Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news56~1.htm/text0000.txt

Text File | 1998-04-02 | 54.7 KB | 1,362 lines

Israeli fetuses may be tainted by 'mad cow' protein

The Associated Press
JERUSALEM (November 3, 1997 6:22 p.m. EST)

Some women who underwent in-vitro fertilization in Israel recently may
be carrying fetuses infected with the human variant of Mad Cow disease,
a Health Ministry official said Monday.

The Haaretz newspaper reported that hundreds of fetuses may be infected
as a result of being grown on a protein from a donor who died of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Health Ministry spokesman Yair Amikam confirmed that hundreds of women
were treated with the infected blood, but only some of them became
pregnant. Even in those cases, Amikam said there was only a small risk
the babies born would develop the condition.

"We told the couples not to halt their pregnancies, as there is only a
very minimal chance of infection," Amikam told the AP.

He did not give exact numbers or identify the donor.

According to Amikam, eight in-vitro fertilization labs used the man's
blood. Amikam said they were informed by the company who provided the
donor's blood that he had died of Mad Cow disease.

Eating meat from cattle tainted by the disease is believed to cause the
brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans, which has killed at
least 20 people, mostly in Britain.

The outbreak of the disease in Britain caused a crisis in the European
Union last year. Beef exports from Britain were banned, and the EU had
to pay farmers across the EU billions of dollars to prop up prices as
consumers shunned beef.
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 21:22:35 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: BeefAmerica plant allowed to reopen
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

BeefAmerica plant allowed to reopen

The Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. (November 3, 1997 5:58 p.m. EST)

A BeefAmerica processing plant reopened Monday after being shut down
because of repeated health violations and shortcomings in related
paperwork.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors were back Monday at the
plant in Norfolk in northeastern Nebraska.

"The product we have is inspected by the USDA and approved by the USDA,"
said company spokeswoman Kim Essex.

The USDA withdrew its inspectors from the beef plant Friday --
effectively shutting down operations -- after it discovered repeated
violations of sanitation rules, including contamination of meat with
fecal matter and peeling paint coming into contact with meat.

The plant had been the subject of two meat recalls this year totaling
more than 600,000 pounds of ground beef. No illnesses were reported, but
the USDA said the company was not properly testing for contamination by
E. coli bacteria.

BeefAmerica president Bob Norton said the sanitation problems pointed
out by federal inspectors had been immediately corrected, but the
company failed to provide enough paperwork showing that corrective
action was taken.

New regulations implemented earlier this year require companies to
document all corrective and preventive actions. Norton said that during
the weekend the USDA helped the company improve its paperwork
procedures.

It was the second shutdown of a packing plant in Nebraska this year. A
Hudson Foods Inc. plant in Columbus was shut down in August after 25
million pounds of beef were recalled; that plant has been sold to IBP
Inc.
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 00:44:14 -0500 (EST)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Your Reminder & Toll-Free # for Call-In on Endangered Species Protection--
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=unknown-8bit
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The Indiana Bat, the Trumpeter Swan, the North American Wolf, and thousands
of plant and animal species need five minutes of your time TODAY!

National ESA Call-in Day!                     National ESA Call-in Day!

                        NATIONAL ESA CALL-IN DAY!

                           TUESDAY, November 4

              Let's hold our elected officials accountable.
                 Pick up the phone to protect the ESA.
             Let the halls of Congress ring on November 4.
     All across the country folks will be calling for a stronger ESA.

              Congressional Switchboard [phone]

PLEASE NOTE TOLL FREE NUMBER FOR YOUR USE 1-888-723-5246
Call once or call often -- hey, the toll free number is on the bad-guys!!!

* Call your senators and tell them not to support Kempthorne's bill *

         Senator Kempthorne's S. 1180 would jeopardize the mission of
         the ESA to recover species in peril.  Kempthorne's S. 1180
         would provide:

               o  Special access for special interests
               o  Taxpayer subsidized habitat destruction
               o  Roadblocks to recovery
               o  Weaken protections for species on public & private
                  lands

           *  Call your Representative to cosponsor HR 2351. *

        A better bill has been introduced in the House.  HR 2351
        would reaffirm and strengthen the nation's commitment to
        wildlife and to protect our children's future.  It is
        estimated we are losing approximately 100 species every day.
        Rather than weaken protection for fragile plants and animals,
        Congress should strengthen the ESA, so species do not slip
        through loopholes and cracks in the current ESA.

        HR 2351 would:

             o  Conserve declining species before they near the brink
                of extinction.
             o  Place a deadline on listing decisions for candidate
                species.
             o  Provide economic incentives to encourage voluntary
                conservation.


                      Please distribute widely!

                     NATIONAL ESA CALL-IN DAY!!

                        TUESDAY, November 4

National ESA Call-in Day!                     National ESA Call-in Day!


