Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news41~5.htm/text0002.txt

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Cats' naps teach scientists about sleepy people

Reuter Information Service

WASHINGTON (May 22, 1997 5:25 p.m. EDT) - New research on napping cats
could be a key to understanding what makes people sleepy, with the
potential for developing sleeping pills that mimic the body's natural
mechanisms.

Cats' legendary capacity for sleep makes them ideal subjects for such
research, said Dr. Robert McCarley of Harvard Medical School, one author
of a study published in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

McCarley and other researchers tracked levels of adenosine, a chemical
that occurs in the brain, while their feline subjects did what comes
naturally. They found that the levels of adenosine built up
progressively the longer the cats stayed awake, and dropped off while
they slept.

The cats were "perfectly comfortable," McCarley said, because the
conditions of the experiment required that they sleep and wake
naturally.

Because cats doze frequently without stimulation, researchers were
required to pet the animals to keep them awake for six hours at a
stretch, McCarley said in a telephone interview.

Earlier studies suggested that adenosine inhibits special "wakefulness
centers" in the brain, but that research was done on anesthetized
animals with slices cut from their brains, McCarley said. The current
study showed that in healthy animals with regular sleep patterns,
adenosine blocked the activities of the neurons that keep mammals awake.

The levels of adenosine were monitored through tiny tubes inserted into
their brains.

McCarley said that what is true for cats is likely to apply for most
mammals, including humans. At a certain point when adenosine builds up
after prolonged wakefulness, "sleep becomes irresistable," he said.

The experiments also suggested that "there's a particular trigger area
for sleepiness in the brain" -- the base of the forebrain at the front
of the head, McCarley said.

This research holds the potential to create sleeping drugs that are
naturally hypnotic, which work the same way the body's own chemicals do,
by mimicking adenosine's ability to block those neurons that keep humans
awake.

"The first step in developing a rational hypnotic, a sleeping pill that
acts on natural mechanisms, is knowing what the natural mechanisms
are,"McCarley said. "And we think our research shows what one of the
natural mechanisms is."

Adenosine taken orally will cause sleep in laboratory animals, McCarley
said, but its side effects, including impact on the heart and the
lowering of blood pressure, make it less than ideal as a sleep aid. The
key would be to craft a drug that works as adenosine does on a cellular
level, but without those side effects, McCarley said.

-- By DEBORAH ZABARENKO, Reuters

=========================================================

How much "potential" can there be in McCarley's cat experiments for
helping insomniacs?  As much as alcoholics, smokers and drug addicts
have benefited from similar animal studies.  Zilch.

Note the reassurances on how comfortable the cats were and how they were
petted as a means of keeping them awake.  Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?
Perhaps you can visualize how confortable cats can be, completely
immobilized and with "tiny tubes" inserted in their brains.

As G. B. Shaw pointed out, a person who has no qualms about inflicting
pain on defenseless animals can hardly be expected to have scruples when
lying about it.

Andy
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 21:43:03 -0700
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: What the panda is short of
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China researchers seek to heighten pandas' sex drive

Reuter Information Service

BEIJING (May 22, 1997 10:31 a.m. EDT) - Chinese researchers are trying
to make endangered giant pandas enjoy and engage in sex, the Xinhua news
agency reported Thursday.

"Researchers...are studying techniques of enhancing the sexual desire
and performance (of pandas)," Xinhua said, quoting researchers at the
Chengdu Giant Pandas Reproduction Research Base.

"Only 10 percent of giant pandas are able to mate naturally," one
researcher said. "So it's very difficult to have them make love and get
pregnant naturally."

Pandas can become pregnant only once a year and give birth to one to two
cubs at a time.

"The female giant pandas always show indifference and contempt to the
approaching male giant pandas during the mating season," the researcher
said.

The breeding center is also studying ways to improve the survival rate
of baby pandas and has had modest success with artificial insemination,
Xinhua said.

It has bred 42 giant pandas by artificial insemination since 1980, the
news agency said. Only 23 survived and the rest died before they turned
six months old.

Covering an area of 30 hectares (74 acres), the breeding center houses
about two dozen pandas.

Only 1,000 giant pandas exist in China's wilds, mostly in the bamboo
forests of Sichuan province.

Their numbers have dwindled as humans encroach on their habitat and
hunters kills them for their pelts, which can be sold for large sums.

============================================================

Pandas are on the verge of extinction because of poaching and the
destruction of their environment, not because they don't have enough sex
drive.

What they need is protection in the wild, not captive breeding
programs and biological meddling.

Andy
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 22:47:20 -0600 (MDT)
From: Jennifer Kolar <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: URGENT, PRAIRIE DOGS NEED YOU NOW!!!
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Content-MD5: ugms0Be/7Gx4LXE1Feme2Q==

------------- Begin Forwarded Message -------------

The city of Fort Collins, Colorado (YES.. the regional head and experimentation
site for the DOW  and ADC) is planning on gasing 6 prairie dog colonies. They
plan to attack 3 on Memorial day weekend and the remaining 3 on Monday after
that, although, we don't particularily trust them to wait.

The city is claiming the killing is at the request of landowners who
have complained about prairie dogs coming on their land and
eating gardens. The city has in some cases tried using different
sorts of visual barriers which prairie dogs don't like to burrow past.
Some are absurd, but others, such as stone walls, work very well. Some
land owner complaints come from sights adjacent to these walls and
there is no evidence of any prairie dogs near their land. The city
did nothing to validate the claims.

The colonies are on Open Space designated land, which is preserved land that
the city owns which has no housing developments or paved roads, but
does have cows, hikers, mountain bikers, etc. It is intended to be
set-aside, natural land, and obviously should include prairie dogs too.

Of the sites slated for immediate poisoning, there are 850-950 burrows
that will be poisoned.  Over 1100 burrows in total on the 6 sites are
scheduled to be poisoned. There are baby pdogs all over the place, of
course!

They'll make two arguments:  1. They've used nonlethal methods. Response:
not enough! They haven't given them time to work, local pdog rescue
experts have evaluated what they've used and it's insufficient.
Furthermore, on one site (Prairie Dog Meadows), where they've used almost
all of the appropriate methods, they have largely worked, and they're
still going to poison the site!!!!

2. PECA can just rescue them and everyone will be happy. NO: PECA has
little relocation land, and PECA should not be removing pdogs from OPEN
SPACE. Their last refuge is open space!! Furthermore, two weeks
notice is not enough for hundreds of burrows.

(PECA is the Prairie Ecosystem Conservation Aliance. We work to relocate
prairie dogs from land slated to be developed and relocate them to
permanant sanctuary land. We are in the middle of trying to establish our
own land trust which we will own, as our previous relocation site which
had been promised to us is now to be developed. With a full team of
people working, we can cover about 50-100 burrows in a long day, at most.
The burrows are connected and the dogs have many hiding passages, and thus
not only must we work over large fields, but we must redo areas previously
done to catch dogs not caught in the first tries. As we are all volunteer,
rescues only happen on the weekends. PECA should not be taking care
of the cities dirty work. and cannot possibly move these animals
in a couple of days.)

Please help us flood these offices with called against this
massacre.

*Demand proper visual barriers be used, such as stone walls which have
proven to be effective
*Demand the city not blindly kill dogs when they haven't even validated
land-owner claims
*There are many land-owners who are outraged by the proposed killing, but
the city is not responding to them.
*This should be sanctuary for the dogs, not a site they need to be moved from.
*They can't dump their problems on rescue groups last second and
say that is enough.

