AR-NEWS Digest 475

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) EU ACCEPTS SPURIOUS TRAPPING AGREEMENTS
     by CFOXAPI@aol.com
  2) RE: UPC Alert: DA Won't Prosecute Emu Beaters
     by "West, Jamey" 
  3) RE: 60 yo UK Pensioner faces jail threat for feeding birds
     by "D'Amico, AnnMarie" 
  4) WWW-Pages of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments 
     by "Matthias M. Boller" 
  5) USDA NEEDS YOUR HELP IN ESTABLISHING EXOTIC ANIMAL HANDLING
STANDARDS
     by shadowrunner@voyager.net
  6) Southampton, NY: Circus Protest 7/28
     by Mike Markarian 
  7) Great Ape Project WWW Update
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
  8) URGENT.....INFO REQUEST
     by Coral Hull 
  9) fox hunting (US) 
     by Alex Press 
 10) Links - to back up Steve Baer's work
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
 11) RFI: Help fight university slaughterhouse (US...NC)
     by allen schubert 
 12) Replacement organs grown for sheep, scientists report 
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
 13) Fwd: "Animal Rights" A Powerful Book by Charles Patterson (CPatter221@aol.com)
     by CPatter221@aol.com
 14) (US) The cell from hell Toxic algae that thrive on pollutants
  are killing fish, making people sick, and spreading nationwide
     by allen schubert 
 15) BAD NEWS: EU to allow trade of leg-trapped animal fur 
     by Vegetarian Resource Center 
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 18:27:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: CFOXAPI@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: EU ACCEPTS SPURIOUS TRAPPING AGREEMENTS
Message-ID: <199707241036.GAA03136@envirolink.org>



                                              ANIMAL PROTECTION INSTITUTE
                                              ****URGENT NEWS ADVISORY****


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   CONTACT:  Camilla Fox
July 23, 1997
                          (415) 945-9309

                               Trapping photos available

                                 U.S. MUST COMPLY WITH SO-CALLED "HUMANE"=20
                              TRAPPING STANDARDS, SAYS EUROPEAN UNION

SACRAMENTO, CA -  After two years of delay, the European Union (EU) General
Affairs Council voted on July 22 for new agreements with Canada and Russia on
"humane" trapping standards that will ensure the use of the cruel leghold
trap for an indefinite period of time.  The Council also called upon the
European Commission to reach an equivalent official agreement with the United
States.

        U.S. officials have refused to give up leghold traps and say they will
not
sign a negotiated agreement that requires any phase-out of leghold trap use.

        The new agreements nullify the original intent of Regulation 3254/91 (t
he
European Union Leghold Trap Fur Import Ban) to ban imports of fur pelts from
countries still using the leghold trap or not complying with "internationally
agreed humane trapping standards." Passed by the EU in 1991 and originally
scheduled to begin in January 1, 1995, the regulation is intended to reduce
pain and suffering to furbearing animals worldwide.

        The Clinton administration has threatened international trade sanctions
through the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the EU implements the ban.

        The new agreements exempt Canada and Russia from the ban and permit
continued use of standard steel-jaw leghold traps for two to four years.
 Other forms of leghold traps may be used for at least eight more years and
indefinitely if they meet certain trap standards.  In addition, a 300 second
threshold has been accepted for kill-type traps allowing animals to suffer in
excruciating pain for up to five minutes.

        The weakened agreements are a great disappointment to animal advocates
and
to those who have fought for more than two years to ensure implementation of
the ban in its original form. =20

        "Millions of animals die in cruel leghold traps each year," said Camill
a
Fox, Wildlife Program Coordinator for the Animal Protection Institute.  "The
regulation has been reduced to the lowest common denominator, allowing
fur-exporting countries to claim that animals will now be trapped =91humanely=9
2
according to =91international trapping standards.=92  It is a terrible tragedy
that concern for free trade has preempted concern for improving the welfare
of animals worldwide." =20

        The U.S. will face an import ban in December if a similar agreement is
not
signed by then.  Animal advocates are urging the Clinton administration to
support HR 1176 that would ban the leghold trap nationwide and bring the U.S.
into compliance with the EU regulation.  "The U.S. government should be
ashamed of undermining this progressive European legislation," said Fox.
 "More than 80 countries have already banned the leghold trap.  It is time
our country took a stand and banned this instrument of torture forever."=20

                                                                ###

    EU ACCEPTS SPURIOUS TRAPPING AGREEMENTS
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 06:48:32 -0400
From: "West, Jamey" 
To: "'ar-news@envirolink.org'" ,
        "'franklin@smart.net'" 
Subject: RE: UPC Alert: DA Won't Prosecute Emu Beaters
Message-ID:


Anyone who was planning a vacation to Texas, might want to reconsider.
Of course, you would want to let the Texas Chamber of Commerce know
that this horrible injustice affected your decision.  The Texas Chamber
of Commerce can be reached at 1-800-8888-TEX  The man I talked
to was very nice and said that he would forward my comments to the
appropriate official.
Jamey Lee West
Peace for All Beings

----------
 From: Franklin Wade[SMTP:franklin@smart.net]
 Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 1997 9:49PM
 To: ar-news@envirolink.org
 Subject: UPC Alert: DA Won't Prosecute Emu Beaters

                     United Poultry Concerns
                          Action Alert
    No Prosecution of Men Who Beat Twenty-Two Emus To Death?


