Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news36~5.htm/text0017.txt

Text File | 1998-04-03 | 29.8 KB | 719 lines

from CNN web page:
---------------------------------
                     Consumer groups demand single food-safety agency

                     April 3, 1997
                     Web posted at: 5:40 p.m. EST

                     In this story:

                        * Several agencies responsible
                        * FDA: Current system works
                        * Related stories and sites

                     WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The recent hepatitis scare in
                     frozen strawberries has prompted renewed calls
                     from consumer groups for the creation of a single
                     federal food-safety agency.

                     Consumer advocates wrote President Clinton
                     Wednesday, saying the latest outbreak follows a
                     year of increased food scares and signifies the
                     need for a single agency to monitor food safety.

                     "Last year, there was a bumper crop of food-borne
                     illnesses from FDA-regulated foods," said Caroline
                     Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the
                     Public Interest, one of the groups demanding
                     action.

                     Among recent food scares in the U.S., according to
                     DeWaal:

                        * More than 1,000 people fell ill from eating
                          parasite- tainted Guatemalan raspberries.
                        * At least 100 people received E.coli poisoning
                          from lettuce.
                        * One child died and dozens of others fell ill
                          from drinking E.coli-tainted apple juice.
                        * Hundreds of people became sick after eating
                          bad oysters.

                     Although the U.S. food supply is considered the
                     safest in the world, an estimated 9,000 Americans
                     die every year from food poisoning. Between 9
                     million and 33 million become sick every year from
                     some form of food poisoning, records show.

                     Several agencies responsible

                     The current food-safety system spreads
                     responsibility among numerous agencies, including
                     the United States Department of Agriculture, the
                     Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental
                     Protection Agency. For example, the USDA regulates
                     meat; the FDA regulates most other food.

                      DeWaal and others contend the system
                                is too inefficient, and that years of
                     underfunding have left the FDA with a food safety
                     program that is little more than a recall agency
                     for contaminated foods.

                     In January, Clinton asked Congress for a $43
                     million food budget increase to help the agencies
                     better monitor potential food hazards, among other
                     things.

                     But the consumer groups say piecemeal reforms
                     aren't enough.

                     Nancy Donley of Safe Tables Our Priority, whose
                     6-year-old son died after eating an
                     E.coli-contaminated hamburger, said she "can't
                     help but wonder if my only child would be alive"
                     if a single agency had existed for food
                     regulation.

                     FDA: Current system works

                     Vicki Peal, whose father died after eating a bad
                     oyster, said she fears "the consequences of having
                     (the FDA) oversee new food-safety threats."

                     The FDA, meanwhile, insists that the       [meat]
                     various federal food agencies combined
                     are up to the job.

                     "It's best to see this as sort of an integrated
                     package of many people from many perspectives with
                     different skills trying to assure the public
                     health," said Dr. Michael Friedman, acting
                     commissioner of the FDA.

                     Correspondent Eugenia Halsey contributed to this
                     report.
Date: Sat, 05 Apr 1997 08:46:56 -0500
>From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (VN) Vietnamese Spare Cats, Save Crops
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page:
----------------------------
 04/04/1997 04:32 EST

 Vietnamese Spare Cats, Save Crops

 HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Cats in northern Vietnam are off the menu and on
the prowl.

 In Thai Binh province, where cats are a delicacy, authorities have banned
felines
 from restaurant menus to preserve them for rat-hunting duty, official
media reported
 today.

 Millions of ravenous rats in Thai Binh have been devouring rice crops by
the acre.
 And farmers are turning to their dwindling cat population for help.

 ``So many cats have been sold for food, few are left in the villages,'' the
 state-controlled New Hanoi newspaper quoted local officials as saying.

 The newspaper said many cats are smuggled from Thai Binh to China where
 restaurant-owners offer higher prices for the meat.

 The Red River delta province of Thai Binh, about 70 miles southeast of
Hanoi, is the
 biggest rice-producing area in northern Vietnam.
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 10:50:11 -0500 (EST)
>From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Horse Cruelty Case
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


Numerous complaints of starving horses at riding stable results in
seizure of eight emaciated horses.

    Second Chance Animal Sanctuary of Norman, Oklahoma, in
conjunction with the Cleveland County Sheriff's Department, the
District Attorney's Office, and the City of Norman Animal Control
Department seized eight horses from the Thunderbird Riding Stables
for animal cruelty.  According to Second Chance cruelty investigator
Jamie McAloon, "The horses were nothing but skin and bone, no fat
tissue left, and little or no muscle left. You could count every rib,
their backbones protruded, and each horse had rain rot and sores from
ill-fitting harness.  They literally couldn't afford to lose another
ounce.  Despite their poor condition, the horses were still being
worked as riding horses."