John Fischbach
City Manager
fax [phone]
970-221-6507/221-6505


Darin Attaberry
Assis City Manager
[e-mail]


Karen Manci
Environmental Planner for Nat Resources Dept
907-221-6310 /221-6600
fax [phone]

Ann Azari
Mayor
970-221-6878 wk

Thanks!

Rocky Mtn. Animal Defense
Prairie Eco-System Conservation Alliance
Committed Liberation Activists of the West
------------- End Forwarded Message -------------

Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 21:48:23 -0700
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Anthrax outbreak in the Ukraine
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Ukraine quarantines village after suspected anthrax outbreak kills two

The Associated Press

KIEV, Ukraine (May 22, 1997 6:43 p.m. EDT) -- An Ukrainian village was
under quarantine Thursday after a suspected outbreak of anthrax killed
two people and led to the hospitalization of 19 others.

Hundreds of police, emergency and health workers were sent to the
Donetsk region village of Privolnoye, Emergencies Ministry spokesman
Oleg Bykov said. The village is 350 miles southeast of Kiev, the
capital.

Eight of those hospitalized with symptoms of cutaneous anthrax, which
causes swollen boils on the skin, work at a slaughterhouse on the
Transportnoye state farm in Privolnoye. The workers may have been
infected by meat they received in lieu of pay.

Anthrax can infect humans through skin contact, ingestion and even
inhaling contaminated spores. It can be treated with penicillin.

A husband and wife hospitalized Monday with skin infections died
Wednesday, said Lidia Blakitnaya of the Donetsk regional health agency.

"Clinically, it looks very much like the cutaneous form of anthrax," she
said, but added that doctors were waiting for test results to confirm an
anthrax diagnosis.

She said if untreated, cutaneous anthrax can lead to the often deadly
pulmonary form.

Infectious diseases have become more frequent in recent years in Ukraine
because of a steep post-Soviet decline in the quality of health care.
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 13:11:57 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (TH) No help for sick elephants
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>Bangkok Post
23 May 97
Appeal for funds to no avail
              Lampang
              The elephant hospital's appeal for funds has fallen on deaf ears
              at the provincial hall and seven sick and injured animals
remain at
              risk.

              With its funds drying up, the hospital is finding it increasingly
              difficult to extend medical assistance to treat the animals.

              The hospital, the only one of its kind, was counting on help from
              the state but so far, its efforts have proved futile.

              Hang Chat elephant hospital, in the Forestry Industry
              Organisation's Thai Elephant Preservation Centre, has had to
              admit seven patients when it only has facilities for five.

              Hospital staff are worried the lack of facilities and money is
              putting the lives of sick elephants in danger. Kha Chan, a female,
              they say, has a broken front leg that might have to be amputated
              unless help arrives.

              She had been in the hospital for six days after her leg was
              broken when she was charged by another elephant during a
              show six months ago. Veterinarians say the left leg may have to
              be cut off if it becomes infected.

              Lucie Monseu, a volunteer veterinarian from Belgium, ruled out
              an operation on Kha Chan, saying elephant bones are too large
              and the hospital does not have a X-ray machine to locate the
              break.

              The best it can do is strap a metal plate to the injured area and
              use a splint to help keep the leg steady and prevent further
injury
              and infection, Ms Monseu said.

              Kha Chan continues to receive anti-tetanus shots, she said, but
              there is little chance the leg would return to its normal
condition.

              The hospital is appealing for donations to help cover the cost of
              treating sick elephants, which amount to almost 200,000 baht a
              month.

Article copyright Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd 1997
Reprinted for non-commercial use only.
Website: http://www.bangkokpost.net


Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 03:04:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: shelter stress and dogs
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

The local shelter in my town does a great job, but they currently have two
dogs who have been there for four months who are starting to exhibit signs of
stress. These are both great, well-socialized dogs and, while they get to
spend time each day out in the yard with other dogs and people, they are
starting to snarl when in their cages. Unless they are either adopted very
soon (unlikely) or something is done to reduce the stress, they will be
euthanized.

I would appreciate learning what other shelters do to keep dogs in shelters
mentally healthy over time. Would also like to hear whether anyone can
substantiate that animals experiencing such stress revert back to their
normal healthy behavior once adopted into a good situation.

Thanks to anyone/everyone who can address these issues. The clock is ticking
and nobody here is happy about it.

[e-mail]
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 09:56:03 -0400
From: allen bleyle <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Circus Protest SW New Hampshire
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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Piccadilly Circus is putting on a circus at the monadnock regional
highschool gym, in East Swanzey NH on Thursday, May 29, with a show at
5:15 and one at 7:30 pm.  Swanzey is right outside of Keene.  Anyone
who has any information on piccadilly circuses, and anyone who wants
to attend or help in anyway PLEASE email me, [e-mail].  thanks
Allen
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 10:24:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) More on Oklahoma Hog Farm Bill
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


According to Oklahoma news, the Oklahoma House and Senate
committee members agreed Thursday to move forward with the
bill regulating corporate hog farming, although some of the
industry people are not pleased. A vote is expected today on the
measure, which has several clauses that those living near the
hog farms will support.
Some of the hog industry people reluctantly agreed to the bill
while some others balked.  But a majority of committee members
in both houses decided there will be a regulation bill.  "We can live
with it," said Clem McSpadden, lobbyist for a good share of the
hog farm industry, including Seaboard Farms and the Oklahoma
Pork Council which represents many of the smaller producers.
Opponents include Tyson Foods, a southeastern Oklahoma firm
that has objected to any state regulation and Pig Improvement
Co., which operates in northwest Oklahoma.
Late Wednesday, the two legislative authors of House Bill 1522 huddled
with industry representatives in a meeting that resulted in a few
changes in the measure Thursday.
Several who attended the meeting confirmed that Pig Improvement
Co. objects strong to a provision that would require a depth of
4 feet between the water table and future lagoons that the company
might build to hold pig waste.  Pig Improvement Co. is operating
in the Hennessey area where the sandy soil allows the water table
to rise near the surface during the heavy rains.
The provision would mean hog corporations would have trouble
building more farms in sandy areas of the state. The state Wildlife
Commission already has raised questins about the levels of
nitrates near a Pig Improvement Co. farm in the Lake Canton area.
 James Barnett, a lobbyist for the company, refused Thursday
to comment on PIC's concerns.
One lawmaker said he received 25 calls Thursday from contract
farmers working with Tyson.  Tyson officials did not return phone calls
from a local reporter seeking comment.
The latest version for the bill also calls for
1.  Mandatory permitting for all hog farms with more than 5,000 hogs.
2.  Authorization for the Oklahoma state Ag Dept to monitor any
     lagoon in the state if complaints are lodged.
3.  Hog manure and wastewater could not be spread within 500
     feet of a neighbor's house or within 300 feet of a water well.
4.  Future hog farms would have to locate between a quarter-mile
     and three-quarters mile - depending on the no. of hogs -
     from their neighbor's house.

                                                      For the Animals,

                                                      Jana, OKC
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 10:40:07 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Calf's breakaway saved it from steakhouse
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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from USA Today web page:
--------------------------------------
Calf's breakaway saved it from steakhouse

NEW YORK - Next up in the calf-roping competition - the Bronx police.
Officers in this borough of high-rises
were trying to rope a calf this week after the animal broke loose from a
truck. The calf was being unloaded at
Ely Live Poultry Market when it escaped and hoofed it across four lanes of
traffic. The animal was briefly
corralled in a yard but broke free and continued its flight with police
yelling "Stop, cow, stop!" Once it was
recaptured, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
stepped in and saved the youngster
from a date with the steakhouse. Turns out the slaughterhouse where it was
being unloaded was for chickens
and was not supposed to process any other kind of animals. So the calf and
three pals were headed for Green
Chimneys farm in upstate New York, where they will be used in therapy for
abused children.
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 11:03:36 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) N.C. Hog Population Near 10 Million
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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from AP Wire page:
------------------------------
 05/23/1997 03:08 EST

 N.C. Hog Population Near 10 Million

 By EMERY P. DALESIO
 Associated Press Writer

 RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- North Carolina's pork producers proposed adding
 more than 300,000 hogs to the state's 9.3-million-head herd in the past
 three months.

