Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news36~7.htm/text0009.txt

Text File | 1998-04-03 | 75.2 KB | 1,613 lines

To get this periodic update on Genetically Safe Food, request to
be on the "Shopping list" to Marie Zenack  <[e-mail]>



>From: Marie Zenack <[e-mail]>
Subject: Shopping List 3/22/97

GENETICALLY ORIGINAL SHOPPING is intended to find out and share as much
info as possoble about purchasing genetically original food. (If you don't
want to receive this, let me know.  If you have friends who want the info,
have them send me a message to that effect.   Thanks.

Please review the list to make sure everyone agrees that it is as accurate
as we can tell, or to make suggestions, etc. At the end of this list are
suggestions on how to research a company.  This list can really grow if
everyone takes their favorite five companies.  If your begin to research a
particular company, let me know and I will put it on the 'in process' list
so that we do not duplicate efforts.  Once you have a response from the
company, let me know.  If it is positive, please fax or snail mail me a
copy.  Marie Zenack, 701 S. 2nd St. Fairfield, IA 52556, USA,
Phone/Faxs-515-472-6948.   It is important that any info we get be in
writing because, for legal reasons, companies are very careful about what
they put in writing. We have developed a webb site
(www.lisco.com/mothersfornaturallaw) where the good guys can find each
other.  If we have a company's response in writing, we will call them back
about being on the webb site.

COMPANIES ON BOARD:

DAIRY:  All lifestock fed 100% organic feed.  All products rGBH free.  If
dairy produces cheese, they use genetically original rennet.

Radiance Dairy, 1745 Brookville Rd, Fairfield, IA, USA
Researcher:<[e-mail]> Nov,96)
Organic Valley Cropp cooperative, LaFarge WI 608-625-2602 (Info is on label.)
Horizon Dairy - (Dec, 96,PO Box 17577  Boulder,  CO  80308,
Researcher:<[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]>
Harmony Hills Organic Dairy: Researcher:<[e-mail]>
Morningland Dairy, Rt 1 Box 188 B Mountain View, MO 65548
Eggs from Diana(DJ) and Bill Runyan, sold starting this week through
Everybody's Market under the name of Iowa Oasis.

GREENS PLUS - I have researched this company and found it to be gene free.
Contains only organic and hydroponic elements.  Company spokesperson is
Elise Masheleau at 1-800-258-0444.  Researcher:  <[e-mail]>
(I have not received the fax of company response yet but researcher will
send it.  Marie Zenack)
GARDENING:
        Richter Herbs wrote:  All of our seeds are either collected from
wild plants or produced in traditional ways practiced for millenia.  We do
not offer genetically engineered plants or seeds.  Goodwood, ON  L0C 1A0,
Canada,Tel [phone]  Fax [phone], Info:[e-mail], Catalog
Requests:  [e-mail],  Website: www.richters.com
researcher:<[e-mail]>
        Arbico Environmentals:  Providing sustainable alternatives for home
and business.  "We can personally certify that our Bt sprays and other
products are not genetically engineered or produced from a genetically
engineered organizm or process." 1-800-827-2847  researcher:
[e-mail]
        Apparently BOUNTIFUL GARDENS, SEEDS OF CHANGE, NATIVE SEEDS/SEARCH
are all using open pollinated seeds.  <[e-mail]>
SOY PRODUCTS:
        Eden Foods, which makes Eden soy products, etc, are very strong in
their stand to only use non-gen eng. ingredients.   Their purchaser said on
the phone that they source all their ingredients from the farmer to the
consumer.  Sent the following in writing:  "Please let this letter serve as
our affidavit and your assurance that Eden foods will not purchase or sell
any food or food ingredient known to be genetically engineered and that we
will act to best insure our avoidance of such."  Eden foods, Inc. 701
Tecumsey Rd., Clinton, MI 49236.517-456-7424)
Researcher:<[e-mail]> Jan, 97)
        Nature farm foods, Inc. All grains OCIA certified organic.  850 NBC
Center, Lincoln, NE 68508, 402-474-7576, Fax: [phone]  Researcher:
Cathy Bortz, 2000 N. Court # 15C, Fairfield, IA 52556.  January, 1997
        Sunrider, which makes NuPlus, an herbal powder which also contains
soy beans. Sent the following in writing:   "Dr. Chen wanted me to advise
you that he has complete cotrol over all ingredients used in Sunrider
products, and Sunrider definitely does not use any genetic engineered
foods."  1625 Abalone Ave,Torrance CA 90501,310-781-8096.
Researcher:<[e-mail]>, Oct, 9.1996
YEAST:
RED STAR YEAST does not use genetic engineering in their processes.  Did
not promise to avoid in the future. Nov. 96.  Universal foods Corporation,
Technical Center, 6143 N. 60th street, Milwaukee, WI 53218.  Red Star Yeast
is distributed through Frontier Herbs.  Researcher: <[e-mail]>
TOMATO SAUCE:  Millinas Finest, Morgan Hill, CA 95037.  Info is on label.
But read it anyway in case things change!  Researcher:<[e-mail]
         Muir Glen, P.O, Box 1498, Sacramento, CA, 95812.  Info is on
label, but read it anyway in case things change.
Researcher:<[e-mail]

WHOLE FOODS MARKET in the U.S. is contacting all their suppliers
and requesting that they sign written papers certifying that
they use no genetically engineered products in their whole and
processed foods.researcher: <[e-mail]>  WholeFoods is a
retailer and probably at this point they cannot be sure of all their
products. But apparently soon they will be able to be more certain and this
is definitely a significant step.  We are waiting for their written or
public statement.

COMPANIES BEING INTERVIEWED:
??AMY'S FOOD COMPANY.  researcher:  [e-mail]
??ALVARADO STREET BREAD:  Researcher:<[e-mail]>
??ALL ONE GOD FAITH: (Dr. Bronners)  Jim Bronner called to say he was
sending the info packet on to their supplier.  He sent for info from
Genetic ID.  Researcher:<[e-mail]>
??FLEISCHMAN'S YEAST: Have not faxed back, even after reminder.
researcher: <[e-mail]>
??GHEE PRODUCERS:   Researcher <[e-mail]>
??LIGHTFOODS, INC of Greenfield, MA, makers of Wonderdogs(tm) vegetarian
hot dogs, is interested in the use of non ge soy beans and wheat though at
the moment their suppliers have informed them that they can not promise
them that. I am preparing to send them some info and will keep you updated
on the results.  Researcher: [e-mail]
??LIVE FOODS PRODUCTS, (BRAGGS): said they are researching this issue.
Researcher:<[e-mail]>
??SAN-J SOY SAUCE: (About that little bit of alcohol made from CORN) Said
they would be requiring genetic verification from supplier of alcohol and
lab.  Took info on genetic id test. Researcher:<[e-mail]>
??SPRINGTOWN GROCERY in Kalona: an Amish Coop that delivers the eggs to
Everybody's Market in Fairfield - What are their chickens and lifestock
eating?  What kind of rennet do they use to make
cheese?Researcher:<[e-mail]>
WHOLESOME & HEARTY FOODS researcher:  [e-mail]
WHOLE FOODS RETAIL MARKETS:  See above, in Companies on Board.  researcher:
<[e-mail]>

