Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news52~6.htm/text0001.txt

Text File | 1998-04-03 | 71.3 KB | 1,793 lines

>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, September 9th, 1997

Butterfly's valley home protected
By Charles Clover

A VALLEY in Westmorland which supports the Scotch argus butterfly, fragrant
orchid and red squirrel was made a national nature reserve by English
Nature yesterday.

The 100-acre reserve in Smardale Gill, near Kirkby Stephen, has been built
up through acquisitions by Cumbria Wildlife Trust and includes a disused
Victorian railway viaduct and a
three-mile section of the former Tebay to Darlington railway line.

The line is home to one of the two remaining colonies of Scotch argus
butterfly in England. The caterpillar's food, blue moor grass, itself
nationally rare, grows on the limestone slopes of the gorge.

The trust has found that the butterfly will not thrive if its habitat is
grazed, the likely cause of its disappearance elsewhere. The trust has been
coppicing the railway line instead and hopes to enable the butterfly to
extend its range.

Dr Simon Lyster, director general of the Wildlife Trusts, said: "Smardale
Gill is arguably one of the most beautiful valleys in England. This is a
terrific accolade and welcome Government recognition of the conservation
work by Cumbria Wildlife Trust."

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 00:15:22 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Meat Experts Gather in Shadow of Burger Recall
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

(Hmmm...have these people heard the good news!  It's really quite safe to
_not_ eat meat!)
from Yahoo news page:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday September 9 7:43 AM EDT

Meat Experts Gather in Shadow of Burger Recall

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Food safety experts from the meat industry and
consumer groups gather this week for the first major meeting on U.S. meat
inspection since last month's massive recall of hamburger patties linked to
a deadly strain of the E. coli bacteria.

The National Advisory Committee for Meat and Poultry Inspection will
consider policy issues at the three-day meeting that begins on Tuesday,
including interstate shipments of state-inspected food and the government's
new Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system.

Also on the agenda, what role federal meat inspectors should play after
high-tech HACCP-based inspection procedures begin at large meat processing
plants next January. Previously, inspectors relied on sight and smell to
certify that meat and poultry was safe to eat. The new inspection rules
require scientific-testing for disease-causing bacteria.

Jacque Knight, spokeswoman for the U.S. Agriculture Department's Food
Safety and Inspection Service, said the department would heed the panel's
recommendations when it makes policy decisions.

The meeting comes just weeks after USDA pressed Hudson Foods Inc. to close
its Nebraska beef processing plant and recall a record 25 million pounds of
hamburger after 17 people became ill in Colorado after eating Hudson meat.

Health officials found some of the Hudson beef contaminated with a virulent
form of the E. coli bacteria that can cause severe diarrhea and cramps,
dehydration, and in some cases, kidney failure.

USDA investigators are working to determine the source of the
contamination.

In the wake of the recall, Hudson exited the hamburger business with the
planned sale of its Columbus, Neb., plant to meatpacker IBP Inc. Last week,
Tyson Foods Inc. said it would buy Hudson in a deal worth about $650
million.

The Clinton Administration is asking Congress for power to order a recall
of tainted meat and to fine foodmakers. The meat industry opposes the
legislation, and industry representatives will likely use the three-day
meeting to make their case.

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 00:56:14 -0400
From: Vegetarian Resource Center <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: FIGHTING PET AND PEOPLE ABUSE AT ONCE
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

         Copyright & copy 1997 The Christian Science Monitor



   WASHINGTON (September 9, 1997 5:04 p.m. EDT) -- For years, researchers
   have documented the link between cruelty toward animals and violence
   against humans - women, children, the elderly.

   The basic argument: How people treat pets is an indicator of how they
   will - and do - treat people. Now groups around the country are
   beginning to use this link to help curb domestic violence in all its
   forms:

   In Broward County, Fla., the sheriff's department is the first in the
   country to address abuse of animals, children, the handicapped, and
   the elderly within the same division.

   In West Lafayette, Ind., the Purdue University veterinary school has
   set up its own foster-care program for pets, called PetSafe, and has
   advertised this service to women's shelters and other social-service
   agencies. Since the program started four years ago, about 40 animals
   have taken part, including dogs, cats, hamsters, and birds.

   In LaCrosse, Wisc., social-service agencies, the police, animal rescue
   people, and church ministers are working together closely to report
   signs of trouble to one another.

   "An abused pet can often be the first sign of trouble," says Ann
   Quinlisk, a domestic-violence activist in LaCrosse who several years
   ago organized a coordinated community response to the variety of forms
   violence can take. She pulled together "anyone whose fingers touch the
   victims," she says, and got them to think broadly about the "tangled
   web" of abuse.

   One woman's tale

   For Quinlisk, it all started on her first day of work at a women's
   shelter.

   A client announced she had to go home. The reason: Her husband was
   torturing their dog, and the woman's mother had forwarded pictures
   from her husband to prove it. Law enforcement and animal control
   couldn't be trusted to protect the dog. "So yeah, I guess I might have
   gone home, too," says Quinlisk.

   Now, she explains, if a social worker enters a home to check on
   children, he or she is encouraged also to note the condition of any
   pets, and vice versa.

   "We don't expect humane society workers to go in and go, 'You're
   abusing your children, I'm taking them with me,'" says Quinlisk, in
   Washington for a conference of the Humane Society of the United States
   examining the link between animal cruelty and violence against people.

   "You can't do that. But you can look for some of the signs, then hook
   up with someone you know at another agency."

   Quinlisk says her community, too, has worked out a foster-care system
   for pets who are in abusive homes. If a woman flees to a shelter,
   either a local veterinarian or a shelter worker will take the pet for
   a period.

   In research released yesterday, the Humane Society found that almost
   30 percent of animal-cruelty incidents also involved violence against
   people. It's difficult to prove that violence against animals is
   increasing, because the majority of cases don't result in prosecution
   or press coverage. The Humane Society's data come from a survey of
   press reports nationwide.

   Some argue that when a child tortures animals it may be a sign of
   serious emotional trouble - and could lead to crimes against humans in
   later years. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, almost
   all serial killers abused animals as children.

   Carrying the link too far

   Still, some law enforcement officials say that putting greater
   emphasis on animal abuse is impractical, given all the other crimes
   they have to handle. And the public doesn't always support legal
   action against perpetrators.

   In Fairfield, Iowa, a recent massacre of cats at a shelter, allegedly
   by three 18-year-old boys, has ignited an uproar over what to do. Some
   residents want the teens sent to prison. Others find that a gross
   overreaction that will ruin these kids' lives.

   "We oppose the boys-will-be-boys attitude," says Randall Lockwood, a
   Humane Society expert on the animal-human violence link. "But we also
   don't think prison is the automatic answer."

   Need for better laws

   "There's no textbook method for handling animal abuse," Lockwood adds,
   noting that most animal abusers are young males who feel a need to
   exert power over another creature. "Each case is different in terms of
   the severity of the case, the contributing factors, the degree of
   remorse the perpetrators have. But at the very least these kids do
   need to be evaluated, and there needs to be family counseling. And
   that's just a start. They clearly should be taken seriously as a
   significant warning sign."