 But whether the hog industry is slowing due to tighter state regulations
 or only stuck in neutral while farms are built to hold more pigs depends
 on who is looking at the numbers.

 ``We're on our way to 10 million,'' Bill Holman, an environmental
 lobbyist and an industry critic, said Thursday. ``It does show that
 despite all the whining about stricter environmental regulations ... the
 industry continues to grow.''

 Forty-three applications for required operating permits have been filed
 since February, when a new permit process took hold. That compares with
 82 applications seeking state certification to open or expand
 industrial-style farms during the same February-to-May period last year.

 Expansion plans this year have come under the specter of a proposed
 one-year, statewide halt to the industry's growth.

 Pressure for a moratorium comes from critics. They charge mammoth
 livestock operations have fouled streams with hog waste and the air with
 the stench created by thousands of hogs. The industry's supporters point
 to the jobs and wealth it has created.

 A bid to impose a moratorium on new and expanded hog operations was
 passed by the state House last month and is awaiting action in the
 Senate.

 A spokesman for the state's pork producers said tougher regulations that
 took effect in January have added to economic pressures for fewer and
 larger operations.

 ``The more we drive regulation, we force the farms to be larger to be
 efficient,'' said Roger Bone, a lobbyist for the North Carolina Pork
 Council. ``The flip side of that is that what we're doing with
 regulations is putting small folks out of business.''

 But industry executives last month said growth has slowed because the
 region's slaughterhouses have been full for a year, leaving little room
 for expansion. That means hogs must be shipped out of the state to be
 slaughtered for market.

 Tougher standards in place this year force new hog operations to keep a
 minimum distance from neighbors as well as a earn a state permit before
 opening. The first applications were not filed until February after the
 state Division of Water Quality sorted out its application process.

 Each owner has worked for months to jump through regulatory hoops before
 applying for the state permit needed to operate. Each location has been
 checked by state regulators to make sure the proposed site meshes with
 state guidelines and that the waste management plan is appropriate.

 Applications for new or expanded hog operations so far this year range
 from a Wayne County grower seeking to add at least 1,500 head to a Bladen
 County operation housing at least 69,000 head proposed by Murphy Family
 Farms, the country's largest hog producer.

 Including the 69,000-head Murphy operation, new and expanded sites
 proposed so far this month would add about 143,000 head. Expansion plans
 filed since February total more 296,000 head.

 The head counts for each farm are estimates that count only the number of
 mature animals and exclude piglets, said Coleen Sullins, head of
 compliance for the Division of Water Quality.

 All but three farms are proposed for the state's hog-dense eastern
 counties.

Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 11:16:12 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Rider Thrown Off Club's Bull Dies
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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from AP Wire page:
-------------------------------
 05/23/1997 00:43 EST

 Rider Thrown Off Club's Bull Dies

 FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- A professional rider died of injuries suffered
 earlier this month when a bull threw him at Billy Bob's Texas nightclub.

 Willy Gene Larson, 20, was pronounced dead Tuesday at a Fort Worth
 hospital. Relatives said he died of head injuries suffered when the
 1,500-pound bull catapulted him from its back May 9 and then kicked him
 while he was airborne. Larson landed headfirst in the dirt in front of
 150 spectators.

 ``My son said if he was going to die, it would be on the back of a
 bull,'' his mother, Susan Larson of Round Rock, told the Fort Worth
 Star-Telegram. ``But I never expected him to go this soon. At least he
 left this world doing what he loved most.''

 Pam Minick, Billy Bob's Texas marketing director, said Larson is the
 first bull rider to die in a riding accident at the 16-year-old club.

 ``We've just been in shock here,'' Ms. Minick said. ``We honestly never
 expected this to happen because we take so many safety precautions.''

 Billy Bob's requires all riders to wear a protective vest made from the
 same material as police bullet proof vests, Ms. Minick said.

 Last year, the National Center for Injury Prevention Control in Atlanta,
 part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, proposed
 protective headgear requirements for all bull riders. But, many
 professional riders said the headgear would interfere with their balance,
 Ms. Minick said.

 ``Anyone who loves the sport knows the dangers involved,'' she said,
 adding the club only allows professional riders to mount a bucking bull.

Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 11:18:58 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Lynx Doesn't Make Endangered List
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page:
---------------------------------
 05/22/1997 19:10 EST

 Lynx Doesn't Make Endangered List

 By SCOTT SONNER
 Associated Press Writer

 WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refused to declare
 the Canada lynx an endangered species Thursday but acknowledged the
 elusive cat has suffered significant population loss and only a few
 hundred survive in the lower 48 states.

 The unusual move, confirming the animal's dire situation while refusing
 to protect it under the Endangered Species Act, drew quick criticism from
 environmentalists.

 The Canada lynx is the only lynx left in North America and its population
 ``has decreased significantly in the lower 48 states,'' said Ralph
 Morgenweck, director of Fish and Wildlife Service's Denver regional
 office.

 ``Unfortunately, our resources are limited and other species are in worse
 condition and require more immediate action on our part,'' he said.

 The Canada lynx, about the size of a bobcat, has large, furry paws for
 hunting in deep snow at high elevations. It has long tufts on the ears
 and a flared facial ruff, and a short, black-tipped tail.

 A federal judge in Seattle had ordered the agency in March to reconsider
 an earlier decision to keep the cat off the list amid mounting evidence
 it was headed for extinction.

 Adding the cat to the endangered species list could mean new restrictions
 on logging and other commercial development in the four states where it
 still lives outside of Alaska and Canada -- Washington, Montana, Wyoming
 and Maine.

 ``We're glad the Fish and Wildlife Service is finally acknowledging the
 magnitude of threats to the lynx,'' said Joan Moody, a spokeswoman for
 Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C.

 But the failure to put the cat on protected list ``is another indication
 of their lack of nerve in acting on controversial species,'' she said.

 Earlier the agency said federal protection was not warranted. Now it
 believes protection is ``warranted but precluded'' because of more
 pressing demands to protect other endangered species.

 The agency issued a similar ``warranted but precluded'' decision for the
 bull trout in several Western states two years ago and is currently
 involved in a court battle with environmentalists over that decision.
 Agency officials have indicated they plan to protect the bull trout in
 some areas soon.

 The Northwest Ecosystem Alliance in Bellingham, Wash., one of the group's
 that petitioned for listing of the lynx, is considering further court
 challenges.

 ``They don't want to confront the timber industry,'' said Mitch Friedman,
 the group's executive director.

 The service decided against listing the lynx in 1994 despite warnings
 from its field offices that only a few hundred of the cats remain.

 ``The Fish and Wildlife Service has consistently ignored the analysis of
 its expert biologists,'' U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler of Seattle
 said in ordering the agency to reconsider on March 28.

 Morgenweck said agency biologists concluded the cat is being threatened
 by loss of forest habitat, past hunting and trapping and increased human
 access to forests.

 The lynx once lived in Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York,
 Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Washington,
 Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado.