==========================================================
Roger Featherstone -- Director
D'Arcy Kemnitz ù Midwest Regional Coordinator, Endangered Species Coalition
GrassRoots Environmental Effectiveness Network
PO Box 40046, Albuquerque, NM 87196-0046
[phone]  fax:[phone]  e-mail:  [e-mail]
(All other GREEN staff remain at our Washington, DC, office)
==========================================


Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 17:41:03 +1100
From: Lynette Shanley <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Sumatran Tigers.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I have seen a lot regarding the orangs in the Indonesian forest fires but
very little on the Sumatran Tiger. Does anyone know what is happening with
these tigers. There are so few of them left.


Lynette Shanley
International Primate Protection League - Australia
PO Box 60
PORTLAND  NSW  2847
AUSTRALIA
Phone/Fax [phone] 554026
EMAIL [e-mail]
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 01:13:45 -0300
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (AR) Noticias sobre el Hospital Militar (in spanish)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(AR) NOVEDADES SOBRE TORTURAS A ANIMALES EN EL HOSPITAL MILITAR
ARGENTINO

ANTECEDENTES:

En nuestro ACTION ALERT (OCTUBRE 97) dabamos noticias sobre las
aberrantes experiencias realizadas en el Hospital Militar de la
Republica Argentina. Para concretar su trabajo "Shock Traumatico e
Higado" el Medico Mayor  Guillermo D. Vadra torturo y asesino a 42
perros. Por ese motivo les habiamos pedido que dirigieran notas de
repudio al Tte. Gral. Martin Balza.

NUEVOS HECHOS:

El General Martin Balza respondio a este repudio mundial
argumentando que bajo su gestion no se ha cometido ningun acto que
ponga en riesgo la integridad de los animales. Agrego que el trabajo
realizado por el Medico Mayor Guillermo Vadra es en realidad un
trabajo realizado ....! en 1986 !

PERO:

La revista cientifica que recoge el trabajo del Medico Mayor
Guillermo Vadra en donde se refiere la tortura a la que fueron
sometidos los 42 perros...

a) es una publicacion llamada "REVISTA DE LA SANIDAD MILITAR
ARGENTINA" y  pertenece al Ejercito (que avala de este modo el
truculento trabajo)

b) Fue publicada en 1996 y distribuida con posterioridad.

c) En NINGUN LUGAR , la publicacion cientifica hace referencia a que
el trabajo del Medico G. Vadra haya sido realizado hace 10 anos.

d) La bibliografia mencionada en el escabroso trabajo "Shock
Traumatico e Higado" contiene citas de publicaciones POSTERIORES a
1986, (hecho que a las caracteristicas sadicas del Dr. Vadra anade
las dotes de vidente! )

e) En la misma publicacion se menciona que la Sanidad Militar
Argentina HA OTORGADO UN GALARDON al Medico Vadra: el "Premio Bienal
(1995-1996) Dr. Juan Madera" (una curiosa manera que tiene el
Ejercito de repudiar a quien realiza un trabajo que segun el General
Balza no hubiera sido realizado bajo su gestion! )


................................................................................

GRACIAS A QUIENES ENVIARON SUS NOTAS DE REPUDIO !!!

Seguiremos manteniendolos informados de esta y otras noticias sobre
animales en Argentina

................................................................................
Informacion enviada por el Club de Animales Felices
[e-mail]
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 18:29:21
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [CA] Barbara Noske
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Animal Voices today featured an hour-long discussion/interview with Barbara
Noske. The following is a not very brief summary in text form.

Noske, for those unfamiliar with her, has an MA in socio-cultural
anthropology and a PhD in phylosophy from the University of Amsterdam; is a
research scholar at the University of York, in Toronto; and is author of
several works, including an newly revised edition of 'Beyond Boundaries',
which takes a look at human-animal and animal-human relationships.

Asked about how she became interested in the subject of human-animal
relationships, Noske said this dated back to her time as a young baby, when
a dog initiated a relationship with her. The relationship lasted until the
dog died at 15. She was 13 at the time.

Noske regarded the dog at start of the relationship, as being her physical
and intelectual superior, and at the end as being her equal.

By the time she gained her masters degree, she realized that there was no
consideration of animals in her fields of interest, and began taking a look
at this issue.

Although Noske considers herself part of both the deep ecology/green and
animal-rights/liberation movements, as well as other specialties, she does
have some concerns.

Some environmentalists, she says, tend to be wilderness lovers who don't
regard either humans or "domesticated" animals as part of the environment,
whereas animal-liberationists tend to be urban dwellers who look at a
single species and don't necessarily consider the whole environment.

Noske says she has great concern about the impact humans have on
ecosystems, such as the building of roads across wildlife habitats.

She also says that in the present system of viewing animals as mere
objects, no consideration is ever given to our intrusion into the other
animals' homes. "Other than domesticating the whole of the wildlife, which
I do not advocate, we must make recognition of the fact that other animals
exist and we will come across them," she said.

Several factors combined to result in the way humans treat animals today,
she says. These include the rise of the church, its subsequent decline, the
increasing secularization of human culture, the invention of automatic
machinery, the development of capitalism and the increased importance of
science.