COMPANIES NOT ON BOARD:
!!MOST HOME GARDENING CATALOGS ARE NOW CARRYING GENETICALLY
ALTERED POTATOES.
!!Alta-Dena contracts out their products and so cannot always guarantee
what is in or not in them. Researcher: <[e-mail]>
!!Barbara's Bakery sees nothing wrong with genetically engineered food.
researcher: <[e-mail]>
!!"Land of Lakes will never be on board".  [e-mail]
!!"Land of Lake does genetic research and have genetically manipulated the
rhizobium bacteria through their company called Research Seeds.  This
bacteria could contaminate the earth." Researcher Eileen Dannemann NCOW
c/o <[e-mail]>
!!Cabot Creamery was taken over by AgriMark more than 5 years ago.  About a
year ago they came out as proponents of rBGH use.  AgriMark is one of the
largest distributors of milk in New England, mostly selling to other
companies for processing.  researcher:  [e-mail] (Brian Tokar)
!!Carnation Infant formula wrote back that concerns about genetically
engineered soy beans is unfounded because the FDA says they are safe.
Researcher:Eileen Dannemann, NCOW c/o <<[e-mail]> (Please add
address)
!!The Infant Formula council says that parents and health professionals
don't need to worry because the industry conforms to FDA industry
standards.  5775 Peachtree, Dunwoody Rd, Suite 500, Atlanta, Georgia 30342,
404-252-3663 Fax [phone]  Researcher: Eileen Danneman NCOW  c/o
<[e-mail]>
!!Frito-Lay, Inc. 1-800-352-4477, P.O. Box 660634,
Attn: Nutritionist 3B-167,      Dallas, TX 75266-0634 , Inc.
1-800-352-4477,  "The corn used in Frito-Lay product is grown specifically
for Frito-Lay and are not genetically engineered. However, from time to
time, we do purchase small amounts of  corn on the open market. Since
genetically engineered corn is not required to be labeled, it is possible
that minute amounts of genetically engineered corn could find its way into
FRITOS, DORITOS or TOSTITOS." They then go on to say that the FDA, USDA and
EPA say that ge corn is safe.  Researcher: <[e-mail]>
SEED COMPANIES AND GARDENING CATALOGS:
        !!ICI/Garst Seed Co wrote:  "We are offering genetically engineered
seeds to our customers.  To get our official stand on these issues I would
suggest contacting our Communications Mgr in Coon Rapids, IA.  His name is
Mike Smidt, and his phone number is  [phone]."  researcher:
<[e-mail]
        !!Gardens alive:  They were unable to tell me which, if any, of
their Bt sprays is genetically altered.  They gave me the name of the
company that sells it to them.  This company said that they only packaged
it and that they would get back to me.  They called back and said that
their Colorado potato beetle BT is genetically altered.  They did not know
under what name Gardens Alive sells it.  So, It seems that we can really
not be sure of any of the biological controls in Gardens Alive.
Researcher:  [e-mail]
VITAMINS AND SUPPLELMENTS:
        !!Twin Labs.  They have admitted to 30 products with aspartame and
said if we could prove it was a poison they would remove it.  We sent them
so much
material and independent studies that were unrefutable.  Their dietitian
then wrote and said they still were not going to take it out.
Researcher:[e-mail]
Twin Labs wrote that their brewers yeast is organically produced and
genetically original.  Their nutritional yeast is  genetically original but
not organic.  Can we trust them if they are willing to use aspartame?  Jan.
97,  2120 Smithtown Ave, Ronkonkoma, N.Y. 11779, 516-467-3140  Fax:
516-467-3083  Researcher:<[e-mail]> Dec, 96.)

OTHER INFO:
A genetic Id test for soy and corn is available from Genetic Id, 500 N. 3rd
St., suite 208, Fairfield, Ia 52556. USA. 515-472-9979  Fax: [phone]
Send a message to:<[e-mail]> and they will fax info to the
company.

What we have learned about butter by following the issue closely last year
is that most comanies seem to give butter their lowest priority in terms of
using their best milk, vs. whatever they ca get on the spot market.
In this country there are four types of rennet available:  1)From the
calf's stomach (rarely used since BSE crisis)  2) genetically engeneered
cow's rennet 3) a natural enzyme from a mold that produces the same effect
as rennet, 4)  a genetically altered version of this natural enzyme.
Obviously only number 3 is acceptable.  We have been checking with the
manufacturers and have found some good supplies.
The two trade names for g.e. rennet are "Chymosin" and "chymax".  You can
still get the genetically unaltered vegetable rennet, "Mucor Mihei",
sometimes called "microbial enzyme" on the cheese package, but this name
has also been used to describe the enetically engineered rennnet. Any
cheese supplier is able to supply vegetable rennet.  For example ,Chr.
Hansen in Wisconsin at 1-800-558-0802 <[e-mail]>, Nov. 96)

NEEDED: Someone to research seed catalogs.  Ask them 1)  Their position on
genetic engineering. 2)  Their position on hybrid seeds and the patenting
of life forms.  3)  Do they product their own seeds or are they brokering
them for someone else?  Notice that <[e-mail]> is researching
some and so ask me which ones she is researching before you begin.

Someone to educate the tomato sauce industry and find us some safe sauce.

Someone to educate the bread makers.  Some Concerns are: Soy lecithin must
be organic.  Yeast must be genetically unaltered.  Let them know that Red
Star is genetically unalteredSho.  All corn, soy, canola must be organic.
Notice that <[e-mail]> is researching Alvarado Street Bread.

HOW TO RESEARCH:

Here are a few tips that I have found as I call companies.

Step 1 is always to call the company and ask for the purchaser.  Introduce
yourself, and tell them that you are going to send a packet of information
on the genetic engineering of our food supply.  ASK FOR THEIR NAME. This is
to keep you from having to send a dozen packets before you get someone to
respond.

Step 2 is to send the packet, or a copy of the packet, from Mother's for
Natural Law, available by sending $3. to P.O. box 1177 fairfield, IA 52556.
Don't underestimate the power of this packet.  It lets them know that there
is a whole movement behind your phone call.  Include your personal cover
letter, professionally done.  In the letter make the following clear:  a)
Genetically engineered food is being mixed in the market and cannot be
distinguished from other food.  Therefore, only organically produced foods
can be certified as genetically original.  b) The American Campaign to Ban
Genetically Engineered Food is compiling a list of food suppliers who
provide genetically original foods. c)  If they can tell us in writing or
on their label that they use entirely organically certified ingredients, or
if they can tell us in writing that they are in contact with their farmers
and personally verify that the foods are genetically original, we will
include them on the list and MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO CONSUMERS.

Step 3 is to call the person back and make sure they got the packet, get
their response, and go from there.  It will usually become clear if the
company doesn't want to be bothered, or if they are on board, or if they
would like to be on board.  If they are on board, ask for it in writing.
If they want to be on board, ask them what they need, and get back to me or
post it on Ban-GEF. A local organic farmers cooperative is forming in Iowa
and surrounding states.  We may be able to connect them with a source of
organic ingredients. Also we are beginning to network with other Organic
Cooperatives.  If you have a question or problem as you go along, send me
an email messsage and I'll try to get back ASAP.
Don't forget to tell them about the genetic Id test for soy and corn that
is available from Genetic Id, 500 N. 3rd St., suite 208, Fairfield, Ia
52556. USA. 515-472-9979  Fax: [phone] <[e-mail]>
This list of steps is not definitive.  If you come up with other ideas,
please let me know.  "It is better to lightone candle than to curse the
darkness".









-----
Marie Zenack
[e-mail]
-----


Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:06:40 -0400
>From: "H. Morris" <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (US) THe Ethics of Hunting
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

This article appeared in today's (SUnday) NY Times. I would like someone
who is informed on hunting to write a letter to the editor. Please post to
ar-views if you are interested.

April 6, 1997

Outdoors: The Ethics of Hunting

By PETER BODO


  The ritual occurs every blessed day when you return home. As you
approach, your dog Max, is hurling himself at the door. He knows it is you
and not the Fed Ex guy. Whimpering and moaning, Max beats his tail against
the umbrella stand and the tower of old newspapers and takeout menus bound
up for recycling.