 Thousands of lynx remain in Alaska and Canada, but biologists estimate
 there are only a few hundred in the lower 48 states -- an estimated 20 to
 50 in Maine, 150 to 400 in Montana, 50 or fewer in Idaho and 100 to 150
 in Washington state, said Bill Snape, a lawyer for Defenders of Wildlife.

 The Fish and Wildlife Service provided no specific numbers. It concluded
 the lynx also is surviving in Wyoming but doesn't have enough numbers in
 Idaho to be considered a surviving population.

 The agency is required to reassess the lynx's situation within a year.

Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 09:20:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: [e-mail] (pawsinfo)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Congressman Opposes Dalls Porpoise Removal Study [WA-USA]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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MEDIA RELEASE
May 22, 1997

Congressman Opposes Dalls Porpoise Removal Study

On May 21, 1997, Congressman Jack Metcalf officially contacted National
Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Wildlife Biologist Brad Hanson requesting a
halt to invasive studies of Dalls Porpoises going on now through May 28 off
Turn Point in the San Juan Islands.

The studies, conducted by Hanson under a NMFS permit, involve capturing up
to 25 Dalls Porpoises with a hoop net while they bow ride between two
Zodiaks, then lifting the animals out of the water enough to surgically bolt
a telemetry device onto their dorsal fins. The purpose of the study is to
establish the health and numbers of the local population in order to
determine how many porpoises can be safely removed.

The establishment of  a potential biological removal (PBR) level leads the
way to setting standards for how many of these porpoises may be killed by
fishing and other activities without adversely affecting the entire local
population.

There is considerable concern among scientists, dolphin activists and whale
watch operators about the negative effects of this study. Dalls Porpoises
are among the fastest swimming cetaceans, in part because they are naturally
preyed upon by transient orcas. The telemetry devices, which will be affixed
to the porpoises' dorsal fin, increase drag by as much as 18%, placing
tagged animals at a disadvantage. The devices are intended to corrode in
salt water and drop off "in a few months" according to Hanson.

As well, there is concern by whale watch operators that once harassed, Dalls
Porpoises will be less inclined to bow ride on their boats. Bow-riding
porpoises are an exciting adjunct to the whale watching business.

"While this seems to be an important study," Congressman Metcalf writes, "it
appears that this study could be done with considerably less harassment to
the dolphins with the aid of photography."  Recent improvements in computer
analysis of digital images now make it possible to study dolphin populations
in a noninvasive manner similar to orca studies that have been going on in
the same area for years.

PAWS supports Congressman Metcalf in his request "that the study be halted
so an evaluation can be performed on the impact to the porpoises."



 Contacts: Bob Chorush, PAWS,  [phone] ext 862
     Michael Kundu, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, [phone], (206)
359-3398 cell
     Chris Stow, Congressman Metcalf's Office, [phone]




Bob Chorush  Web Administrator, Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
15305 44th Ave West (P.O. Box 1037)Lynnwood, WA 98046 [phone] ext
862, [phone] fax
email [e-mail]      http://www.paws.org

Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 13:04:33 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: aids vaccine hype
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Hi AR people.

Very recently, various media sources have reported on a "breakthrough" in
AIDS research in the protection of chimpanzees from HIV with a new vaccine.
 I have prepared the following brief response to this which I hope some may
find of use:

>>

Aids Vaccine Hype:

A look at the history of AIDS research reveals that animal experiments have
been little more than a black hole into which our AIDS dollars have been
poured, while non-animal methods have made enormous strides.  Now a vaccine
utilizing loops of DNA containing HIV genes has apparently provided
protection from HIV infection in chimpanzees.  This has been heralded as the
breakthrough for which we have all been waiting.

What is not emphasized to the public is that while HIV can infect
chimpanzees, it does not typically do to them what it does to humans:  Invade
essential cells of their immune systems and destroy those cells, allowing
opportunistic diseases to flourish and kill the patient.  HIV infection
causes completely different, much less severe symptoms in chimpanzees.
 Humans and chimpanzees clearly have a very different relationship with HIV.


The immune system is both the target of HIV's attack, as well as the system
which is activated by vaccination.  If there is one thing we know about the
immune system, it is that very subtle differences can evoke extremely diverse
responses.  Within the context of the immune system, the differences between
human and chimpanzee are severe.

In the past, claims that non-human primates had been successfully vaccinated
against either HIV or SIV (Simian Imunodeficiency Virus)  turned out to be
premature upon further examination.  In any event, the success of any vaccine
against HIV can not be adequately predicted by the use of animals who react
to the virus in a manner so different from the way in which humans react.

Experiments on animals did not contribute to the understanding of HIV and
AIDS which led to the development of this methodology in the first place.  As
is extensively documented in our magazine, Deadly Deception, in vitro
research with human cells in culture, in coordination with careful clinical
and epidemiological observations deserves the credit.

The use of similar DNA loops failed to protect macaques from SIV, but the
tests on chimpanzees went ahead anyway.  Clearly, AIDS researchers must
therefore acknowledge that the immune cells and systems of different species
of primates react in very different ways to viruses and vaccines such as
this.  The use of DNA loops containing genes from HIV may very well provide
protection in humans, and we certainly hope that it does.  However, tests on
non-human animals will not provide the answer.

>>>

for further information contact:

Andy Breslin
American Anti-Vivisection Society
[phone]
[e-mail]


Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 16:07:43 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Fwd: Paul Watson Update 5-23-97
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

In a message dated 97-05-23 15:14:44 EDT, [e-mail] (Nick Voth)
writes:

 << Subj:Paul Watson Update 5-23-97
  Date:97-05-23 15:14:44 EDT
  From:[e-mail] (Nick Voth)
  Reply-to:[e-mail] (Sea Shepherd Mailing List)
  To:[e-mail] (Sea Shepherd Mailing List)

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          MAY 23rd, 1997


 ENVIRONMENTAL HERO'S TRIAL SPURS INTERNATIONAL ACTION AND OUTRAGE
 Mick Jagger, Rutgor Hauer, Jane Seymour, Martin Sheen Condemn Norwegian Foul
 Play

 For the past 2 weeks, Holland has been barraged with public and celebrity
 expressions of concern and protest in support for Captain Paul Watson,
founder
 and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. This weekend, mass
 demonstrations and other protests are planned to focus world attention on
 Watson, whom many countries now consider a political prisoner in the
 high-stakes war on the oceans and marine wildlife species.

 Watson was arrested in Amsterdam on April 2 on an Interpol warrant issued by
 Norway. Pending an extradition hearing, Norway wants Watson to serve a jail
 sentence on the charge of sinking a Norwegian whaling vessel in 1992, for
 which he was convicted in absentia. Other charges stem from the incident on
 July 6, 1994, when the Sea Shepherd conservation vessel Whales Forever was
 rammed, depth-charged and fired upon by the Norwegian naval vessel Andenes
 which was protecting the whaling fleet during its illegal whale-killing
 activities. Norway claims that it was Sea Shepherd's vessel Whales Forever
 that did the ramming even though the incident was witnessed by 11
independent
 journalists on board who obtained footage and photographs proving that the
 action was carried out by the Norwegians.

 "Norway made a mistake when they thought they could arrest Paul Watson, who
 has been fighting nonstop for the whales for 26 years now," said Sea
Shepherd
 International Director Lisa Distefano. "By trying to manipulate the Dutch
 justice system for their own means, they have focused unwanted attention on
 their illegal whaling in defiance of the global moratorium. They want Paul
 badly, but they wanted to get him quietly. It looks like they're not getting
 their wish."