   Lockwood also says that laws need to reflect better the seriousness of
   the crime. Animal abuse carries felony-level penalties in 18 states,
   but even then, convictions are rare.

   Of the several hundred cases of animal cruelty Lockwood has reviewed,
   about 15 percent were adjudicated. Of those, only one resulted in
   mandatory counseling. Only one state, Michigan, requires mandatory
   counseling in cases involving animal abuse.

   By LINDA FELDMANN, The Christian Science Monitor



Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 13:33:35 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (BG) Ban on Animal Shows
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>The Straits Times
10 Sept 97

BAN ON ANIMAL SHOWS: The authorities in Sofia said on Monday they would
pass regulations next month to ban the exhibition of performing animals in
the Bulgarian     city's streets.

     Deputy Mayor Boris Spirov cited health grounds for the ban, the BTA
news agency     said. -- AFP.


Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 13:33:41 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Zoo benefits from Billionaire Buffet
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>The Straits Times
10 Sept 97

TIE FOR ZOO TIES:: US billionaire Warren Buffett bought a necktie for
US$44,000     (S$66,000) at an auction to benefit Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.


Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 13:33:45 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: The killing effect of destroying nature
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>The Straits Times
Life! Section
10 Sept 97

The killing effect of destroying nature

     Humankind will be all the poorer if this rich green canoply of the
Malayan rain forest     with its diversity of trees and wildlife be wiped out.

     HUMAN health is directly dependent on a thriving natural environment,
and society     had better move quickly to preserve it, a team of doctors
and scientists told Congress     on Monday.
People still tend to view Earth's environment as something esoteric but need
instead to     realise that human lives depend on having a diverse range of
species, they said.

     "It is a fundamental fact that human health is totally dependent on the
health of other     species," said Dr Eric Chivian, director of the Centre
for Health and the Global     Environment, at a Washington news briefing.

     Dr Chivian, a medical doctor, and a team of environmental experts and
biologists held     an open session for members of the United States
Congress aimed at hammering home     their concerns.

     They said some of medicine's most basic and important drugs come from
plants --     aspirin from willow bark, penicillin from mould and the cancer
drug, Taxol, from the     bark of the Pacific yew.
New sources of medicine were constantly being discovered, many from
endangered     species.

     Sharks, for instance, may hold clues to treating infections and cancer.
"Unlike us,     sharks rarely get infections and they rarely get tumors,
even when deliberately exposed     to chemicals," Dr Chivian said.

     Their bodies contained compounds such as squalamene, which seems to
have     antibiotic, anti-fungal and even anti-viral properties.

     Studies on the poison that cone snails use to paralyse prey offered not
only offer insight     into how nerves work, but could be the basis for
potent new painkillers.

     Taxol, used widely against ovarian cancer, shows hope against other
forms of cancer.But it was one of the best examples of how people had
ignored natural sources of     drugs, said Mr Gordon Cragg, who heads the
Natural Products Branch of the National     Cancer Institute.

     Taxol was not isolated until the late '60s and its cancer-fighting
properties not     discovered for 20 years.

     "Up to that stage, Pacific yew was just being hacked down as a nuisance
tree in Pacific     north-west logging operations," said Mr Cragg.

     Synthesised chemicals were useful, but it would be impossible for
science to mimic     evolution, said Ms Francesca Grifo of the Center for
Biodiversity and Conservation at     the American Museum of Natural History.

     "Biotechnology and other modern processes cannot create what millions
of years of evolution has produced."

     She said a study of the 150 drugs most often prescribed in the US in
1993 showed that     57 per cent came directly from natural sources, from
animals and plants to microbes.

     "New drugs from nature are basic to maintain the level of health we
take for granted.     As more new and drug-resistant pathogens emerge, our
need for new therapies     continues," Ms Grifo told reporters before
meeting Congress.

     She pointed to the recent appearances of drug-resistant streptococci,
staphylocci and     tuberculosis.

     Humankind not only loses potential medicines by disrupting nature, but
risks unleashing     new killers, said Mr Thomas Lovejoy of the Smithsonian
Institution.

In his presentation to the American congressmen, he pointed to the outbreak
of the     hantavirus in the south-western region of the US, and malaria
outbreaks in the Amazon     due to deforestation. -- Reuter


Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 15:57:30 +1000
From: Lynette Shanley <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: zoos
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Recently l was requested to write an article for Animals Today magazine on
zoos being business here in Australia.

In the last year for which figures are available, 1/7/95 to 30/6/96
-3,883,996 people visited the major zoos in Australia. The figure would
easily come to 4,000,000 if not more when the smaller privately owned zoos
are included. Out of a population of 18,000,000 - 22% of Australians visit
zoos every year. Far more adults visit zoos than children. Adults more than
double the amount of children.

Income from admissions was $25,765,660.00 (major zoos only)

Even with 22% of the population visiting zoos, all major zoos rely on
government funding to keep functioning.

West Aust govt gave Perth zoo $3,952,185.
South Aust govt gave Adelaide and Monarto $2,684,000
Victorian govt gave melbourne, Werribee and Healesville $9,130,000 and
New South Wales govt gave Taronga and Western Plains $4,930,000.

All rely heavily on sponsorship. McDonalds donated over 1,000,000 to
Taronga. Other major sponors include the Australian Womens Weekly, Kellogs,
Qantas, Microsoft, Coca Cola, Cadbury Schweppes, Streets icecreams, Ferrero
Chocolates, Coopers Brewery and Hammersley Iron. This is only a small
selection of major sponsors. In New South Wales you can't even turn on a
light or have a drink of water from the kitchen tap without helping zoos as
Energy Australia and Sydney Water Corporation also sponsor zoos.

Animal experiments are carried out at some zoos. It appears animal rights
groups have never looked at these experiments.

Australian zoos enjoy the support of the Australian population. All have
Zoo Friends organisations which are very popular and have good strong
membership.

Taronga Zoo this year became one of the few zoos world wide to keep all
three great apes, chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas. The orangutans and
gorillas are sponsored by McDonalds. McDonalds promote themselves in
Australia as saving these species and working for a better environment for
these species.

Taronga are gearing up for the year 2000 olympics which it hopes will be
its most successful year.
Lynette Shanley
IPPL Australia
PO Box 60
PORTLAND  NSW  2847
AUSTRALIA
Phone/Fax [phone] 554026
EMAIL [e-mail]
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 04:27:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: ACTION LETTER - CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE - BY SEPTEMBER 22
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


THE CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE NEEDS
YOUR HELP NOW!!!

     The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has just released a Draft
Environmental Assessment (DEA) analyzing the environmental impacts associated
with its proposal to seek a gray whale quota from the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) to permit the Makah Tribe of Northwest Washington to resume
aboriginal subsistence whaling. It is imperative that every individual and
organization concerned about whales react to the NMFS management review and
submit substantive comments on the DEA opposing any effort by NMFS to seek a
quota or to permit the Makah to resume whaling.