"In medieval times, mining was considered rape of the Earth, but
eventually, the thinking changed. We became a culture where God was no
longer the centre of the Universe - humanity was."

Descartes could only develop his ideas of animals being machines because
machines were available for him to make the comparison, she says.

Although there are still Cartesians among modern scientists, Darwin also
was responsible for the modern view, particularly with his beliefs of
"lower and "higher" life forms. Darwinists today still believe that animals
are merely packages of genes which need to be transferred to the next
generation, often above the heads of the animal concerned.

Noske questions whether language, thought, sociality, culture, tool use and
tool making are strictly human activities, which many social scientists
believe.

Noske likens the modern factory-farming system to the human mass-production
systems.
"Marx distinguished four kinds of alienation: alienation from the product;
from productive activity;  from (human) society; and from species life.
What is the animal product in our production processes? It is either the
animal's own body, or its own offspring. The mother-calf relationship is
totally disrupted, or the animal is reared, fed and raised in such a way
that its body becomes an alien and hostile force."

Noske told of a current disease afflicting pigs in The Netherlands, which
has led to a ban on pigs within the EU. This, in turn, has led to the
slaughter of a million piglets to date. "Even farmers, who raise these
animals for slaughter, say this is "unnatural."

Noske also spoke about genetic engineering, which she stated was opening a
whole Pandora's box.

Natural selection led to what was best for the species, selective breeding
led to what was best for humans, but genetic engineering leads to the
creation of whole new hybrid animals, without any regard for species
integrety.

Some people actually look forward to the development of these species, as
they can be bred to withstand the pressures of factory-farming, as they no
longer have social and behavioural needs. The danger, says Noske, is that
we may end with an animal that can still suffer in another way.

On a brighter note, Noske is encouraged by the fact that some religions are
starting to recognise again that animals, other than humans, are more than
mere machines.

She did, however, note that the University of Guelph has now taken a
Japanese tradition of blessing the animals they use after they have been
killed in their experiments.

Is the way we look at animals, and the language we use when we deal with
them, a deliberate attempt to hide the animal's involvement? No, says
Noske, as most language and other aspects of human culture is at
sub-concious or unconcious level.

Exmaples of this Noske gives included the use by Dutch butchers of "Meat
from lush, green pastures." This, of course, both removes the animal and
the conditions in which they are raised. Another was the usage of the word
"weapon" to describe a harpoon when used kill a whale. "No, no," Noske was
told when lecturing a group in The Netherlands , "we use the term "tool".

Finally, Noske raised the subject of vegeterianism. "Why do people always
say they are almost vegetarian and are definitely eating less red meat,
when white meat is produced from animals subject to the worst of the modern
system, and in conditions that have been in use the longest?" she asks.

David Knowles
Producer/Host
Animal Voices
Coop Radio 102.7 FM CFRO
Vancouver, BC

Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 00:53:21
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Thanks
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Just a belated thanks for everyone one provided contacted info for my
recent RFI on the pet industry.

'Animal Voices' was able to air a 2-hour special on this subject last week,
but due to some unforseen technical problems, we were unable to air the
full program as planned.

We will be re-broadcasting in the near future.

The show was part of the annual Autumn Airlift Fundraiser on Coop Radio for
which a total of just under $50,000 was raised.  (Coop Radio is the home
station of Animal Voices - the only animal-rights show broadcasting in
Western Canada. Anyone wanting more information about Coop Radio - check
out their web site at: www.vcn.bc.ca/cfro If you are interested in
supporting Coop, please e-mail me privately.)


Thanks again,

David


Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 01:06:52
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Saboteurs warn of increased action if anti-hunt Bill
  fails
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, November 4th, 1997

Saboteurs warn of increased action if anti-hunt Bill fails
By Joy Copley, Political Staff

HUNT saboteurs said last night that they would greatly intensify their
activities after the Government effectively sounded the death knell for the
anti-foxhunting Bill.

The row deepened on the eve of publication of the Wild Mammals (Hunting
with Dogs) Bill after Downing Street stressed in the strongest public terms
yet that the Government would not clear space for the proposed legislation
in its busy parliamentary timetable.

A Downing Street spokesman said the Government had "enough on its plate",
with a heavy legislative programme to get Labour's manifesto commitments on
to the statute book.

However,the spokesman did not rule out Government backing for anti-hunt
legislation before the next general election.

Government whips have been against the Bill since Michael Foster, the
Labour MP for Worcester, came top of the Private Members' Poll because they
feared it would be savaged in the Lords causing delays to key planks of
Government legislation.

Paul Gammon, spokesman for the hunt saboteurs, said the Government's
decision came as "no surprise to us and gives hunt saboteurs even more
reason to exist in future".

"We expect our activities to increase enormously if the Bill is suppressed
or delayed because people won't stand for it and that is the last thing
police forces need. Any delay on this legislation opens the doors from
extremists on both sides," he said.

Today Conservative MPs will attempt to upstage the publication of the Bill
by initiating a Commons debate on the "threat to the countryside". Michael
Jack, the Tories' new agriculture spokesman, who took over after David
Curry resigned, will defend foxhunting.