 A full-page advertisement in the May 23 edition of the newspaper Volkskrant
 features actors Pierce Brosnan, Cher, Rutgor Hauer, Jane Seymour, and Rob
 Lowe, and musicians Mick Jagger and Chrissie Hynde, among others, who are
 appealing to the Dutch community to free Paul Watson. The ad was sponsored
by
 avid Sea Shepherd supporter John Paul Dejoria, CEO of Paul Mitchell Systems,
 respected for his activism and support of environmental causes.

 "We are grateful for the outpouring of personal time, funding, and
commitment
 by people worldwide who realize what is at stake here," said Distefano.
 "Sincee Paul's arrest, we have received a flood of hate mail, phone calls,
 e-mail, and faxes from Norway in a hate campaign orchestrated by a Norwegian
 government-controlled radio station. We can't hold out much hope for Paul's
 survival in a Norwegian prison. We all just hope the global outcry will be
 enough to convince the Netherlands that condemning Paul to almost certain
 death in order to support Norway's political agenda on whaling is not a
course
 of action they want to follow."

 Watson's extradition hearing is on May 26, 1997 at 3:30 P.M. and is open to
 the public at the Court of Haarlem, Netherlands, 46 Jansstraat, which will
 also be the site of a massive international demonstration beginning at 2
p.m.

 Contact: Lisa Distefano [phone]

 SEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY
 PO Box 628
 Venice, CA.  90294
 USA
 Tel: [phone]
 Fax: [phone]
 www.seashepherd.org





 --

 *****************************
 Sent From Nick Voth
 System Administrator
 E Street Communications, Inc.
 <[e-mail]>
 *****************************



 ----------------------- Headers --------------------------------
 From [e-mail]  Fri May 23 15:13:56 1997
 Return-Path: <[e-mail]>
 Received: from lists.estreet.com (lists.estreet.com [204.30.121.10])
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       with SMTP id PAA16186;
       Fri, 23 May 1997 15:12:59 -0400 (EDT)
 Received: from estreet.com by lists.estreet.com with SMTP; Fri, 23 May 97
  13:12:40 -0600
 Date: Fri, 23 May 97 13:04:27 -0500
 From: [e-mail] (Nick Voth (admin))
 Organization: E Street Communications
 Subject: Paul Watson Update 5-23-97
 To: Sea Shepherd Mailing List <[e-mail]>
 Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
 Priority: normal
 X-Mailer: ExpressNet/SMTP v1.1.5
 MIME-Version: 1.0
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 X-List-Subscribe:
  <mailto:[e-mail]?subject=subscribe%20seashepherd>
  >>


---------------------
Forwarded message:
From:[e-mail] (Nick Voth)
 Reply-to:[e-mail] (Sea Shepherd Mailing List)
  To:[e-mail] (Sea Shepherd Mailing List)
Date: 97-05-23 15:14:44 EDT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          MAY 23rd, 1997


ENVIRONMENTAL HERO'S TRIAL SPURS INTERNATIONAL ACTION AND OUTRAGE
Mick Jagger, Rutgor Hauer, Jane Seymour, Martin Sheen Condemn Norwegian Foul
Play

For the past 2 weeks, Holland has been barraged with public and celebrity
expressions of concern and protest in support for Captain Paul Watson,
founder
and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. This weekend, mass
demonstrations and other protests are planned to focus world attention on
Watson, whom many countries now consider a political prisoner in the
high-stakes war on the oceans and marine wildlife species.

Watson was arrested in Amsterdam on April 2 on an Interpol warrant issued by
Norway. Pending an extradition hearing, Norway wants Watson to serve a jail
sentence on the charge of sinking a Norwegian whaling vessel in 1992, for
which he was convicted in absentia. Other charges stem from the incident on
July 6, 1994, when the Sea Shepherd conservation vessel Whales Forever was
rammed, depth-charged and fired upon by the Norwegian naval vessel Andenes
which was protecting the whaling fleet during its illegal whale-killing
activities. Norway claims that it was Sea Shepherd's vessel Whales Forever
that did the ramming even though the incident was witnessed by 11 independent
journalists on board who obtained footage and photographs proving that the
action was carried out by the Norwegians.

"Norway made a mistake when they thought they could arrest Paul Watson, who
has been fighting nonstop for the whales for 26 years now," said Sea Shepherd
International Director Lisa Distefano. "By trying to manipulate the Dutch
justice system for their own means, they have focused unwanted attention on
their illegal whaling in defiance of the global moratorium. They want Paul
badly, but they wanted to get him quietly. It looks like they're not getting
their wish."

A full-page advertisement in the May 23 edition of the newspaper Volkskrant
features actors Pierce Brosnan, Cher, Rutgor Hauer, Jane Seymour, and Rob
Lowe, and musicians Mick Jagger and Chrissie Hynde, among others, who are
appealing to the Dutch community to free Paul Watson. The ad was sponsored by
avid Sea Shepherd supporter John Paul Dejoria, CEO of Paul Mitchell Systems,
respected for his activism and support of environmental causes.

"We are grateful for the outpouring of personal time, funding, and commitment
by people worldwide who realize what is at stake here," said Distefano.
"Sincee Paul's arrest, we have received a flood of hate mail, phone calls,
e-mail, and faxes from Norway in a hate campaign orchestrated by a Norwegian
government-controlled radio station. We can't hold out much hope for Paul's
survival in a Norwegian prison. We all just hope the global outcry will be
enough to convince the Netherlands that condemning Paul to almost certain
death in order to support Norway's political agenda on whaling is not a
course
of action they want to follow."

Watson's extradition hearing is on May 26, 1997 at 3:30 P.M. and is open to
the public at the Court of Haarlem, Netherlands, 46 Jansstraat, which will
also be the site of a massive international demonstration beginning at 2 p.m.


Contact: Lisa Distefano [phone]

SEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY
PO Box 628
Venice, CA.  90294
USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.seashepherd.org





--

*****************************
Sent From Nick Voth
System Administrator
E Street Communications, Inc.
<[e-mail]>
*****************************


Date: Fri, 23 May 97 19:27:04 -0000
From: [e-mail]
To: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Paul Watson Update 5-23-97
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE          MAY 23rd, 1997


ENVIRONMENTAL HERO'S TRIAL SPURS INTERNATIONAL ACTION AND OUTRAGE
Mick Jagger, Rutgor Hauer, Jane Seymour, Martin Sheen Condemn Norwegian
Foul
Play

For the past 2 weeks, Holland has been barraged with public and celebrity
expressions of concern and protest in support for Captain Paul Watson,
founder
and president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. This weekend, mass
demonstrations and other protests are planned to focus world attention on
Watson, whom many countries now consider a political prisoner in the
high-stakes war on the oceans and marine wildlife species.

Watson was arrested in Amsterdam on April 2 on an Interpol warrant issued
by
Norway. Pending an extradition hearing, Norway wants Watson to serve a
jail
sentence on the charge of sinking a Norwegian whaling vessel in 1992, for
which he was convicted in absentia. Other charges stem from the incident
on
July 6, 1994, when the Sea Shepherd conservation vessel Whales Forever was
rammed, depth-charged and fired upon by the Norwegian naval vessel Andenes
which was protecting the whaling fleet during its illegal whale-killing
activities. Norway claims that it was Sea Shepherd's vessel Whales Forever
that did the ramming even though the incident was witnessed by 11
independent
journalists on board who obtained footage and photographs proving that the
action was carried out by the Norwegians.

