Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news4~11.htm/text0006.txt

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       INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE (IFAW)
                     PRESS RELEASE 6th July 1997
     A NEW CHINA; A NEW ERA FOR ANIMAL WELFARE"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is today (6th July)
launching a worldwide initiative which starts the first steps towards
saving thousands of wild, domesticated and endangered species.

Whilst the popularity and demand of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is
growing internationally, the impact that this is having on many animal
species is causing an increase in their exploitation and cruel treatment.

Starting in Hong Kong, IFAW is launching a campaign that carries two main
objectives; to reduce significantly the number of animals used in TCM and
to elevate the reputation of TCM worldwide. This campaign has been launched
to encourage TCM practitioners and traders to pledge two things: to promise
to cease using all endangered species parts in TCM; and to think twice
before prescribing ANY medicine or product containing ANY animal part.

This initiative is already supported by: the National Association of
Chinese Medicine and the Chinese Association of Medicine and Philosophy in
Hong Kong, who believe that it compliments their principles of "taking the
easy, avoiding the difficult" and "being in harmony with nature"; by
Chinese mainland doctors; by local Hong Kong environmental group EarthCare;
and by Hong Kong's most popular rock group "Beyond".

"Each time Doctors and Pharmacists prescribe or prepare a medicine or
tonic, IFAW is asking them to "think twice and save a life"....   and to
consider if something they are about to prescribe containing animal parts
can be exchanged for something which contains non-endangered, plant derived
alternatives At the same time we ask that they make a pledge to cease using
all medicines containing endangered species forthwith; particularly tiger
bone, rhino horn and bear bile," said
Jill Robinson, IFAW China Director.

IFAW's work in China towards replacing bear bile with non-endangered herbs
and ending the current practice of bear farming, where bears are housed in
tiny wire cages and have their bile extracted for use in TCM, continues to
gain support from government and non-government
organisations.    Significant funding of Beijing's State Administration of
Traditional Chinese medicine (SATCM) to isolate the plant derived
alternative to bear bile is already showing promising results.  Mr. Hu
Huiyu, Associate Professor of the SATCM: "Once this project begins
(IFAW funding SATCM for herbal alternatives to bear bile) it will blow the
horn for the closure of all bear farms. I think this day will come and,
with our joint cooperation, it will come sooner.

The support IFAW receives from this new initiative in Hong Kong to promote
cruelty free traditional Chinese medicine will then be taken to TCM
communities internationally, calling on their endorsement and thereby
continuing to multiply the numbers of animal lives saved worldwide.

IFAW also hopes that consumers will be encouraged to patronise those TCM
shops and surgeries which display the new IFAW "Cruelty Doesn't Cure"
stickers - produced with the kind support of J. Walter Thompson Hong Kong.

This initiative will not only start us on the road to protecting all animal
species from cruelty, depleted populations and an unregulated trade, but
will also elevate the reputation of TCM internationally as being valuable,
effective and "cruelty free".

        "A thousand miles starts with one step" (Chinese proverb).


For more information:

Jill Robinson, IFAW China Director
Tel: + 852 2719 3340
Fax: + 852 2719 6716

Winnie Luk Yan Ling
Hong Kong Representative
Tel: + 852 2309 1375
Fax:+ 852 2398 7562



Every child has the right to a healthy diet - that means no meat.

http://www.earth.org.hk/
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 97 06:51:09 UTC
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Acouchi
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(Tulsa World, OK, USA): The acouchi is a small-sized rodent native to the
Amazon forests. They are often described as having the head of a squirrel
and the body of a rabbit. These animals are secretive and rarely seen in
their natural habitat. They spend the day hiding in their lairs. At night
they emerge to search for food. They listen carefully for the sound of
fruit falling to the ground. They sometimes peel the fruit before eating it.

When alarmed, the acouchi pounds its hind feet on the ground. This action
alerts other group members. The fur around the acouchi's mid-section may
flare out, making the animal appear larger. To escape, the acouchi can
make great leaps up to 18 feet.

