
with
local story
* Seek plots in 'specialist' programmes (farmers
programs,
science reviews, business news etc)
CONGRESS
Weeks 23-28 * Manage congress follow-up
* Provide guests from congress to prompt follow
up
stories in
national, regional media * respond where
appropriate to critical
coverage
* press release an "astonishing response to
congress"
including
tailored quotes eg., "Congress indicates huge
economic
growth potential of * Biotech in our area says
Mayor"
Weeks 28-30 * Collate total coverage for assessment
* Prepare draft plan for next six months with
EuropaBio
Fee structure and estimate
41. Fees for the time if B-M professionals would need to cover
involvement at the EuropaBio task force level and at the level of
individual country campaigns. Fee estimates cover the time involved in
the preparation, implementation and review of the agreed media
strategy and all necessary expenses, including travel.
42. Actual fees will depend largely on the number of the countries
targeted, as wel as the extent of the role of B-M core team
professionals would be expected to play at EuropaBio level and
in-country.
43. For fee estimation purposes, countries being targeted in the
campaign are divided into two levels; factors used to determine fee
level are market size, influence of media at both national and
international level and importance of market to success or failure of
bitoechnology in the agri-food business. We see the breakdown as
follows:
Central Co-ordinating budget $400 000
Category A $150 000 per country
UK/France/Germany/Italy
Category B $80 000 per country
Spain/Ireland/Belgium/Netherlands/Portugal/Greece/Switzerland/Sweden/D
enmark/ Finland/Austria
A COMMUNICATIONS INITIATIVE FOR THE JUNE CONGRESS
Objective
44. The practical objective of this initiative should be media
coverage of positive bioindustry stories before, during and after the
Congress, but not media attendance at or coverage of the Congress per
se.
45. In particular, EUROPABIO must at all costs avoid creating a
media-centred event which will automatically draw protesting
environmental groups to the Amsterdam venue. the result of that would
surely be considerable media coverage - but inevitably focussing on
the conflict surrounding biotechnology (the killing field). EuropaBio
will have set the table and Greenpeace will have eaten the lunch.
46. Moreover, assembling a large body of non-local media in Amsterdam
would entail logistical difficulties of no small scale, as well as
considerable added time and cost, with no guarantee of success.
Practical approach
47. Keeping in mind the common principles outlined in section II, our
practical recommendation is based on three factors :
+ Media attendance in Amsterdam is not necessary for coverage (and
as pointed out is dangerous and costly)
+ There is little pan-European media. Virtually all key targets (for
any EuropaBio communications initiative) will be national (although
we would seek coverage in the FT, Economist, Sky Television, CNN,
etc.), because national media are by far the most effective vehicle
for EuropaBio originated stories.
+ In the full B-m scenario, the agri-food campaign would already be
up and running.
48. Therefore :
+ Media coverage should not be about the congress per se. Rather,
preliminary work would focus on identifying bio-product and
bio-industry stories of national and local interest for target member
states, which also connect to one or more themes of the Congress -
which will be virtually any story selected.
+ Agri-food stories would presumably already be up and running by
June. Additional Conference-specific, story-based, communications
effort would then focus on the other EuropaBio sectors (health care,
industrial processing, environmental remediation), and also on key
horizontal issues (entrepreneurism, capital markets, global
competition, job creation and job market, educational opportunities,
BT & IT)
We foresee the need to develop a (vertical) x (horizontal) x
(location) story matrix in order to make certain that the proper
balance is struck in the selection of those selected for placement.
And as in the agri-food campaign all stories will need to be
thoroughly vetted for their accuracy and vulnerability to hostile
reaction.)
+ Stories would then be moved directly in-country to national and
local media with, however, arrangements being made for added
commentary on them by appropriate spokespeople from the congress,
using "down the lone" interview techniques concentrated on national
radio and TV. In this way, multiple member state coverage from the
Congress can be ensured without actually assembling a large media
presence in Amsterdam.
49. We believe the primary target media should be radio, for three
reasons :
+ The environment movement deliberately does not target the radio
+ because it is difficult to attract attention i.e., demonstrations
+ rarely get covered by the radio because they can't film them.
+ Additionally, the radio, by its very nature, is verbal and this
+ usually means considerably more cerebral than TV. the "packages"
+ given to any particular issue are much longer. Sometimes by a
+ multiple of 5 or 6 times. Which is precisely what we need.
+ There are far more listening hours than viewing hours right the way
+ across Europe. This often comes as a great surprise to people but it
+ is fact true. In other words we will get much broader coverage by
+ concentrating on radio than by concentrating on TV.
+ Although we do not want to concentrate media interest on the
+ Congress itself, the Congress creates an excellent news hook for the
+ stories we really want running "back home". Furthermore it should be
+ perfectly possible and manageable to schedule interviews with people
+ attending the congress with radio stations all over Europe, This has
+ three advantages : (1) the congress is referred to in all of the
+ stories that play (2) we control the choice of commentators
+ discussing the local story and the relevance of the Congress to it
+ (3) the Congress link emphasises the European dimension of the local
+ story and allows us to introduce the broader competitive issues in
+ all of those interviews.
50. A similar approach can be taken for TV, relying on the daily feed
to national networks of standard footage from the Congress, shot by
us, to supplement related national interest stories already placed to
run that evening or the following morning. Again this should generate
considerable simultaneous coverage across Europe, but without the
risks associated with the presence of live TV crews looking for
conflict.
51. Finally, print media can be dealt with in a similar fashion
(including down the line interviews), but we would not place strategic
emphasis on recruiting their interest. A basic information kit can be
distributed ahead of the event. Those who respond with interest can
then be serviced.
Fee structure and estimate
52. It is difficult at this point to judge the degree of
overlap/synergy in a scenario where the agri-food campaign and the
Congress campaign run together through July (and where both involve
Burson-Marsteller). Nevertheless, at this stage we offer the following
estimate for the Congress approach described above, as a stand-alone.
Central coordinating budget $100 000
Category A countries $40 000
Category B countries $20 000
53. The lower estimates for the Congress results from the differing
intensity of the two initiatives : Congress work targets a period of
media coverage of roughly a week, with preliminary work building
toward that objective; the 6-month agri-food campaign seeks to
catalyse rapid and sustained communication over a large portion of
Europe over several months.
V. A LONG-TERM EUROPABIO COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMME
Relationship between the three proposed initiatives
54. Assuming both the rapid start-up of the agri-food campaign
proposed in Section III and implementation of the Congress-linked
initiative proposed in Section IV, and further assuming that each is
predicated on the common principles laid out in Section I, the two
shorter term initiatives should lay a strong operational and
experimental foundation for building a sustained, long-term
communications programme.
55. We therefore strongly recommend that the twin initiatives leading
up to and through Congress be considered together also as "Phase I" of
the longer term programme. (The two running together may in any event
be anticipated to consume all available resources through until the
end of July 1997.)
Core components of long-term capability
56. This being in our view the sensible way to view the immediate
future, the important question for the longer-term is what the core
components of EuropaBio's longer-term communications capability should
be. Moreover, despite the fact that we are now thinking about the
longer term, some consensus on the answer to this question from the
outset of the two shorter-term start-up initiatives will help channel
those "Phase I" efforts muxh more deliberately toward laying the
longer-term foundations. In short, we need to know where we intend to
go from the beginning.
57. B-M have deep and wide relevant experience in the creation of
sustained industry-initiated Europe-wide public affairs communications
programmes. The first lesson we recommend to EuropaBio is simply that
success requires significant commitment. The costs of true campaigning
look high, but the magnitude of the potential payoffs are a multiple
of the investment. In one highly relevant case from our experience,
the public and market perceptions of the environmental liabilities of
a particular prodct - fanned by concerted Greenpeace campaigning - had
put it on a death-watch list in Europe. A three-year campaign funded
by an alliance of competitors and upstream suppliers turned that
perception around, to the point where today the product is widely seen
as part of the environmental solution.
58. Beyond commitment, we strongly recommend the development of the
following core components:
a. A fully-functioning communications strategy group within EuropaBio,
and the operational resources necessary to go from strategy to
effective action.
b. A hub-and-spoke network built around the strategy group and funded
centrally but with the authority to allocate its resources to national
level as a function of central strategy and decision-making.
c. Internally "neutral" operational leaders/spokespeople for the
organisation both at the hub and in-country. At the EuropaBio hub,
this role is by definition filled by the Secretary General.
In-country, the assignment of this role may be less obvious (although
National Association heads may be the obvious choice where present).
This role can be effectively filled by the outside partner agency, as
B-M has done in many different campaigns.
d. An institutionalised public attitudes research programme, to run
at standard intervals.
e. A well-organised media service centre, ideally able to connect and
communicate at national level on the basis of assets and tools run at
the hub. The hub operation can be in-sourced or out-sourced
(irrespective of where it is physically established).
f. The hub operation will normally oversee the development and
day-to-day running of whatever common information and media-relations
tools are created. these may include : periodical publications of
EuropaBio; a EuropaBio website ; a Bio-industries database ; creation
and dissemination of EuropaBio press communications ; central
management of media contact lists ; periodic (ideally daily) media
monitoring (perhaps off the back of members' existing capabilities ' a
number of different models for this capability can be looked at).
The B-M role
59. The primary value of B-M over the longer term will be at the
level of the central strategy group. the basic nature of the
responsibility of this group will be ehat we at B-M call "perceptions
management". This needs to be seen as a senior management discipline
just like marketing management or financial management. And just as
marketing managers typically partner with advertising firms, or
financial managers with particular financial service providers, so
perceptions managers benefit from the skills and experience available
through sustained management with Burson-Marsteller.
60. Beyond the core relationship at the strategy and planning level,
the assignment of any specific tasks to B-M professionals (or other
third party suppliers) would depend entirely on the work to be done
and agreement that B-M are the best choice for doing it.