"Norway made a mistake when they thought they could arrest Paul Watson,
who
has been fighting nonstop for the whales for 26 years now," said Sea
Shepherd
International Director Lisa Distefano. "By trying to manipulate the Dutch
justice system for their own means, they have focused unwanted attention
on
their illegal whaling in defiance of the global moratorium. They want Paul
badly, but they wanted to get him quietly. It looks like they're not
getting
their wish."

A full-page advertisement in the May 23 edition of the newspaper
Volkskrant
features actors Pierce Brosnan, Cher, Rutgor Hauer, Jane Seymour, and Rob
Lowe, and musicians Mick Jagger and Chrissie Hynde, among others, who are
appealing to the Dutch community to free Paul Watson. The ad was
sponsored by
avid Sea Shepherd supporter John Paul Dejoria, CEO of Paul Mitchell
Systems,
respected for his activism and support of environmental causes.

"We are grateful for the outpouring of personal time, funding, and
commitment
by people worldwide who realize what is at stake here," said Distefano.
"Sincee Paul's arrest, we have received a flood of hate mail, phone calls,
e-mail, and faxes from Norway in a hate campaign orchestrated by a
Norwegian
government-controlled radio station. We can't hold out much hope for
Paul's
survival in a Norwegian prison. We all just hope the global outcry will be
enough to convince the Netherlands that condemning Paul to almost certain
death in order to support Norway's political agenda on whaling is not a
course
of action they want to follow."

Watson's extradition hearing is on May 26, 1997 at 3:30 P.M. and is open
to
the public at the Court of Haarlem, Netherlands, 46 Jansstraat, which will
also be the site of a massive international demonstration beginning at 2
p.m.

Contact: Lisa Distefano [phone]

SEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY
PO Box 628
Venice, CA.  90294
USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.seashepherd.org



Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 19:54:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Fwd: Frog Dissection Class a Mystery
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Could not ~believe~ what I was reading.  This is really one for the books!!!

In a message dated 97-05-23 16:29:49 EDT, AOL News writes:

 << Subj:Frog Dissection Class a Mystery
  Date:97-05-23 16:29:49 EDT
  From:AOL News
 BCC:LMANHEIM

 .c The Associated Press

       By JOHN ANTCZAK
       LOS ANGELES (AP) - The frogs are DOA in Christine Karlberg's
 class. Her students' task is to find out why they croaked.
       Mrs. Karlberg tries to make frog dissection more interesting and
 educational for her students by placing the dead, preserved frogs
 in miniature ``crime scenes'' and assigning the seventh-graders to
 solve the whodunit. The approach has delighted students and
 offended animal-rights activists.
       The frogs are posed in doll furniture and given toe tags. Stray
 hairs, fake blood, footprints, fingerprints are other evidence are
 left at the scene.
       The late D. Frog, for example, was found dead in a bathtub. The
 erstwhile T. Tadpolian bought the farm in bed. A certain K.C.
 Amphibious had a stab wound inflicted by some pond scum.
       At Hewes Middle School in Orange County last week, the student
 forensic sleuths were ribeted by the exercise.
       ``It was laying on its back and there were blood spatters on the
 wall,'' Robert Washington, 13, said of his frog. ``I was the
 criminalist.''
       Robert said the frog had been done in by a teacher. ``She took a
 pencil and she stabbed it in the throat,'' he said. What was the
 first clue? ``We had pencil fibers and pencil erasings.''
       No one at the school actually kills the frogs; the supplier
 delivers them dead, in formaldehyde. But Mrs. Karlberg dreams up
 the crime scenarios, and she and other teachers often take the fall
 for the murders.
       Last year, for example, Lucas Payne's frog supposedly succumbed
 in a bathtub.
       ``It was Mrs. Karlberg who drowned it,'' the 13-year-old said.
 Footprints, fingerprints and a few stray hairs gave Mrs. Karlberg
 away. ``She said she was with her husband,'' but her alibi didn't
 hold up, Lucas said.
       He added: ``We opened the frog up. There was a bunch of ovaries
 in there and a liver and stuff. That was real fun.''
       About 800 students have taken part in the science exercise in
 the past three years, Principal Margaret Sepulveda said. Contrary
 to the student testimony, Mrs. Karlberg does not inflict wounds on
 the creatures, Ms. Sepulveda said.
       Mrs. Karlberg did not return calls.
       Ms. Sepulveda said the students are learning how to go through
 the steps of scientific problem-solving, including collecting data,
 keeping a log, forming a hypothesis, making observations and
 reaching a conclusion.
       ``It's not a joke,'' she said. ``It's a way to help students
 understand the scientific process.''
       The exercise has raised eyebrows at animal rights organizations
 opposed to dissection.
       ``If you sort of make light of it ... it almost ridicules the
 exercise all the more,'' said Jonathan Balcombe, associate director
 for education in animal research issues at the Humane Society of
 the United States in Washington.
       Robert's mother, Erin Washington, said her son has never been so
 interested in science.
       ``He's had a blast,'' said Mrs. Washington, a nurse. ``This has
 been the only time in the whole history of school he's talked about
 science. ... He came home today and said that he was pretty sure he
 had gotten an `A' on the test.'' >>


---------------------
Forwarded message:
Subj:    Frog Dissection Class a Mystery
Date:    97-05-23 16:29:49 EDT
From:    AOL News

<HTML><PRE><I>.c The Associated Press</I></PRE></HTML>

      By JOHN ANTCZAK
      LOS ANGELES (AP) - The frogs are DOA in Christine Karlberg's
class. Her students' task is to find out why they croaked.
      Mrs. Karlberg tries to make frog dissection more interesting and
educational for her students by placing the dead, preserved frogs
in miniature ``crime scenes'' and assigning the seventh-graders to
solve the whodunit. The approach has delighted students and
offended animal-rights activists.
      The frogs are posed in doll furniture and given toe tags. Stray
hairs, fake blood, footprints, fingerprints are other evidence are
left at the scene.
      The late D. Frog, for example, was found dead in a bathtub. The
erstwhile T. Tadpolian bought the farm in bed. A certain K.C.
Amphibious had a stab wound inflicted by some pond scum.
      At Hewes Middle School in Orange County last week, the student
forensic sleuths were ribeted by the exercise.
      ``It was laying on its back and there were blood spatters on the
wall,'' Robert Washington, 13, said of his frog. ``I was the
criminalist.''
      Robert said the frog had been done in by a teacher. ``She took a
pencil and she stabbed it in the throat,'' he said. What was the
first clue? ``We had pencil fibers and pencil erasings.''
      No one at the school actually kills the frogs; the supplier
delivers them dead, in formaldehyde. But Mrs. Karlberg dreams up
the crime scenarios, and she and other teachers often take the fall
for the murders.
      Last year, for example, Lucas Payne's frog supposedly succumbed
in a bathtub.
      ``It was Mrs. Karlberg who drowned it,'' the 13-year-old said.
Footprints, fingerprints and a few stray hairs gave Mrs. Karlberg
away. ``She said she was with her husband,'' but her alibi didn't
hold up, Lucas said.
      He added: ``We opened the frog up. There was a bunch of ovaries
in there and a liver and stuff. That was real fun.''
      About 800 students have taken part in the science exercise in
the past three years, Principal Margaret Sepulveda said. Contrary
to the student testimony, Mrs. Karlberg does not inflict wounds on
the creatures, Ms. Sepulveda said.
      Mrs. Karlberg did not return calls.
      Ms. Sepulveda said the students are learning how to go through
the steps of scientific problem-solving, including collecting data,
keeping a log, forming a hypothesis, making observations and
reaching a conclusion.
      ``It's not a joke,'' she said. ``It's a way to help students
understand the scientific process.''
      The exercise has raised eyebrows at animal rights organizations
opposed to dissection.
      ``If you sort of make light of it ... it almost ridicules the
exercise all the more,'' said Jonathan Balcombe, associate director
for education in animal research issues at the Humane Society of
the United States in Washington.
      Robert's mother, Erin Washington, said her son has never been so
interested in science.
      ``He's had a blast,'' said Mrs. Washington, a nurse. ``This has
been the only time in the whole history of school he's talked about
science. ... He came home today and said that he was pretty sure he
had gotten an `A' on the test.''
      AP-NY-05-23-97 1616EDT
      <HTML><PRE><I><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=2> Copyright 1997 The
Associated Press.  The information
contained in the AP news report may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without
prior written authority of The Associated Press.<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3>
</I></PRE></HTML>