   Owners Cindy and Bobby Steveson of Thunderbird Riding Stables
blame the horses' poor condition on age and a bad winter.  Second
Chance has had the horses' ages estimated by two separate
veterinarians who determined this was not the case.  The horses were
as young as 8 years old and up.  Central Oklahoma has had no winter
to speak of -- we've just had one of the mildest winters on record.
The last excuse was that the horses had poor or few teeth and
couldn't or wouldn't eat.  Veterinarians and horse experts determined
that the horses all had their teeth and were fully capable of eating.
 "The only thing wrong with these horses is they need food."

   In addition to the eight horses that were seized, investigators
discovered seven more horses on the property in as poor a condition
and also being ridden.  The State Department of Tourism owns the
State Park in which the stable operates, and lease the property to
the stable.  Although the Dept. has received several complaints and
have seen the horses it is not willing to take a stand to help the
horses.  In fact the Department's statement to the media is that its
veterinarian gave the horses a "clean bill of health."

   Please write to the Director and ask that the Department of
Tourism show some compassion for these animals and insist that the
stable owners provide adequate food and veterinary care to these
horses, and in addition that any horses in poor health not be ridden.

   Letters of protest to:  John Ressmeyer, Director
                                       Oklahoma Department of Tourism
                                       P.O. Box 52002
                                       Capitol Post Office
                                       Oklahoma City, OK 73152-2002
                                       FAX:  [phone]

   Letters commending the action taken for the horses' welfare to:

    District Attorney's Office      Cleveland County Sheriff's Office
    Cleveland County                   203 S. Jones
    201 S. Jones                            Norman, OK  73069
    Norman, OK  73069               FAX:  [phone]
    FAX:  [phone]

    Chief Phil Cotton                    Second Chance Animal Sanct.
    201-B W. Gray                       P.O. Box 1266
    Norman, OK  73069               Norman, OK  73070
    FAX: [phone]                      Email:  [e-mail]

Transcribed by Mary Morrison, Norman, OK.

                                                       For the Animals,
                                                          Jana, OKC


Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 08:20:28 -0800 (PST)
>From: Mike Markarian <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: waterfowl hunting
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

The following is from a hunting magazine. I would encourage everyone to
write a brief comment opposing an increase in season lengths and bag limits.
-- Mike

>Duck Hunters:
>Sound Off!
>Here's your chance, duck and goose hunters of the West: The U.S. Fish and
>Wildlife Service will be taking public comments until June 27 on whether to
>modify the way it sets waterfowl hunting regulations.
>
>Potential changes include increases in season lengths and bag limits and
>hunter opportunity. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know which
>alternative anti-hunting forces are recommending, and you can bet this small,
>but vocal crowd will weigh in with its opinions.
>
>The Adaptive Harvest Management Working Group has recommended an adoption of
>moderate to liberal options as opposed to restrictive alternatives, and would
>provide additional hunting opportunity that would maintain biological
>soundness and reflect the desires and needs of state wildlife agencies.
>
>Each year the USFWS sets overall parameters for hunting seasons and bag
>limits in each of the Pacific, Mississippi, Mountain and Eastern fly zones
>used by migratory waterfowl. State agencies can then adopt season dates and
>bag limits that do not exceed the federal agency's guidelines.
>
>The proposal for regulatory alternatives was scheduled to be included in the
>Federal Register during mid-May, and the public comment period will end June
>27. Comments can be sent to: Chief, Office of Migratory Bird Management, U.S.
>Department of Wildlife Service, ms 634-ARLSQ, 1849 C. Street N.W.,
>Washington, D.C. 20240.

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 08:37:06 -0800 (PST)
>From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Superior camel search starts in Britain
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


The Electronic Telegraph is the on-line version of the British-based Daily
Telegraph newspaper.

>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, April 4th, 1997

Search for a superior camel starts in Britain

ONE of the world's leading racehorse owners has turned to experts in
Newmarket to help produce better, faster camels for his home country.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai, is keen to
encourage camel racing, a traditional sport in the Gulf region. The Sheikh,
who owns major horse studs in Suffolk, has asked for help from the
Newmarket-based Equine Fertility Unit.