NOTES:
1. (For a compelling view on the socio-pathology of public outrage, we
recommend the work of Peter Sandman, the world's leading academic
authority on its causes and how to deal with it. Peter also
consultants public and private entities confronted with such
difficulties, and was notably involved in the defusion of the Brent
Spar crisis. Members of the B-M team have on occasion collaborated
with him.)
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
The Guardian August 6, 1997
STAY QUIET ON RISKS OF GENE-ALTERED FOOD, INDUSTRY TOLD
Danny Penman
EUROPE'S biotechnology industry has been warned not to discuss the
safety of genetically engineered food and the risks it poses to the
environment, according to a leaked document seen by the Guardian.
EuropaBio, which represents the interests of the industry, received the
advice from Burson Marsteller, leading worldwide crisis management
consultants.
Burson Marsteller, which represented Babcock and Wilcox during the Three
Mile Island nuclear crisis in the US in 1979, has been brought in to try
to improve the image of the biotechnology industry.
The company also represented Union Carbide after the Bhopal disaster in
India, which killed up to 15,000 people, and it helped to manage public
relations during the mad cow disease crisis. It has also advised oppressive
regimes in Indonesia, Argentina and South Korea.
According to the leaked document, Burson Marsteller has drawn up plans for
a multi-million pound campaign "to change perceptions" of genetic
engineering, biotechnology, food and environmental safety across Europe.
The company says it cannot hope to win the arguments over the risks posed
by genetically modified food, including environmental dangers.
Instead of discussing these issues, Burson Marsteller advises the industry
to focus on "symbols, not logic" - symbols that elicit "hope, satisfaction,
caring and self-esteem".
It has also drawn up plans to monitor the activities of journalists and
publications so that it can target sympathetic outlets for these "consumer
interest" stories. It suggests that the industry should become a "reliable"
source of information for journalists.
Commenting on the leaked document, Peter Linton, the company's spokesman,
said the industry had behaved in the past "like an axe murderer with
something to hide". The campaign was intended to shed that image. "I
think the industry thought it had good news, that it had less noxious and
polluting ways of controlling bugs and weeds. Then it discovered to its
horror that its products were viewed as contaminated food. "Now it has
learned that if a product benefits the consumer that fact has to be
communicated to the consumer. That is what this document was designed to
do."
In the document, Burson Marsteller suggests that the biotechnology
industry has little credibility in the eyes of the public. Therefore, the
best way of eliciting a favourable consumer response to new products must
be to use regulators and food producers to reassure the public. The
document states: "Where safety is concerned there is no substitute for
credible public regulators. It thus must become a strategic objective of
this campaign to help build that credibility."
Food companies will also be vital to the industry's campaign, despite the
battle they have fought against labelling of genetically engineered food.
Consumer organisations and food companies have demanded labelling.
Recently, the European Commission decided that all genetically modified
foods should be clearly identifiable. Now Burson Marsteller hopes to turn
this apparent setback to the industry's advantage. Environmental
groups have dismissed the strategy as "cynical and manipulative".
Doug Parr, spokesman for Greenpeace, said: "We do not understand why they
don't accept public opinion rather than trying to change it. The nuclear
industry spent millions trying to change public opinion and got nowhere.
"They don't seem to realise that the industry's bad image comes from what
they do rather than from bad public relations."
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 09:07:43 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: EuropaBio: Plan to PR us into GE foods 1/2
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819090741.0070cf14@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from private e-mail:
-------------------------------
Dear Friends,
The following document, leaked in Europe, proposes a disinformation
strategy to overwhelm public opposition to GE foods and demands for
labelling, in Europe. Never doubt that this has global implications as the
European market is seen as a barometer of public acceptance globally.
Only concerted, committed opposition can neutralise such big gun tactics,
so please get active now. Contact us for the materials you need to make a
difference.
Best wishes,
Bob Phelps
PS For a newspaper account, see the end of 2/2
____________________________________________________________________________
_____
LEAKED DOCUMENT ON EUROPABIO PR STRATEGY
EUROPEAN BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY LOBBY HIRES
AGGRESSIVE CRISIS MANAGEMENT SPECIALISTS
ENGINEERING ACCEPTANCE, FORCEFEEDING EUROPE
by RTS
Europe's most powerful biotechnology industry has contracted the
government and public affairs PR agency, Burson Marsteller, to manage
the
crisis that the biotech market is facing as a result of the
widespread resistance to genetic engineering and its products in this
part of the world. While little known to the public, Burson Marsteller
has
developed a notorious reputation as high level political cover-up
specialists. It has worked along side oppressive regimes in Argentina,
Nigeria,
South Korea and has provided the PR strategy for such controversies as
the
BSE
crisis in the UK, the Exxon-Valdez oilspill and the Bhopal tragedy.
EuropaBio's move to contract a PR agency specialising in high-level
political cover-ups is a strong indication of the fact that EuropaBio is
intent on covering up, indeed smothering the issues at the heart of the
genetic
engineering debate - risks to the environment, human health and
corporate
control over the world's genetic resources.
In the PR strategy proposal from January (leaked to Greenpeace),
Burson Marsteller outlines a scheme aimed at weathering the storm of
protest
in Europe. The document is important for a number of reasons:
* it shows which strategies of resistance to genetic engineering are
making industry vulnerable. These areas are calously referred to as the
"killing fields" - and encompass the environmental and human health
aspects as well as the profit motive. B-M warns EuropaBio to stay off
these
fields, and instead to let the policymakers represent industry
interests.
* it outlines the strategy for engineering public acceptance of genetic
engineering and its products - primarily by feeding the public with
narrow
"consumer" benefits "with symbols eliciting hope, satisfaction, caring
and
self-esteem".
* it outlines the strategy with retailers - crafting the appearance
of retailer choice - whereby retailers are "seen to be" making a free
choice
to deal in GMOs it outlines media management strategy, both at the time
of
the June congress (just finished today) as well as the long-term media
programme.
1. the active discouragement of live media at the congress due to "the
risks
associated with the presence of live TV crews looking for conflict"
(i.e.,
debate raised on the issues that concern the public)
2. the feeding of carefully styled information to the press, especially
to
local radio so that "we control the choice of commentators discussing
the
local story and the relevance of the Congress to it". In this way, the
information media is reduced to yet another form of marketing, rather
than a
forum for serious discussion of the central issues regarding the
applications
of genetic engineering and the huge impact such a radical technology has
in
shaping the future of society and social relations.
CLEARLY, the barrage of advertising assailing the public today indicates
that this programme has already been activated by EuropaBio members.
Public
information on how to interpret the aggressive ideology concealed
beneath the
"symbols eliciting hope, satisfaction, caring and self-esteem" has
become
more
urgent.
The files to follow in subsequent mails are
1. the leaked document: Communications programme for EuropaBio,
January 1997.
2. an article by Carmello Ruiz on the trackrecord of Burson Marsteller
The leaked document which is Burson Marsteller's PR strategy proposal
to EuropaBio is an 18 page document, so you will receive it in 2
separate parts. Part one starting below.
_____________________________________________________________________
COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMMES FOR EUROPABIO
January 1997
Prepared by Burston Marsteller
Government and Public Affairs
1. INTRODUCTION
Contents of this proposal
1. Burston Marsteller Government and Public Affairs Europe submit
this proposal in response to a threefold request from EUROPABIO for:
1) A communications strategy and programme responding to the urgent
circumstances now confronting agri-food bioindustries in Europe;
2) A communications programme for the first European Bioindustry
Congress for late June in Amsterdam;
3) A long-term communications strategy and programme.
2. Proposals are made for each of these specific requests (including
very preliminary fee estimates for the first two). But it is
self-evident that each of these initiatives must complement and
contribute to the other two. Moreover, each will (we assume) involve
many of the same individuals operating through EuropaBio at both the
strategy level and the operational level. We therefore preface our
specific proposals with a discussion of the common strategic principal
which we believe should apply to all three.
Burston Marsteller and Bioindustry issues
3. The Burston Marsteller Government & Public Affairs practice is a
single worldwide team of public affairs specialists (not a network of
all-purpose national PR subsidiaries). In Europe, we cover the
institutions of the European Union (via Robinson Linton Associates, a
fully integrated member of the team), all 15 member states of the
European Union, Norway and Switzerland, a growing number of Central
and Eastern European countries, and a growing number of CIS countries.
No other government & public affairs communications group is
constituted as a single, borderless business entity across Europe, and
none has B-M's reach and depth.
4. Within the practice, there functions a dedicated "bio-issues
network", linking together all team members with experience and
involvement in these issues. leadership responsibility for the network
rests with Jean-Christophe Alquier in Paris, In Europe, this
experience and involvement is particularly developed at the EU level
(Robinson Linton Associates), as well as Germany, France, Denmark, the
U.K. and Belgium. On-going client relationships attached to one or
more of these (and several other) offices include a number of
EuropaBio members.
5. In addition to our Public Affairs Practice, Burston-Marsteller has
a number of other fully constituted practices functioning on the same
single team basis around the world. Notable among these in the
EuropaBio context is our Health Care practice, which is the
acknowledged communications services leader for these sectors in
Europe and worldwide. Client relationships likewise exist with certain
EuropaBio members through this sister practice, and B-M service teams
routinely include individuals from both practices.
The basis for this proposal
6. This proposal draws primarily on the cumulative experience of the
B-M Public Affairs practice, and more particularly on that of our
"bio-issues network", as well as on relevant experience from our
Health Care colleagues.
7. We also note that B-M colleagues in Brussels have been associated
with EUFIC (The European Food Information Council) since its
inception, a grouping which includes a number of EuropaBio members and
which continues to devote part of its efforts to biotechnology issues
in the food industry. This experience also underlies these proposals.
8. Finally by way of introduction, we note that some of the key
judgments shaping these proposals are based on very recent
professional research into public attitudes in Europe toward
biotechnology in general and biotechnology in the food chain in
particular. We have been accorded access to the results of this work
and permission to make generic reference to it in this proposal, but
are not yet in a position to cite it specifically. Despite this
limitation we stress here the enormous value for our own further
understanding and insight of having seen it.