To edit your profile, go to keyword NewsProfiles.
For all of today's news, go to keyword News.
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 20:09:06 -0500 (CDT)
From: Suzanne Roy <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Marine Mammal Freedom Weekend
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


    Date:  May 22, 1997Contact:  Donna Hertel [phone]
        Suzanne Roy [phone] x. 26

SIXTH ANNUAL MARINE MAMMAL FREEDOM WEEKEND SPOTLIGHTS CRUELTIES
OF CAPTIVITY
FOR DOLPHINS, WHALES

Mill Valley, Calif....Environmental and animal protection activists
throughout the United States and Canada will gather this weekend for Marine
Mammal Freedom Weekend (MMFW), May 24-26.  The sixth annual event will
feature protests, rallies, information tables and educational events at
marine and amusement parks and aquariums that display captive dolphins,
whales and other marine mammals.  MMFW, sponsored by Northern
California-based In Defense of Animals (IDA), is held to increase public
awareness of the cruelties involved in keeping dolphins and whales confined
in artificial, captive environments, and to promote respect for marine
mammals and their habitat.

MMFW events will take place at dozens of locations, including the Shedd
Aquarium in Chicago; the Dallas World Aquarium in Texas; Marineland Canada
in Niagara Falls; the Vancouver Aquarium; Knott's Berry Farm in Southern
California (as well as at the offices of  some of the park's corporate
sponsors), Sea World in San Diego, California; and Marine World/Africa USA
in Vallejo, California.  Information tables and leafleting will also take
place at Albuquerque's Biological Park and Ripley's Aquarium in South
Carolina. Neither facility displays marine mammals.

"The public is becoming increasingly aware of harmful effects that a life of
captivity has on dolphins and whales," stated Donna Hertel, Marine Mammal
Program Coordinator for In Defense of Animals, sponsor of the event.  "There
is growing public sentiment against marine parks and aquariums that imprison
marine mammals."

According to IDA, the detrimental effects of captivity include ulcers,
blindness (from chlorinated tanks), pneumonia, other stress-related
illnesses, and premature death. Infant mortality rates for captive dolphins
and whales are also high.   It is inhumane, the group says, to confine these
complex, intelligent and sensitive animals, who swim up to 100 miles a day
in the open sea,  to tiny, concrete tanks that legally can measure just 24
ft. long.

The success of the Free Willy movies and the transfer, rehabilitation and
planned release of the film's star, Keiko has sparked growing public
awareness about the captivity issue. Over the past six years, at least 19
marine and amusement parks in North America have either closed their captive
dolphin shows or gone out of business entirely.  Well over 75 aquariums,
either existing or proposed, have declared their commitment to not exhibit
captive dolphins and/or whales.

"The public is beginning to see through the claims that marine parks are
educational and environmental," said Mark Berman, Program Coordinator of
Earth Island Institute, which co-founded MMFW with IDA in 1991. "The true
purpose of these 'abusement parks' is profit pure and simple, and dolphins
and whales are dying because of it."
- end -

===============================================================

    Date:  May 23, 1997Contact:  Donna Hertel [phone]
        Suzanne Roy [phone] x. 26

PROTEST TARGETS MARINE WORLD'S NEW OWNERS
EVENT MARKS 6TH ANNUAL MARINE MAMMAL FREEDOM WEEKEND

Vallejo....Bay Area animal advocates will gather at Marine World/Africa USA
to protest the park's continued exhibition of captive dolphins and whales on
Memorial Day, Monday, May 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the park (off Route
37 in Vallejo).

Part of the sixth annual Marine Mammal Freedom Weekend (MMFW), the protest
will target the park's new owner, the City of Vallejo.   The city took over
ownership of the park late last year, after steadily-declining attendance
and profits left its previous owners, the Marine World Africa Foundation,
unable to pay its debts.   In an attempt to increase revenues, the City
recently hired a national theme park operator, Premier Parks, Inc., to take
over management of the park.  Marine mammal advocates are encouraging the
company to phase out animal acts as a means of increasing attendance and
profits.

"The public is becoming increasingly aware of harmful effects that a life of
captivity has on dolphins and whales," stated Donna Hertel, Marine Mammal
Program Coordinator for In Defense of Animals, sponsor of the event.  "There
is growing public sentiment against marine parks and aquariums that imprison
marine mammals."

According to IDA, the detrimental effects of captivity include ulcers,
blindness (from chlorinated tanks), pneumonia, other stress-related
illnesses, and premature death. Infant mortality rates for captive dolphins
and whales are also high.   It is inhumane, the group says, to confine these
complex, intelligent and sensitive animals, who swim up to 100 miles a day
in the open sea,  to tiny, concrete tanks that legally can measure just 24
ft. long.

In the past several years, declining attendance and revenues have forced at
least 19 marine and amusement parks in North America to either close their
captive dolphin shows or go out of business entirely.  Well over 75 new
aquariums, either existing or proposed, have committed to facilities that do
not exhibit captive dolphins and/or whales.

"By making the commitment to no longer display captive marine mammals,
Marine World can make a real difference on behalf of the animals, city
taxpayers and its own bottom line," said Mark Berman, program coordinator at
Earth Island Institute, which in 1991, co-founded MMFW with IDA. "We urge
the City of Vallejo to transform the park into a world-class rehabilitation
center for marine mammals and other wildlife."

Held each year over Memorial Day weekend, MMFW features protests, rallies,
information tables and educational events at marine parks and aquariums
throughout the United States and Canada.  MMFW was created to increase
public awareness of the cruelties involved in keeping dolphins and whales
confined in artificial, captive environments and to promote respect for
marine mammals and their habitat.
- end -



Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 09:49:26 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: (HK) E coli fears end offal sales in markets
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"




>Hong Kong Standard
24 May 97
E coli fears end offal sales in markets
By Yau Wai-ping


BEEF suppliers have agreed not to sell offal in markets from Sunday in a bid
to prevent cross-contamination of beef with deadly E coli bacteria.

One supplier, Ng Fung Hong, said that once a cow was slaughtered, its heart
and liver would be incinerated and the offal sold to offal shops.
Three cases of beef contaminated with E coli O-157:H7 have been reported in
Hong Kong in the past two months, all supplied by the same company and
distributed by the Hop Lee Fresh Provision Shop in Western and Chi Fu Fa Yuen.

Meanwhile, a Tuen Mun seafood restaurant has reopened after being shut down
on Saturday for poor hygiene. The New Kwong Tong Restaurant reported a
two-thirds drop in trade after reopening on Friday.

Urban councillor Steve Chan said health officials needed more power to act
against unhygienic premises, as the current 15-point demerit system was
ineffective. He said it took up to a year for health officials to close an
unhygienic shop, restaurant or factory.


Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 09:50:34 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Stray dog cull condemned
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"




>Hong Kong Standard
24 May 97
Stray dog cull condemned

TAIPEI: Animal rights campaigners in London and Taiwan on Friday condemned a
Taiwanese plan to kill 1.3 million stray dogs in a year.

The London-based World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) demanded
that Taiwan's government abandon the stray dog cull.

``The knee-jerk reaction to the problem of stray dogs is the ultimate act of
an irresponsible government that is flouting international opinion and the
guidelines of the World Health Organisation,'' the society said.

``It amounts to a deliberate and unnecessary slaughter of dogs in a country
where they are viewed as rubbish to be cleared away,'' it said.
It said Taiwan already uses some of the world's cruellest and most inhumane
methods in handling stray dogs, including gassing, electrocuting and
poisoning the dogs or leaving them in shallow pits to starve to death.

``The planned genocide of over a million dogs breaks the promises made to
WSPA by Taiwanese government officials,'' the statement said.

Taiwan's Council of Agriculture, under fire from international animal rights
campaigners, agreed earlier this year to take measures to improve the
treatment of stray dogs.

But on Thursday, it ordered the hunting and killing of stray dogs in Taipei,
Taichung, and Kaohsiung in the south to avert a possible outbreak of rabies.
- Reuter

Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 09:58:57 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: (NZ) Fish is an animal, police legal section determines
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"




>South China Morning Post
Saturday  May 24  1997
     Goldfish killer goes to jail
     AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in Wellington

     A man who pleaded guilty to aggravated cruelty towards a goldfish
called Moby is
now in jail at his own request.

     Darren Hura, 32, was convicted in the Upper Hutt District Court this
week and
     remanded for sentence on June 5.

     The Evening Post reported he walked to the police station and asked to
be locked up   until then.

     On the charge of aggravated cruelty, Hura initially pleaded not guilty
and there was some dispute whether a fish was an animal. The police legal
section determined it was an animal because it was a vertebrate with a spine
and was kept in a state of captivity  and depended on man.

     Prosecutor Sergeant Neil Ford told the court Hura had argued with his
partner, who then walked out on him, taking their two children with her.
Hura had picked up his son's goldfish bowl and thrown it from a
second-storey window. The bowl smashed, and Moby spilled on to the front
lawn and died.

     Hura asked police what else he was supposed to have done when he wanted
to get rid of it.

Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 22:09:12 -0700
From: "FARM (Farm Animal Reform Movement)" <[e-mail]>
To: A R News <[e-mail]>
Subject: ANIMAL RIGHTS '97 deadline
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Please note that Tuesday, May 27th is the discounted registration fee
postmark deadline for ANIMAL RIGHTS '97 - our movement's annual
convention. The event will be held in the nation's capital between
June 26th and 30th. For additional details, check out
http://envirolink.org/arrs/farm/ar97.htm or call 1-888-FARM-USA during
regular business hours.
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 20:57:43 -0700
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Making dissection into fun
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

A new whodunit: Biology-class dissection is novel, controversial

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (May 23, 1997 4:31 p.m. EDT) -- The frogs are DOA in
Christine Karlberg's class. Her students' task is to find out why they
croaked.

Mrs. Karlberg tries to make frog dissection more interesting and
educational for her students by placing the dead, preserved frogs in
miniature "crime scenes" and assigning the seventh-graders to
solve the whodunit. The approach has delighted students and offended
animal-rights activists.

The frogs are posed in doll furniture and given toe tags. Stray hairs,
fake blood, footprints, fingerprints and other evidence are left at the
scene.

The late D. Frog, for example, was found dead in a bathtub. The
erstwhile T. Tadpolian bought the farm in bed. A certain K.C. Amphibious
had a stab wound inflicted by some pond scum.

At Hewes Middle School in Orange County last week, the student forensic
sleuths were ribeted by the exercise.

"It was laying on its back and there were blood spatters on the wall,"
Robert Washington, 13, said of his frog. "I was the criminalist."

Robert said the frog had been done in by a teacher. "She took a pencil
and she stabbed it in the throat," he said. What was the first clue? "We
had pencil fibers and pencil erasings."

No one at the school actually kills the frogs; the supplier delivers
them dead, in formaldehyde. But Mrs. Karlberg dreams up the crime
scenarios, and she and other teachers often take the fall for the
murders.

Last year, for example, Lucas Payne's frog supposedly succumbed in a
bathtub.

"It was Mrs. Karlberg who drowned it," the 13-year-old said. Footprints,
fingerprints and a few stray hairs gave Mrs. Karlberg away. "She said
she was with her husband," but her alibi didn't hold up, Lucas said.

He added: "We opened the frog up. There was a bunch of ovaries in there
and a liver and stuff. That was real fun."

About 800 students have taken part in the science exercise in the past
three years, Principal Margaret Sepulveda said. Contrary to the student
testimony, Mrs. Karlberg does not inflict wounds on the creatures, Ms.
Sepulveda said.

Mrs. Karlberg did not return calls.

Ms. Sepulveda said the students are learning how to go through the steps
of scientific problem-solving, including collecting data, keeping a log,
forming a hypothesis, making observations and reaching a conclusion.

"It's not a joke," she said. "It's a way to help students understand the
scientific process."

The exercise has raised eyebrows at animal rights organizations opposed
to dissection.

"If you sort of make light of it ... it almost ridicules the exercise
all the more," said Jonathan Balcombe, associate director for education
in animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States in
Washington.

Robert's mother, Erin Washington, said her son has never been so
interested in science.

"He's had a blast," said Mrs. Washington, a nurse. "This has been the
only time in the whole history of school he's talked about science. ...
He came home today and said that he was pretty sure he had gotten an 'A'
on the test."
Date: Fri, 23 May 1997 20:59:12 -0700
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Tigers and Mice
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Researchers on trail of zoo breeding success

Times of London

LONDON (May 23, 1997 11:13 a.m. EDT) -- Scientists may have discovered
why some rare animals, such as tigers, leopards and pandas, will mate in
captivity, whereas others refuse.

Researchers at the Institute of Zoology in London have found a link
between the numbers of males and females in a litter and the likelihood
that the males will become "wimps" or Casanovas.

Most mammals, including the big cats and bears, base their choice of
sexual partner on smell. Male big cats, for example, spend a great deal
of time and effort warning rivals to stay away from their patch by
leaving complex scent marks on the ground. The same scent marks are also
crucial signals to females, when they are ready to mate, indicating the
prowess and fitness of individual males. The more scent marks, the
stronger the signal that the male is a worthy mate who will produce fit
and healthy offspring.

Professor Morris Gosling of the institute, which is part of London Zoo,
has been studying mice as a model animal to discover why some males
produce a lot of scent marks and why others are "wimps." "We have found
that if the numbers of females exceeds the number of males, then the
males scent mark at a lower rate," he said Wednesday. The researchers
believe this is because young males surrounded by sisters think they
have little need to make attempts to attract the opposite sex and have
little to fear from male rivals.

The findings may have implications for captive breeding programmes.
Professor Gosling said they might be able to collect the male's scent
markings and get the female to accept him "by using the stored material
to enhance his signal and double the frequency."

The researchers also want to extract the key gland chemicals used by the
animals in scent marking. It may be possible to synthesise these
artificially to enhance the allure of a "wimp" male.

By NICK NUTTALL, The Times of London News Service

======================================================

Mice are used as "models" for people all the time, so why not
extrapolate findings from mice to tigers and leopards as well?  There's
some kind of logic behind it, I suppose.

Andy

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