  An ordinary person usually takes this display to mean that slobbering Max
really, truly does love you, and experiences reckless joy at the mere
prospect of your presence. A classically trained scientist will chuckle at
this sentimental idea and insist that love and joy as we know them have
nothing to do with it. Max is merely exhibiting a specific set of behaviors
proved over time to contain survival advantages. End of story. Or is it?

  In their absorbing 1995 book, "When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives
of Animals" (Delacorte), Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson and Susan McCarthy
catalogued and explored a remarkable range of incidents suggesting what
most pet owners believe -- that animals, far from being mere survival
machines, not only appear to have emotions, but also often exhibit
behaviors that are determined by them.

  These authors are part of a growing chorus that challenges one of the
scientific community's overarching commandments: Thou Shalt Not
Anthropomorphize. In other words, don't ever attribute emotions such as
joy, fear or anger to animals, because they cannot be proved to exist.

  The heretical notion that animals have "sensibility" has profound
implications. For instance, it poses a serious threat to the tidy empirical
world built upon the work of Charles Darwin.

  Although the concepts of animal sensibility and evolution are in many
ways compatible, the idea that living creatures may be driven by factors
other than pure survival throws a monkey wrench into the commonly held
notion that life is merely a matter of chemistry and adaptation. Life
becomes precious and miraculous, instead of merely interesting, when it
represents something greater than the organic sum of its components.

  If there is such a thing as animal sensibility, how can you justify
hunting deer, duck, rabbit or turkey, or even practice catch-and-release
fly fishing?

  I believe in animal sensibility. I try to avoid foods made tender or rich
through cruel methods (such as veal and pate). But I also hunt, and cannot
accept the "animal rights" agenda that grows from the biodemocratic notion
that life is a guaranteed, equal right of all creatures.

  I embrace the world view articulated by the ultimate authority in the
Judeo-Christian tradition, the Bible. I believe mankind is radically,
spiritually different from animals -- even animals that are capable of
feeling. Our power is remarkable, and much too often horrifying. The
scientifically tidy idea that we are just an evolutionary hop, skip and a
jump removed from the apes seems to me simultaneously preposterous and
empirically supportable. This is not contradictory to me because I accept
science but cannot give it ascendancy over the authority of my God. And as
I understand the plan of the creator, we are not equal partners on the
planet. As human beings, we are both superior to, and responsible for, the
welfare of all creatures.

  It is inarguable that in nature, prey and predator relationships are
complex and essential. Life and death in the outdoors are not ethically
supercharged issues, but, rather, part of an astonishing, beautiful
process. Animals may have feelings, but that doesn't elevate them out of
the natural order. Nature is a kind of society, but unlike our own, it is
one in which death and killing are not synonymous with murder.
Nevertheless, the idea that animals have sensibility should make us think
that much harder about what we kill, and why and how we kill it.

  The hunter's role is to fill the niche left by the eradication or
scarcity of traditional predators. The hunter is a manager, a damage
control specialist, who harvests food in a traditional and increasingly
quaint way, under regulations designed to maintain the balance of nature.
Harvesting food is infinitely more humane than manufacturing it. The grouse
shot and eaten by a hunter has led a far better life than a chicken raised
in a horrid, cramped pen indoors under artificial lights.

  This is why I can believe that animals have emotions, and also justify
taking their lives. And it is also why I wouldn't hold it against Max if he
killed a squirrel. And why I wouldn't take that act to mean that the dog
has no feelings.




Copyright 1997 The New York Times
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:07:46 -0400
>From: "H. Morris" <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (US) Vet CLinic for Homeless Animals
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

April 6, 1997

A Veterinary Clinic Serving the Homeless




  SEATTLE -- Every second and fourth Saturday dozens of people go to the
basement of the Union Gospel Mission to see Dr. Stanley Coe. They carry
oddly sagging duffel bags or push grocery carts covered with blankets. They
have cats that will not eat unless the owners are next to them and dogs
that have chewed hindquarters until no hair remains.

  The Doney Memorial Pet Clinic, in its 12th year, may be the lone free
clinic for pets of homeless and indigent people in the nation. Situated
near the original Skid Row, the clinic has served more than 7,200 animals.

  The legends include one about Irish Jack, who drank himself to death,
leaving behind his dog, and another about Joe and his dog Freeway, who died
together in a burning abandoned trailer. Coe had to remove one of Freeway's
eyes after an accident, and Joe's other dog, Theresa, was hit by a car when
Joe was in jail drying out.

  The nicer stories include one about Kadatha, a shepherd-rottweiler mix
who protected his owner, Jeani Coolbaugh, through two and a half years on
the street. Another is about Umista and Tyger, pit bulls who keep people
from sitting next to Norma Harris.

  When Ms. Harris took the dogs for vaccinations, she followed Coe's
instructions, scratching behind their ears to distract them while he
vaccinated them. He laughed when they licked his face.

  Pet ownership can be an incentive for homeless people to get back on
their feet, to provide for their animals, said Coe, a colleague of the late
founder of the clinic, Dr. Charles Doney. The people, Coe said, often take
better care of their animals than they do of themselves.

  "It's unconditional love they get from their pet," he added. "It doesn't
matter if they're an alcoholic or have a problem with drugs. I'm sure that
keeps them going longer than they would otherwise."

  Many visitors are no longer in touch with their families and spend 24
hours a day with their animals, who become particularly sociable. "That
bond between them is really strong," the veterinarian said.

  Every other week he and helpers deliver eight cartons of donated medical
supplies and bags of donated food to the mission, a center for the
homeless. The volunteers see up to 70 patients in the two hours they work.
Coe refers animals with broken legs or other serious ailments to Elliott
Bay Animal Hospital, his regular practice, where he usually renders free
treatment.

  The requests at the clinic can include the unusual.

  "One lady came in and said, 'Do you see rabbits?' " recalled a volunteer,
Don Rolf. "She had a very large backpack on her back and unzipped it. There
must've been eight rabbits in there. We looked them over. They were fine."

  The clinic also sees occasional birds and pot-bellied pigs. The animals
have names like Major Pain, BoBoe, Cuddles and Alvin. The dogs wear spiked
collars, stars-and-stripes bandanas or, a few years back, hand-knit
sweaters made by volunteers from a nearby church.

  The dogs look like they are chosen for their beseeching eyes. They are
not decorative, but edgy guardians who protect their owners on streets
where the homeless are frequent victims of violence.

  Donovan Wright, a man in his 20s with tattered thermal underwear showing
through torn jeans, had Eek, a 3-year-old rottweiler-pit bull cross with a
sore ear. "She's my best friend and companion," Donovan said. "She won't
turn her back on me like, like all the others."




Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:12:12 -0400
>From: "H. Morris" <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (US) Moose Pop. Plummets
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

April 1, 1997

Winter Devastates Island's Moose

By LES LINE


  When Dr. Rolf Peterson reported a year ago that the moose population on
Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior had collapsed from a peak of
2,400 animals in the winter of 1994-95 to 1,200, he did not anticipate that
the spectacular crash had barely begun. New surveys show that there are
only about 500 moose left on the 210-square-mile wilderness island, the
lowest number in 40 years. He said this is good news indeed for a badly
overbrowsed forest.

  "The plants will breathe a sigh of relief," said Peterson, a wildlife
ecologist from Michigan Technological University in Houghton. "A lot of
trees went through this winter without being eaten at all, and we should
see a major regrowth of the Isle Royale forest."

  The park's wolf population continue to build, if slowly. While five wolf
deaths occurred over the last 12 months, seven pups survived from last
year's litters and there are now 24 wolves in the park. That is double the
all-time low in the winter of 1991-92, when there was concern for the
survival of an aging wolf population that was producing few young.