Indeed, we cannot over-emphasize the vital role such research plays in
conceiving and executing any effective public communications effort.
Flying without its literally flying blind. Moreover, progress in
changing public attitudes can only be measured objectively against an
initial baseline - and such measurements are the only reliable
criteria for judging success.
Just as no successful company guesses what consumers think of its
products, so no serious politician today operates without on-going
research - and no effective advocacy group does either. But allocation
of the necessary resources to attitude research remains the exception
rather than the rule in industry's public affairs campaigning. This
means, quite simply, that adversaries and politicians always have a
good idea of what the public really thinks, but industry often
doesn't. (We return to this issue in our long-term strategy proposal.)
II. COMMON PRINCIPLES
A different approach
9. EuropaBio's antecedent organizations (SAGB and ESNBA) have over
the past several years firmly established themselves as the primary
representatives of European bioindustrial interests within the
political and regulatory structures of Europe. Europabio now assumes
this indispensible direct role in the policy-making process. But it
has become self-evident that this role is no longer in itself
sufficient to ensure the supportive environment Europe's bioindustries
need to achieve global competitiveness through the new
biotechnologies. A sustained communications strategy and programme
able to generate favourable perceptions and opinions beyond the policy
world is now essential.
10. We emphasise this point because it leads to the following key
observation; success in this new effort will require a much different
approach from the one typically used by EuropaBio in its
communications to the policy world. In our experience, the key t
success will be the speed to which EuropaBio members actually embrace
the need for a different approach and then follow through on it.
11. The fundamental difference itself is, moreover, straightforward :
in order to effect the desired changes in public perceptions and
attitudes, the bioindustries must stop trying to be their own
advocates. That approach often works in the policy world. It quite
demonstrably hasn't worked and won't work in the sphere of public
perceptions.
Basic strategy disciplines
12. We believe the four basic strategic disciplines must shape any
EuropaBio communications initiative.
+ Stay off the killing fields
+ Create positive perceptions
+ Fight fire with fire
+ Create service-based media relations
13. Stay off the killing field : Public issues of environmental and
human health risk are communications killing fields for bioindustries
in Europe. As a general rule, the industry cannot be expected to
prevail in public opposition to adversarial voices on these issues. Al
the research evidence confirms that the perception of the profit
motive fatally undermines industry's credibility on these questions.
(This said, the evidence also shows that some companies are perceived
as more "ethical", and therefore as somewhat more credible than
others. But this perception typically attaches to brands, meaning
either to specific consumer products or to retail brands, an important
insight which adversaries well understand and to which we return in
our agri-food sector proposal).
The difficulty of course is that today adversarial voices largely
dominate in the public debate and, unsurprisingly, always chose these
very killing fields, because they do enjoy high public credibility and
because they know that direct industry rebuttal usually feeds the
story instead of killing it. Therefore, a basic discipline of
EuropaBio's communications strategy must be to stay off these killing
fields - no matter how provocative the invitation to enter u[on them
may be.
14. This is by no means to say, however, that this ground can be left
undefended. Deep-seated perceptions of the risk will kill any product.
But the industry must accept that it is for those charged with the
public trust in this area - politicians and regulators - to assure the
public that bio-industry products are safe. (This leads to a very
specific problem for bioindustries in Europe today: the evidence
clearly shows that Europeans do not trust their regulators in
bio-product sectors. This is different from the U.S., where the EPA
and FDA do enjoy widespread public confidence (which does not,
however, extend to Europe). We return to this issue as well in the
proposals which follow.)
15. Create positive perceptions : It no doubt seems banal to assert
that until strong positive public perceptions of bio-products are
created in Europe, there will be no effective counterweight to the
negative perceptions generated by adversaries on their chosen killing
fields. It may seem doubly banal to add that positive perceptions
derive from perceived benefits. Nevertheless, all successful public
affairs communications is predicated on these two apparent
self-evidences. Understanding the words isn't difficult. Obtaining
objective insight into what they really mean for a given group or
individual or group, and then having the discipline, organisation and
determination to really apply them - that is what makes the
difference.
Fight fire with fire :
16. Stories - not issues : for EuropaBio to make the transition from
effective policy interlocutor to effective public communicator, it is
essential to shift from issues-based communications to stories-based
communications. There are no issues-oriented media with any broad
appeal, and the selling of complex issues coverage is a difficult task
in any event because it contains little or no news value. Good
stories, on the other hand, go around the world in minutes. That's the
way adversaries play. That's the way industry must play.
17. Products - not technologies : stories must, moreover, focus
largely on the products of the new technologies, because they are the
only way most people connect (directly or indirectly)to the benefits
of the technology. (To recall : when SAGB published its communication
on the environmental benefits of biotechnologies a few years ago, the
biggest media up-take was on the specific product examples - and among
them the most interest was generated by ... household detergents !)
18. Beneficiaries - not benefits : product stories (as well as other
sorts of stories) must focus on benefits, but these benefits must be
personified. People stories are always the most compelling (recall the
presence in Brussels during the Parliamentary vote on biotech patents
of the fellow who claims to have had his genes ripped off without his
permission.)
19. Symbols - not logic : symbols are central to politics because
they connect to emotions, not logic. Adversaries of biotechnology are
highly skilled in the cultivation of symbols eliciting instant
emotions of fear, rage and resentment. Bioindustries need to respond
in similar terms - with symbols eliciting hope, satisfaction, caring
and self-esteem.
Create service-based media relations
20. Most reporters and editors do not have a personal agenda when it
comes to coverage of biotechnology and bioindustries. Rather, as with
any other beat, they are preoccupied with producing salable material
under extreme deadline pressure. Deadlines dominate journalism, and
largely shape what is reported.
21. EuropaBio must turn itself into the journalist's best and most
reliable continuing source of biotechnology/bioindustries inspiration
and information - the first-stop help-desk where they get not industry
propaganda but practical, editor-pleasing, deadline-beating connect to
interesting stories and personalities - even adversarial - relevant to
their readerships.
III. A EUROPABIO COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN FOR THE AGRI-FOOD SECTOR
Urgency
22. A well-orchestrated effort to change current perceptions of
agri-food biotechnology in Europe is urgent. there is no point in
gradually ramping up a longer-term EuropaBio communications programme
only to find that in this key sector public attitudes, public policies
and commercial practices have hardened beyond recall.
23. Adversaries remain determined, and their two-fold strategy
remains clear : to split the food industry and to balkanise the single
market. 1997 will be a critical year, particularly because entry into
force of the EU Novel Foods Regulation will precipitate a new and
potentially divisive political debate over safety and transparency, as
could the European Commission's review of Directive 90/220/EEC. At the
same time, supplies of certified non-GMO soya will become difficult to
obtain. It may also be anticipated that over the next 12 months the
first genetically modified crop varieties destined for the food chain
will become available for planting in Europe. That could offer new
opportunities for adversaries to stage media events.
A front-loaded campaign
24. In view of these circumstances, we proposed an intensive,
front-loaded campaign to begin as soon as practically possible and to
run up through and slightly beyond the June Congress.
25. At that point, progress can be reviewed through analysis of media
coverage over the period, and also the EuropaBio public attitude
survey proposed as part of a longer term communications programme.
Strategic framework / current perceptions and attitudes
26. Our proposed agri-food campaign strategy is conceived around the
vertical industrial and commercial chain : (starting at the "bottom")
technology innovators-proprietors / seed companies / farmers /
commodity brokers / food companies / retail sector. it is further
predicated on the following assessment of current public perceptions
and attitudes (based on our own experience and the available research):
a. Within the chain, consumer "trust" attaches (if it attaches at
all ) to product brands and retail brands; therefore, the top two
sectors of the chain are the two most effective direct channels of
communications with the consumer.
b. In contrast, research reveals no public awareness or knowledge at
all of the companies at the bottom of the chain (Monsanto, Ciba,
Sandoz, PGS, etc.) - except what adversaries have been able to put
into the public consciousness in recent months, all of which is
intended to engender fear and distrust.
c. Food itself is a powerful vector if cultural - and even political
- values virtually everywhere in Europe. but these values dffer from
country to country. And in many parts of Europe there also exists a
strong corresponding emotional attachment to idealised images of
rural society, farming and the countryside.
d. There is virtually no understanding of the real purposes of the
genetic modifications to the first crops now entering the European
market. The general perception is that it has to do with increased
profits for industry and maybe also farmers, but that it is a
perversion of nature motivated by greed at the bottom of the chain.
e. At the same, there are very strong public perceptions of risk to
human health attached to the idea of genetically modified food -
heightened in certain countries by the living memory of current
trauma of specific food-related crises (e.g., BSE; salmonella in
Scotland; cooking-oil in Spain).
f. Moreover, and to a surprising degree, the current climate of
public suspicion and resentment surrounding the arrival on the
European market of gnetically modified soya and maize is shown by
research to be rooted in the perception that dangerous, unnatural
ingredients are being forced into tradtional European food by the
American chemical industry for reasons of pure profit, against the
will of European consumers, and over the objections of at least part
of the European retailing and food sectors. This reflects, of course,
the drumbeat of adversarial media campaigning, exploiting certain
objective facts of the situation.