July 23, 1997

     Today in Tarrant County the District Attorney's Office
announced it will not press cruelty charges against Steven and
Russell Vinson, the two medical doctors who beat to death twenty-
two penned emus with aluminum baseball bats on June 28, 1997.

     The district attorney's office told UPC president Karen
Davis on July 21 that there was no proof that the men's conduct
was cruel. He said that maybe if the men had starved the birds or
set them on fire the case might be different. The last bird to
die in the pen was described by the humane investigator as
"vomiting blood and staggering until it fell on the ground and
couldn't get up anymore."

     Attorney Richard Alpert, who recommended not to prosecute,
told Karen Davis that breeders all over Texas are beating their
emus to death "even as we speak." He said the only difference
between the Vinsons and others is that the other breeders
"generally tie the birds up first." He said this as if to say
that the fact that others are beating their emus to death makes
it a common practice so it is not "cruel" or a crime under the
law.

What Can I Do?

Contact:
Robert Mayfield
Deputy Chief, Misdemeanor Court
Tarrant County Criminal Justice Building
401 West Belknap
Fort Worth TX 76196
ph: 817-884-1649
fax: 817-884-2499

Tell him to revise the decision and to recommend prosecution of
Steven and Russell Vinson, the two brothers who beat their
captive emus to death. Their decision compounds the evil and
sends a message to other breeders that they can beat their birds
to death without fear of legal consequences.

_____________________________________________________________________
franklin@smart.net                                   Franklin D. Wade 
    United Poultry Concerns - http://www.envirolink.org/arrs/upc
    Compassion Over Killing - http://www.envirolink..org/arrs/cok        




Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 14:27:53 -0400
From: "D'Amico, AnnMarie" 
To: AR-News@envirolink.org, vrc@tiac.net
Subject: RE: 60 yo UK Pensioner faces jail threat for feeding birds
Message-ID: <199707241825.OAA19639@envirolink.org>

Isn't it amazing...

Our court systems think its perfectly acceptable to club birds or
animals to death but god forbid if you feed them you pay a price by
going to jail.

I must admit, it was quite amusing when the neighbor said "How would you
like 200 pigeons sitting on your roof" waiting for Mrs. Simpson to come
out?


AM



     ----------
      From: Vegetarian Resource Center[SMTP:vrc@tiac.net]
      Sent: Sunday, July 20, 1997 1:15 AM
      To: AR-News@envirolink.org
      Subject: 60 yo UK Pensioner faces jail threat for feeding
birds


     London Times
     July 19 1997
     BRITAIN=20

     Neighbours protest at noise and nuisance as rooks,
     pigeons and starlings descend on homes=20

     Woman faces jail threat for feeding birds=20

        A PENSIONER who attracts thousands of birds to
        her home by smothering her garden with food was
        warned yesterday that she could go to prison.=20

        A council had become so exasperated with Barbara
        Simpson it had asked a judge to jail her for breaking
        an injunction forbidding her from feeding the birds at
        her home in the village of Preston, near Weymouth,
        Dorset.=20

        Mrs Simpson, 60, agreed yesterday at Winchester
        Crown Court not to put out any bird seed, nuts,
        cheese or other scraps on her lawns or surrounding
        pavement until her case is heard. But Mr Justice
        Kennedy allowed Mrs Simpson to continue feeding
        her 30 doves from a bird table =AD despite being told
        the table measured 24 sq ft.=20

        Neighbours had complained that Mrs Simpson spent
        =A3100 a week on assorted food for the birds. Rooks,
        pigeons and starlings perched on neighbouring
        houses throughout the day, causing noise and
        nuisance, waiting for Mrs Simpson to feed them.
        Environmental health officers claimed the food was
        sometimes strewn 6in deep.=20

        Mrs Simpson who is married to Robert, a retired
        newsagent, told the judge that she had not been
        present when the injunction was granted in
        December last year. Trevor Ward, representing
        Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said Mrs
        Simpson's previous solicitor asked to be released
        from the case a month ago.=20

        Mr Justice Kennedy said he did not think it right to
        proceed with an application to commit to prison
        someone who was not represented.=20