COMMENTS ARE DUE BY SEPTEMBER 22, 1997.

     Such a quota, if granted, would set precedent for an expansion of aboriginal
subsistence whaling throughout the world and may be used as a foundation to
ultimately resume commercial whaling.  The available evidence suggests that
pro-whaling countries are working with the Makah to secure the gray whale
quota.

     The DEA came about as a result of a letter submitted by Australians for
Animals
(AFA) and Breach Marine Protection (BREACH) alleging that the NMFS had
blatantly failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act when it
entered into an agreement with the Makah to seek the gray whale quota from
the IWC.  The DEA provides an opportunity for ALL whale advocates to raise
substantive concerns and questions about the proposed quota.  If enough
substantive issues are raised, the NMFS may not have any choice but to, at
least, delay seeking the quota until it can address the public's concerns and
comments.

     Issues that you may want to raise in commenting on the DEA, include:

    *The adequacy of current population and productivity estimates for the gray
whale.

     *The number and severity of human-caused threats to the gray whale and its
habitat (i.e., coastal development, oil drilling platforms, vessel traffic,
entanglement
in fishing nets, ozone depletion and pollution: and industrial development in
its calving lagoons in Mexico.

    *The legality of the NMFS seeking a quota for the Makah under the Marine
Mammal Protection Act.

    *The Makah application has been shown NOT to satisfy the IWC definition of
"aboriginal subsistence whaling."

    *The Makah application has been shown NOT to satisfy the IWC definition of
humane killing.

     *The direct, indirect, and cumulative impact of this decision on other
whales through expanded aboriginal subsistence whaling, coastal whaling and
commercial whaling.

    *Failure to await the results of the "five year monitoring plan".

*   The economic effect on both US and Mexican whalewhatching industry.

This list is preliminary; we will be in a position to advise on a more
comprehensive list later this week.

     A copy of the DEA is available by email in an attached file or can be split
from [e-mail]. Hard copy can be obtained by calling the NMFS, Office
of Protected Resources, at [phone] or contact D.J. Schubert at +1
[phone] or by
e-mail at [e-mail].

  In addition, if you would like a copy of the original letter sent by AFA
and Breach Marine Protection to the NMFS, contact D.J. Schubert or David
Smith on email: [e-mail] or [phone] (tele/fax) or 0973
898282 (mobile/ answerphone).

     THANK YOU FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION TO THIS URGENT
REQUEST. PLEASE INFORM YOUR COLLEAGUES, MEMBERS, AND FRIENDS AND
ENCOURAGE
THEM TO GET INVOLVED.

COULD YOU PLEASE FORWARD ALL COPIES OF YOUR COMMENTS TO THE DEA
TO:

David Smith
Campaign Director
Breach Marine Protection UK
email: [e-mail]
Tel/Fax: [phone]
http://members.aol.com/breachenv/home.htm

Rapid Env. Disaster - Response. & Rescue
(R.E.'D.R.Res) Hotline: [phone]

Popular Resolution on Abolition of Inhumane
Commercial Slaughter of Whales - Sign-On Petition:
http://members.aol.com/breachenv/popreslt.htm
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 16:41:25 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Fish oils may reduce hair loss in cancer patients
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



Please note that I post news which falls within the ambit of the list
content regardless of whether I find the contents agreeable.

If you wish to write well-argued letters in response to this article, you
can write to the newspaper at:
<[e-mail]>
Full name, address and contact number required.
(From experience, likelihood of getting published is low.)

- Vadivu
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

>The Straits Times
SEP 10 1997

     Fish oils may reduce hair loss in cancer
     patients

     By Kwan Weng Japan Correspondent
TOKYO -- Scientists at a Japanese university have discovered that DHA, a
fatty acid     found in fish oils, can be used to reduce the severe hair
loss experienced by cancer     patients which comes from their taking drugs
used to fight the disease.

     Losing hair is said to be one of the biggest worries for people
suffering from cancer.

     According to a report in Japan's largest daily, the Yomiuri Shimbun,
researchers at the     Agriculture Faculty of Okayama University in western
Japan have found that the fatty     acid is effective in limiting such hair
loss.

     DHA, or Docosahexaenoic Acid, is a polyunsaturated fatty acid which is
the building     block of human brain tissue, and is the primary structural
fatty acid in grey matter.

     It is found naturally in plentiful quantities in tuna and other fish.
The findings of the researchers were announced at an academic gathering in
Tokyo last week.

     So far, the effect of DHA on hair loss has only been confirmed in
experiments in the     laboratory using mice. According to the press report,
mice who were injected with     cancer drugs and who were given DHA were
found to have much less hair loss than     those not administered the fatty
acid.

     Some of the mice in fact showed no hair loss at all, the researchers said.

     But the fatty acid also did not turn out to be the complete cure-all
which the
researchers had hoped for, as it proved to be ineffective in combating hair
loss in mice     that were injected with alkyl-type cancer drugs.

     Nevertheless, there was an interesting side effect.

In some of the mice, the fatty acid was found to have improved the ability
of the cancer     drugs to fight tumours.

     Professor Kyoya Takahata, leader of the research team, said that the
next step would     be to test the treatment using human patients and to
determine effective methods of     applying the fatty acid.

     Besides administering it orally to patients, the fatty acid can, for
example, also be     applied directly to the hair in a shampoo.

     The Yomiuri quoted experts as saying that since DHA was sold as a
health-food     product and was not known to have any side effects when
taken together with cancer     drugs, its use on cancer patients should not
produce any ill-effects. In recent years,
various medicinal and health-giving effects have been attributed to the
fatty acid,
     including the prevention of heart attacks, the ability to reverse, to
some extent, senility     in old people and increasing a person's intelligence.

     In Japan, it has been added to drinks, chewing gum, and bread.

     Canned tuna heads are also on sale and are believed to be especially
popular with     mothers who buy it in the hope of giving their children an
edge when mugging for     highly-competitive entrance examinations.

Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 20:51:50
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] New creatures are found in holiday island caves
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, September 9th, 1997

New creatures are found in holiday island caves

WATER-filled caves below several popular holiday islands are home to
numerous species of animals and plants which occur nowhere else on Earth,
scientists revealed yesterday.

Biologists have found that inland caves which have no direct connection
with the open sea are filled with more than 16,000 new species, including
strange shrimp-like creatures that are the living equivalent of
archaeopteryx, the first known bird.

Prof Geoff Boxhall, a marine biologist at the Natural History Museum, said
one group of secret caves was several miles under hotels and holiday villas
in the Cala D'Or region of
Majorca.

He said: "These caves are home to numerous new species of crustaceans and,
in one case, even a new class of animal, a find equivalent to discovering
mammals."