Labour MPs are to be allowed a free vote on the second reading of the Bill
on Nov 28 and there is expected to be a huge majority in favour.

Mr Foster will release a poll today which shows that the majority of people
in rural areas back his Bill. The Mori poll, based on a sample of 1,500
people in rural areas, found 57 per cent in favour of Mr Foster's Bill and
32 per cent against.

Huntsmen and those allowing hunting on their land will face a maximum
six-month jail sentence and fines of up to ú5,000 under the legislation.
These are the same penalties as are currently faced by badger-baiters and
others who infringe wildlife protection legislation. Mr Foster estimated
that 100,000 wild mammals would be saved every year as a result of his Bill.

But Janet George, of the British Field Sports Society, said: "This Bill has
nothing to do with animal welfare. It is ludicrous. "This Bill makes the
Dangerous Dogs Bill look like sensible legislation."

A survey of MPs last week showed that almost three-quarters of 402 MPs,
including 11 Cabinet Ministers, backed the Bill.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.

Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 01:16:26
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [IT] Truffle country vigilantes wage war on dog-killers
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Tuesday, November 4th, 1997

Truffle country vigilantes wage war on dog-killers

THE truffle season in Umbria, a region famed for its saintly mysticism and
civilised ways, is turning nasty.

An unseemly war blamed on maverick hunters of what is described as the
world's most expensive food has erupted in the lush hills and woodlands of
the area's Upper Tiber Valley. The victims, however, are not men, but dogs
- prized "truffle hounds", which traditionally are used instead of pigs in
these parts to sniff out the aromatic and pungent fungi.

In the area around Citta' di Castello, the capital of the region's
lucrative truffle trade and the site of an annual fiera di tartufo, or
truffle fair, more than 20 dogs have died after eating meatballs poisoned
with strychnine and weed-killer.

The dogs, many of them pointers or setters - breeds prized for truffle
hunting - suffered agonising deaths.

 "Strychnine makes the animal's body go rigid and provokes intense pain
before it eventually dies," said Luigi Bigi, a veterinary surgeon from
Citta di Castello, whose surgery became a casualty ward for dogs belonging
to truffle hunters.

Fearing an escalation of the truffle war, associations grouping together
about 2,000 truffle hunters around Citta' di Castello this week will offer
courses to train volunteers as vigilantes of areas where truffles are found.

"Access to the territory and above all to wooded areas during the truffle
and mushroom picking season is regulated by precise rules," said Alessandro
Ghigi, the leading truffle hunter in the Upper Tiber Valley.

 "Therefore controls of this activity have to be stepped up, with
properly-trained volunteers flanking those whose job it is to keep an eye
on things."

Reports talked of a "task force" of men being assembled to "unmask the dog
killers".

Vincenzo Bucci, the president of the Association of Upper Tiber Mountain
Communities, said: "We have to send into the field all the forces at our
disposal to stop the barbarianisation of the area reaching even more
worrying levels than those now."

In Umbria, the black truffle known as tuber melangosporum features in
gourmet cooking, and truffle hounds are considered an important asset in
rural communities.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.

Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 09:44:17 GMT
From: Chris Wright <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (UK) Saboteurs warn of increased action if anti-hunt Bill fails
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

>From the Electronic Telegraph, November 4th 1997

Saboteurs warn of increased action if anti-hunt Bill fails
By Joy Copley, Political Staff


                  HUNT saboteurs said last night that they would
greatly intensify their activities after the Government effectively
sounded the death knell for the anti-foxhunting Bill.

                  The row deepened on the eve of publication of the
Wild Mammals (Hunting with Dogs) Bill after Downing Street stressed in
the strongest public terms yet that the Government would not clear
space for the proposed legislation in its busy parliamentary
timetable.

                  A Downing Street spokesman said the Government had
"enough on its plate", with a heavy legislative programme to get
Labour's manifesto commitments on to the statute book.

                  However,the spokesman did not rule out Government
backing for anti-hunt legislation before the next general election.

                  Government whips have been against the Bill since
Michael Foster, the Labour MP for Worcester, came top of the Private
Members' Poll because they feared it would be savaged in the Lords
causing delays to key planks of Government legislation.

                  Paul Gammon, spokesman for the hunt saboteurs, said
the Government's decision came as "no surprise to us and gives hunt
saboteurs even more reason to exist in future".

                  "We expect our activities to increase enormously if
the Bill is suppressed or delayed because people  won't stand for it
and that is the last thing police forces need. Any delay on this
legislation opens the doors from extremists on both sides," he said.

                  Today Conservative MPs will attempt to upstage the
publication of the Bill by initiating a Commons debate on the "threat
to the countryside". Michael Jack, the Tories' new agriculture
spokesman, who took over after David Curry resigned, will defend
foxhunting.

                  Labour MPs are to be allowed a free vote on the
second reading of the Bill on Nov 28 and there is expected to be a
huge majority in favour.