        He said he would adjourn the case but only on
        condition that Mrs Simpson gave an undertaking not
        to feed the birds in the same terms as the injunction.=20

        He told Mrs Simpson the birds could manage without
        her: "They will be able to find enough in July and
        August without any help from you."=20

        Outside the court Mrs Simpson said: "The birds are
        my children and I would be prepared to go to prison if
        they stopped me feeding them."=20

        She began feeding the birds 15 years ago, when a
        sick baby blackbird landed on her doorstep. Since
        then she has begun emptying bags of cheese and
        nuts on to her front lawn and the path each day.=20

        Vera Marshall, a neighbour in the seaside village,
        said: "It's been terrible. It smells like a chicken run
        and when we complain she just tells us not to be
        unkind. It begins at 5am when all the rooks start
        cawing away and waking us up. Then we get
        hundreds of other birds sitting on our roofs waiting for
        her to come out. How would you like 200 pigeons
        sitting on your roof? We've got rats in the area now."=20

        "I've lived here for seven years and she's been doing
        this ever since I arrived. We all go outside and try and
        clap the birds away which works temporarily but then
        they're back after two minutes.=20

        "The council have tried to clear up the mess but as
        soon as they leave she comes out and pours more
        food out."=20
     yy    60 yo UK Pensioner faces jail threat for feeding birds

Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 00:01:19 +0100
From: "Matthias M. Boller" 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: WWW-Pages of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments 
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT

Hello,

the homepage of the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments is
now available at

http://www.tierrechte.de/european-coalition/

At the moment, the main topic is the current campaign to end animal
testing of cosmetic and toiletry products. Within an international
coalition of animal protection groups from across the European Union
and North America, a new and inter- nationally accepted standard for
what constitutes a product which is "Not Tested on Animals" was
established. 

Details of the new standard, a list of the animal organisations 
supporting it and the companies which have made a commitment to 
implement a self-imposed ban on animal tested products and 
ingredients by January 1st 1998 are available at the new www-pages.

Best regards,

Matthias Boller

coalition-webmaster@tierrechte.de

Member of the board
Federal Association Against Vivisection - People for Animal Rights
matthias@tierrechte.de    -   http://www.tierrechte.de/indexe.html
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 97 18:47:11 -0000
From: shadowrunner@voyager.net
To: 
Subject: USDA NEEDS YOUR HELP IN ESTABLISHING EXOTIC ANIMAL HANDLING
STANDARDS
Message-ID: <199707242244.SAA06161@vixa.voyager.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

USDA NEEDS YOUR HELP IN ESTABLISHING EXOTIC ANIMAL HANDLING
STANDARDS

     WASHINGTON, July 23, 1997--The U.S. Department of Agriculture
is seeking public comment to help establish standards under the Animal
Welfare Act for handling and training exotic or wild animals.

Anyone care to respond to this?????

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

     USDA also needs input on training and experience requirements
for trainers and handlers of potentially dangerous exotic or wild animals.

     ?The establishment of exotic animal training standards is in
response to public concerns,? said Michael V. Dunn, assisstant
secretary for marketing and regulatory programs.  ?Several recent
events have clearly shown that there is a need within the industry to set
down universal training standards.?

     This proposal is published in the July 24 Federal Register.

     Consideration will be given to comments received on or before
Sept. 22.  Send an original and three copies of comments to Docket No.
97-001-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, USDA,
Suite 3C03, 4700 River Road Unit 118, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238.

     Comments received are available for public review at USDA,
Room 1141 South Building, 14th Street and Independence Avenue, S.W.,
Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except holidays.  Persons wishing access to this room are requested to
call in advance at 
(202) 690-2817.
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 13:59:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Markarian 
To: ar-wire@waste.org, ar-news@envirolink.org,
        seac+announce@ecosys.drdr.virginia.edu, en.alerts@conf.igc.apc.org
Subject: Southampton, NY: Circus Protest 7/28
Message-ID: <2.2.16.19970724165818.5f672cbe@pop.igc.org>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Members of The Fund for Animals, Volunteers for Animals, and Animal Rights
Foundation of Florida will protest the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers' Circus in
Southampton, Long Island, New York, on Monday, July 28. Please join us if
you're in the area.

WHAT: Demonstration against animal abuse in the circus.

WHEN: Monday, July 28, at 8:30 AM (during the tent-raising festivities).

WHERE: Southampton Elks Lodge Grounds (North Highway and County Road 39).

Please forward to other New York lists or activists.

Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 20:21:16 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: Great Ape Project WWW Update
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970724202116.0222f9b0@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

From: David Pearson 
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 19:45:46 +0100
Subject: Great Ape Project WWW Update

Dear Enviroethicists,

The Great Ape Project's WWW pages have moved to:

http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/gap/gaphome.html

The pages are updated frequently.