27. The cumulative effect of these perceptions and attitudes has been
to create a perfect incubator for public outrage and resentment over
the introduction of genetically modified food (the actual strength of
which, however, varies across Europe). The available evidence likewise
supports the classic theory that these emotions are ultimately rooted
in a sense of powerlessness in the face of what are perceived to be
malevolent (and foreign) forces threatening facets of life held dear.1
28. The bottom-line consequence of this is a (literal) chain-reaction
in many parts of Europe from the farming sector on up the chain
embracing the new technoloy is seen to be risky (and being the first
to embrace is seen to be especially risky), while being seen to refuse
it looks a tempting marketing strategy (clean vs. dirty)
Strategic recommendations
29. Based upon this assessment of the perceptions and attitudfes with
which the agri-food interests in EuropaBio must contend, we make the
following strategic recommendations for the conduct of the proposed
front-loaded media campaign.
a. Companies in the food sector must be perceived by the public to
have their own independent view, voice and scope of action on the
introduction of genetically modified ingredients or organisms into
their product ranges. They must be seen to have a choice, they must
be seen to control that choice, and they must be seen to have made a
choice.
b. Food companies must also be seen to ensure that this power to
chose is passed on to the consumer. This means "transparency" -
product information made available to the consumer in some form. (We
note that EuropaBio's public statement following ratification by the
European Parliament of the EU Novel Foods concilitation tetx leads
very much in this direction.) This in itself can largely defuse the
sense of powerlessness which in large measure feeds the current
climate of resentment and rejection.
c. Retailers must also be seen to occupy a similar position of
independence vis a vis the rest of the chain - including former
manufacturers, and must likewise adopt policies of transparency
enabling consumer choise (i.e., empowerment). (Nobody instinctively
understands this better than retailers themselves, which explains
their recent public positioning on these issues.)
d. By the same token, the supply-side sectors farther down the chain
must not themselves be heard to speak on behalf of the food and
retail sectoprs, nor behave in any way which is seen to deny those
sectors either their own independence of action or their ability to
communicate with their customers.
(This is the great public perceptions pitfall in the "bottom-up"
argument that separation is impossible. That argument is seen as a
direct chalennges to the power and independence of retailers and food
companies. Nobody believes that retailers and the food companies
cannot force separation if they collectively decide to. That
perception places those sectors in an invidious position with their
customers and with adversaries are attmetping to split those sectors,
and it works.)
e. Rather, the task of the sectors at the bottom of the chain is to
help make it possible for both the food and retail sectors to explain
their up-take of GM foods in a way which at least does not violate the
values of their customers, and at best responds positively to them. If
that condition is met, and provided also that the products are both
safe and seen to be safe, the great majority of consumers will have no
further cause for outrage, and no reason to reject these products.
f. As noted, where safety is concerned there is no substitute for
credible public regulatorsd. It thus must become a strategic objective
of this campaign to help build that credibility. And because the
greatets consumer credibility within the industrial chain is carried
by the branded sectors at the top, endorsements of the regulator's
intergrity, competence and reliabilityshould come only from them. The
effectiveness of such endorsements will be further enhanced to the
extent that they are also seen to be coming from parties who are not
dependent on the regulator's decision - i.e., who have the power of
choice over the take-up of the product (assuming of course they do).
Regulatory endorsements from the bottom of the chain, on the other
hand, are to be avoided because they contribute to the
credibility-killing perception that those with the greates
self-interest control the regulators.
g. What only the lower sectors in the chain can do - and now must
urgently do - is educate the public on why these food crops are being
modified in the first place. Indeed there is a great and bitter irony
in the current situation in Europe : the products now causing the
greatest furor were born from efforts to relieve environmental
pressures brought on the farming sector by the very same militant
organisations who today condemn them.
h. That adversaries have had considerable success in this bizarre
form of infanticide is a largely a failure of public perceptions
management in Europe at the bottom of the chain. In fact, recent
reserach shows that Europeans are generally receptive when told that
these new varieties can help reduce the use of agricultural chemicals.
But most either simply have not understood that this is their primary
technical and economic purpose at the level of the farm, or simply do
not believe it when told (interpreting this message as nothing more
than self-interested propaganda).
i. We therefore conclude that for this category of products (whihc
includes virtually all those in the first wave of 90/220/EEC
authorisations and is the real seat of the fire) it is both absolutely
vital and perfectly achievable to position them in European public
perceptions as environmentally superior to standard crop varieties and
therefore desirable.
j. We are perfectly aware that adversaries have tried to discredit
this positioning. But we can see absolutely no down-side risk in
taking on the environmental lobby on this, its own turf. After all,
if these new varieties do not prove to have chemical displacing
benefits they will fail in the market anyway. So either they perform
as advertised and the environmental case becomes inconrtovertible, or
they don't perform, disappear from the market, and the case is
closed.
k. Assuming this positioning were achieved (and that perceptions of
risk are attenuated) it should then be perfectly possible for food
companies and retailers to embrace these environmentally-superior
ingredients - just as they do other inputs which respond to this
demonstrated consumer value. Indeed, rather than behaving as though
they have something to hide, why would they not actually want to tell
the consumer they are using them?
l. We would even go so far as to consider whether retailers and food
companies should not announce immediately that this basic
environmental criterion will (or has) largely dictated their policy
toward the use of ingredients from this class (once certified safe by
the competent authorities). Up-take by the branded sectors might then
vcome to be seen for what it actually will be - an ethical response to
a real environmental problem about which consumers genuinely care. At
that point, use of htese ingredients would no longer threaten consumer
confidence in thgeir brands, and the labelling issue would become
entirely moot.
m. We note in passing recent evidence showing that Europeans are less
responsive to the argument that these new agricultural technologies
will help feed the underfed and the generations yet unborn in other
parts of the world. In our developed societies characterised by excess
and surfeit, this benefit is not valued as highly as the environmental
benefit, and we would not make it a focus of the agri-food media
campaign.
n. Beyond the modified commodity crops now scrutiny, there are of
course other categories of genetically modified food products either
already in European markets of headed for them. This will also need to
be considered for treatm,ent in the media campaign. But each will need
to be considered on its own merits, because their consumer benefits
will vary, and the appeal of those benefits may well vary across
Europe.
o. Finally, we also strongly recommend strategic campaign focus by the
bottom of the chain on carefully selected economic/benefits stories
specific to their sectors. These may well need to play more locally
across Europe, becaue that is where the greatest interest will almost
always lie. But they can be used to great effect to build pockets of
strong support. (To cite one extreme analogy, consider the political
support generated by the tabacco industry in the U.S. in certain
southern states.)
(continued in part 2)
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 10:18:54 -0700
From: Sean Thomas
To: ar-news@envirolink.com
Subject: Ottawa Citizen, letters to the editor
Message-ID: <33F9D57E.30ED@sympatico.ca>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------18415A8060D6"
Sean Thomas
Co-Director, Animal Action
Ottawa Citizen Hit reload or refresh if you're not getting today's
Online date.
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[Letters - Ottawa Citizen Online]
Tuesday 19 August 1997
Canada makes monkeys an offer they can't refuse
Len Goldberg
The Ottawa Citizen
Attention all monkeys!
Jungle life got you down?
Had your fill of grinding it out, day after day, in
today's chimp-eat-chimp rainforest?
Fret not, furry friend, for primate paradise awaits!
Introducing the Health Canada Primate Country Club.
Nestled in scenic Tunney's Pasture, a mere coconut's toss
from the Ottawa River, the Health Canada Primate Country
Club is the resort of choice for monkeys who deserve to
be pampered, coddled, just plain spoiled.
Lavish suites, fabulous recreation facilities, gourmet
fare.
* Suite Dreams
At the Health Canada Primate Country Club, tastefully
appointed stainless-steel suites are a monkey's haven
from jungle hell.
Imagine: three glorious feet of floor space to call your
very own. Enough space to take two full steps in any one
direction. And security bars to ensure peace of mind.
Why, I believe you'll never want to leave your Health
Canada suite dream!
In fact, you never will leave your Health Canada suite,
because they lock you inside it, for LIFE!
OK, not quite: You will spend one full day every three
weeks in the Health Canada monkey gym -- an
eight-foot-long cage! (Try to find that much space in
today's cramped and congested jungles!)
* A WORLD OF RECREATION
As a treasured patron of the Health Canada Primate
Country Club, you will, on occasion, be tossed a ball.
And not just any ball. A good ball. A very good ball. A
ball you can bounce and squeeze and look at.
And, as if that isn't enough, your monkey suite at Health
Canada is appointed with a deluxe perch. On which you can
perch. And stare some.
* SUMPTUOUS FARE
Enough jungle fast food. Enough filthy fruit and crusty
old crab! At the Club, our team of gourmet chefs prepare
symmetrical biscuits.
And our beverage menu -- ooh, la la! Invigorate your
morning with a refreshing glass of fresh-squeezed lead;
while away the afternoons with a cup of tangy dioxin;
then cap off your enchanted evening (with that special
simian someone) by indulging in a carafe of our finest
vintage mercury!
So don't delay.
As you can imagine, space is limited at the Health Canada
Primate Country Club. With so many simians clamouring to
get in, we'll soon have to start a waiting list!
So call now. Make your escape from the animal kingdom
rat-race before it's too late. The Health Canada Primate
Country Club. Could this be monkey heaven?
Len Goldberg, co-director Animal Action Ottawa
FRONT PAGE | CITY | SPORTS | BUSINESS | NATIONAL | WORLD
| EDITORIALS
ENTERTAINMENT | YOUR MONEY | INTERNET | COLUMNISTS |
CLASSIFIED
FEEDBACK | GATEWAY
Copyright 1997 The Ottawa Citizen
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 10:18:54 -0700
From: Sean Thomas
To: ar-news@envirolink.com
Subject: Ottawa Citizen, letters to the editor
Message-ID: <199708191421.KAA02929@envirolink.org>
----------------------------- Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN
---- M U L T I P A R T ---- Decoded from: 7BIT
---- Part 1 ---- Lines: 4
Sean Thomas
Co-Director, Animal Action
----------------------------- Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN
---- M U L T I P A R T ---- Decoded from: 7BIT
---- Part 2 ---- Lines: 115
Ottawa Citizen Hit reload or refresh if you're not getting today's
Online date.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Image]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Image]
[Image]
[Image]
[Image]
[Image]
[Image]Letters
[Image]Highlights
[Image]Email the
Editor
GATEWAY | FRONT PAGE | CITY | SPORTS | BUSINESS |
NATIONAL | WORLD | EDITORIALS
ENTERTAINMENT | YOUR MONEY | INTERNET | COLUMNISTS |
CLASSIFIED
[Letters - Ottawa Citizen Online]
Tuesday 19 August 1997
Canada makes monkeys an offer they can't refuse
Len Goldberg
The Ottawa Citizen
Attention all monkeys!