                  Mr Foster will release a poll today which shows that
the majority of people in rural areas back his Bill. The Mori poll,
based on a sample of 1,500 people in rural areas, found 57 per cent in
favour of Mr Foster's Bill and 32 per cent against.

                  Huntsmen and those allowing hunting on their land
will face a maximum six-month jail sentence and fines of up to 5,000
under the legislation. These are the same penalties as are currently
faced by badger-baiters and others who infringe wildlife protection
legislation. Mr Foster estimated that 100,000 wild mammals would be
saved every year as a result of his Bill.

                  But Janet George, of the British Field Sports
Society, said: "This Bill has nothing to do with animal welfare. It is
ludicrous. "This Bill makes the Dangerous Dogs Bill look like sensible
legislation."

                  A survey of MPs last week showed that almost
three-quarters of 402 MPs, including 11 Cabinet Ministers, backed the
Bill.
----
Footnote:
Janet George can be engaged in conversation directly in the newsgroup
uk.politics.animals if anyone's interested.

Chris Wright
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 09:53:19 GMT
From: Chris Wright <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (UK) New petition submitted as French lorry drivers hold up live exports
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

10,000 sheep being exported from the UK to the continent were given a
"reprieve" yesterday when the Government moved to stop the lorries
transporting them in Dover and prevented them from going abroad, on
the basis that the animals would suffer unduly once the lorries got
stuck in France because of the lorry drivers' blockade there. Animal
Welfare Minister, Elliot Morley, advised exporters not to try and ship
live animals whilst the blockade continued.

Meanwhile, veteran horse-racing commentator Peter O'Sullevan handed
the Government a petition signed by 800,000 people supporting a ban on
live exports.

Chris Wright
Date: Sat, 04 Nov 1995 15:04:02 +0100
From: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Orphan cubs adopted
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-transfer-encoding: 8bit

-- This is Nuria from Barcelona.

The program LIFE for the re-introduction of bears in the Pyrenees began
by releasing two females and one male adult bear. One of the females
(Melba) gave birth to three cubs but last september she was murdered by
a stupid (like all of them) hunter. One of the cubs had already died, so
the fate of the remaining two was uncertain. yesterday the newspapers
gave the wonderful new (and a lesson for all of the humans) that Giva
(the surviving female) had adopted the orphan cubs. Good luck with your
new rol, Giva!!! :)

Nuria

Nuria 's Homepage (of animal rights and scientific anti-vivisectionism)
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/hills/3787
******************************************************************************
*
"Llegara un dia en que los hombres,como yo , vean el asesinato de un
animal como ahora ven el de un hombre"
"A day will come in which men, as I do, will look upon animal murder the
same way they look today upon a man's murder"
Leonardo da Vinci
PO`!1 a
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 08:54:02 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Food safety officials warming to radiation
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------
  11/04/97- Updated 01:48 AM ET

                Food safety officials warming to radiation

                Food safety experts are warming to an idea once
                considered off limits in a society leery of anything
                nuclear: the irradiation of foods to kill bacteria,
                parasites and other disease-causing microorganisms.

                "The time has come," says Edward S. Josephson of the
                University of Rhode Island, co-chair of a task force
                on irradiation convened last year by the Council for
                Agricultural Science and Technology. Recent outbreaks
                of illness linked to dangerous strains of E. coli in
                meat, lettuce and alfalfa sprouts; cyclospora on
                raspberries and hepatitis A in strawberries have
                brought concern about the safety of the food supply
                to the forefront of public discussion.

                The Clinton administration has instituted new
                regulations for processing meat, fish and poultry,
                and has recommended guidelines for safer growing and
                handling of produce.

                "The government has tried all it can do to keep down
                the infections" caused by foodborne bugs, says
                Josephson, "but it's like milk: No matter how much
                care you take to make sure it's clean, you still have
                to pasteurize."

                The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved
                irradiation for a range of foods, from potatoes to
                poultry, and is expected soon to permit its use on
                meat.

                Catherine Woteki, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
                undersecretary for food safety, said Sunday in
                Chicago that the FDA has given "high priority" to the
                petition for use of irradiation in red meat. She
                expects a decision within weeks.

                Irradiation got a ringing endorsement recently from
                the World Health Organization, which at a meeting in
                September concluded that it's safe, even at doses
                higher than current recommended top levels.

                "The food irradiation technology itself is safe to
                such a degree," says a WHO statement, "that as long
                as sensory qualities of food are retained and harmful
                microorganisms are destroyed, the actual amount of
                ionizing radiation applied is of secondary
                consideration." Countries set their own upper limits
                for radiation doses, measured in kiloGrays, kGy, (1
                kGy is enough energy to raise the temperature of a
                product by 0.43 degrees F). In the United States,
                spices, herbs and dry vegetable seasonings are being
                irradiated at levels up to 30 kGy. The FDA has
                authorized levels up to 1 kGy for fruits and
                vegetables, 3 kGy for poultry, and if irradiation is
                approved for use on red meats, the maximum level
                allowed will be 4.5 kGy for fresh meat and 7 kGy for
                frozen meat.