The cave was discovered only recently by workmen digging a sump into which
they were going to pump untreated sewage from a new hotel.

In another recently-found cave in Lanzarote, a new class of crustacean and
six species of small sea-lice called copepods were found.

=A9 Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
    [UK] New creatures are found in holiday island caves
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 20:58:36
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Butterfly's valley home protected
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, September 9th, 1997

Butterfly's valley home protected
By Charles Clover=20

A VALLEY in Westmorland which supports the Scotch argus butterfly, fragrant
orchid and red squirrel was made a national nature reserve by English
Nature yesterday.=20

The 100-acre reserve in Smardale Gill, near Kirkby Stephen, has been built
up through acquisitions by Cumbria Wildlife Trust and includes a disused
Victorian railway viaduct and a
three-mile section of the former Tebay to Darlington railway line.

The line is home to one of the two remaining colonies of Scotch argus
butterfly in England. The caterpillar's food, blue moor grass, itself
nationally rare, grows on the limestone slopes of the gorge.

The trust has found that the butterfly will not thrive if its habitat is
grazed, the likely cause of its disappearance elsewhere. The trust has been
coppicing the railway line instead and hopes to enable the butterfly to
extend its range.

Dr Simon Lyster, director general of the Wildlife Trusts, said: "Smardale
Gill is arguably one of the most beautiful valleys in England. This is a
terrific accolade and welcome Government recognition of the conservation
work by Cumbria Wildlife Trust."

=A9 Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
    [UK] Butterfly's valley home protected
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 21:08:43
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Hirst gives brush-off to Royal  Academy
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


>From The Electronic Telegraph - Wednesday, September 9th, 1997

Hirst gives brush-off to Royal  Academy
By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent=20

DAMIEN Hirst has refused to join the Royal Academy and attacked the
230-year-old artists' governing body as "a big fat stuffy old pompous
institution".

The controversial British artist spoke only days before the academy,
anxious to shed its old-fashioned image, mounts the biggest exhibition of
the work of contemporary British
conceptual artists seen in this country.

The centrepiece of the exhibition, provocatively named Sensation, will be
nine large works by Hirst, including his installation of a preserved shark,
a cow sliced into 12 sections, a bifurcated pig and a sheep in a display case.

Earlier this year, Rachel Whiteread, another leading light in the movement
that has become known as the Young British Artists, refused to join but
only after she had been elected to
the body by its 100-plus academicians.

To avoid another snub, Hirst was asked by Norman Rosenthal, the RA's
exhibitions secretary, if he would consent to his name going forward for
election, the artist disclosed yesterday.

"The last thing I want is to be an RA. It's ridiculous," said Hirst, 33.
"I'm more interested in art, plus, if there's a revolution they come and
kill you [Royal Academicians], don't they? Can you believe they want me? I
got Cs in all my O-levels." He also got an E grade for art at school.

Sensation, which opens next week and features 120 works from the private
collection of Charles Saatchi, is likely to be one of the most
controversial shows ever mounted by the
academy. The RA is already facing a rebellion over a decision to show a
portrait of Myra Hindley, the Moors murderer, created from thousands of
children's handprints by Marcus Harvey.

The family of one of Hindley's victims has urged the academy not to show
the portrait and Craigie Aitchison, one of the academy's most admired
artists, said those responsible for the "disgraceful" decision to exhibit
it should resign.

The RA has decided against calling a general assembly of  members but its
ruling council will today debate whether to drop the portrait.

The academy said yesterday that the issue was "difficult" and was likely to
be decided by a vote but that no public announcement would be made until
Friday. The RA said it  "shares the universal public revulsion" at
Hindley's crimes.

Hirst defended the work at a London bookshop where he was launching a
=A359.99 pop-up book of his own work. He said that, if he was able to do so,
he would withdraw his pieces if the RA dropped the portrait.=20

=A9 Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.
    [UK] Hirst gives brush-off to Royal  Academy
Date: Tue, 9 Sep 1997 23:08:13 +0000
From: "Guillermo Repetto" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: ALTERNATIVES IN SPAIN
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


NEXT ALTERNATIVE-RELATED ACTIVITIES IN SPAIN
by Guillermo Repetto


 The following activities related to Alternative Methods are scheduled
 whitin the activities of the
XII Spanish Toxicology Congress, Zaragoza, 17-19 September 1997:

-1 Round Table "Alternative Methods in Basic and Applied Research",

-2 Oral and poster sessions on Alternatives

-3  Meeting of the GTEMA working group

Programme available at http://www.ua.es/nq/aet/

Organized by GTEMA: Spanish Group on Alternative Methods (Grupo de
Trabajo Especializado en M=E9todos Alternativos). Speciality Group of
the Spanish Toxicology Society.

The main objective of the group is to stimulate the cooperation and
coordination of the scientific activities of its members to contribute
to the development of new experimental methods, in vivo and in vitro,
so as to reduce the number of animals used, refine techniques in order
to reduce animal suffering, or replace the use of animals altogether
(the three "r"s). Another aim is to stimulate the participation of
Spanish research groups in method prevalidation and validation
programmes and to promote the regulatory acceptance of alternative
methods, particularly in vitro toxicity methods.

nati01
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Guillermo Repetto, MD, PhD, Coordinator of the
  Spanish Group on Alternative Methods - GTEMA
    National Institute of Toxicology
    P O Box 863
    41080 - Sevilla, Spain
    Tel: [phone]       Fax: [phone]

    email: [e-mail]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS: please note the change in the email address (feb 97)
    ALTERNATIVES IN SPAIN
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 21:44:27 -0400
From: jeanlee <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Taiwan letter
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


Hi-

Here's a letter similar to the one I sent to the Korean Ambassador.=20
Feel free to use it as a sample letter.  Postage is 60 cents per 1/2 oz.

Jeanlee



President Lee Teng-hue
Office of the President
122 Chungking South Road, Sec 1
Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)

Dear President Lee Teng-hue:

Are you aware of the situation in your country concerning homeless dogs
and cats and the brutally cruel methods being used to slaughter animals
for meat?  Are you also aware of the image your country projects because
of this brutality?  Animals have hearts, and lungs, and blood, and they
get terrified and hungry and cold, just as we do.  If there is any
compassion in your heart, please examine these situations and bring
about change.

I=92ve read that homeless animals are rounded up by garbage collectors
hastily trained as dog catchers.  If the animals don=92t die in the trucks
from the wire nooses, they end up jammed into shelter cages next to
garbage dumps or even in slaughterhouses.  Often food and water is
absent, the cages are full of excrement and even carcasses.  The
creatures sometimes turn to cannibalism to survive.

Since Chinese people want fresh, warm meat, most slaughterhouses kill
animals crudely in the early morning.  I was astonished to read that the
animals are not stunned first - most are killed by knife.  Cattle are
killed by ax!  The animals are forced to watch as other animals are
killed before them.