Experts, led by Dubai-based Dr Lulu Skidmore, are adapting modern breeding
techniques - such as artificial insemination and embryo transfer - for the
camels. Dr Skidmore spent five years in Dubai at Sheikh Mohammed's Camel
Reproduction Centre learning about the
animals' basic reproductive physiology.

Using ultra-sound scanning, she can now pinpoint exactly when a female camel
is ovulating and hence when it should be mated. Embryos can then be
recovered from top camels and transferred to surrogates to help maximise the
number of animals which the best camels can produce.

The use of camels in the Gulf has been hit hard by the arrival of four-wheel
drive vehicles. The Sheikh and others are now keen to champion their
sporting prowess.

Prof Twink Allen, of the Newmarket Equine Centre, said: "Camels are the
national animal in the Gulf and their racing is extremely important.
Naturally, there is a desire to get more offspring from the most competitive
animals, that is to exploit the superior genes of the best
stock."

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 08:37:51 -0800 (PST)
>From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [EU] GMO LABELLING LEAVES CONSUMERS IN THE DARK: GREENPEACE
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From the Greenpeace Press Office

GMO LABELLING LEAVES CONSUMERS IN THE DARK: GREENPEACE

BRUSSELS, April 2 1997 - Labelling regulations announced by the
European Commission today will continue to leave consumers in
the dark about whether food products contain genetically altered
organisms by not requiring segregation from natural grains.

Greenpeace spokesperson Isabelle Mister said the Commission had
failed to require any labelling at all for the controversial
genetically modified soya bean and maize. Soya beans are used in
60 per cent of processed food products in supermarkets including
pasta, chocolate and ice-cream.

The commission also failed to require the segregation of
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) such as soya beans and
corn from natural grains. "Therefore these labelling regulations
will only tell consumers a product may contain genetically
altered organisms," she said.

"The Commission through these regulations is effectively denying
consumers the choice they are demanding : to avoid genetically
altered food products," Meister said.

The European Commission announced the adoption of a proposal for
labelling of food products which "may contain or may consist of
genetically modified organisms" (GMO's).

Genetically altered soya beans formed less than two per cent of
the 1996 soya bean harvest in the United States, which is the
largest exporter into Europe, but are not segregated from the
natural soya beans. The Commission proposal does not requrie
segegration of US imports of soya beans nor does it require
labelling of food products made from GMO soya beans.

"Until the Commission requires the segregation of natural grains
and organic material from the genetically altered material
consumers will not have choice about what they eat," Meister
said.

The Commission in its announcement acknowledged that the public
demand the full application of the precautionary principle to
genetically modified products yet the commission has failed to
implement this approach by approving GMO soya beans and maize
and oil seed rape.

CONTACTS:  ISABELLE MEISTER mobile [phone] or 32-2-2801400

Date: Sat, 05 Apr 1997 11:44:05 -0500
>From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Subscription Options (Admin Note)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

routine posting........

Here are some items of general information (found in the "welcome letter"
sent when people subscribe--but often lose!)...included:  how to post and
how to change your subscription status (useful if you are going on
vacation--either by "unsubscribe" or "postpone").
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To post messages to the list, send mail to [e-mail]
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Appropriate postings to AR-News include: posting a news item, requesting
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ALL THE FOLLOWING SHOULD NOT be sent to ar-news !!!
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For all commands, use a blank Subject line.
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To request a digest version, send mail to [e-mail]
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To switch back to immediate mail, and to get copies of *your* postings
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If you have problems, please contact:

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     [e-mail]


allen
********
"We are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Walk your talk
and no one will be in doubt of where you stand."
  -- Howard F. Lyman
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 10:06:02 -0700
>From: [e-mail] (Peter  M. Ligotti)
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Food Slander Laws in the USA
Message-ID: <v01540b02af6ae52b4e58@[206.250.112.5]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

There are 13 states in the USA which currently have passed anti-free speech,
anti-activist food slander laws:

Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan
(passed just last week), Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas.
Here is a article from the Fall 1995 issue of Earth Island Journal on the
Food Slander laws.

"Food Slander" Is Now a Crime

by Gar Smith

On August 17, a group of activists dumped a mixture of Diet Coke,
NutraSweet (aspartame) and rBGH-enhanced milk (produced from cows
injected with genetically engineered hormones) onto the pavement at
Atlanta's Cheshire Bridge Shopping Center.