                "In order to achieve safe food, you have to employ
                certain technologies," says Fritz Kaferstein,
                director of WHO's food safety program. "This is one
                of them."

                But the idea of exposing food to gamma rays sets some
                people's teeth on edge. "This isn't a solution to
                meat contamination," says Michael Colby of the group
                Food and Water. "It's a series of whole new
                problems." Radioactive materials pose a threat to
                plant workers and to consumers who might be placed in
                danger by the need to transport such materials.
                "We're not talking about needing one or two (new food
                irradiation) plants," he says. "We're talking about
                hundreds of nuclear plants."

                A better approach, he says, would be to focus on
                prevention of food contamination, starting at the
                farm or ranch. "When you propose irradiating the meat
                supply, you're saying it's OK to have filthy cattle
                yards . . . because at the end of the line, you're
                going to zap the meat with the equivalent of three
                million chest X-rays," he says. "Meat shouldn't be
                contaminated with fecal matter, whether you irradiate
                it or not."

                Michael Osterholm, state epidemiologist at the
                Minnesota Department of Health, agrees prevention of
                contamination is necessary, but still strongly
                advocates irradiation. "We need all these things," he
                says. "We're not talking about minimizing these other
                issues, but strengthening them."

                Proposed food safety regulations in meat and poultry
                processing plants are aimed at identifying "critical
                control points," steps in processing where
                contamination could occur, and instituting
                safeguards. But that process, while laudable,
                "doesn't have a kill step," a place in the processing
                where sterilization occurs, says Osterholm. "We need
                a firewall. Irradiation of meat and poultry and some
                fruits and vegetables is to those foods what thermal
                pasteurization is to milk."

                To frame the discussion as, " 'either the industry
                cleans up or we need irradiation' is not correct," he
                says. "Even if they do clean up, they cannot
                eliminate the risk" of foodborne disease.

                In testimony Oct. 8 before the Senate Committee on
                Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Osterholm called
                foodborne disease "a critical public health problem
                today," and said, "previous estimates of foodborne
                disease in this country grossly underestimate the
                extent of the real problem."

                Based on random sampling, he estimates more than 250
                million episodes of illness are caused by foodborne
                microbes in the United States each year. "Clearly, it
                is now the No. 1 reason for visits to our nation's
                emergency rooms," he said.

                Irradiation is safe and effective, it leaves no
                residue in foods, nor does it change the flavor or
                nutritional value significantly, he says. "At the
                levels we're using it, there's less vitamin
                degradation than you get with microwaving or
                cooking," he says.

                He's disappointed that the industry and public health
                officials haven't been more aggressive in promoting
                irradiation. "I have no vested interest," Osterholm
                says. "I'm just out here counting the bodies."

                By Anita Manning, USA TODAY

Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 07:25:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Twilight <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US)Arctic Oil Drilling
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

05:20 PM ET 11/03/97

Interior denies bid to block Arctic oil drilling


            By Vicki Allen
            WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Interior Department in a letter
released Monday rejected a petition from environmental groups
seeking to halt oil and natural gas drilling off the coast of
Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
            Atlantic Richfield Co.'s plan to search for oil in the
Beaufort Sea off the Arctic refuge has adequate  safeguards to
protect the area that is home to abundant wildlife including
polar bears, musk oxen and caribou, the department said in a
letter released by environmental groups.
            The exploratory drilling plan ``has been meticulously
reviewed so that it is responsive to stringent regulatory
requirements...,'' the letter from Cynthia Quarterman, director
of the department's Minerals Management Service (MMS), said.
            The MMS, which handles oil and natural gas leases for
federal lands and coastal waters, approved the project in
August.
            The project has since been the target of environmental
protests, including an attempt by Greenpeace to physically block
ARCO from moving a huge drilling platform to waters off the
refuge.
            Nine groups last month petitioned Interior Secretary Bruce
Babbitt to block ARCO from drilling in the Beaufort Sea about
3.5 miles off the wildlife refuge's coast.
            The groups that included the Wilderness Society, Sierra Club
and Northern Alaska Environmental Center, said Babbitt should
halt the project under a law that gives him power to suspend
drilling in specific waters or to cancel oil and gas lease sales
and refund the purchasers.
            Their petition said oil and gas development would imperil
wildlife and the pristine ecosystem through pollution from waste
discharges and potential oil spills.
            ``The administration is allowing ARCO to proceed with a
risky drilling plan that leaves the entire coastline of the
refuge open to the threat of a massive oil spill,'' Brian
O'Donnell, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League,
said in a statement.
            But Quarterman, writing in Babbitt's behalf, said the
administration's policies would protect the refuge.
            ``The secretary has asked that I make it unequivocally clear
that this administration and this department are fully committed
to the protection of the ANWR,'' she said, adding that no
drilling activity would be allowed in its borders.
            The Clinton administration has repeatedly rejected oil
industry demands to be allowed to drill inside ANWR's coastal
plain, but sold ARCO rights to explore offshore of the refuge.