This situation is intolerable.  Perhaps you think it=92s none of my
business, as an American.  However, I am a consumer of your country=92s
products.  This will all change now - it=92s easy to avoid buying
anything =93Made in Taiwan.=94  This change in  my buying habits will
continue until I learn that changes have been made in your country=92s
practices concerning animals.  I will also share this information with
many people.

Sincerely yours,
    Taiwan letter
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 1997 21:38:28 -0400
From: jeanlee <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [Fwd: Re: Cruelty in Korea]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


-----------------------------  Content-type:  TEXT/PLAIN
----  M U L T I P A R T  ----  Decoded from:  7BIT
----       Part 1        ----  Lines: 5


Hi All-

This is the response I received from the Korean Embassy.


-----------------------------  Content-type:  MESSAGE/RFC822
----  M U L T I P A R T  ----  Decoded from: 7BIT
----       Part 2        ----  Lines: 134

This attachment was sent as file (File name not found)
It was saved in file 09960002 ATTCHMNT A

Note: One or more attachments were saved to your personal
      storage ("A" disk). Most programs and documents sent
      from a PC will need to be downloaded to a PC to be
      usable; select the BINARY option of your file
      transfer program.

      If you know the attachment was plain text, but it is
      now unreadable, it may need translation from ASCII
      to EBCDIC. If it was saved as "README TXT A", the
      command would be "A2ETEXT README TXT A".
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 20:30:18 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (Aust)Live Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Bait Development
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Following is a letter I just received from the RCD(RHD) Program (in reply)
in answer to questions asked. Having just been involved in trapping rabbits
at dusk, I can assure you that even my rabbit food I put in the my humane
rabbit trapping pen was stolen by rodents (in front of my eyes),
possibly native water rats, and the left overs by birds during the
day (walking water hens and flying birds). Subsequently, I would assume that
birds could eat left over baits and so could small noctural animals.


Rabbit Calicivirus Disease Program
(A biological control initiative against the European wild rabbit)


Mrs Marguerite Wegner
Rabbit Information Service
PO Box 30
RIVERTON WA  6148



Dear Ms Wegner



In answer to your queries regarding RCD baits the following information
has been supplied by the Chair of the RCD Program Science
Sub-Committee.

Q.Are the RCD/RHD baits being tested in open field testing?

A.The baits are being tested in cage trials and in open pens.

Q.What type of tests are being undertaken to test these baits?


A.The tests are in rabbits. Wild rabbits are trapped and blood tested for
antibodies to RCD virus. They are then fed baits containing various
concentrations of virus. The mortality rate is recorded. Livers from dead
animals are tested for the presence of the virus and recovered animals
retested for antibody.


Q.What precautions are being undertaken to make the baits species specific
to the intended target animal (i.e. rabbits)?


A.For the pen trials the bait is put out in the late evening to reduce the
opportunity for the baits to be taken by birds, sulphur crested cockatoos in
particular. This is to make sure that there is sufficient bait for the rabbits.


Q.How can you regulate the dosage of RHD ingested by any animal that eats
the RHD baits when such ingestion of baits occurs in the field?


A.Obviously the dosage is determined by the individual animal. For rabbits,
an average nightly consumption can be calculated on a population basis
and an amount distributed that would be likely to be consumed in one
night.

Q.What type of broadcasting of these baits do you envisage will be sought by
the proponents?

A.Probably small amounts placed near warrens. Cost is likely to be the major
factor.

Q.When do you believe that these baits will be ready for approval by NRA?

A.The latest estimate is the end of October 1997.

Q.Are the baits being developed a wheat based bait?

A.No.

Q.Is it an aim of developing the RCD/RHD baits, that the RCD baits will
eventually be available for purchase by farmers over the counter (once the
baits are approved by the NRA)?

A.That has not been decided but most likely it will be restricted to State pest
control officers to ensure proper storage conditions and distribution at
times when the bait is most likely to be effective. This is a decision of the
NRA.  The current injectable form is not available over the counter.


Yours sincerely




M Hillier
Executive Officer
RCD Management Group

7 September 1997

Postal Address: C/- Livestock & Pastoral Division, DPIE, GPO Box 858,
Canberra City ACT Australia 2601       Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]



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

Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

Email>  [e-mail]

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
    (/\ \-/ /\)
       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
     (_)   (_)
      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/













Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 08:41:07 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Hurting animals often a sign of abuse
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from USA Today web page:
----------------------------------------
09/10/97 - 07:40 AM ET -

Hurting animals often a sign of abuse

People who are cruel to animals are more likely than others to be cruel to
humans, too, says a report out Tuesday from the Humane Society of the U.S.
(HSUS).

The study, released at a two-day seminar in Washington on the link between
animal cruelty and human violence, was based on 401 newspaper accounts of
animal cruelty between Sept. 1, 1996 and Aug. 31, 1997. It found the
majority of abusers, 71%, were men, and those men committed 87% of the
cases of abuse. Among abusers of animals, 28% were also charged with
domestic violence, 27% with child abuse, 10% with assault and 6% with
murder.

Animal advocates "have known for years that sometimes abuse of animals can
be a warning sign," says Martha Armstrong of HSUS. "If there's an
intentional abuse situation, it's often just the tip of the iceberg of the
violence in the home."

She says HSUS is developing a national standard for reporting animal abuse
and a database "to get a handle on the extent of this problem and to create
intervention programs."

"Violence is violence, regardless of who it's perpetrated on," she says. "A
child that tortures an animal may be being tortured by a parent, and that
parent may be being tortured by her spouse. Unless there's recognition of
this cycle . . . the child that 'only' kills a kitten may grow up to kill
or maim humans."

By Anita Manning, USA TODAY

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 97 07:37:44 UTC
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Family Offers Reward For Cat's Killer
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(Tulsa, OK USA): A Tulsa family is offering a reward to catch the
person who killed their beloved calico cat Babee Girl by shooting her
in the head with a high-powered nail gun.

Wayne Blackman said Tuesday that the family has a fund total of
$3,500.00 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction
of the cat's killer.

Babee Girl was killed by an air compressor-driven nail gun, according
to the veterinarian who checked her.

"This was a close-range act of violence," Blackmon said. "The vet believed
that she obviously had suffered, because she was released and apparently
walked around like that."

_______________________________________________________________________
(This is yet another reason that people should keep their cats IN THE
HOUSE.)


-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 97 08:43:12 UTC
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Oklahoma "Refuges"
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Hunting season is under way in Oklahoma, and here are some of the
"refuges" that are allowing hunting:

Deep Fork Refuge - Muzzle Loader Deer Hunting
Little River Refuge - Special deer hunts with all three legal methods of
hunting allowed.
Washita Refuge - Special hunts for Canada geese and sandhill cranes.
Arcadia Lake - Archery deer hunting.

Apparently, Oklahoma has not looked up the definition of refuge.


-- Sherrill
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 11:03:47 EDT
From: [e-mail] (Kathryn A Laszlo)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Advocates win stay for Canada geese
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Published Sep 10, 1997

Animal-protection groups keep geese from death

Dean Rebuffoni/Star Tribune

Animal-protection advocates have won a stay of execution for about 260
Canada geese being held by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
(DNR).