The demonstration, sponsored by the Pure Foods Campaign (PFC), took its
inspiration from the Boston Tea Party. But while dumping tea was
considered a patriotic act in Boston Harbor, dumping soda, sweetener and
milk is considered a crime in Georgia.

"Food slander" laws, in force in Georgia and at least ten other states,
make it a civil crime to denigrate or criticize food products without a
"scientific basis," explained PFC coordinator Ronnie Cummings. "Industry
lobbyists admit that these laws are probably unconstitutional... their
real purpose is to intimidate activists and concerned consumers."

Emory Law School professor David Bederman joined the PFC protest and
explained to reporters how "food disparagement" laws were ultimately
intended to scare not only citizens, but the media as well.

In Georgia, South Dakota, Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Texas, Arizona,
Oklahoma, Mississippi, Colorado and Louisiana it is now against the law
to publicly criticize corporate food products under so-called "food
disparagement" laws promoted by agriculture, chemical and biotechnology
industry lobbyists. Similar laws are under consideration in Ohio and
Illinois. "These laws are intended to curtail the right to free speech,
to make it illegal to hand out leaflets or to dump rBGH milk in the
gutter," Cummings charged.

PFC claims that Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler
"lied to Congress" when he assured legislators that bovine somatrotropin
(BST), the genetically engineered growth hormone, was destroyed by
pasteurization. Kessler's assurance, which spared Monsanto (BST's
manufacturer) the expense of any further research, was based on a
scientific paper written by Paul Groenewegen, a graduate student from
Guelph, Canada. According to PFC, Groenewegen was "outraged" to learn
that the FDA had misrepresented his research. Far from destroying BST,
Groenewegen's research showed that subjecting BST to pasteurization
temperatures 120 times normal only destroyed 19 percent of the BST in
milk. PFC also charges that the FDA will not release research that
"proves that lab animals got cancer from BST," despite numerous Freedom
of Information Act requests.

Monsanto's claim that BST is "identical" to natural hormones is also
fraudulent, PFC contends, since BST replaces the naturally occurring
amino acid lysine with epsilon-N-acetyl-lysine. While this may not sound
significant, it is known that the alteration of a single amino acid can
trigger sickle cell anemia or predispose some people to Alzheimer's
disease.

While rBGH is banned in Europe and Canada, and has been boycotted by 95
percent of US dairy farmers, the FDA, Environmental Protection Agency
and Department of Agriculture continue to license the drug (and other
new genetically engineered foods) without pre-market safety tests.
Thanks to industry pressure, genetically engineered foods are not
required to carry identifying labels.

"Instead of giving us affordable, healthy, natural, clean food --
safety-tested and clearly labeled to enable consumers to exercise free
choice -- the powers-that-be seem intent upon taking away our right to
know what's been done to our food," Cummings stated. "Government and
corporation hacks use 'risk assessment' and 'cost accounting' to tell us
it's 'too expensive' to clean up food-industry practices, even as the
Centers for Disease Control admit that 20-80 million people a year get
food poisoning."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

What You Can Do:

PFC invites activists to stage milk-dumps around the country to call
attention to "food slander" laws. For more information, contact: PFC,
860 Highway 61E, Little Marais, MN 55614; [phone]; (800)
451-7670.


Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 00:57:46 +0800 (SST)
>From: vadivu <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (MY)  Permits needed to keep exotic pets
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>The Star (4-Apr-97)
Permits needed to keep exotic pets

JOHOR BARU: The National Park and Wildlife Department has made it compulsory
for those wanting to keep exotic animals as pets to get a special permit.

  The department's public relations officer Mohd Fuad Mohd Sharif said that
the move was necessary to prevent cruelty against such animals.

  Those keeping exotic pets without permits would be charged under the
Protection of Wildlife Act 1972 which carries a fine of up to RM5,000 or
three years' jail or both upon conviction.

  "We are aware that some people keep  exotic birds, mammals, reptiles and
amphibians as status symbols. Such cases are not new as we have prosecuted
many offenders since the Act came into force in 1972," he said.

  Mohd Fuad said it was not easy to rear exotic animals as some owners would
not know how to care for them.







Date: Sat, 05 Apr 1997 12:07:00 -0500
>From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Food Slander Laws in the USA
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

For additional information on the web concerning such matters, see:

Rutgers  Animal Rights Law Center

Product Disparagement Statutes

http://www.animal-law.org/pdstat/index.html

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 09:12:30 -0800 (PST)
>From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] British hunters at bay
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Form The Province (Vancouver, BC), Thursday, April 3rd, 1997

CANDIAN PRESS

LONDON - Faced with a real threat that the next government in Britain might
ban hunting to hounds, people who work in "country sports" announced the
formation of a union yesterday to fight for their way of life.