Questions or comments are welcome: please direct them to
gap@envirolink.org, or to me at the address below, if you prefer.

Regards,
David Pearson
GAP-UK Coordinator.
 
  David Pearson,                      
  Great Ape Project - UK,         Phone: +44 (0)410 12 4987
  PO Box 6218,                    email: dwcp@mail.nerc-essc.ac.uk           
  London, W14 0GD, UK.     
 
                  


Date: Fri, 25 Jul 1997 10:19:38 -0700
From: Coral Hull 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: URGENT.....INFO REQUEST
Message-ID: <33D8E029.58C8@envirolink.org>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Just got a call from Patty Mark, who has been told that......

Prime Minister Tony Blair is going to: 

!!!!!!!PHASE OUT THE BATTERY CAGE IN GREAT BRITAIN!!!!!! Could it
finally be true?!....

Are there any from the UK or CWIF who can respond to this. It was heard
Firday morning ion 3LO ABC Australian Radio. Please respond ASAP.

Coral Hull (AWA)
http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/animal_watch/au.html
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 20:46:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: Alex Press 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: fox hunting (US) 
Message-ID: 
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


This is the second pro-fox hunting (or, at least, anti-anti-fox
hunting) Op-Ed piece the New York Times has run recently.

   July 24, 1997
      
Roundhead Redux

      By FAY WELDON
      
     L ONDON -- To ban or not to ban? Hardly a question at all in
     today's new Cromwellian Britain, not when it comes to fox hunting.
     Or smoking. Or "selection" in schools. Or single stay-at-home
     mothers. Banned they will be. The people want it so; it shall be
     so.
     
     No one likes posh upper-class men on horses chasing a wretched fox
     and encouraging dogs to tear it to bits. Nor, for the record, do I.
     But it's not the fright and distress of the fox that gets the new
     Britain sufficiently riled to mean to do away with this old custom
     -- no one is (yet) suggesting that the terror of the pig standing
     in line for the abattoir is a reason to ban meat eating. Rather,
     it's the pleasure the fox hunters take in the chase that is their
     undoing. They have too good a time, and it shows, which is deeply
     suspicious to Britain's new puritan heart. Time for it to go.
     
     Three and a half centuries ago Cromwell banned Maypoles, theaters
     and bright clothes as overheating to the public imagination. The
     times go full circle, and now the puritans are back. The lean
     wholesomeness of Tony Blair is welcome to the people, after the
     complacent stuffiness of the Conservative Government, after years
     of sexual and financial scandal. As welcome as the Lord Protector
     Cromwell was after Charles I, who got his head chopped off.
     
     Let Prince Charles do the honorable thing and marry Camilla, or the
     people will want to know why. In the meantime they clamor for the
     fox hunters' blood.
     
     Protector Cromwell had a victorious army to back him. Protector
     Blair has his overwhelming victory at the polls last spring. He
     occupies not just the parliamentary but the moral high ground. He
     announces his Government's plans to the media first, before
     legislation is even proposed to Parliament. Since the House of
     Commons votes exactly as it is told, and has done so for years,
     what's the point of going through the motions? Let's just get on
     with it: save time and argument, announce intent. Already the
     saddlers, the clothiers, the farriers, the blacksmiths are shutting
     up shop, and civil libertarian issues are hardly mentioned.
     
     The right of a government to interfere with the personal habits of
     its people, to take the place of individual conscience, seems now
     fully established. People are forbidden to go to hell in their own
     way; they must go to heaven under Government protection.
     
     The civil libertarians can argue till they're blue in the face that
     to hunt or not to hunt is a personal issue, that paradox and
     dilemma are best solved on a personal, not a mandatory, level. That
     if I weigh my pleasure against the pain of the fox, and it seems to
     me to be O.K., that's my business. Do we not drive cars in the same
     way -- my convenience pitted against another's lungs? And does not
     my convenience win? So what's with the fox?
     
     Here in Britain, back in the 60's, we abandoned the pursuit of
     excellence in our educational system, said down with the
     convenience of the few, the high fliers. We did away with the
     Eleven Plus, the dreaded exam that sent a few to selective schools,
     the majority not. Now we find ourselves horribly low in the 
     international rankings when it comes to adding up and spelling.
     
     Most destructive over-political-correctness derives from a noble
     aspiration to spare the disadvantaged humiliation, to save Monsieur
     Renard from the dogs. The road to social hell is paved with an
     excess of empathy.
     