  Every winter, Peterson and his colleagues spend seven weeks on the
otherwise uninhabited island, continuing a study of the dynamic
relationship between a predator, its primary prey and their environment
that was begun in 1958 by Dr. Durward Allen of Purdue University.

  The 1996 field work was completed on Feb. 29, and Peterson reported at
the time that one of the hardest winters on record had left the moose herd
severely stressed from a lack of food, three feet of snow, temperatures as
low as 43 degrees below zero, and a heavy infestation of blood-engorging
winter ticks, which cause hair loss and can weaken even a 900-pound bull
moose. "But I never believed a catastrophe would occur," he said.

  The Isle Royale moose, the scientist said, were dealt another blow by the
late arrival of spring, and heavy mortality continued through May and even
into June. "The length of winter was costly for calves and older, weaker
moose, but it also killed a surprising number of young adults," Peterson
said. What saved the survivors was an abundance of balsam fir browse on the
east end of the island, he said. Those trees had grown up after wolves
reduced the moose herd to 700 to 800 animals in the 1970s, before an
outbreak of canine parvovirus in 1981 ravaged the wolf packs and allowed
moose numbers to explode. As for the park's wolves, they had to work harder
for food during the 1996-97 winter, Peterson said. "There were only a few
calves for them to eat," he said. "Some wolves even dug up the carcasses of
dead moose and ate their sun-dried hides. I'd never seen that before. But
most of them were making a normal living."

  And it will be the wolves that determine the next events in the
long-running Isle Royale wildlife drama, the scientist said. "If the wolves
continue to increase," he said, "they will maintain the moose population
around this level for the foreseeable future."
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:17:41 -0400
>From: "H. Morris" <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (US) Trout Season in NYS
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

March 31, 1997

Outdoors: Urge to Fish Grows Before Opening Day

By NELSON BRYANT


  The hunger to angle on April 1 affects all ages. Old-timers are wont to
stake out a certain pool on a certain stream and to remain there until
their legs are numb, after which they retreat to shore to perch on a log or
boulder and perhaps enjoy a nip from a pocket flask.

  Youngsters are prone to scamper from place to place through the leafless
shrubbery, all the while calling to each other like newly arrived
red-winged blackbirds in quest of nesting sites.

  Those planning to sally forth Tuesday for this year's opening day of the
New York state trout season should encounter better conditions than they
did in 1996, when the Northeast was emerging from a ferocious winter. This
time around, the winter was relatively mild, but the latter part of
February was unusually cold, as was most of March.

  According to Ed Van Put, a state wildlife technician who lives in
Livingston Manor, N.Y., Catskill streams are running a bit below normal for
this time of year. This is good news for anglers. The bad news is the cold
weather.

  "It looks fairly good, but it's still winter here," Van Put said a few
days ago. "Save for the south slopes, we still have snow at the higher
elevations and at the headwaters of the Catskill streams."

  He noted that there were a few springlike days a couple of weeks ago, but
added that some mornings recently the Willowemoc was filled with slushy ice
created by the extreme cold -- temperatures at zero or below -- of the
evenings before. "Today, even though it was sunny, it never went above 10
degrees," he said.

  However, Van Put said that he had just come back from a trip to
Westchester and Putnam Counties and that such streams as the East and West
branches of the Croton River, and the Amawalk, as well, looked great.
"Those streams will fish good on opening day," he said.

  "We did a survey on the Amawalk late last summer, and it was absolutely
fantastic," Van Put said. "I've been taking part in that for 20 years, and
I've never seen so many fish and so many large ones."

  Ron Pierce, a state fisheries biologist who is in charge of the Croton
and Amawalk water systems, concurs, saying that the Amawalk was in
beautiful shape when he visited it a short while ago. He added that partly
as a result of the aforementioned survey, the daily creel limit has been
altered this year to three trout no less than 12 inches long. Last year it
was three fish, minimum length 10 inches. Only flies or lures, no bait, are
permitted on the Amawalk.

  "We haven't stocked the Amawalk since 1992," said Pierce, "so its fish
are wild." The preponderance of them are browns.

  The Amawalk and the Croton River branches are only about 80 miles
southeast, as the crow flies, from where Van Put lives hard by the
Willowemoc, but they are about 1,000 feet lower in elevation. This results
in warmer temperatures and less snow, and their reservoirs absorb spring
runoff.

  The state's Department of Environmental Conservation is saying that the
cool, wet summer of 1996 provided good conditions for trout survival, and
predicts that there should be more holdover fish for opening day anglers.
The department's 1997 spring stocking will include 1.73 million brown
trout, 545,000 rainbow trout and 99,000 brook trout. Streams will receive
778,000 of these fish.

  April 1 has stirred winter-weary anglers for more than a century, even if
it sometimes has more to do with socializing than catching trout. According
to John Merwin in his "The New American Trout Fishing" (Macmillan, 1994),
April 1 in 1882 was opening day of the trout season in New York state, as
well as the day the new Fulton Fish Market in lower Manhattan opened for
business.

  Merwin describes how Eugene Blackford, the state's fish commissioner,
"opened a grand display of trout at his fish stall on the Beekman Street
side of the market that was apparently more appealing on this day than the
cold streams of the Long Island trout clubs.

  There were other guests from as far away as Virginia and Boston; for the
socially inclined angler it was an event not to be missed."

  Merwin writes that there were rows and rows of brook trout on moss and
ice from as far away as Quebec and Vermont, as well as brook trout, rainbow
trout, landlocked salmon, splake (a cross between a brook trout and lake
trout that is still around), and black bass from a New York state hatchery,
and rainbow trout, Dolly Varden and cutthroat trout from California.

  Then, as now, there were those who favored the brook trout above all
others. One such gentleman came down from Boston to take a look at the
rainbow trout, which he had never before seen.

  After the viewing, according to Merwin, the Boston angler wrote "Forest
and Stream," observing, in part: "I felt the need to observe the rainbow's
beauties I have beheld them. I don't want to see any more. The great,
coarse, black, ugly beasts!"

  He added, "I wouldn't eat one of those fever-flushed things unless
starved."

  One suspects that the Bostonian would have reacted similarly to the brown
trout, but that European species had not yet been introduced to North
America.

  It came the following year via a shipment of German brown trout eggs from
Lucius von Behr of Berlin that arrived in New York Harbor in February. The
brown is a sagacious critter, so its arrival did much to hone the skill of
American fly fishers.





Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:19:47 -0400
>From: "H. Morris" <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Evil Dupont/Good Babbitt
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

April 4, 1997

U.S. Says No in Advance of Mining Plan

By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr.


  FOLKSTON, Ga. -- Standing at the Okefenokee swamp, an alligator lounging
behind him, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt took an unequivocal public
stand Thursday against the Du Pont Co.'s plans to strip mine along the
eastern ridge bordering this wildlife refuge.

  Babbitt rejected in advance any and all arguments that plans by the
company to mine titanium ore would not harm the 395,000-acre Okefenokee
National Wildlife Refuge wetland, with its rare wildlife, forests of pine
and cyprus trees, and swamps covered with grasses and lilypads as far as
the eye can see.

  "You can study this, you can write all the documents in the world,"
Babbitt said, "but they are not going to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
that there will be no impact."

  "These studies can't possibly yield a conclusion which will be
satisfactory to me," he said. "It isn't going to happen."

  Babbitt said the proposed operation posed unacceptable risks to the water
flows, as well as the wildlife and vegetation of the wetland wilderness at
the headwaters of the Suwanee River and the St. Mary's River on Georgia's
southern border.