The aimof the union is not to bargain for wages but to inform the public -
who routinely and overwhelmingly tell pollsters they oppose the hunt - what
would happen to the rural economy if they got their wish.
Organizers of the union warned that tens of thousands of people living in
rural Britain directly or indirectly depend on country sports such as fox-
and stag-hunting, hare-coursing, shooting and angling for their livelihoods.

Union chairman John Fretwell said country sports generate the equivalent of
about $14 billion Cdn a year in economic activity "and that's a lot of money
in anybody's language."

However, much of the anti-hunting sentiment resides in the Labour [P]arty,
which appears poised to win the May 1 election and has promised to hold a
free vote on hunting with hounds.


Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 09:12:32 -0800 (PST)
>From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [CA] Dumpster-dog case brings change
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From The Province

By Ian Austin
Staff Reporter

Jasper the dumpster dog has struck a blow for deprived dogs everywhere.

The plucky Skye terrier's plight has led to a change in what happens to dogs
whose owners are charged with neglect or abuse.

In the past, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has had to
apply to the B.C. Supreme Court to get custody of an animal.

But B.C. Supreme Court Master Shelley Nitikman ruled yesterday that animals
whose owners face charges will now stay with the SPCA pending the outcome of
the court case.

"The unfortunate circumstances of Japser may help other animals," Donna
Miranda, a volunteer for [various] animal welfare [groups].
David Wotherspoon, the SPCA's lawyer, said Jasper could barely walk, had
heart disease, a sore on his right hind leg, a hernia and matted fur reeking
of urine and feces after being rescued from a dumpster Jan. 20.

"This application is about a dog named Jasper, a 15-year-old Skye terrier, "
said Wotherspoon. "In the context of all the evidence, I say that he was
abused and neglected."

Bruce Ralston, lawyer for Jasper's owners, Janice and John Montroy,
presented 50 letters of support from family, friends and teachers. "It would
seem rather unlikely, if not preposterous,  for someone to put the dog in a
dumpster and come back and claim it four days later," Ralston said.

[As I posted earlier, the SPCA contest that Jasper was abused/neglected over
a long period of time, and the condition he was found was not caused by a
night in the dumpster. I altered the description of about Donna Miranda from
the original, which did not accurately describe her involvement with the
groups.]

Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 12:24:24 -0500 (EST)
>From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

ar-news mail postpone
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 97 09:31:20 -0000
>From: <[e-mail]>
To: "ar-news" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (US) USDA enforcement actions
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

The USDA continues its barrage of press releases featuring the fines they
are assessing for violations of the animal welfare act.  But these fines
are almost always suspended instantly, yet the USDA uses the total number
of fines assesed in its PR information.  Note the following 2 examples
recieved today, the first of which involves a suspended fine so long as
no other violations occur-- BUT THE LICENSE WAS SUSPENDED SO THERE CAN BE
NO FURTHER VIOLATIONS--

LOGAN, IOWA, ANIMAL DEALER SURRENDERS
LICENSE TO USDA

     RIVERDALE, Md., April 3, 1997--The U.S.
Department of Agriculture and Ernest Yancy,
a licensed animal dealer doing business as S
& Y Kennel in Logan, Iowa, have agreed to a
consent decision and order regarding
violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

     Yancy neither admitted nor denied any
violations of the AWA but agreed to a civil
penalty of $5,000 and will surrender his
license.  The $5,000 penalty is suspended
provided there are no further violations of
the AWA for a period of one year.  Yancy
will not be allowed to receive a license under the AWA for a period of
four years.
-----

FREDERICK, S.D., ANIMAL DEALER SETTLES WITH
USDA FOR $4,000

     RIVERDALE, Md., April 3, 1997--The U.S.
Department of Agriculture and Donna Voeller,
a licensed animal dealer doing business in
Frederick, S.D., have agreed to a consent
decision and order regarding violations of
the Animal Welfare Act.

     Voeller neither admitted nor denied any
violations of the AWA but agreed to a civil
penalty of $4,000 and a 45-day license
suspension continuing until she demonstrates
that her facility is in full compliance with
the AWA.  The fine is suspended providing
Voleller does not violate the AWA for a
period of one year.