-- Sherrill
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 08:09:14 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (UK) English March To Defend Hunting
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from AP Wire page:
-----------------------------------
 07/10/1997 03:39 EST

 English March To Defend Hunting

 By ROBERT SEELY
 Associated Press Writer

 LONDON (AP) -- It's being billed as the biggest rural uprising since the
 English Civil War in the 17th century.

 Up to 90,000 people from villages and hamlets across Britain were
 expected to converge on London's Hyde Park today to defend their right to
 hunt with hounds.

 Blood sport enthusiasts fear a Labor lawmaker's bill that would outlaw
 hunting with hounds will spell the end of all forms of hunting, shooting
 and fishing, changing the face of rural Britain.

 Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose Labor party swept to power with a
 179-seat majority in national elections May 1, said Wednesday he is
 backing the bill.

 ``I have voted before in favor of a ban on fox hunting and I shall
 continue to do so,'' Blair said in reply to a lawmaker's question in the
 House of Commons.

 The government plans to allow lawmakers to vote on the bill according to
 their consciences. Most Labor legislators are known to favor the bill, so
 it has a strong chance of passing into law. Conservatives oppose it.

 Opponents of blood sports say hunting is cruel and unnecessary, an
 outdated relic of a bygone era.

 But hunters say they perform vital culling of foxes and help preserve the
 countryside by maintaining hedgerows and planting trees to encourage
 birds and other wildlife.

 The Standing Conference on Countryside Sports, an alliance of pro-hunting
 groups, said its studies have shown that the jobs of 27,000 people,
 ranging from game keepers to farriers and saddlemakers, could go if
 hunting is banned.

 ``If fox hunting is banned, I will have to look for another job,'' said
 Michael Hughes, who is training to be a farrier like his father. Hughes
 said more than half his father's income comes from hunt-related work.

 Hughes walked more than 200 miles from Wales, one of 120 people who
 participated in a march to London over the past three weeks.

 Organizers of today's rally have arranged to bring in 65,000 people in
 900 buses and 11 special trains from all over Britain, with chartered
 planes ferrying in supporters from Northern Ireland and the Irish
 Republic. They estimate the number of protesters will top 90,000.

 For some, the conflict is not just a matter of animal rights, but a clash
 of interests between country dwellers and urbanites.

 ``The countryside is waking up to the fact that this government has an
 urban majority that doesn't understand or indeed represent rural
 interests,'' said Robin Hanbury-Tenison, chief executive of the British
 Field Sports Society.

 ``If the inner cities had been kept as well as the countryside, maybe
 grannies would be able to walk down the street without being scared of
 attack,'' said Philip Jones, another hunt supporter from Wales who joined
 the march to London. ``There's a lot more wrong with the cities than the
 countryside.''

 In April, the National Trust, one of the country's biggest land owners,
 banned stag hunting. The decision came after a scientific report
 concluded that stags suffer extreme stress from being chased by dogs, in
 some cases for several miles.

Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 08:54:01 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US)Officials unveil soybean-based hydraulic fluid
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(There is also a similar story today on NBC's Today Show about a Florida
couple using fast food grease as an alternative fuel source for internal
combustion engines--I don't have that story yet.)

from Mercury Center web page:
----------------------------------------------
Posted at 10:21 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 9, 1997

Officials unveil soybean-based hydraulic fluid

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A new soybean-based
hydraulic fluid that will soon go on sale could
eventually provide a market for more than 100
million bushels of the crop each year, officials
said in unveiling the product.

The United States, the world's largest soybean
producer, could reap big economic dividends from
development of the oil, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad
told a news conference Wednesday.

The fluid, tabbed BioSoy, was developed at the
University of Northern Iowa as part of an effort to
make vegetable-based oils for use in industry and
machinery.

It will be marketed by Des Moines-based AGRI
Industries and will go on sale within the next
month. Currently, vegetable-based hydraulic oils
are made from rapeseed, a European crop, and canola