  The land Du Pont wants to mine for titanium dioxide, a whitening pigment
used in paper and other products, is a nearly imperceptible ridge running
down the entire eastern flank of the refuge. Indeed, Babbitt called it the
natural levee that holds the swamp itself in place.

  "It is apparent on the face of it that this refuge and this mining
project are not compatible," he said while on a tour of the area.

  Without waiting for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. to apply for the
required state and federal permits, Babbitt came here to state his
rejection of the project that in any case would be years from fruition.
This highly unusual public effort by a senior Clinton administration figure
caught Du Pont off guard.

  "We are surprised that the secretary has taken a position before all the
facts are known," said Jon Samborski, director of environmental affairs for
the mining project. "We would not be proposing to do this unless we were
confident that we can operate the project and protect Okefenokee at the
same time."

  Du Pont figures the cost of building the project at about $150 million
and has been working closely with the wildlife service.

  The giant chemical company has not yet applied for the required state and
federal permits for mining on the 38,000 acres it owns or leases here for a
project that would not begin for several years.

  While it was unusual for Babbitt to try to abort a development project at
such an early stage, it was the latest example of the administration trying
to hinder development just outside the boundaries of national parks,
refuges and other sensitive public lands. Last year, the government blocked
a gold mine just outside Yellowstone National Park.

  In the Okefenokee swamp, the DuPont Co. would need to sift the ore from
the sandy soil. First it would clearcut sections of trees and peel off a
foot-thick layer of topsoil, then build mile-square impoundments and begin
to dig. The company would float dredging barges on the brackish water that
builds up in these pools to suck up the mucky sand, carving ponds to depths
of 50 feet. A floating mill would separate the valuable minerals from the
sand, and the unwanted materials would be used to fill in the wounds. After
replacing the topsoil, the company would plant new pine seedlings and the
operation would move to the next square in the grid, a creeping progression
that would last for 50 years.

  Fish and Wildlife Service scientists said that they were worried that
these changes could alter the little-understood water balances, and they
warned that even slight changes could cause major effects in the finely
balanced ecology of this wetland that is recognized worldwide as a
significant biological resource.

  John Kasbohm, an ecologist at the refuge, said the mining "threatens the
very character of the swamp."

  "If you change the hydrology, you change everything," he said. "The
stakes are real high, the risks are real high. This mining operation is a
very risky business."

  The company would have to get permits from the Army Corps of Engineers
before dredging and filling wetlands, and the Environmental Protection
Agency can veto decisions by the Army Corps, although this power is rarely
used. Babbitt's agency, the interior department, which includes the Fish
and Wildlife Service and the refuge system, is consulted in these decisions
but does not make the major decisions. An environmental impact study would
probably be conducted in the deliberations on the permits, and Interior's
scientists would play a crucial role in that process.

  But Babbitt plainly has made up his mind already, and his view was only
reinforced in a helicopter tour of the region, including a look at a
similar mine in Florida.

  He urged Du Pont to "do the people of Georgia and the people of the
United States who care about God's creation a favor, by simply withdrawing
the proposal once and for all."

  He said that the titanium is readily available elsewhere, that the few
dozen jobs involved are dwarfed by the economic importance of the refuge as
a tourist attraction, and that logging timber is an acceptable way to
develop the property without risking damage to the swamp.

  But he said he was not contemplating any compensation for Du Pont, like
trading other land or paying it not to mine. In contrast, when the
administration blocked the gold mine near Yellowstone it agreed to pay
Crown Butte, the American subsidiary of the Canadian conglomerate Noranda,
$60 million in other mineral rights on public lands.

  Environmental groups welcomed Babbitt's stand, which they said was
surprisingly strong.

  "You couldn't pick a worse place to put a mine," said Josh Marks, a
conservation organizer for the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club.

  Steve and Jo Knight, a husband and wife who last year bought a junkyard
near the refuge and turned it into a campground, said that they were
dismayed by the project, which they thought would put their investment at
risk.

  "It could kill the tourism on this side of the swamp," Knight said after
Babbitt spoke to a crowd at the refuge, where 400,000 people visit every
year.

  Other Places of Interest on the Web

 National Wildlife Refuge , from the Great Outdoors Recreation Pages
http://www.gorp.com/gorp/resource/us_nwr/ga_okefe.htm

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory
http://www.nwi.fws.gov/

Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the United States ,
from the
http://www.nwi.fws.gov/classman.html

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
http://www.fws.gov/

Safety, Health and Environment , from the
http://www.dupont.com/corp/gbl-company/she/

DuPont Site
http://www.dupont.com/
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 12:22:30 -0400
>From: "H. Morris" <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (US) NJ Bears
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Interesting article including info about upcioming hunt. NJARA--who can we
write about this? Pls post to ar-views.

Hillary


April 3, 1997

N.J. Column: Like Showers, Bears Appear Each April

By EVELYN NIEVES


  WEST MILFORD, N.J. -- Winter blew in for half a day, and life here
tumbled back about a hundred years. The 2 feet of snow on Route 23 kept the
kids home from school, toppled trees over the power lines and turned the
fireplace into the hub of the household. This is not something people get
used to, even when it happens time and time again.

  Jeanne Rennalls has lived here 19 years, long enough to know the woods
behind her house as well as her kitchen cupboard, and she still gets that
helpless feeling when the power is out. Snowbound from her job as a nursery
school teacher, she could think of one good thing about having April begin
like December: the bears have gone back into the deepest forest, where they
belong. "It's just better for everybody," she said with a touch of
resignation. "No problems that way."

  Well, the bears may be snowed in like everybody else, but they'll be out
and about soon enough. And bears are something people here just cannot get
used to, even though they're old neighbors, going back 10 years at least.

  This is the black bear mecca of the metropolitan region, and April is
bear time. Big, beautiful bear tracks grace the snow-capped woods, just off
Route 23. The talk is turning to bear sightings, nuisance bears and
not-so-neighborly debates about "the bear problem."

  The problem, for some, is that bears are thriving. About 450 bears live
in wooded towns in northwest New Jersey. This from fewer than 30 bears 20
years ago.

  The 450 or so bears, in a state with 8 million people, have come to be
seen as too many bears. There are people, from farmers with vulnerable
sheep to mothers with vulnerable children, who cannot stand the bears, want
them dead sooner than later and will even kill them themselves if they get
the OK, which could happen. There are also people who live deep in the
woods who feed the bears, against the wishes of their neighbors, against
the advice of the state Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife and against the
law, imposed in West Milford three years ago, that makes feeding bears
punishable by fines of up to $1,000.

  Ms. Rennalls is an active member of a school of thought that holds that
the bears cause problems only if people let them. Behind the house where
she and her husband and 11-year-old daughter live, bears traipse back and
forth on their evening strolls. She says nothing bad has come of it.

  "We'll see two or three a night," she said. "It's not a problem because
we've been very careful with our garbage and our recycling. I have an
electric fence that I can plug in. If the bears get too close, they'll get
a rude little shock." In 19 years, she said, she has had her garbage
toppled by bears just four times.

  "I've always taken the attitude that if you don't like what's here when
you move here, don't move here," she said. "We have rattlesnakes and
coyotes. People complain about them, too."

  Every complaint about the bears gives the Division of Fish, Game and
Wildlife ammunition for a plan it will pitch later this year to start a
limited bear hunt. (The division, which receives $12 million of its $15
million annual budget from hunting and fishing fees, has received one
complaint already this year, from a farmer who lost two sheep.) Mostly,
people gripe about bears getting into trash cans. Ms. Rennalls regularly
visits neighbors who complain. She offers advice: Keep garbage inside. Use
boat horns to scare the bears away. Never, ever feed them.