     One hundred thousand of the most unpopular people in Protector
     Blair's new Britain gathered recently in Hyde Park to protest the
     proposed ban on fox hunting. They needn't have bothered. Too rural,
     too rich, too intellectual, too "luvvie" -- the word now used to
     describe anyone in the arts -- too civil libertarian to be liked or
     listened to. Fifty thousand hounds, they say, will die because
     without the hunt no one will be able to afford to feed them, and
     goodbye to John Peel and tallyho, and Olde England will be no more,
     except in theme parks. No fox was harmed in the writing of this
     piece.
     
     Fay Weldon is the author, most recently, of ``Wicked Women.'' 
     
            Home | Sections | Contents | Search | Forums | Help
                                      
                 Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company
     _________________________________________________________________
                                      
   



Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 21:20:05 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: Links - to back up Steve Baer's work
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970724212005.012d5c58@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Currently there are intensive days of action regarding
the rights of NHP's (nonhuman primates) used in research.

Here are some links so that we can read up and 
understand some of the issues just a little bit better.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----

http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/gap/gaphome.html
http://www.uwosh.edu/organizations/alag/#Video
http://www.selu.com/~bio/gorilla/index.html
http://www.ns.net/orangutan/
http://www.cwu.edu/~cwuchci/
http://www.gsn.org/gsn/proj/jgi/index.html
http://www.koko.org/
http://pantheon.yale.edu/~seelig/bpf/home.html
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mckee/chimp.html
http://www.infoweb.co.za/enviro/chimfunshi/chim2.htm
http://members.aol.com/artprimate/tiso.html
http://envirolink.org/arrs/index.html
http://www.sims.net/organizations/ippl/ippl.html
http://www.sims.net/organizations/ippl/ippl-alert.html#human
http://units.ox.ac.uk/departments/bioanth/budongo.html
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/3347/
http://math.unice.fr/~michel/animaux/gsinges1.html

especially good, IMO, for their interesting and informative links
http://netvet.wustl.edu/primates.htm
http://www.duke.edu/web/primate/index.html
http://www.duke.edu/web/primate/index.html
http://www.primate.wisc.edu/pin/
http://larch.ukc.ac.uk:2001/gorillas/index.html
http://larch.ukc.ac.uk:2001/gorillas/news/
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Anthropology/apelang.html
http://www.brown.edu/Research/Primate/
http://home.earthlink.net/~masterstek/ASLDict.html
http://www.envirolink.org/orgs/gap/gaphome.html
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 22:04:10 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: RFI: Help fight university slaughterhouse (US...NC)
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970724220408.00695b1c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

This is posted on behalf of Ellen Bring of Factory Farming Economic
Conversion Project (FFECP).  Send replies to me via private e-mail and I
will forward to her.  (Ellen is working against an August 5th deadline.)
----------------------------------------------
We continue in our fight to stop North Carolina State University from
constructing a slaughterhouse on campus in Raleigh.

I want to know if you can help us with some research.  The Planning
Commission supposedly is going to find out the experiences of other cities
that have university slaughterhouses within city limits.  We need that
information, too, in order to know how Raleigh's situation is similar or
distinguishable, as well as problems that may be conveniently omitted.
Odor seems to be the big concern, not the brutality and killing of living
beings.

Several universities were mentioned (but without any information about the
process and opposition prior to construction, nor any information from
either city agencies, USDA/state inspections, or media coverage) --
University of Texas in Austin; University of Nebraska in Lincoln;
University for Florida in Gainesville; Michigan State University in
Lansing; Purdue; Iowa State University in Ames, IA.  I understand that
there are more than these.

Can you get us names and addresses of all the university-based
slaughterhouses?  Any related information would be appreciated, too.  We do
not have the resources or personpower to do all the research.  

NCSU's slaughterhouse was going to be passed right through the consent
agendas of the Planning Commission and the City Council.  We have stopped
that from happening.  NCSU sent six people to the Planning Commission
meeting on June 24 and several to the previously unscheduled meeting on
July 1.  I've enclosed newspaper clippings.

We need the information as soon as possible.  The next critical meeting is
August 5.  Thank you for any assistance you can give us.

Sincerely,
Ellen Bring
Factory Farming Economic Conversion Project
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 23:06:21 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: AR-News@envirolink.org
Subject: Replacement organs grown for sheep, scientists report 
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970724230621.0195329c@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


We should probably rename this list AW-news 
(Animal Wrongs News) - since there are so many wrongs,
and very few rights, that are reported...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Replacement organs grown for sheep, scientists report 
By Associated Press, 07/23/97 

Boston researchers have successfully grown replacement organs
for newborn sheep using the animal's own cells, and they hope to
do so soon with humans. 

While scientists have already found ways to grow skin and
cartilage, a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School and
Children's Hospital say they are the first to have grown animal
tissue from a wide variety of organs including the heart, kidneys,
and bladder. 