_____________________________________________________________________
Sent by RocketMail. Get your free e-mail at http://www.rocketmail.com

Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 12:36:03 -0330 (NST)
From: Hannah Dayan <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Noah'S Ark on 48 Hours
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


Someone posted that the Noah's Ark case will be covered by 48 hours on
CBS. DOes
anyone know when that will be aired?

Thanks

Hannah

[e-mail]


Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 10:44:33 -0600 (CST)
From: [e-mail] (Nancy Perry )
To: [e-mail]!!!!!!!
Subject: Please help stop FAST-TRACK!  Urgent action alert!
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

                ANIMAL WELFARE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
                   ARE ON THE FAST-TRACK TO DISASTER

Ask your Representative to oppose fast-track trade authority

The House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the President's
proposal to grant him fast-track trade negotiating authority this week.
If passed, fast-track will confer sweeping and exclusive control over
trade deals with Central and South America and Asia to the President.
Congress will simply accept or reject the entire package with no
opportunity to modify the treaty.

* NAFTA, GATT and other efforts to globalize trade have proven to be a
serious threat to animals, the environment and the laws passed to
protect both.

* Current trade pacts negotiated under fast-track authority prohibit
trade restrictions based the method of production.

* The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act violates current trade laws by
restricting the importation of tuna that is caught using deadly purse
seine nets.  American dolphin-safe tuna laws were changed in the name
of free trade.

* European Union regulations banning the import of furs from countries
that continue to use the barbaric steel jaw leghold trap are being
challenged and weakened to comply with trade pacts.

* World Trade Organization (WTO) members are challenging U.S. laws that
require shrimpers to install turtle excluder devices.

* The first case brought to the WTO was a challenge to the U.S. Clean
Air Act.

* Through the WTO, the U.S. successfully challenged Canadian passed
laws restricting the flow of sickly, starving puppies entering Canada
from infamous U.S. puppy mills.

Tell your Representative that you oppose any fast-track deals that do
not include explicit protections for animals and the environment.  Ask
your Representative to vote NO on fast-track.  You can reach your
Representative by writing to:
The Honorable __________ U.S. House of Representatives, Washington,
D.C. 20515 or
call them directly by dialing the Capitol switchboard at (202)
225-3121.

What is the point of being on the fast-track if it is heading in the
wrong direction?

For more information, contact The HSUS Government Affairs Department
[phone].
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 22:17:06 -0800
From: In Defense of Animals <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Fur Free Friday - San Francisco!
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


NO BLOOD FOR VANITY!
Fur-Free Friday: November 28, 1997

In Defense of Animals is gearing up for the escalation in the battle
against the fur industry! It is time once again to confront the public with
the message that wearing fur is a symbol of the suffering and death of
thousands of of animals and it will not be tolerated.

Please join us for Fur-Free Friday on November 28 (the day after
Thanksgiving) 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Union Square. We need to let everyone
know that the fur industry's claim of a comeback is in reality a last ditch
effort to survive. On this day, the busiest shopping day of the year,
activists around the country will be focusing on department stores that
still make a profit from animals killed for their fur. Call our office at
[phone] for more information on how you can assist with this very
important date!

Also, please remember that the ballot initiative to ban the use of the
steel leg-hold traps in the state of California still needs your support.
If you would like to help collect signatures, please call [phone].
    These efforts will help cripple the fur industry in California.


Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 12:54:59 -0700 (MST)
From: robanne harrison <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Bern bears
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Does anyone have info on bears that are kept in a concrete pit in
Switzerland's capitol, Bern? I became aware of them several years ago but
couldn't find anyone working on animal rights issues on an international
level at that time.
Robanne   [e-mail]

Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 16:05:51 -0800
From: Elisa Bob <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Bern bears
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Bears are considered "Berne's heraldic animal."  Since the late 15th
century, bears pits have been situated at various locations in the city.
-- Source: http://www.berntourismus.ch/vvb41.htm#graben

You may also want to contact Schweizer Tierschutz (Swiss Society for the
Protection of Animals) for further info.  Sorry - I don't have address or
phone number.
Date: Tue, 4 Nov 1997 18:36:47 -0600
From: "Nancy Gomez" <[e-mail]>
To: "ar-news" <[e-mail]>
Subject: TEAR UPCOMING EVENTS
Message-ID: <01bce982$e6447e40$bb0e42ce@girl>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
     charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

TEAR UPCOMING EVENTS


TEAR is dedicated to the promotion of animal rights and the elimination of
cruelty to animals.

Saturday, November 8, General Monthly Meeting
1:30 p.m.. @ The Center For Community Cooperation
2900 Live Oak
Dallas, TX

Friday, November 14,  Circus Demo w/ PETA
Golden Triangle Mall
Denton, TX
Time and meeting place to be determined
Call Nathan for more information at 940-591-8038

Saturday, November 22, Ft. Worth Nature Center w/ ACT
Time to be determined
Call Gary for more information at 972-306-2263

Friday, November 28, Fur Free Friday Demo at Neiman Marcus
9:15 a.m.
Main Street Downtown Dallas
Activist are to meet at the southwest corner of the Quadrangle 2828 Routh
St. for carpooling and instructions

Saturday, December 13, General Monthly Meeting
1:30 p.m.. @ The Center For Community Cooperation
2900 Live Oak
Dallas, TX

All activist are encouraged to wear their tear T-shirts to all events.  To
contact TEAR directly please call our voice mail at 972-623-6170 or for the
most up to date information call 972-418-5398.