  She has had limited success. After she visited Abby Hunt, a school bus
driver who lives with her husband and two children in a suburbanlike
development with no woods around, Ms. Hunt remained convinced that the
bears should be shot. "Most people I know feel the same way," she said.

  No bear has ever attacked a human being in New Jersey, and throughout
North America, bears have killed 38 people since 1900, most of those long
ago. But you never know, Ms. Hunt said.

  "Jeanne Rennalls said I should put up an electronic fence," she added.
"Well, that to me is like putting my children in prison. I don't feel I
should have to do that." (Her small lot already has a fence around it; Ms.
Hunt said enough is enough.)

  "I've had to use a boat horn and sit on the porch and shoo bears away
while my children played outside," she said.

  Ms. Hunt is already anticipating the letters she'll write, urging a hunt.
"I haven't seen any yet," she said, "but I have a feeling this is going to
be a bad year for bears."
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 13:24:50 -0400
>From: Shirley McGreal <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Safari Club forms links to zoos
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

        The Safari Club International is an organization dedicated to the
well-being of trophy hunters. The Club got itself a black eye in 1978 when
it applied to import trophies of hundreds of animals belonging to endangered
species, including gorillas and orangutans, to the United States. Since then
its P.R. has improved!

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

This comes from the April 1997 issue of the Communique - the American Zoo
Association newletter.

                Safari Club Initiative

        Roy Stroup, Education Coordinator for Safari Club International
(SCI) has extended an invitation to the education curator/director at each
AZA [American Zoo Association] institution to form a joint venture with SCI
to educate the visually impaired by utilizing taxidermied wild game.
        These displays would be located at each participating zoological
park and arranged in an educational setting to allow the blind and visually
impaired to explore the animals by touching, feeling, smelling, etc. All
items are described in both large print and Braille directories.
        In November SCI opened its first permanent "Sensory Safari" at the
Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired. The Greater Baton Rouge Zoo has
been involved with "Sensory Safari" since its debut and Director Paul Price
strongly recommends the program to other AZA institutions.
        You can reach Ray Stroup at 520-620-1220 x 223. For more information
call SCI Director of Development Jerry Niselson at 520-620-1220 x 276.

END OF STORY

Please keep an eye on your local zoo and see if it goes to bed with the
trophy hunters.

Dr. Shirley McGreal, Chairwoman
International Primate Protection League, POB 766 Summerville SC 29484 USA
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail [e-mail] and [e-mail]
Web page (revised January 1997): http://www.sims.net/organizations/ippl/

Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 14:01:17 -0400
>From: Shirley McGreal <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: National Geographic Tiger Special
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Does anyone have any further information about the project shown on last
night's National Geographic TV special on the Siberian tiger shown in the
USA on prime time television? I'd appreciate others' opinions by personal
e-mail or on AR-Views.

The introduction showed a US national darting a Siberian tiger.

The scientists nearly killed one of the 300 remaining Siberian tigers by
OD-ing the animal with tranquillizer, and then "rescued" the animal by
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. They tormented other hapless animals with
helicopter chases, always presented as "dangerous" to the humans with the
copters almost crashing or almost running out of gas as they got ever closer
to the tigers to dart and radio collar them to acquire information allegedly
or genuinely crucial to the species' survival.

Among the scenes:

Tigers on their backs with dazed eyes, a moribund captive-born cub dying (a
pair of tigers was enclosed in Siberia in the hope they will breed to
produce tigers to be released into the disappearing wild), the surviving
tiger cub exported to a US zoo, a captive tiger running down a rabbit
released into his enclosure. And so on. A few minutes, if that, of natural
wild tigers behaving like wild tigers.
Interspersed throughout were commercials for Exxon, of Valdez oil spill
fame. Exxon the killer of sea otters and ocean birds was polishing its
corporate image as the tigers' best friend in alliance with the National
Geographic Society. Exxon has links with the US Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

An 800 number was shown (can someone please post this?) for more
information. It was something like 1-800 then a number (5?) I didn't catch,
followed by T-I-G-E-R-S.

An 888 number was provided for the Hornocker Foundation which has worked
with mountain lions in Idaho and is now active in Siberia.

There was NO mention of the fine work done by Siberia's anti-poaching
patrols, EIA, the Investigative Network, or the Tiger Trust.

Dr. Shirley McGreal, Chairwoman
International Primate Protection League, POB 766 Summerville SC 29484 USA
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail [e-mail] and [e-mail]
Web page (revised January 1997): http://www.sims.net/organizations/ippl/

Date: Sun, 6 Apr 1997 14:01:59 -0400 (EDT)
>From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Sears Boycott called
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

In a message dated 97-04-06 09:47:55 EDT, [e-mail] (Vegetarian Resource
Center) writes:

<< Sears has decided to become the dream come true for the puppy mill
industry
 in Raliegh, N.C. >>

According to info I received a month or so ago, Sears has responded to
protests and will not longer sell live animals.
JD Jackson
Bunny Huggers' Gazette
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 13:13:41 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Human cloning
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

The sheep that shocked the world boggles the human mind

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (Apr 6, 1997 2:13 p.m. EDT) -- "The human imagination runs
riot," declared the Church of Scotland when word came of what one of its
countrymen had wrought. "We have got toask the question, 'What if?"'

And indeed, in the weeks since scientist Ian Wilmut cloned the sheep
that shocked the world, the question has been asked everywhere: What if
someone clones a person?

Wilmut's cloning achievement makes philosophers of everyone.

A clone: a person with a DNA gene donor rather than parents. A person
made to order. Replicated rather than conceived. Carried by a woman who
is more delivery vehicle than mother. Not a son or a daughter, but an
identical twin to someone older. A parent who is the twin of its child.

The mind boggles.

In the hand-wringing that followed the sheep named Dolly, a consensus
has emerged: Human cloning will one day be achievable, and what can be
done will be done.

Though not necessarily soon. Mankind will not stand still for much
failed experimentation involving spoiled human embryos or fetuses.
Wilmut had 227 misses before he brought Dolly into being.

Cloning is one of those drumbeat-of-history events that challenges
mankind's understanding of the nature of nature. Such events seem to
occur every generation -- Sputnik in the 1950s (with its promise that
man could leave the confines of Earth) or in vitro fertilization in the
1970s (test tube babies, made without sexual contact).

As with IVF births, Americans at first blush seemed appalled at the
notion of cloning a human. In polls, the common theme was that people
should not "play God."

Even Wilmut agreed: "Similar experiments with humans would be totally
unacceptable."

Dr. Ward Cassells, chief of cardiology at the University of Texas
Medical School, thinks this squeamishness is needless and short-lived.

"Three or four years from now some couple is going to have the courage
and persistence to be the first to do this," Cassells said in an
interview. "They'll have a beautiful little baby and the critics will
be quiet."

He cites a practical purpose: using the genes of a child suffering from
incurable leukemia to clone a child who would than provide lifesaving
bone marrow to his older twin.

"Would it be immoral to save the life of a 2-year-old baby?" he asks.

Others, of course, see far more heinous, far less selfless purposes.

They envision cloning to create a master race or a slave class. Cloning
to duplicate celebrities. Cloning to provide organs for an ill person to
"harvest." Cloning as an egomaniac's way to ensure his own immortality.

Or cloning to create an unbeatable basketball team?

Michael Jordan emerged as a front-running favorite in cloning
speculation. But would a Jordan clone play as well? His brawn could be
cloned. But his brain with its billions of accumulated memories can't be
duplicated. And his brain has a lot to do with his basketball prowess.

Jordan clones could turn out to be more adept at playing the piano. Or
one might play chess, another Shakespeare, another the market, another
gin rummy.

Policy researcher Jessica Matthews explains that humans are the result
of genes and environment -- nature and nurture -- and of the "constant
interplay between them."