Their new method holds the greatest hope for correcting common
birth defects - the focus of a paper to be presented today at a
conference of the British Association of Pediatric Surgeons in
Istanbul. 

Harvard researcher Dr. Anthony Atala, who pioneered the
technique with colleague Dario Fauza, said the findings offer hope
that doctors can make replacement organs for humans in a
laboratory, using their patients' own cells. 

``As surgeons, that's what we dream about - having a shelf full of
body parts,'' said Atala, a urological surgeon and tissue engineer
at Children's Hospital. 

Atala and Fauza, a research fellow at Harvard's Center for
Minimally Invasive Surgery, have built bladders and windpipes for
sheep, a kidney for a rat, and leg muscles for a rabbit. 

Because fetal organs are so small, surgeons have been forced to
use mismatched tissues to repair defects, like a piece of intestine
to patch a hole in the bladder. 

The two doctors have developed a method for building
replacement organs for newborns with birth defects while they are
in the womb. For example, they could have a new windpipe ready
to be transplanted when a child is born with a malformed trachea.
``This can save lives,'' Fauza said. 

Tests on humans are set to begin within three months and they
hope to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration within
five years, Atala said. 

Cornell University researcher Thomas McDonald, who studies
sheep development, said the method appears to bypass the
biggest obstacle to organ transplants - the body's rejection of
foreign parts. 

``It sounds like a wonderful technique,'' he said. ``It's just that
nobody has tried it until now.''

Already, Atala and Fauza are preparing to test the methods on
unborn humans diagnosed with birth defects. They also hope to
grow organ tissue for older patients. 

This story ran on page A13 of the Boston Globe on 07/23/97. 
© Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company. 
Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 23:22:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: CPatter221@aol.com
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: Fwd: "Animal Rights" A Powerful Book by Charles Patterson (CPatter221@aol.com)
Message-ID: <970724232121_-1942908589@emout19.mail.aol.com>


---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj:    "Animal Rights" A Powerful Book by Charles Patterson
(CPatter221@aol.com)
Date:    97-07-08 09:41:16 EDT
From:    EnglandGal

Charles Patterson is someone that has been on my mailing list for some time
now, and he is a very active individual and a asset to our movement.  He was
the winner of the 1995 Animal Rights Writing Award and has also written 8
young adult books in all!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Animal Rights" A Powerful Book by Charles Patterson

Now available at a discounted price:  $17.07 (list price: $18.95)

Author Charles Patterson presents the arguments of animal rights activists,
exploring their concerns about the abuse of animals.  He focuses on how
animals are treated by society, examining their role in research,
entertainment, education, fashion, and food production.

"As a book filled with examples of activism by young adults, it will
undoubtedly teach and inspire many."
~~Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

"It is very difficult for one book to cover all issues of animal rights
because the subject is so far reaching.  However, in ANIMAL RIGHTS Charles
Patterson has done just that.....very helpful and interesting book....will be
enjoyed by newcomers, as well as those already involved in the movement."
~~Animals Agenda

Illustrated with black and white photographs - Chapter Notes - Further
Reading List - Index Recommended Grade Levels: 6-up, Ages 12-up, 104 pages,
LC#92-44286, ISBN 0-89490-468-X.

To order:  Return the coupon below or call toll-free 1-800-398-2504.  For
additional information, please contact Enslow Publishers, Inc. at tel.: (201)
379-8890 or fax: 
(201) 379-7940 or E-mail: mail@enslow.com.  Prices are subject to change
without notice.
Shipping:  Please add 7% to your order for shipping and handling.

Return this coupon (or a copy) to:
Enslow Publishers, Inc.,
Box 699, 
44 Fadem Road,
Springfield, NJ 07081-0699

If you have trouble getting books directly from publishers, you can always
order it through www.amazon.com ("the world's largest bookstore")
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Please send me_____copies of ANIMAL RIGHTS by Charles Patterson.  
ISBN: 0-89490-468-X, L #92-44286, Discount Price: $17.05.  Federal I.D.:
22-2123955.

Shipping/Billing Address:

Name:____________________________________

Affiliation:__________________________________

Address:___________________________________

__________________________________________

Tel:___________________Fax:_____________________Date:______________

Subtotal: $_________________  S&H: 7% of subtotal  TOTAL: $_____________


Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 23:24:50 -0400
From: allen schubert 
To: ar-news@envirolink.org
Subject: (US) The cell from hell Toxic algae that thrive on pollutants
  are killing fish, making people sick, and spreading nationwide
Message-ID: <3.0.32.19970724232448.006cf68c@clark.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Environmental and health effects of factory farms in North Carolina.
from USNews.com web page (US News & World Report):
------------------------------------------
         The cell from hell

         Toxic algae that thrive on pollutants are killing fish, making
         people sick, and spreading nationwide

         BY MICHAEL SATCHELL                                      

         Retired North Carolina fisherman David Jones struggles
         with symptoms similar to those of several chronic afflictions:
         the mental confusion of Alzheimer's, the physical crippling of
         multiple sclerosis, the wasting of AIDS. But Jones has none of
         these. Doctors say all the evidence points to a neurological
         assault by algae.