Check out our new web page www.flash.net/~tear






Date: Wed, 5 Nov 1997 11:36:17 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (NZ)Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease News
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Evening Standard

4/11/97

"Fedfarm' opens its Website

Federated Farmers has launched its own Internet
website, which can be accessed on www.fedfarm.org.nz
The website was opened last month, and features the
submissions the federation is making to Government
on behalf of its members, media coverage of rural issues
and a bulletin board.
Chief executive Tony St Clair said a special feature of the
website was a service offering selected information restricted
to financial members, via a password. The password is available
through provincial offices.

RCD Virus may be exempt from pest law
NZPA

Wellington- Ministry of Agriculture officials who have been
warning for months that the Pesticides Act would be a problem
for regional councils which spread rabbit calicivirus are preparing
an application to have the virus registered as a pesticide.
But biosecurity officials say the research is more likely to
persuade the Pesticides Board to recommend the virus is
exempted from the Pesticides Act.
In a week's time, government officials plan to discuss with
regional councils just what strain of the virus should be exempted,
if the Pesticides Board makes such a recommendation.
The research supplied to the board will need to specifiy a
particular form of the virus, regardless of whether it is registered
or exempted.
Possibilities include the "feral" virus illegally smuggled into
the country and which South Island farmers have been spreading,
a "pure" form developed from that virus, or the "pure" strain the
Government already owns in Australian laboratories. Legislation
is already before Parliament which would allow that strain to be
imported legally.
The "feral" virus is known to be killing large proportations of rabbit
populations in the South Island's semi-arid regions.
Animal health officials have said either strain works as a biocide,
where the virus is spread on bait, but a pure form without viral
contaminants would be preferable for injecting and releasing
live rabbits.
The Pesticides Board decision will be cucial, because a legal
opinion from MAF to the Wellington Regional Council said under
the Pesticides Act, regional councils or commercial operators
were prevented from spreading the virus while it was not registered
as a pesticide. The Act would not apply to an individual farmer acting
alone.
North Island regional councils said that if RCD was to be intrduced they
wanted it to be a managed release, co-ordination by council staff
for maximum impact.
But four key councils in Auckland, Wellington, Waikato and Hawke's
Bay have given up on that strategy, not because they fear being
prosecuted by MAF, but because private prosecutions would
be sought by RCD opponents.
MAF has known of the problem for months, but no application for
registration has yet been recieved by the Pesticides Board, register
John Reeve said. The next meeting of the board is scheduled for
December 11, and he said the shortest time in which a decision
could be made on any application would be one month.
A  Wellington Regional Council official has complained that
government inaction meant individual farmers would be left to
spread rabbit calicivirus disease themselves, rather than through a
pest programme co-ordinated by regional councils.
The complaint drew criticism from Biosecurity Minister Simon
Upton, who said the regional councils had not been left high
and dry by government inaction.
"The Government is not able to fast-track the legal changes
the Wellington Regional Councils has called for in the
time span it has stipulated". he said.




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

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, 5 Nov 1997 11:37:34 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (NZ)Ethics Group rules on rabbit disease
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

THE DOMINION 5/11/97

Ethics group rules on legality of spreading RCD

               by Alison Tocker

Farmers who injected the rabbit calicivirus disease into
live rabbits in cages before freeing them to spread the
disease were breaking the law and could be prosecuted,
the national animal advisory committe said yesterday.
But the Agriculture Ministry said the practice was hardly
used now that the virus was occurring naturally, and the
ministry was unlikely to prosecute people who had done
it when the virus first arrived in New Zealand earlier this year.
The ministry and committee confirmed it would not be illegal
to collect dead rabbits from the field and make viral material
from their carcasses.
Committee chairman keith Robinson said farmers who had
helped spread the virus initially were reported to have generated
it by infecting rabbits in a cage with virus mixture.
After thay had died, the rabbits were removed and other rabbits
and other rabbits were put in the cage. Some of these were injected
with the virus before being freed.
"These actions were all manipulations of live animals dependant
on humans for their care and sustenance, as defined in the Animals
Protection Act," Mr Robinson said. "Since the farmers had no
approved code of ethical conduct, their actions amount to crimminal
offences."
The animals were cosidered dependent in that they were unable to
escape.
The fact they were pests was irrelevant under the act, Mr Robinson
said.
Anyone who used live animals for experimental purposes was
required by law to have an approved code of ehical conduct in
place before such work was carried out.
The committe was set up by the agriculture minister about
10 years ago and reports directly to the minister.


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

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  \_/^\_/


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