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service told the DNR on Monday that the birds
cannot be killed or used in scientific research without a new federal
permit, and none has been issued. The Wildlife Service acted on the same
day that the animal-protection advocates asked U.S. District Judge
Richard Kyle to intervene in the dispute to protect the geese.

The Wildlife Service had earlier maintained that, despite a recent
decision by Kyle in favor of the advocates, the DNR could allow perhaps
200 of the geese to be used in scientific research by James Cooper, a
University of Minnesota wildlife professor.

The Wildlife Service's new position remains in effect at least until
Sept. 18, when it proposes to meet with other parties in the dispute to
try to resolve the matter out of court.

The federal agency outlined its latest position in a letter sent Monday
to the DNR. Marcy Dowse, a spokeswoman for the DNR, said it would
continue to comply with the Wildlife Service, which has the overall
authority for protecting geese and other migratory birds.

Acting on a lawsuit by three animal-protection groups, Kyle on Aug. 21
revoked Wildlife Service permits that allowed the DNR to round up
nuisance geese in the Twin Cities area this summer.

About 4,300 goslings were captured and relocated out of the area this
summer; 1,300 adult geese were slaughtered, and their meat was donated to
food shelves. The DNR originally planned to turn over some of the
remaining 260 geese to Cooper for his research; the others were destined
for food shelves.

The motion filed in federal court in St. Paul by the animal-protection
groups asked Kyle to order the Wildlife Service to protect the geese over
the winter and ensure their safe release next summer. They also are
asking Kyle to hold Wildlife Service Director John Rogers in contempt for
allegedly having violated the judge's Aug. 21 decision.

Shortly after the ruling, Cooper applied for a Wildlife Service permit
that would allow him to use about 200 of the geese in research on the
potential toxicity effects of lead shot in goose meat. No decision has
been made on that application, the Wildlife Service said.

Kyle has not set a date for hearing the request by the animal-protection
groups, nor has the Wildlife Service formally responded to their
allegations. The groups are the national Humane Society, its Minnesota
affiliate and Friends of Animals and Their Environment, which is based in
the Twin Cities.

Copyright 1997 Star Tribune | Minneapolis-St.Paul






Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 15:23:40 -0400
From: Shirley McGreal <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Chimpanzees on the Move?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

For an interesting story on the possible move of large numbers of
chimpanzees from the former Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau (which
borders Senegal and Guinea and where chimpanzees are almost-extinct), to
Mexico, please check the web site of Proceso magazine (if you read Spanish).
The article is entitled "Desde el Zoologico de Guinea-Bissau se enviarian
cien chimpances as zoologicos de Mexico, pera Fauna Silvestre no tiene
noticia alguna."
        Location: http://www.proceso.com.mx/1088/1088n34.html44
        If someone has time to translate and post this story, it is really
interesting.

Dr. Shirley McGreal, Chairwoman, International Primate Protection League
POB 766 Summerville SC 29484 USA Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Note new web page address: http://www.ippl.org/
PLEASE DIRECT ALL E-MAIL TO [e-mail]

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 18:35:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: S. 830, FDA Reform, Cosmetics Pre-emption
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Hello -

Today, at a press conference, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) continued to blast
the cosmetics industry for putting their bottom line ahead of consumers'
right-to-know about the products we use.  Kennedy has used this issue to hold
up the entire FDA Reform bill this week.

According to staff members, animal activists have played a significant role
in pushing the issue on Capitol Hill.  Offices have received mail, e-mail,
faxes and telephone calls opposing the "national uniformity" or cosmetics
pre-emption provision.

Please keep up the pressure on the U.S. Congress.  The House mark of the bill
will be released tomorrow.  Call, fax or e-mail your concerns about states
being unable to pass laws to require animal testing information on the labels
of or through public information on cosmetics.

Thank you
Sara Amundson
t:  202/546-1761
f:  202/546-2193
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 20:10:24 -0700
From: Hillary <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Mad SQUIRREL DISEASE
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Subj:Squirrel Brains May Be Unsafe
Date:97-09-08 16:17:17 EDT
From:AOL News
 BCC:FreeAnmls

.c The Associated Press

      By CHARLES WOLFE
      FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Squirrel brains are a lip-smacking memory
for Janet Norris Gates. They were the choicest morsels of the game
her father once hunted in Tennessee.
      ``In our family, we saw it as a prized piece of meat, and if he
shared it with you, you were pretty happy. Not that he was
stingy,'' said Mrs. Gates, an oral historian in Frankfort, ``but
there's just not much of a squirrel brain.''
      Now, some people might want to think twice about eating squirrel
brains, a backwoods Southern delicacy.
      Two Kentucky doctors last month reported a possible link between
eating squirrel brains and the rare and deadly human variety of
mad-cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
      Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, thought to strike one person in 1
million, produces holes in the brain. Symptoms include loss of
muscle control and dementia. It may take years, even decades, for
symptoms to appear.
      Dr. Eric Weisman, a behavioral neurologist who practices in
rural western Kentucky, reported in the distinguished British
medical journal The Lancet that he has treated 11 people for
Creutzfeldt-Jakob in four years, and all had eaten squirrel brains
at some time. Six of the victims, ranging in age from 56 to 78,
have died.
      The normal incidence of the disease in the area should be one
case in about 10 years, he said.
      Weisman and co-author Dr. Joseph Berger, chairman of the
neurology department at the University of Kentucky, cautioned that
the number of cases is small, and no squirrel brains have actually
been examined for the disease. They said many questions remain,
including how the squirrels would contract the disease, since they
do not eat meat.
      ``However, it is perhaps best to avoid squirrel brains and
probably the brains of any other animal,'' Berger said.
      Philip Lyvers, a farmer and hunter in central Kentucky whose
wife simmers squirrels, head and all, with sauteed onions and
peppers and serves them over rice, said ``two guys' opinions'' in a
medical journal won't make him change his ways.
      ``I know more old hunters than I know of old doctors,'' Lyvers
said.
      Mrs. Gates said that given all the other environmental hazards
around, she is not frightened by the doctors' findings. ``There's
no way I can undo what I've done. But I certainly enjoyed eating
them,'' she said.
      Cooked squirrel brain is about the size of a pingpong ball and
is said to taste something like liver, only kind of mushy.
      Hunters annually bag about 1.5 million squirrels in Kentucky.
Some people have also been known to cook up road kill squirrels,
which concerns Berger. A crazed squirrel may be more likely to dash
into traffic and get killed.
      Exactly how many people eat the brains is not clear.
      The menu for the 18th annual Slone Mountain Squirrel Festival in
Floyd County last weekend did not include squirrel brains, or any
other part of the squirrel for that matter.
      ``We don't even fix squirrel gravy anymore,'' said Otis Hicks,
one of the organizers. ``We don't serve any wild animal whatsoever.
The health department said they'd all have to be checked, so we
just decided not to fool with it.''
      Michael Ann Williams, who teaches food customs in a folklore
program at Western Kentucky University, said some students can
recall their parents eating squirrel brains, usually scrambled with
eggs.
      ``I don't think I've had a student who said, `Oh yeah, I think
squirrel brains are yummy myself,''' Ms. Williams said.