         Jones is one of about 100 North Carolina victims--fishermen,
         commercial divers, marine construction workers--who appear to
         have been poisoned by pfiesteria, a toxic alga found in the
         state's eastern rivers and estuaries. The victims' symptoms can
         include open sores, nausea, memory loss, fatigue, disorientation,
         and the near-total incapacitation suffered by Jones.

         Pfiesteria was first discovered in 1991 and has since killed
         hundreds of millions of fish in North Carolina. State workers
         have used bulldozers to clear piles of dead menhaden from the
         beaches. A 1995 outbreak wiped out 14 million fish, temporarily
         closed parts of the Neuse River, and put 364,000 acres of
         shellfish beds off limits. Since then, the problem has been
         spreading. Around the country, outbreaks of pfiesteria and other
         harmful algal blooms known as red or brown tides are devastating
         marine life and posing risks for fishermen in bays and estuaries.
         Last summer, 20,000 rockfish in a Maryland fish farm on the
         Chesapeake Bay were killed by the organism. Earlier this month,
         "very, very concerned" Maryland officials launched a $250,000
         emergency study of what is causing pfiesteria-type lesions on
         fish in the lower Pocomoke River, which empties into the
         Chesapeake Bay.

         Dead sea cows. In the past 25 years, more than 35 poisonous algae
         outbreaks have killed or sickened fish, shellfish, marine
         mammals, seabirds, underwater vegetation--and people. On the
         eastern tip of Long Island, a brown tide has wiped out a $20
         million bay-scallop industry. In the past two years, a red tide
         on Florida's west coast has killed 150 manatees, about 10 percent
         of the state's sea cow population. And in Texas, the Corpus
         Christi area has been plagued for seven years with a brown tide
         that kills eelgrass and other underwater vegetation. Their
         habitat destroyed, the fish have disappeared and, with them, many
         of the tourists.

         Scientists view these problems as an urgent warning of the
         declining health of the nation's 127 ecologically vital and
         commercially valuable bays and estuaries. Increasing development
         of coastal areas is sending more sewage effluent, farm runoff,
         and factory wastewater flowing into bays and estuaries,
         triggering poisonous algal blooms on all three coasts.

         Pfiesteria is a nasty little customer that some biologists have
         dubbed the "cell from hell." The alga is a dinoflagellate, a
         class of single-celled aquatic organisms that exhibit both plant
         and animal characteristics. Most of the time the cells remain in
         a hard, cystlike condition in the sediment of bays and estuaries.

         But when fish swim by, the organisms swell and transform
         themselves into aggressive ambush predators with twin, whiplike
         tails called flagella that propel the killers toward their prey.
         They then release a toxin that is 1,000 times more powerful than
         cyanide. Even in minute quantities, the poison is deadly to fish,
         dispatching a guppy in 10 minutes and a 20-pound striped bass in
         four hours. Stricken fish gasp for oxygen and swim upside down or
         in circles. The toxin also causes the distinctive oozing red
         sores found both on fish and on humans who have been in direct
         contact with the organism. The microscopic attackers feed on the
         dying fish, reproduce furiously, then change shape when sated and
         return to dormancy in the sediment. Although attacks on humans
         are far more rare, the organism does pose significant risks to
         fishermen or people in prolonged contact with pfiesteria.
         Laboratory tests show a voracious appetite for human blood, and
         its neurotoxin is powerful enough to harm humans. JoAnn
         Burkholder, a scientist at North Carolina State University in
         Raleigh, discovered the microbe, along with her assistant. Both
         experienced severe neurological symptoms in 1993 after inhaling
         the toxin in their lab. The potential threat to humans recently
         prompted 131 physicians in the New Bern, N.C., area to petition
         Vice President Al Gore for federal help to combat what they
         called "a truly threatening environmental issue." Their action
         reflects the growing frustration in North Carolina over the
         state's inability to find answers.

         North Carolina's pfiesteria problem has roots in its booming
         economy. Urban areas like Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte are
         expanding. Large numbers of well-off retirees, eager to live near
         the water, have settled along the inland coastal region. Tourists
         are flocking to the mountains and beaches. Forests and
         marshlands, which filter pollutants and act as buffer zones, are
         being rapidly replaced by highways, golf courses, subdivisions,
         and strip malls. Along with all this growth has come an increase
         of pollutants rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients,
         flowing into creeks and rivers that feed the Albemarle-Pamlico
         Sound. This has triggered the pfiesteria algal blooms that have
         been decimating fish populations since 1991. These outbreaks are
         of deep concern because Albemarle-Pamlico Sound, the nation's
         second-largest bay after the Chesapeake, provides half of the
         nursery waters for fish spawned on the East Coast between Maine
         and Florida.