Jungle life got you down?
Had your fill of grinding it out, day after day, in
today's chimp-eat-chimp rainforest?
Fret not, furry friend, for primate paradise awaits!
Introducing the Health Canada Primate Country Club.
Nestled in scenic Tunney's Pasture, a mere coconut's toss
from the Ottawa River, the Health Canada Primate Country
Club is the resort of choice for monkeys who deserve to
be pampered, coddled, just plain spoiled.
Lavish suites, fabulous recreation facilities, gourmet
fare.
* Suite Dreams
At the Health Canada Primate Country Club, tastefully
appointed stainless-steel suites are a monkey's haven
from jungle hell.
Imagine: three glorious feet of floor space to call your
very own. Enough space to take two full steps in any one
direction. And security bars to ensure peace of mind.
Why, I believe you'll never want to leave your Health
Canada suite dream!
In fact, you never will leave your Health Canada suite,
because they lock you inside it, for LIFE!
OK, not quite: You will spend one full day every three
weeks in the Health Canada monkey gym -- an
eight-foot-long cage! (Try to find that much space in
today's cramped and congested jungles!)
* A WORLD OF RECREATION
As a treasured patron of the Health Canada Primate
Country Club, you will, on occasion, be tossed a ball.
And not just any ball. A good ball. A very good ball. A
ball you can bounce and squeeze and look at.
And, as if that isn't enough, your monkey suite at Health
Canada is appointed with a deluxe perch. On which you can
perch. And stare some.
* SUMPTUOUS FARE
Enough jungle fast food. Enough filthy fruit and crusty
old crab! At the Club, our team of gourmet chefs prepare
symmetrical biscuits.
And our beverage menu -- ooh, la la! Invigorate your
morning with a refreshing glass of fresh-squeezed lead;
while away the afternoons with a cup of tangy dioxin;
then cap off your enchanted evening (with that special
simian someone) by indulging in a carafe of our finest
vintage mercury!
So don't delay.
As you can imagine, space is limited at the Health Canada
Primate Country Club. With so many simians clamouring to
get in, we'll soon have to start a waiting list!
So call now. Make your escape from the animal kingdom
rat-race before it's too late. The Health Canada Primate
Country Club. Could this be monkey heaven?
Len Goldberg, co-director Animal Action Ottawa
FRONT PAGE | CITY | SPORTS | BUSINESS | NATIONAL | WORLD
| EDITORIALS
ENTERTAINMENT | YOUR MONEY | INTERNET | COLUMNISTS |
CLASSIFIED
FEEDBACK | GATEWAY
Copyright 1997 The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen, letters to the editor
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 11:28:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: MINKLIB@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Anti Fur Resources
Message-ID: <970819112713_1085382400@emout02.mail.aol.com>
With fall right around the corner it is time to start planning for a really
good anti fur campaign. Stay abreast of the developments in the fur trade by
utilizing some of the publications CAFT has for sale. Please distribute this
list to anyone who might be interested.
The Holland Reports $8
Holland became the first nation in the world to ban fox farming. This is a
collection of reports that were submitted to the parliament when the ban was
being debated. It contains a report that is sympathetic to the fur trade,
particularly mink farmers, and is then followed by 12 letters from experts
refuting its claims. This is an excellent resource for anyone interested in
the physiological and psychological abuses of fur farming. Most of the focus
is on mink. The mink farm ban failed by just a few short votes.
Inside the Fur Industry $18 for a 4 issue, one year subscription
This newsletter gives quarterly updates on the fur trade. IFI contains
information that is not compiled together in any other place. This is a
crucial newsletter for anyone organizing an anti fur campaign.
Jaws of Steel by Thomas Eveland $8
This is the most comprehensive anti trapping book ever written. It covers
the suffering of trapped animals concisely, and refutes all common pro
trapping arguments.
Fur Farming in Finland $2
Finland produces nearly 70% of the worlds ranch raised fox skins. This
report details the welfare problems inherent on Finnish fox farms. Very in
depth and applicable to fur farms anywhere!
The Fur Industry: An Ecological Nightmare $3
This is a report produced by CAFT which details the environmental destruction
caused by fur production. The fur trade claims to be environmentally
friendly, so this is a very important resource for countering those claims.
Living with Beavers $3
Trappers are constantly using beaver control as an excuse for their continued
killing of animals. This booklet argues that trapping does not control
beaver populations, and provides non-lethal methods that are effective. It
also details the environmental benefits of having a strong beaver population.
The Final Nail and Final Nail supplement $3
These two booklets explain how the ALF is trying to stop the slaughter of fur
animals with a combination of live liberation and economic sabotage. It
contains a list of fur farms, with complete address, etc. so that these
animal concentration camps cannot remain hidden from the public any longer.
No Compromise #2-7 $2 each
News magazine of the direct action wing of the animal rights movement.
Underground #7 $3
Magazine of the ALF Supporters Group. Contains updates on ALF campaigns and
prisoner news.
All of these items can be ordered from the:
Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade
PO Box 822411
Dallas, TX 75382
Date: 19 Aug 1997 11:16:00 EST
From: fls@wspausa.com (Joanne deMarrais)
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: WSPA Aids Animals on Volcanic Stricken Montserrat
Message-ID:
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
The World Society for the Protection of Animals has been actively involved in rescue
efforts of animals affected by the severe volcanic activity on the tiny Caribbean
island of Montserrat.
BACKGROUND
The increasing press coverage of the volcano on the Caribbean Island of Montserrat
has stimulated many inquiries to WSPA's regional offices and to other animal protection
organizations. Since the volcano first erupted in July of 1995, various WSPA staff
have visited the island eleven (11) times. During the last six months, as the volcano
intensified, WSPA teams built two temporary shelters to hold given-up, abandoned
and stray dogs, cats and livestock. A wide assortment of veterinary pharmaceuticals
and specialized animal handling equipment has been provided to the Ministry of Agriculture,
including transport containers and an assortment of humane traps. Tons of dried
pet foods were also shipped to the island.
As the volcano continued to destroy larger areas of the island, WSPA intensified
it's efforts. Since Montserrat is a British Colony, WSPA asked for, and received,
the assistance of two experts from the Royal SPCA to assist in the training of government
employees in a program of emergency animal handling and control.
As the port and capitol city of Plymouth was evacuated, and eventually destroyed
by burning lava and ash, WSPA constructed a shelter close to the airport to facilitate
evacuation of pets. In June an eruption and resulting pyroclastic flow closed the
airport. WSPA then relocated the shelter to the area thought to be the safest on
the northern end of the island. As more residents were evacuated, the numbers of
un-wanted, abandoned and stray animals increased. Some livestock were isolated between
lava flows. A helicopter was rented to assist personnel in herding animals to safety
and to get to livestock still tied or fenced. Livestock were taken on a sand barge
to the island of St. Kitts.
As the airport was permanently closed, the humane society of the nearby island of
Antigua (27 miles away) provided invaluable assistance in negotiating an agreement
with that government, whereby pets rescued from Montserrat would be brought by boat
to Antigua, and kept at a safe section of the airport until they could be airlifted
to Florida. The Broward County Humane Society agreed to accept the animals. After
observation, medical treatment (if necessary), and exhaustive interviews of potential
new families, the animals were placed in new homes. To date more than 80 animals
have been taken safely from Montserrat to new homes in the United States.
CURRENT SITUATION
As the situation is now grave on Montserrat, and the evacuation of residents continues,
WSPA's Gerardo Huertas helicoptered to Montserrat yesterday, accompanied by Karen
Corbin and veterinarian Dr. Radcliffe Robbins of the Antigua/Barbuda Humane Society.
They have arranged for an Antigua Coast Guard vessel to bring dog and cat air transport
cages to Montserrat today. Plans call for the Coast Guard vessel to standby as the
remaining 24 dogs and 13 cats in WSPA's shelter are crated and returned to the vessel.
Yesterday, all animals were bathed and dipped for fleas, ticks and lice, and treated
for internal parasites. All have had the necessary vaccinations and will travel
to Antigua aboard the vessel with Gerardo, Karen and Dr. Robbins. Volunteers will
assist in bringing the animals from the Coast Guard port to the airport, where the
animals will be fed, watered and exercised in readiness for their airlift to Florida
tomorrow.
For further information, photos or video footage, please contact:
John Walsh
International Projects Director
World Society for the Protection of Animals
29 Perkins Street
PO Box 190
Boston, MA 02130 USA
Telephone:617-522-7000
Fax:617-522-7077
Direct E-mail:jwalsh@wspausa.com
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 09:35:03 -0700
From: "Haptas, Joe"
To: "ar-news@envirolink.org"
Subject: DON'T EAT, DON'T TELL, Wendy's and the USDA
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XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT BREAK 8/19/97 04:09 UTC
DON'T EAT, DON'T TELL
The public was made aware of last week's recall of 1.2 million pounds
of HUDSON BEEF hamburger patties -- contaminated with potentially
deadly E. coli slime -- because the patties were sold to both
restaurants and supermarkets. But a key U.S. Department of
Agriculture official admits that no warning would have been issued had
the patties been sent only to fast food franchises! This exclusive
report was set to move on the COX newswire late Monday night.
Investigative writers Elliot Jaspin and Scott Montgomery poke and
choke, with specific details of fast food happy meals gone sour.
Departmental rules distinguish between food sold in stores and food
sold in restaurants because, as Jesse Majkowski, manager of recalls
for the Agriculture Department, tells COX: "Our policy on public
notification has been that we will issue a press release when
consumers can identify a product and avoid consuming that product...
When we have product that has gone to a restaurant and is being cooked
and handled in a restaurant, the consumer cannot recognize that."