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 20:16:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) An Okla. Anti-Hog Farm Letter to the Editor...
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


This letter appeared in small alternative newspaper in Okla.  It
was not in the "normal" Okla. City news:

TO THE EDITOR:
Recently TV's 60 Minutes had a program about corporate hog farms
in North Carolina.  It is criminal, not only what they are doing to the
pigs, but to the land, surface and well water,  and the air (the stink
is terrible).
My daughter traveled in East Germany several years ago and she
found large land areas with their streams and lakes ruined by the giant
pig farms operated under the Communists.  I understand Europe
has banned these operations so they have moved to the good old USA.
  Instead of pig pens, we now have pig penitentiaries.  This is doubly
distressing because pigs are intelligent animals, on a par with dogs and
cats.  Some friends have a favorite pet, an overgrown Viet. pig, that
lives in the house and even clearly says "Mama."  Pigs and hogs
can't withstand high temps, hence they roll in the mud and gain their
reputation for being dirty.
  We are called mankind, yet we are really man-unkind.  A true
description might be "man the manipulator", who still has a master/
slave relationship not only twards two-legged people but also four legged
animals and all the rest of nature, for that matter.  We have converted
our living world into a machine to serve our purposes.  With our
expanding population together with our expanding needs and wants,
we are consuming and subjugating all other forms of life.
  I guess it is too much for us to treat pigs humanely when we kill off
other people in wars or exploit them for personal or corporate needs and
greeds.  An example of this cynicism is the tobacco companies'
promoting cigarettes for kids, when tobacco kills about 400,000 people
in this country each year.
   With their respect for life, Albert Sweitzer and St. Francis of Assisi
make more sense all the time.  If we are going to eat meat, we can
at least treat the animals humanely.
  What is it with homo sapiens:  Perhaps the fault lies in the size of
our brain, which is big enough to exploit the earth and its creatures,
but not big enuf to judge the long term effect of our actions.  An excess
of testosterone, may add to our problem.
  On our Indiana farm, we had pigs, cows, horses, chickens, ducks,
dogs, cats, etc.  All the animals had a certain degree of freedom to
enjoy their lives.  We kids related to their differing personalities and
traits.  Not so with the big pig, chicken and cattle operations. Bigness
is not always better.  An example is the ancient Brontasauris, which had
such a big body and small brain that it could hardly operate parts of
its body -- just too big to survive.  Could be that many of our big corps
are similar to the big pig farms in the way they affect us all.

                              (signed)  I.Y., Okla. City


Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 11:36:13 +1000
From: Lynette Shanley <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Mobile telephones and Cancer.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

l was recently told that mice had been microwaved to see if mobile
telephones cause cancer. l wrote to both Telstra and Optus. At this stage
Telstra has not answered my letter. However, Optus has answered my letter.
The answer raises more questions than what it answered.

The letter from Optus states that The Royal Adelaide Hospital used mice to
test the effects of mobile telephones. The tests used 200 mice and tests
involved subjecting the mice to a type a micro wave. However, Optus states
that because the researchers used genetically engineered mice, known to
have a high incidence of lymphoma, it is unlikely to mean anything as far
as humans are concerned because humans are unlikely to react in the same
way as genetically engineered mice. They then say that even though it is
unlikely that humans will react the same way as genetically engineered mice
the research must go on.

They state the researchers themselves have made it clear that we cannot
conclude from this study that humans have an increased risk of cancer. WHY
THEN WAS THE RESEARCH CARRIED OUT AND WHY IS IT GOING TO CONTINUE.
HOW DID
THIS GET PAST THE ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION COMMITTEE?

The research was funded by Telstra.


The information has been passed onto animal rights groups in south
Australia,  who are meeting to see what can be done.

Lynette Shanley
IPPL Australia
PO Box 60
PORTLAND  NSW  2847
AUSTRALIA
Phone/Fax [phone] 554026
EMAIL [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 1997 10:34:36 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (Aust) Rabbit Virus Fails (10/9/97)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Rabbit Virus Fails

By Sara Dent
Herald-Sun (Melbourne,Australia)
Wednesday, 10th September, 1997

Farmers are desperately seeking a new release of the calicivirus after its
failure to eradicate rabbits in wetter
areas.

They are calling on the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to
act urgently as rabbit populations
continue to increase.

The first release of the virus has been described by some farmers in
southern and western areas of Victoria as a
disaster.

Victorian Farmers Federation land use committee executive officer Jon Pitt
said the success of the calicivirus was
patchy.

"It has been very successful in the drier areas and not so good in others,"
he said.

Woady Yaloak Catchment Group project officer Cam Nicholson said calicivirus
had no effect in his district, which
includes 48,000 hectares south of Ballarat near Pittong, Rokewood and Cape
Clear.

"We expected a big bang and dead rabbits around everywhere and that
certainly didn't happen," he said.

"No one seems to understand how it spreads and I think we need to know how
it works before it is re-released."

Chatsworth Merino wool producer Belinda Winter-Irving said calicivirus had
been ineffective because it hadn't
spread from release sites.

"The only rabbits that have died here are from our 1080 carrot baiting in
January," she said.

"Calicivirus is supposed to have come through this area but if it did, it
didn't do anything."

Bellarine Peninsula farmer Graeme Brown said the department should have
released the virus at more sites to
ensure widespread eradication.

"On some of the farms I sharefarm, rabbits are still a real problem," he said.

"It needs to be re-released because in hindsight calicivirus has been a
disaster."

A Federal Bureau of Resource Sciences report found a reduction of 65 per
cent of rabbit numbers had occurred in
17 per cent of broad-scale monitoring sites where the virus was introduced
by inoculation, compared with 76 per
cent where the virus spread naturally.

Calicivirus has been released at 120 sites in Victoria and has been less
effective in the wetter areas of the state,
according to the DNRE.

The department confirmed further releases were unlikely.

Its Mallee pest animal co-ordinator, Laurie Hocking, said the virus had
spread well in dry areas, killing up to 95
per cent of rabbits on some properties in the state's north.

John Hardiman, the marketer of the Victorian-developed Rid-A-Rabbit, a
rabbit killing invention using LP gas,
said farmers desperate to control rabbit plagues were calling him regularly.

He said graziers were relying on 1080 poison, fumigation and technology to
kill rabbits because calicivirus had not
spread.