"A cloned sheep proves that it will probably soon be possible to make a
genetically identical copy of a person, but that is not remotely the
same thing as making another you or another me," she wrote in a
post-Dolly essay.

Once human cloning starts, the ancient nature vs. nurture debate will
get an injection of evidence.

But just as it is already clear that the personhoods of lookalike twins
differ, a person's clone, born in a different womb and into a different
world perhaps decades after his gene donor, would differ even more in
psychology and personality.

For one thing, genes takes a beating going through life, and that damage
could make the clone a different person.

Unlike the Frankenstein monster in Mary Shelley's famous novel, a cloned
person enters life as a baby, not fully grown. So if the cloning of
Michael Jordan were to start today, he'd be well into middle age before
seeing his clone take his first dribble.

The biology of it all aside, the ethical issues that cloning raises are
unsettling and unending.

Opinions range from the prohibitive to the permissive. From a Roman
Catholic theologian, the Rev. Albert Moraczewski, who calls human
cloning "an affront to human dignity," to a philosophy professor,
Jeffrey Reiman of American University, who says, "I don't think it is
any different than having a baby the old-fashioned way."

Reiman is untroubled by the prospect of cloning to "harvest" medical
parts, or by parents cloning to create a mirror image of themselves
("Well, sometimes people treat children who aren't identical as
extensions of themselves"), but draws a line at cloning to create a
slave class.

"That starts to have nasty implications," he said. "Not that it creates
a moral problem; we already know what to think about slavery."

And, into this ethical stew, medical anthropologist Lesley Sharp of New
York's Barnard College, throws a new angle. She says cloning must be
looked at from the clone's viewpoint. "Would you want to be a clone?"
she asks.
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 13:26:24 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: The Animals of the Homeless
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

April 6, 1997 - New York Times Online

          A Veterinary Clinic Serving the Homeless

SEATTLE -- Every second and fourth Saturday dozens of people
go to the basement of the Union Gospel Mission to see Dr.
Stanley Coe. They carry oddly sagging duffel bags or push grocery carts
covered with blankets. They have cats that will not eat unless the
owners are next to them and dogs that have chewed hindquarters until no
hair remains.

The Doney Memorial Pet Clinic, in its 12th year, may be the lone free
clinic for pets of homeless and indigent people in the nation. Situated
near the original Skid Row, the clinic has served more than 7,200
animals.

The legends include one about Irish Jack, who drank himself to death,
leaving behind his dog, and another about Joe and his dog Freeway, who
died together in a burning abandoned trailer. Coe had to remove one of
Freeway's eyes after an accident, and Joe's other dog, Theresa, was hit
by a car when Joe was in jail drying out.

The nicer stories include one about Kadatha, a shepherd-rottweiler mix
who protected his owner, Jeani Coolbaugh, through two and a half years
on the street. Another is about Umista and Tyger, pit bulls who keep
people from sitting next to Norma Harris.

When Ms. Harris took the dogs for vaccinations, she followed Coe's
instructions, scratching behind their ears to distract them while he
vaccinated them. He laughed when they licked his face.

Pet ownership can be an incentive for homeless people to get back on
their feet, to provide for their animals, said Coe, a colleague of the
late founder of the clinic, Dr. Charles Doney. The people, Coe said,
often take better care of their animals than they do of themselves.

"It's unconditional love they get from their pet," he added. "It doesn't
matter if they're an alcoholic or have a problem with drugs. I'm sure
that keeps them going longer than they would otherwise."

Many visitors are no longer in touch with their families and spend 24
hours a day with their animals, who become particularly sociable. "That
bond between them is really strong," the veterinarian said.

Every other week he and helpers deliver eight cartons of donated
medical supplies and bags of donated food to the mission, a center for
the homeless. The volunteers see up to 70 patients in the two hours they
work. Coe refers animals with broken legs or other serious ailments to
Elliott Bay Animal Hospital, his regular practice, where he usually
renders free treatment.

The requests at the clinic can include the unusual.

"One lady came in and said, 'Do you see rabbits?' " recalled a
volunteer, Don Rolf. "She had a very large backpack on her back and
unzipped it. There must've been eight rabbits in there. We looked them
over. They were fine."

The clinic also sees occasional birds and pot-bellied pigs. The animals
have names like Major Pain, BoBoe, Cuddles and Alvin. The dogs wear
spiked collars, stars-and-stripes bandanas or, a few years back,
hand-knit sweaters made by volunteers from a nearby church.

The dogs look like they are chosen for their beseeching eyes. They are
not decorative, but edgy guardians who protect their owners on streets
where the homeless are frequent victims of violence.

Donovan Wright, a man in his 20s with tattered thermal underwear
showing through torn jeans, had Eek, a 3-year-old rottweiler-pit bull
cross with a sore ear. "She's my best friend and companion," Donovan
said. "She won't turn her back on me like, like all the others."
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 15:31:10 -0700
>From: Aldina A Cornett <"[e-mail]"@cei.net>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: proctor & gamble
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

I am writing a paper on Proctor & Gamble for school.  I was wondering if
you had any statistics on last years animal death due to testing.  I was
also curious if P&G test their products other than on animals.

Thank you

Aldina
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 14:12:44 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Police roughs up AIDS activists for anti-drug-company demonstration
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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AIDS GROUPS DENOUNCES BRUTAL POLICE RIOT

By Shelley Ettinger
New York

At a March 29 news conference, members of ACT UP denounced
New York police officers for beating, kicking and punching
AIDS activists at a Wall Street demonstration five days
earlier.

According to ACT UP members and other witnesses, police
brutalized people who were protesting drug-company
profiteering at the headquarters of finance capital March
24. While they pummeled the protesters--including people
with AIDS--cops screamed anti-gay and AIDS-phobic epithets
and threatened to kill them.

Cops threw people to the ground. They dragged people by
the hair. They banged their heads on the pavement.

They arrested 73 activists. One man says he struggled to
breathe as officers held his face smashed against the seat
in a police van. Cops knelt on his back and held him down
with a nightstick as the van was driven to the precinct
station.

There, cops strip-searched women and men.

HOLDING MAYOR RESPONSIBLE

Bill Thorne of ACT UP/Golden Gate has been an activist for
15 years. He had come from San Francisco to mark ACT UP's
10th anniversary--and ended up in the hospital after police
beat him bloody. He told reporters he still doesn't know the
extent of his injuries.

Thorne said police attacked him from behind and pinned him
to the ground. "They slammed my head over and over on the
pavement. Then they scraped my head on the asphalt--a piece
of which stayed embedded in my head for several days.

"They kicked me and punched me repeatedly."

Cops slammed Thea Mateu, a Puerto Rican lesbian, onto the
ground. Then, she said, one stood with his foot on her neck,
screaming: "I'm going to break your f-----g neck! I'm going
to kill you!"

Longtime ACT UP member Eric Sawyer commented: "The
responsibility for the violent behavior of police officers
lies squarely at the feet of the mayor. ... As [he has] with
many communities in our city, the mayor [Rudolph Giuliani]
has made a political decision to use the police to teach us
the lesson to keep quiet, not to object to certain policies
and to stay in our place. However ... we must confront the
drug company profiteers at the root of this treatment-access
crisis, and we cannot let the mayor stand in our way."