Jaspin and Montgomery zero in on a 1994 incident involving WENDY'S:
"[It] sought to recall 253,360 pounds of hamburger patties... In
keeping with its policy of 'don't eat, don't tell,' the Agriculture
Department helped WENDY'S mislead the public about the size and reason
for the recall of tainted beef sent to five Midwest states... The
government said it was unable to recover 50,000 pounds of the suspect
beef, enough meat to prepare 200,000 hamburgers... When contacted
Monday, Denny Lynch, a WENDY'S spokesperson, initially denied that his
company had ever done a recall for beef tainted with E. coli. 'We
never had an E. coli recall,' he said. Later, however, he
acknowledged that there was a recall of beef after a test for E. coli
had appeared to be positive. But because further testing allegedly
showed no contamination, he did not consider it to be an E. coli
recall."
FOOTNOTE: Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman sends a special "SWAT
team" of government health investigators to a HUDSON BEEF plant in
Columbus, Nebraska, believed to be ground zero of last week's recall.
Investigators will check with the plant's 230 employees to determine
if any of them might have been ill or if any other unusual situations
may have brought them into contact with the dreaded E. coli...
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 10:21:25 -0700
From: Michelle Sass
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Michelle's in NYC
Message-ID: <33FB2795.4EA@cts.com>
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Hi Vegans!
Many of you probably don't know who the hell I am because I never post
anything on here because I am always so damn busy! (AND I live on the
road)
Anyway, I just dropped my tour group off in NYC and I have some free
time before I pick up my new group and head back to California ( 22
states in 23 days!). I am Frickin' starving because I have been on the
road non stop for months!! ( not much vegan food in the Deep South so I
often opt to starve!)
I am staying at the Hotel Beacon on the Upper West Side and if any group
of vegans would like to get together and EAT I would be thrilled!!! How
about any of the Vegans I used to hang with in NYC- like Kat and
Johnny!!! Where the hell are they?? What about my Andrea? Larry,
where the hell are you living NOW?? Where are the Activists for Animals
people??? Any protests or anything going on? Anti-fur fashion shows??
Any single Vegan Nordic Gods??? HELP ME! I hang with foriegn
carrnivores and I am going Nuckin' Futs!!
Michelle Sass
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 12:11:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Markarian
To: ar-news@envirolink.org, seac+announce@earthsystems.org,
en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org, ar-wire@waste.org
Subject: Essex Junction,Vermont: Rodeo Protest 8/27
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970819154352.5c07bf40@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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VERMONT ACTION ALERT
Green Mountain Animal Defenders (GMAD) is having a Rodeo
Protest at the main entrance of the Champlain Valley Fair
on Rte 15 in Essex Junction, VT on Wed, Aug 27th. The protest
starts at 5:30PM and the rodeo begins at 7PM. For more info
call Kathee at 878-3516 or Sharon at 985-3044 or e-mail Sharon at
SMATGMAD@aol.com
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 16:09:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: DDAL@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: FDA Reform
Message-ID: <970819160752_2081519919@emout19.mail.aol.com>
Further Background and Details on FDA Reform
Thanks to Lawrence Carter Long for posting the "action alert" regarding FDA
Reform yesterday. Several organizations are opposed to "national uniformity"
in FDA Reform, including members of the Coalition for Consumer Information on
Cosmetics comprised of The HSUS, Doris Day Animal League, PETA, AAVS, AHA,
NEAVS, IDA, Beauty Without Cruelty, USA and API. I have been working other
organizations, including the Environmental Defense Fund and Center for
Science in the Public Interest, also opposed to centralizing authority for
labeling consumer products with the FDA.
Please note that S. 830, the Senate version, is entitled the "Food and Drug
Administration Modernization and Accountability Act." The section on
"national uniformity" is Section 807 and only includes cosmetics and
non-prescription drugs. This bill has been fast-tracked and will be
scheduled for a floor vote in early September. Senator Kennedy (D-MA) has
championed opposition to "national uniformity" and Massachusetts activists
should ask him to stand firm. We do not want to see a compromise which would
grandfather in Proposition 65 in California, but prohibit future cosmetic
labeling.
The House version, H.R. 1411, is entitled the "Drug and Biological Products
Modernization Act." It contains a "national uniformity" provision which also
includes food. We expect it will be marked-up in early September by the
House Commerce Committee/Subcommittee on Health and Environment. The House
will be a difficult fight for activists.
These bills are being expedited to reauthorize the "Prescription Drug User
Fee Act" before it expires on September 30. While appropriations for the Act
may be available to fund it through the end of the year, federal legislators
are being pressed to move FDA Reform asap.
Your telephone calls, faxes and letters are crucially important. Remember
that Republicans should support opposition to "national uniformity" on the
basis that the party does not embrace federalism. Republicans want authority
for regulation to reside with the states. Democrats will support a
consumer's right-to-know. Animal activists have a right to make choices
based on the best available information, often provided through labeling.
Please feel free to contact me with further questions or concerns.
Sara Amundson
ddal@aol.com
t: 202/546-1761
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 21:51:57 +0000
From: "Miggi"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Barry Horne: Prison staff back down
Message-ID: <199708192051.VAA19970@serv4.vossnet.co.uk>
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> From: ALFSG
> Subject: Barry Horne: Prison staff back down
> The press release issued earlier today seems to have got immediate
> results. Barry Horne, having spent 1 week on hunger strike as of 18/8/97
> in HMP Bristol, has been taken off the punishment regime that had been
> imposed upon him.
>
> Barry has had all his privileges returned to him and im addition is
> getting the free services of a physiotherapist who gives him a check-up
> every day.
>
> It seems that this sudden change of direction on the prison's behalf is
> a direct result of the press release that was sent out to national and
> local media.
> --
> ALFSG
>
>
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 21:51:57 +0000
From: "Miggi"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Trial and Error - Taken from SchNEWS issue 130
Message-ID: <199708192050.VAA19869@serv4.vossnet.co.uk>
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Article from this weeks SchNEWS:
> TRIAL AND ERROR
>
> "So, what I'm charged with in plain English is that "Somewhere in the
> world
> over a five year period (they're not sure when) I conspired with people
> (most of whom I don't know) to incite other people (they don't know who)
> to
> commit criminal damage (they don't know what) and that the conspiracy
> continued into the day after we were charged..."
> - Robin Webb, Animal Liberation Front (ALF)
>
> Some Orwellian nightmare? Well no, this is what six people were charged
> with
> when on 16th January 1996, when 30 + cops were acting for ARNI (the
> Animal
> Rights National Index ) did dawn raids and arrested four editors of
> Green
> Anarchist (GA) newspaper, the ALF Supporters Group Newsletter's editor
> and
> Robin Webb, the ALF press officer. Robin Webb has since had charges
> dropped
> on a technicality, but still continues to be harassed. This was the
> culmination of Operation Washington which, according to police, has been
> running since 1991 and which saw 55 raids across the UK throughout the
> course of 1995/6.
>
> "We're accused of inciting an arson wave by the Animal Rights Militia on
> the
> Isle of Wight in 1994. We didn't write a damn thing about the Isle of
> Wight
> until after the event..."
> - Green Anarchist editorial
>
> The arrestees were all charged with `conspiracy to incite criminal
> damage' -
> for reporting direct action news or knowing others that had. This
> `crime'
> could land each of the defendants in prison for up to 5 years. According
> to
> StateWatch "Britain has the most repressive conspiracy laws in Europe."
> For
> the so-called `Thought Police' to prove their case, no criminal damage
> need
> be done nor anyone feel incited to do it: the `conspirators' need know
> no-one doing damage and may know each other only tenuously or indirectly
> (in
> this case, having attended the same political rally - along with
> thousands
> of other concerned people); it's all down to their intent and in
> practice
> what that means is the defendants have to prove a negative in court,
> that
> they didn't intend anything. As you can imagine many believe the
> conspiracy/incitement laws to be a bit of a `catch all', with its heavy
> penalties making it a useful tool in suppressing direct action after the
> failure of the Criminal Justice Act.
>
> In a similar case in 1988 two editors of the ALF support group were
> jailed
> in for 18 months in a similar case for reporting acts against animal
> abuse.
>
> According to the committal even just reporting the facts about animal
> lib or
> eco-defence actions constitutes incitement. Let alone printing opinions
> in
> favour of these. Under this, we are up against a very broad, sweeping
> definition and the implications of this are going to be used as a
> catch-all
> against the entire radical press... Therefore this is not just a problem
> for
> Green Anarchist alone, it is everybody's problem, because it concerns
> freedom of speech. There is no evidence at all suggesting that any of
> the
> defendants were involved in the acts reported, but the prosecution is
> trying
> to say that people would have been encouraged by the favourable
> reporting of
> them. Why is reporting events that have already happened incitement?
> Some of
> the news had already been reported in the national press- are they going
> to
> find themselves in the dock as well? However, one editor of GA told
> SchNEWS,
> "What's more likely to encourage people to act is the continuing abuse
> against animals and the planet"
>
> There have also been over 100 raids connected with the case; an old lady
> who
> wrote to Robin Webb in prison had her door knocked down, and a man who
> bought a GA T-shirt was also raided.
>
> This case has also involved the use of Public Interest Immunity orders,
> or,
> as it should be more properly called `Police Interest Impunity' - PII's
> are
> being used to suppress evidence of secret state action against Green
> Anarchist magazine. There has been interest from the security services,
> as
> was admitted by DI Des Thomas during the committal proceedings in
> December
> 1996, and this is being used as an excuse not to disclose documents that
> could be vital to the defence. The Gandalf 6 believe that they were
> infiltrated by an agent provocateur who encouraged them to write the
> articles accused of being inciting. The prosecution are not obliged to
> disclose their evidence so as not to compromise any agent's future
> activities, PII's are serving as police protection. All accounts suggest
> that the trial is going to be shrouded in mystery, with everybody,
> including
> the defence and defendants, being barred from the court room on the
> first
> day of the trial whilst the judge and defence decide what evidence to
> submit
> and what must be withheld.
>
> Their trial begins at Portsmouth Crown Court on August 26th, and a bike
> blockade of Portsmouth is being planned for 9am that morning. Hampshire
> Police, predictably, unhappy about the whole thing - appear to be
> panicking!