End


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

Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

Email>  [e-mail]

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
    (/\ \-/ /\)
       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
     (_)   (_)
      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/













Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 23:00:42 -0400
From: arrs <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Pepsi's Offensive Commercial (fwd)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from private e-mail:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 09:40:24 -0400 (EDT)

Subject: Pepsi's Offensive Commercial

September 1, 1997
Dear Humans with conscience,
                   Last night, Pepsi Cola ran a completely offensive
commercial on television.  The commercial started with empty cans of pepsi in
a store.  The scene cut to hundreds of empty pepsi cans in a meadow of
beautiful black and white spotted cows.  Two detectives were investigating
the situation and and discussing their findings.  One of the cows whispered
to another cow, "I think the fat one knows."  The next frame shows a big slab
of meat with a hand stabbing a USDA sign in it, as if the case was settled
with the execution of the cows for stealing the pepsi.
                   I am a vegetarian and found this commercial in extremely
bad taste.  I will boycott all pepsi products because of this commercial.  If
we, vegetarians ban together and speak against this flagrant disregard for
life, pepsi may listen and learn.
Sincerely,
Dayna Fiorentino





Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 23:18:26 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Sick Fish in Second Maryland River
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

more on pfiesteria (caused by pfactory pfarming)
from AP Wire page:
----------------------------------
 09/10/1997 21:38 EST

 Sick Fish in Second Maryland River

 By TOM STUCKEY
 Associated Press Writer

 ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Fish with lesions showed up in a second Eastern
 Shore river system Wednesday, suggesting the problem is wider than
 earlier thought.

 Fish with lesions had previously been found in a 12-to-13-mile stretch of
 the Pocomoke River that has been closed since Aug. 29. A medical team
 reported that a toxin released by pfiesteria -- an organism that can emit
 a poison that kills fish and causes health problems in humans -- or a
 similar microorganism likely made seven people ill.

 Earlier in August, part of the lower Pocomoke was closed for nearly a
 week when some 11,000 fish mysteriously died.

 Finding fish with lesions in King's Creek, a different watershed,
 ``suggests that this is a broader-based problem,'' Gov. Parris Glendening
 said.

 Officials prohibited all fishing and boating in King's Creek, which
 branches off the Manokin River and flows about four miles west between
 Princess Anne and Westover, on the lower part of the Eastern Shore.

 Glendening said there was no active fish kill on the creek by late
 Wednesday afternoon and no sign of problems in the Manokin River.

 But on the creek, fish were coming to the surface of the water and
 swimming around erratically, signs that they are under stress. Many had
 the deep round sores near their tails that are characteristic of
 pfiesteria.

 There was no evidence of any contamination of Chesapeake Bay or the major
 tributaries.

 ``The bay is safe. Seafood is safe,'' Glendening said. ``But in smaller
 creeks, it does appear we have an extended problem.''

 The Manokin and Nanticoke rivers have been considered potential trouble
 spots because they are similar to the Pocomoke. Both river systems have
 similar salinity and acidity levels and flow through areas with large
 farming and poultry businesses.

 Glendening said further tests will be needed to confirm that the lesions
 found on the fish, mainly menhaden, are caused by pfiesteria piscicida.

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 20:24:14
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [US] Horribly ensnared
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From The Economist - September 6th, 1997

ANCHORAGE - Visitors to Alaska come not only for the scenery, those almost
overwhelming mountains and glaciers, but for a frison of danger on
"America's last frontier". As part of that thrill, they want to see wolves.
But while other states are striving to reintroduce the wolf, in Alaska
wolves are hunted and trapped for almost nine months of the year.

The hunting is part of a programme of predator control pursued by the
Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Wolves are indeed predators, and the
state's big hunting lobby believes that fewer wolves mean more caribou to
hunt. A $400-per-wolf private bounty is sanctioned by Fish and Game's
biologists, who say the killing of 1,000 or so wolves each year in the
state does not threaten the survival of the species.

Critics see things differently. "There are too many hunters who think the
state owes them a caribou off their back porch each winter," says Gordon
Haber, a scientist who has studied wolves in the Denali National Park, a
6m.-acre refuge in south-central Alaska, for more than 30 years. Mr Haber
believes that the Fish and Game biologists consistently overestimate the
size of the state wolf population, putting it at anything between 5,000 and
10,000 since 1992.

But Mr Haber's deepest sense of outrage is reserved for a method of
trapping wolves called "saturation snaring". Typically, trappers fly to a
remote area and set baited wire neck-snares where wolves are likely to be
found. Dozens of snares are laced almost undetectably in the undergrowth
over an area perhaps 100 yards across. The trappers then move a couple of
thousands upriver and do it again. The repeated process creates a corridor
of snares strung out along the river for perhaps ten or 15 miles. It is, Mr
Haber says, "the land-based equivalent of high-seas drift-net fishing", and
just as indiscriminate: wolverines, caribou and even eagles get tangled in
the snares too, and all die a lingering death.

The Department of Fish and Game used saturation snaring in its official
wolf-control programme until the winter of 1994-95, when television
pictures on the national news caused a public outcry. During the fuss that
followed, the governor of Alaska, Tony Knowles, ordered the department to
stop using the technique. It complied. Yet instead of abandoning the
practice altogether, officials are still teaching the method to trappers.

Michael McDonald, a biologist in the division of wildlife conservataion,
explains that the numbers of wolves have to be kept down in some areas to
allow the caribou herds to expand. Snares, he maintains, are used where it
is necessary to catch large quantities of wolves; they are now being set up
in such a way that they break when bigger animals get caught, and trappers
are being trained to construct them so that they kill the wolves more quickly.

With the state's policy tangled in controversy, Mr Knowles turned last year
to one of America's most respected research bodies, the National Academy of
Sciences. He asked for an analysis of the scientific and economic issues
"to ensure that future programmes should be scientifically-sound, broadly
accepted by Alaskans, and cost-effective."  The report should be out in a
few weeks. But the executive director of the Alaska Wildlife Alliance,
Cindy Lowry, is doubtful that much will come from it; relations between the
state's wildlife authorities and trappers' associations, she believes, have
simly become too cosy.

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 20:24:14
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [CA/US] Sardines return to North Pacific
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From The Province - Tuesday, September 9th, 1997

Associated Press

TACOMA, Wash. - Marine biologists say the sardine population of the
Washington coast has made a major comeback but cautioned that it may be too
early to start catching them commericially.

Lane Lubchenco, a marine biologist at Oregon State University, warned there
should be no rush to start fishing then again.

In 1938, the sardine catch was Washington's biggest fishery. It supported
scores of canneries from southern California to B.C. But by 1946, the
sardines were virtually gone, partly due to overfishing.

Cooler ocean temperatures, which hurt reproduction, aggravated the decline
and made recovery harder, biologists believe.

Now, the trends are reversing. There has been little fishing pressure, and
waters have warmed along the Pacific coast during the past decade, most
recently due to the El Nino.

The recovery began in southern California in the early 1990's and slowly
moved north.

"This year, for the first time, we have seen numbers of sardines all along
the coast from the Columbia River up to Vancouver Island," said Greg
argmann, of the Washington department of fish and wildlife.



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