         Scientists and environmentalists seeking answers to the algal
         assault believe much of the blame lies with the industrial-scale
         hog farming that has mushroomed in the eastern part of the state.
         A decade ago, North Carolina was the nation's seventh-largest hog
         producer. Today, it is second, just behind Iowa. Last year, more
         than 16 million porkers were raised between Interstate 95 and the
         Outer Banks. Hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated,
         nutrient-rich hog feces and urine produced at these loosely
         regulated factory farms are stored in earthen lagoons that
         sometimes leak or collapse. In 1995, for example, 25 million
         gallons of liquid swine manure--more than twice the volume of the
         Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound--flowed into the
         New River after a lagoon was breached.

         Local officials, environmental groups, and rural residents in
         North Carolina, fed up with the malodorous impact of the hog
         industry and its contribution to pfiesteria outbreaks, are
         pushing for stronger zoning powers and other measures to regulate
         hog factories and their growth. Besieged by criticism, the
         National Pork Producers Council says it is researching better
         methods of manure disposal.

         Getting worse. Negative publicity about pfiesteria has spurred
         hundreds of calls to state offices from people wondering if it is
         safe to vacation in North Carolina. Tourism officials say there
         is cause for concern, not alarm. The threat is limited to the
         inland waters of Albemarle-Pamlico Sound and its tributary
         rivers, and these are being closely monitored. The organism has
         not caused problems on the ocean side of the Outer Banks or
         elsewhere in the state. Areas where kills have occurred in the
         Neuse River estuary and elsewhere have been temporarily closed to
         fishing, and people have been warned not to enter the water. Says
         senior scientist Donald Anderson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic
         Institution in Massachusetts: "It isn't time to cancel your North
         Carolina vacation or sell your property, but pfiesteria reflects
         a much bigger problem that's getting worse." Solutions would
         include better sewage treatment, controlling farm runoff, and
         improved wetlands protection. Among the experimental strategies
         available to attack harmful algal blooms is use of algicidal
         bacteria, parasites, and viruses.

         Environmentalists are frustrated because they feel early signs of
         trouble were ignored. In the six years since Burkholder
         discovered the organism and warned of its devastating
         consequences, officials in the state's Department of Environment,
         Health and Natural Resources have belittled her scientific
         credibility, downplayed the threat, and failed to attack the
         problem aggressively. They dismissed her pollution-cause
         conclusion as "specious" and told her to return when she had 10
         years of confirming data. "No state likes bad news, and they have
         tried to discredit me and bury my data," says Burkholder. She and
         others suspect--but cannot prove--a connection between official
         foot dragging and a desire to protect the commercial fishing,
         tourism, and hog industries, which pump over $10 billion a year
         into the state's economy. But Debbie Crane, spokeswoman for the
         state environmental agency, argues otherwise. "Bureaucracy by
         nature is slow to respond," says Crane. "Unfortunate things have
         happened in the past but now we're working hard to beat this
         thing." North Carolina and Maryland are currently trying to do
         just that, but with 75 percent of the population now living
         within 50 miles of the Great Lakes and the nation's coastlines,
         the toxic algae will keep regulators worrying about where the
         next outbreaks will occur.

Date: Thu, 24 Jul 1997 23:44:40 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center 
To: AR-NEWS@envirolink.org
Subject: BAD NEWS: EU to allow trade of leg-trapped animal fur 
Message-ID: <3.0.2.32.19970724234440.01860ac0@pop.tiac.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


EU to allow trade of leg-trapped animal fur 
By Reuters, 07/23/97 

BRUSSELS - The European Union agreed yesterday to allow
imports from Canada and Russia of fur from animals caught by
leg-hold traps, even though the devices are banned by the
15-nation bloc. 

EU diplomats said Britain, Austria and Belgium had voted against
a proposal for an agreement on leg-hold trap standards, but
backing by France meant the law will be enacted. 

The proposal had been rejected three times by EU environment
ministers, but foreign ministers, responsible for trade policy,
passed the agreement on a majority vote. 

European Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan hailed the
agreement as a triumph of sense over emotion. ``This will ensure,
for the first time, that nations have to abide by minimum standards
when it comes to trapping fur-bearing animals,'' he said. 

This story ran on page A11 of the Boston Globe on 07/23/97. 
© Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company. 

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

THIS SITE UNDERWRITTEN IN PART BY:
Cyberian Outpost

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