> They have been removing posters almost as soon as they go up, and are
> attempting to prosecute someone for contempt of Court for giving out
> 20,000
> leaflets advertising the trial ! - contact Green Anarchist BM 1715,
> London
> WC1N 3XX for more details .
>
> There will be transport going from Brighton for the first day of the
> trial.
> Ring Justice? office 01273 685913 if you want to go.
>
> SchNEWS, PO Box 2600, Brighton, BN2 2DX, England
> Phone/Fax (call before faxing): 01273 685913
> Email: schnews@brighton.co.uk Web: http://www.cbuzz.co.uk/SchNEWS/
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Last updated 17th August, 1997
> @nti copyright - information for action - copy and distribute!
> SchNEWS Web Team (schnews-web@brighton.co.uk)
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 17:25:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: MINKLIB@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Trappers Convention Article
Message-ID: <970819172307_-84039079@emout03.mail.aol.com>
Rochester Post Bulletin August 11
Protesters arrested at trappers convention
by Bob Fruend (The Post-Bulletin)
Animal rights activists carried signs protesting the trapping
trade, shouted
slogans and, in four cases, got physical enough to prompt arrests by
police Saturday.
The ongoing clash between the animal rights movement and the fur
industry flared at
the annual convention of the National Trappers Association, held at the
Olmsted
County Fairgrounds.
Twenty-five to 30 members of Twin Cities-based chapters of the
Student Organization for Animal Rights picketed at south and east
entrances during a two-hour period.
Shortly after arriving, some demonstrators blocked visitors driving
into the show. Police arrested a man and a woman. The man was
handcuffed and placed in the back of a squad car on his stomach. One
had pushed a police officer, Rochester Police Sgt. Bob Schei said later.
Sheriff's deputies quickly arrested two other protesters a short
time later at the east, walk-in entrance when they stepped a few feet
onto the grounds.
One picketer, Matthew Bullard of Minneapolis, pleaded not guilty to
three misdemeanor charges, including fifth-degree assault, in Olmsted
District Court this morning. He was released on his own recognizance
pending a Sept. 18 court date.
Also arrested and still awaiting arraignment this morning, were
Jessica Peters of Washington, Jeremy Dunbar of St. Louis Park and
Allison George, no permanent address given, on charges such as
disorderly conduct and obstructing a legal process.
The protesters occasionally yelled at people arriving and at crowds
inside the gates. They chanted slogans such as "Fur trade, death trade"
and "Fur is murder, fur
is death; free the animals; ALF (short for Animal Liberation Front a
radical group)."
The trappers group is used to watching signs parade by outside the
fences for it's gatherings. "We have a small contingent like this about
everywhere we go," said Steve Greene, spokesman for the national
organization. About 400 exhibitors ranging from
trap makers to outdoors artists from throughout the United States showed
products or tools at the convention. It drew between 6,000 and 8,000
visitors from Thursday to Sunday.
The protest was geared to "wake them up to what they are doing,"
said Katie Fedor, 23, of St. Paul, a recent graduate of University of
St. Thomas in St. Paul.
"You're killing a living, sentient being that feels pain and
pleasure similar to
our own," she said at the picket line Saturday. The convention is
"celebrating animal cruelty," she said. The group particularly protests
the use of leghold traps.
Greene said, "They have a right to their beliefs" but many of the
protesters also are misinformed about trappers or the fur business.
Steel-toothed traps are no longer used widely to catch and hold animals,
he said.
The National Trappers Association is based in Bloomington, IL.
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 02:30:51 +0200
From: "sa338@blues.uab.es"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Cruelty is not ELLEgant
Message-ID: <33FA3ABB.7C0D@blues.uab.es>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
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I am Nuria from Barcelona. Please see what some magazines consider
"fashionable" or "chic"
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/ranch/1231/elle.htm
and tell them that Cruelty is not fashionable!
Thanks a lot
Nuria http://www.geocities.com/heartland/hills/3787
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 08:44:11 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Compassionate Living Festival
Message-ID: <199708200044.IAA04605@eastgate.cyberway.com.sg>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Re-posted from Sci-Veg with permission:
------------------Forwarded Message -----------
Tom Regan asked me to post this. --Carl
---------- Forwarded message ----------
The twelfth annual International Compassionate Living Festival is scheduled
to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina, Septemeber 26th to the 28th.
Featured speakers include Jeffrey Masson ["Why Elephants Wheep"], Chris
DeRose [preisdent of Last Chance for Animals, and author of "In Your
Face"], T. Colin Campbell ["The China Study"], and Christopher Chappell
["Nonviolence to Animals, Earth, and Self in Asian Traditions"]. Also
including presentations by Ellen LaConte, Pat Derby, Sidney Gendin, Bernard
Unti, and Tom Regan. Plus a remembrance and celebration of the life and
work of Helen Nearing, incredible prizes, gourmet vegan meals, and much,
much more. For additional information, contact The Culture & Animals
Foundation, 3509 Eden Croft Drive, Raleigh, NC 27612. Phone 919-782-3739.
Fax 919-782-6464.
Tom Regan
Professor of Philosophy
and Department Head
Dept of Philosophy & Religion
North Carolina State University
Box 8103
Raleigh, NC 27695-8103
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 20:51:34 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ibvegan@king.cts.com, ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Admin Note--was: Michelle's in NYC
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819205132.00709d28@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Michelle...we all wish you well in meeting your old friends, but AR-News is
an inappropriate forum for this. Anyone responding to her post, please do
so via private e-mail and not to AR-News.
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
World Guide to Vegetarianism--Internet
http://www.veg.org/veg/Guide/Internet/index.html
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 1997 02:52:04 +0200
From: "sa338@blues.uab.es"
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Cats burned
Message-ID: <33FA3FB4.1349@blues.uab.es>
MIME-version: 1.0
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I am Nuria from Barcelona.
Remember to express your petition for the maximum penalty for the two
idiots that burned cats in Indiana.
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/ranch/1231/olivia.htm
Thanks for your concern. For the animals,
Nuria http://www.geocities.com/heartland/hills/3787
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 22:02:52 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) Dog Survives Being Dragged From Car
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819220249.006c842c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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from AP Wire page:
------------------------------
08/19/1997 18:06 EST
Dog Survives Being Dragged From Car
FAIRPORT, Iowa (AP) -- A dog tied to the bumper of a truck survived being
dragged nearly two miles at speeds as high as 55 mph.
Tippy, a 2-year-old black Pekingese, had its side and paws rubbed raw by
the pavement, and its face was bloody. A veterinarian said the animal
will need surgery but did not elaborate.
The owner, Merlin John Laing, 46, was charged with animal neglect,
drunken driving, and an open container violation Sunday night near
Fairport.
``The only thing he had the nerve to say was it was the dog's fault for
not alerting him that he was tied back there, if you can believe that,''
said Sgt. Steve Lawrence.
Laing said he chained Tippy to the bumper while the family was at a
recreational area.
``I always tie him up. I never thought anything about it,'' Laing said.
``I thought he would have barked when we paid the fee at the campground
but I didn't hear him or nothing.
``You know how you can forget sometimes,'' he said.
Laing was released on bond and is due back in court on Friday. Animal
neglect is punishable up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine, Lawrence
said.
Laing expressed remorse Monday.
``I didn't want to run over him or hurt him,'' he said. ``I hate that it
happened. It won't happen again.''
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 23:09:39 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (UK) Report: Condemned Poultry Meat Sold for Human Consumption
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819230937.006c86ec@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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from CNN web page:
-----------------------------------
Report: Condemned Poultry Meat Sold for Human Consumption
AP
19-AUG-97
LONDON (AP) It's enough to make a person turn vegetarian. Some 1,440 tons
of British
poultry meat certified as fit only for pet food were sold for human
consumption, The Mirror
reported Tuesday.
The London daily said the chicken and turkey breasts dumped at rendering
plants for pet
food were recycled by rogue dealers and ended up on the shelves of two British
supermarket chains.
Trials will start next month of 37 people butchers, meat dealers and
brokers allegedly
involved in the racket that went on from early 1995 to the end of last
year, the newspaper
said. The trade was stopped after a tipoff to food safety authorities.
The Mirror said the rogue poultry dealers are believed to have used hoses
and salt baths
to clean up the poultry meat, which was almost certainly rife with disease.
The newspaper said the supermarket chains Kwik Save and Netto were duped into
stocking the meat, and it was also sold to old people's homes and
restaurants.
Britain has been plagued by food scandals in recent years. Last year, the
European
Union banned British beef exports after the government announced that beef
contaminated with mad cow disease was the most likely cause of a new deadly
strain of
Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease in humans.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 23:10:49 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (UK) Linda McCartney Has Launched an Ambitious Expansion
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819231047.006c41d4@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
--------------------------------
Linda McCartney Has Launched an Ambitious Expansion of
World Entertainment News Network
19-AUG-97
(AUG. 19) WENN/P - LINDA McCARTNEY has launched an ambitious expansion of her
vegetarian food empire as she rebuilds her life after a two-year struggle
against cancer.
A range of dairy free ice-cream and yoghurt desserts will be in the shops
this autumn
(97) and meat-free Chinese and Indian dishes are also being developed for
worldwide
export.
The move is seen as evidence that the wife of former BEATLE SIR PAUL
McCARTNEY is
confident that her health has improved.
Since news of the illness became public more than 18 months ago the
McCartney's have
recovery.
Details of the dessert launch have been kept under wraps - but it is
understood that there
will be four ice-creams, chocolate, strawberry, toffee and coffee, and six
yoghurts,
strawberry, raspberry, black cherry, rhubarb, apricot and peach and
blueberry and
redcurrant.
Because dairy ingredients have been barred, trades description rules
prevent them from
being called ice-cream and yoghurt. They will be sold as "Linda McCartney's
Dairylike
Dessert" and "Linda McCartney's 'Yogas'."