                         - END -

(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint
granted if source is cited. For more information contact
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
[e-mail]. For subscription info send message to:
[e-mail]. Web: http://workers.org)
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 14:20:06 -0700
>From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Patenting life forms
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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THE NEWSPAPER FOR THE PEOPLE OF WASHINGTON STATE

     *    *    *    *    *  MORNING EDITION  *    *    *    *    *

     EDITOR: John DiNardo

                From the free airwaves of The People's
                Pacifica Radio Network station:
                     WBAI-FM (99.5)
                     505 Eighth Ave., 19th Fl.
                     New York, NY 10018
                       [phone]

Part 5, CLONING For The New Global Slave State
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANDREW KIMBRELL [author of "The Human Body Shop: The Engineering and
Marketing of Life"]:
One thing that I did want to mention -- and I describe this in the
book, and I think that it's terribly important for people who just
have not heard this yet -- is that researchers in corporations ARE
patenting life forms. One of the cases I describe in the book is a
really shocking case where Grenada BioSciences in Texas actually has
attempted, in Europe, to patent a WOMAN who would be genetically
engineered to produce valuable pharmaceuticals in her mammary
glands. I was absolutely in DISBELIEF when I heard this, but, as I
documented in the book, I had spoken with their attorneys and
documented the fact that this was actually the intent of the
company.

Our own U.S. Government researchers at the National Institutes of
Health are trying to patent BRAIN genes in the hope of actually
owning the patent that might be responsible for intelligence.
Now, you and I know that they're never going to find these purported
genes responsible for behaviors, but these scientists are doing a
genetic land grab to try and get all of this.

For anyone who is interested in animal [rights] issues, they've got
to keep up with biotechnology because, as I describe in the book,
they are cloning larger mammals. I describe a truly horrific
experiment in England where cloning led to the creation of some
really horrifying cows. They are currently under study. And I
recently learned that at Texas A.& M. University they are cloning
cows that produce the perfect marble steak.

They're actually making Xerox copies of the animal kingdom.
In other words, they're treating virtually all of life, at this
point, as if it was genetic information -- as if it was machines.

ROBERT KNIGHT:
Andrew, the policies that are being made now, the very quiet
decisions about patent ownership, the chilling stories about milking
women .... there is legislation, there are business protocols being
formed on the use of materials that are found in the pristine
territories such as in the rain forests, the jungles, and so on.
In fact, just recently, that issue was advocated or lobbied by
members of the Clinton Administration. Was it not?

ANDREW KIMBRELL:
That's right.  This is such a key point. Just as we saw the first
stage of colonialism where the First World went into the Third World
in order to get their resources, be it tin or rubber. They went in
to try to get those inanimate minerals (e.g. ore, fossil fuels) from
the Third World. Now, we're seeing a new wave of GENETIC colonialism
wherein First World corporations and governments are going into the
rain forests, going into the Third World in order to expropriate
their resources.

In October, my organization [The Foundation on Economic Trends, of
Washington, D.C., phone: [phone]] is working with the Third
World Network. We're going to have worldwide demonstrations and a
legal action against W.R. Grace Corporation and other corporations
which have gone into India. They`ve taken the neme[sp] tree. Now,
many of your listeners may know that the neme is sort of a magic
tree in India. They use it as a natural pesticide. They use its bark
as a dentifrice. That's why their teeth are in such an extraordinary
condition. They use it for a number of cures for diseases,
including cancer.

Well, First World corporations have heard about this.
They've gone into India and other places, got the neme tree and
they've patented it. There are twelve patents by W.R. Grace
Corporation and others on various aspects of the neme tree. And now,
W.R. Grace is planning to build a factory in India where they are
going to use the neme tree and, no doubt, exhaust much of the
resources of the neme tree that are being used by the indigenous
peoples there -- by the local communities there.

ROBERT KNIGHT:
Andy, we are just about out of time.
Please take a minute or so to give us a sense of why this issue is
important -- why one must be on the forefront of it, as you are.

ANDREW KIMBRELL:
I think that, as we've been saying, the genetic revolution is going
to transform virtually every aspect of our lives. We are going to
see genetically-engineered foods in our supermarkets. We are going
to see reproductive technology, surrogate motherhood, using a variety
of reproductive techniques whereby they're doing terrible things to
women's bodies. We are going to be seeing genetic engineering used
in warfare. We are going to be seeing it used in industry. We are
going to be seeing it used as a whole new wave of colonialism
against the Third World.

These battles are in place right now. They will be controlling our
lives and the lives of our fellow creatures. They will be
controlling the lives of many of the indigenous Third World peoples
around the World. It's TERRIBLY important to be informed. And I will
add that very few broadcast stations give the truth about this
technology. Very few show its risks as well as its benefits.
WBAI is one of those rare stations, and that's why many of us,
including myself, here in Washington, are so grateful that
WBAI exists.

ROBERT KNIGHT:
And we're grateful for your work. Thank you, Andrew Kimbrell, author
of "The Human Body Shop: The Engineering and Marketing of Life".

One of the points that we've talked about, Michio, is that there
were four environmental organizations. But, on this issue of First
and Third World patenting, and on issues like using women for body
fluids, and so on, even THEY got fooled. I mention that to point out
that even the best of minds can be confused. It's a whole new issue,
and we're trying to reveal it here.

MICHIO KAKU:
Remember. Ignore this new technology at your own peril!  You might
be like an ostrich, sticking your head in the sand, only to find
this gigantic freight train called biotechnology headed your way.
Just think of it: sixty-six laboratories within the United States
investigating designer germ warfare -- twenty-four human genes that
have been inserted into animals, creating all sorts of grotesque
forms of life -- forty accidents that have taken place at the Fort
Detrick Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, right
outside of Washington, D.C. -- and the possibility of SUPER AIDS.
I mean, that is chilling; an airborne ... get that, an airborne
super AIDS virus that may be accidentally created, as the entire
genome of the AIDS virus is injected into mice for the very first
time.

ROBERT KNIGHT:
Women being milked, as if victims trapped in the spider web of
technology, for their body fluids.  PEOPLE being patented!
Animals being patented.  Tomatoes that bounce.
All of these things are taking place, and that can happen only
because we do not understand the technology. But we're changing
that. That's why we're here -- so that you can change that.
                    ~~ TO BE CONTINUED ~~
*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 20:07:01 -0400
>From: Wyandotte Animal Group <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Phone tapping
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Has anyone had their phone tapped before?  I am looking for ways to be able
to check if a phone has a tap on it.  Are there any ways to determine this?

With the recent mink release in Canada having a local connection to me in
which several activists apparently had phone books on them when they were
caught, it would not surprise me the FBI is reaching for as much as possible.

So far, my phone constantly clicks while I am on it, once I picked up the
phone to make a call and swear I heard someone talking on it, and have
received a few calls from "interested people" wondering what my group is all
about and how they can get more involved.  Usually people call our answering
machine for that kinda stuff, not my home number.

Of course I have nothing to hide from the police since I know nothing of the
recent raid, it's just eerie and aggrivating thinking of the possibilities
they are doing.

Any tips appreciated.  Thanks.


Jason Alley
Wyandotte Animal Group
[e-mail]

Date: Sun, 06 Apr 1997 22:23:29 EDT
>From: [e-mail] (Christophe P Carotte)
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: Sears Circus boycott called.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

No one is free when others are oppressed  .  .  Animal liberation is
human liberation.
STOP THE EXECUTION OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL! The death penalty is genocide.

On Sun, 6 Apr 1997 14:01:59 -0400 (EDT) [e-mail] writes:
>In a message dated 97-04-06 09:47:55 EDT, [e-mail] (Vegetarian
>Resource
>Center) writes:
>
><< Sears has decided to become the dream come true for the puppy mill
>industry
> in Raliegh, N.C. >>
>
>According to info I received a month or so ago, Sears has responded to
>protests and will not longer sell live animals.
>JD Jackson
>Bunny Huggers' Gazette

However, Sears still supports the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus
;^)
Other major Ringling supporters include Visa, Frookies, McDonald's &
First Card.

C.P. Carrot
Veggies & Animals Coalition



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