In six years, the Linda McCartney range of vegetarian meals has become a
British
market leader, now selling 3.5 million products each week. The company is
now working
on meat-free lookalike bacon and roasts. (WNTMA/JAG)
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 23:21:55 -0400
From: allen schubert
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (AU) Dieters Need Not Shun Beef Australian Study
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970819232152.006e3068@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
from CNN web page:
-------------------------------
Dieters Need Not Shun Beef Australian Study
Reuters
18-AUG-97
SYDNEY, Aug 19 (Reuter) - Women who exclude all red meat from their diets
to lose
weight fare no better than women who continue to eat moderate amounts of
lean beef,
according to an Australian study published on Tuesday.
The study, by Melbourne's Baker Medical Research Institute, was jointly
funded by the
National Heart Foundation and an industry body, the Meat Research Corp.
It showed that overweight women, mainly between 30 and 45 years of age,
achieved the
same weight reduction, about nine percent of initial body weight in 16
weeks, irrespective
of whether their diets included lean beef or soybean.
The study follows concern in Australia's red meat industry over falling
sales as red meat
loses favour with consumers. Its findings were released by the meat
industry's main
statutory authority the Australian Meat and Livestock Corp (AMLC).
Researchers led by the Institute's Professor Paul Nestel set out to
establish that eating
lean beef within a calorie-controlled diet does not interfere with weight
loss, the AMLC
said.
After a study of 36 overweight women, half of whom continued to eat beef,
Nestel
concluded that reducing energy intake was the key and staple foods like
beef need not
be excluded.
Other benefits such as blood pressure and cholesterol reductions and
improvements in
arterial health were also equal in both groups of women studied.
Nestel said the findings were important: ``The more a weight-loss eating plan
resembles a normal diet, the more likely it is to succeed.''
The researchers said that women often followed fad diets or misleading
dietary advice
and one piece of ``misinformation'' was that staple foods like red meat
should be cut out.
In the Australian study, two groups of 18 obese women were put on separate
diets over a
16-week period.
The energy and fat content of both groups were similar, but one group
included 150
grams (5 1/4 ounces) of lean red meat at least five times a week. The other
group did not
eat red meat at all, substituting soybean, although the women still ate
chicken or fish at
other meals.
Both groups achieved an average nine percent reduction in body weight over
the 16
weeks, with the lean beef group losing an average 7.8 kg (17 lbs three
ounces) and the
``semi-vegetarian'' group an average 7.6 kg (16 lbs 13 ounces).
The two groups also achieved a 12-percent reduction in plasma cholesterol
levels, a
seven-percent reduction in blood pressure and equal reductions in the
elasticity of
arteries, the AMLC said in a statement.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 20:28:10 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: Attempted Piracy in High Seas by US Coast Guard
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970819202835.2257812a@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>From Greenbase - Greenpeace Press Release Server]
ATTEMPTED PIRACY ON HIGH SEAS BY US COAST GUARD
Arctic Ocean, August 18 (GP): In a blatant violation of international law
tonight, the US Coast Guard attempted to stop the Greenpeace Ship, Arctic
Sunrise in international waters.
As ARCO's concrete island drilling system settled into Camden Bay, despite
legal Greenpeace protests, the Arctic Sunrise left the area. After the ship
was well into international waters, a US Coast Guard helicopter flew out and
repeatedly ordered them to heave to for boarding.
Even after being informed that the vessel was in international waters, the
Coast Guard responded: "I am still ordering you to heave-to, skipper. Uhmm,
your choice, I am ordering you to heave-to, uh, for documented violations of
federal laws and treaties of the United States, and uh, it is your choice
obviously, there are coast guard vessels out to board you."
"This is an extraordinary breach of international law, which provides
absolute protection of the navigation of vessels in international waters,"
said Greenpeace international attorney
Duncan Currie.
The events on the High Seas ended a day of high drama where Greenpeace
performed a citizens arrest on ARCO's oil rig manager for violation of us
law, declared an environmental protection zone, and witnessed numerous
marine mammals including polar bears fleeing from the three tugs towing the
drilling platform.
"ARCO, the federal agencies and the Coast Guard have clearly demonstrated
that they will stop at nothing to prevent Greenpeace's campaign to protect
the environment from the abuses of the oil industry," said Steve Sawyer, on
board the Arctic Sunrise, "But Greenpeace will continue its protest against
oil exploration because we cannot afford to burn even a quarter of the known
fossil fuel reserves, it is foolhardy and irresponsible of the oil industry
to continue searching for more."
"The oil industry obviously have the authorities at their beck and call -
even to the extent of getting the coast guard to abuse its powers in
international waters. It is time the oil
industry was brought under control," Sawyer added.
Attached - extracts from a transcript of the exchange between US Coast
Guard helicopter 6523 and the mv Arctic Sunrise captain, Arne Sorensen. The
complete transcript is available.
Transcript, VHF communications, 18 August
CG = Coast Guard helicopter 6523
AS = Captain Arne Sorensen, Greenpeace Motor Vessel Arctic Sunrise
CG: motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, this is Coast
Guard helicopter, Coast Guard helicopter 16.
CG: Motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, this is Coast
Guard helicopter overhead your position 70 30 north, 144 35 west, on a
heading of 335, 10 knots, red vessel,
with white superstructure, with Coast Guard helicopter overhead, on channel
16. You are ordered to heave to, stop your vessel, (AS call sign? "sea-ray,
kay- beck, bee-so-too"??) to await Coast Guard, US Coast Guard boarding, and
other federal agent boarding, for violation of US laws and treaties. I have
you over, uh, underneath me at this time, positive identification, I am
ordering you to heave to, stop your vessel, in your current position,
immediately skipper. Coast Guard helicopter standing by, channel one-six.
CG: Motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, Coast Guard
helicopter overhead circling, you are ordered to heave to, heave to, stop
your vessel, `sea-ray, kay- beck, bee-so-too, sea-ray, kay beck,
bee-so-too,' heave to, skipper, for US Coast Guard and other federal agents
boarding for violation of US laws and treaties, Coast Guard helicopter circling
overhead, to the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise, Greenpeace vessel Arctic
Sunrise, you are ordered to heave to.
AS: Coast Guard helicopter, this is the Arctic Sunrise on channel 122.9
CG: Arctic Sunrise, Coast Guard helicopter on channel 122.9
AS: Yeah, good evening, what's your business here, over.
CG: Motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, Coast Guard helicopter. I am ordering you
to heave to, for Coast Guard and other federal agents boarding for violation
of US laws of treaties, you are
ordered to stop your vessel at this time,
AS: Coast Guard helicopter, this is the Arctic Sunrise, sorry to inform you
that this is a Dutch-registered vessel operating in international waters,
and you have no authority to stop me in this area, over.
CG:: Motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, Coast Guard helicopter. I am still
ordering you to stop for violation of US laws and treaties, you are ordered
to stop at this time, on uh, for
violation of US laws and treaties.
AS: Right-oh, yes, understood, but I'm sorry, I am not going to stop my
vessel. You have no authority to stop me in international waters.
CG: Motor vessel Arctic Sunrise, Coast Guard helicopter six-five-two-three,
and I am still ordering you to heave to, skipper. Um, your choice, I am
ordering you to heave to, uh, for
documented violations of federal laws and treaties of the United States, and
uh, it is your choice, obviously, there are Coast Guard vessels that are out
to board you, I am ordering you to heave to, and we have documented proof,
or documented, uh evidence, of violation of US laws and treaties.
AS: I can only repeat what I've just said, that you have no authority to
stop me in international waters.
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 20:28:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: David J Knowles
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: [UK] Anti-hunting league expels top officials
Message-ID: <1.5.4.16.19970819202838.2257b6f6@dowco.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, August 20th, 1997
Anti-hunting league expels top officials
By Hugh Muir and Charles Clover
TWO senior members of the League Against Cruel Sports have been expelled
after becoming involved in compromise talks with the foxhunting lobby.
Mark Davies, a former chairman of the league, and Steve Watson, formerly the
regional representative for Bedfordshire, have been thrown out because they
are also leading figures in the Wildlife Network, a group which is seeking
to reform rather than abolish hunting.
They have been told that their involvement with the group network is
incompatible with membership of the league. An attempt to have their
expulsions overturned failed last
weekend despite an appeal to fellow members at the organisation's annual
meeting.
However, the two men are threatening a court challenge to the decision,
claiming that the league made no attempt to inform them of any charges until
they were called upon to
defend themselves at the meeting.
Last night Kevin Saunders, a league spokesman, confirmed that its
constitution did not oblige the executive committee to provide disciplined
members with detailed charges.
Mr Davies, 52, of Crosby, Merseyside, said: "We may seek a court injunction
to have the whole process set aside because we do not believe it gave due
weight to natural justice. The executive committee wrote a letter saying I
was expelled but they didn't give any reason."
Mr Watson, 35, of Bedford, said: "My expulsion for thinking through the
issue of hunting shows how unprofessional the league has become. The lack of
evidence against us and the
way this appeal has been handled has shown that the league is quite prepared
to act in a way totally outside the principles of natural justice."
James Barrington, the director of the network and a former director of the
league, said that the league could have allowed the pair to remain members.
The prospect of an agreement between pro-hunters and reformers is an
explosive one because abolitionists are pinning their hopes on the Private
Member's Bill proposed
by Mike Foster, the Labour MP, which would ban the sport completely.
The Bill will go before the House of Commons on Nov 28 and has the support
of the Prime Minister, although the Government has indicated it will not
smooth the measure's passage by allowing it extra time.
The network's blueprint for reform says a complete hunting ban would be
damaging for foxes because farmers would find unacceptable ways of killing them.
In February Mr Barrington, Mr Davies and Mr Watson held secret talks with
Capt Ian Farquhar, the Master of the Beaufort Hunt and Lord Mancroft, the
deputy chairman of the British Field Sports Society. Although the two sides
are far from total agreement, they claim to have found areas for compromise.
However, Mr Saunders said the expelled men must have realised their talks
with the hunters would lead to expulsion.
© Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
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