Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news64~2.htm/text0000.txt

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The Associated Press
BOSTON, January 28, 1998

A new study challenges the long-held belief that multiple sclerosis
damages nerves in the brain solely by stripping off their insulation.

The research found that the disease actually severs nerve fibers in the
brain, causing irreversible damage that probably begins even before
symptoms are noticed.

The research raises the possibility that patients should begin treatment
very early in the disease.

"This paper changes our perception of the underlying nature of multiple
sclerosis," said Dr. Richard Rudick of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation,
a co-author of the study.

Experts long believed that MS did its damage almost exclusively by
attacking myelin, the protecting covering on nerve fibers, in the brain
and spine. This was thought to interfere with the fibers' ability to
transmit signals and led to the many different symptoms of MS.

The new study shows that besides stripping off myelin, the disease
frequently slices through the nerve fibers themselves, destroying their
ability to carry messages.

Rudick said the study is the first to actually visualize these severed
cells through a microscope, although indirect hints of this have been
building up for several years. For instance, magnetic resonance imaging
-- MRI -- has shown that MS victims' brains actually shrink, suggesting
loss of nerve cells.

Dr. Stephen Reingold of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society said the
earlier clues had already led many experts to conclude that the disease
damages and perhaps cuts nerve cells.

While the latest finding is likely to be news to practicing physicians,
Reingold said, "this will not be a surprise to scientists in the field."

The study, directed by Dr. Bruce D. Trapp, was published in Thursday's
issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

About 350,000 Americans have MS, and it most often begins when victims
are in their 20s. Symptoms often include numbness, tingling, poor
coordination, slurred speech and weakness.

While the precise cause is unknown, experts know that inflammation --
perhaps caused by a misguided attack on the body's imune system --
damages the nerves.

Rudick said the research suggests that doctors may need to be more
aggressive in treating MS with medicines such as interferon that may
protect nerves from permanent destruction.

However, Reingold cautioned that there is no proof that this early
treatment actually slows the disease.

By DANIEL Q. HANEY, AP Medical Editor

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

NOTE: the long-held belief that "MS did its damage almost
exclusively by attacking myelin, the protecting covering on nerve
fibers, in the brain and spine" generated thousands of painful animal
experiments over the years, using mice, dogs and other "animal models."

In such research, demyelination is usually produced by exposure to
corrosive chemicals.  In some research, experimental drugs are tried to
see if they reduce the effects of demyelination.

The discovery outlined in the article was arrived at by
examining human brain tissue from MS patients.  It means that decades of
animal demyelination experiments led down a blind alley, a waste in
terms of research resources, funds and last but not least, the
excruciating pain endured by hundreds of thousands of hapless animals.

Not to worry: the same animal researchers are already penning
grant proposals to conduct animal research on the new paradigm of
multiple sclerosis.  Those grants should keep them going until clinical
research takes another step.

        Andy
Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 21:47:08 -0800
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Gene therapy for baldness
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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Researchers find baldness gene

Reuters
WASHINGTON, January 29,

Researchers said on Thursday they had found a gene that might govern
baldness and said their finding could lead to a gene therapy treatment
for people who want more hair.

The new gene, appropriately called hairless, could regulate the human
hair cycle, they reported in the journal Science.

"The discovery of this new gene gives us endless possibilities that may
allow us to effectively treat hair loss and possibly baldness within the
next five years," dermatology professor Angela Christiano of New York's
Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, who led the study, said.

"It is now within our reach to design ways to grow hair, remove hair,
even dye hair genetically and, best yet, this can all be accomplished
topically, reducing possible side-effects."

Christiano's team started with a family in Pakistan whose members all
suffer from a rare genetic disease called alopecia universalia. Victims
have no hair anywhere on their bodies.

"They have no hair on their lashes, no eyebrows, no hair inside their
nose, nothing," Christiano said in a telephone interview. "It doesn't
make you sick and kill you (but) it's devastating."

The condition was clearly genetic. "We got the linkage to chromosome 8,"
Christiano said, but then hit a roadblock because there was "a lot of
junk" on the chromosome the researchers could not identify.

"We started looking around for some mouse models that might give us a
clue." The obvious candidates were "hairless" mice bred for
dermatological testing.

"These hairless mice have been used a long time in dermatology for
testing sunscreen and moisturizers but they never been used as primary
models for baldness."

But Christiano's team found the gene responsible for the mice's
hair-free condition and found a gene sequence that was about 80 percent
similar in the Pakistani family, right on chromosome 8 where they hoped
it would be.

It also does what they hoped it would do. "'Hairless' is a transcription
factor, meaning that its job is to turn on other genes," she said. "We
hope it will give us a better handle on male pattern baldness."

The most common type of hair loss, known as male pattern baldness, can
affect up to 80 percent of all people eventually and is hormone-related.
Another type is caused by stress,

"With the hairless gene, the real basis of hair loss can begin to be
understood," Christiano said. "We can now look at the cause -- the genes
themselves -- with the understanding that hormones are important but not
primary."

She said it may be possible to treat the more severe cases, such as the
Pakistani family, with gene therapy -- perhaps even with a rub-on
product. Gene therapy for male pattern baldness was also possible, she
said -- but years away.

At present there are two different treatments for baldness -- Merck and
Co.'s Propecia, a one-a-day pill based on hormones, and Pharmacia &
Upjohn Inc.'s Rogaine (minoxidil), which is rubbed into the scalp and
which stops hair loss in 80 percent of men who use it for a year.
Another tests shows 80 percent grow some hair back after a year.

"It's a very important finding and it eventually could lead to new
information about encoding the gene for hair loss," said Ron Trancik,
Pharmacia's lead researcher for Rogaine.

He said the company had "discussed internally" the possibility of
developing gene therapy for baldness.

The American Hair Loss Council in Chicago estimates that more than 33
million American men and more than 19 million women have hair loss.

By MAGGIE FOX, Reuter
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 13:53:03 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (NZ)Farmers urged to wait for more potent virus
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Dominion 30/1/98
(New Zealand)

Farmers urged to wait for more potent
rcd strain
by Annie Coughlan

Hawke's Bay farmers are being urged to wait till they are
able to buy a pure, more potent strain of rabbit calicivirus
disease rather than spreading the weakened form in circulation.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council pest control manager Owen
harris said drought conditions and strong sunlight had reduced
the potency and longevity of the strains of the virus in New Zealand.
He was concerned that rabbits would not be killed by the weakened
strains and would instead develop immunity.
"Many South Island farms on which the disease was released last
year are experiencing rabbit numbers at the same levels as before
the disease was released"
Dunedin campany Zentech has applied for registration of a pure
strain of the virus and has been granted a temporary licence, Mr
Harris said.
A decision on a full licence would not be made till March.
If successful, Zentech could then sell the virus.
Mr Harris said the disease had shown various degrees of success
in different parts of the region.
"The first reported release was at Puketitiri in November and we
have been monitoring the kill rate and finding difficult to find any
rabbits"
An earlier spread at Te Haroto had a kill rate of 80 percent
but another at Esk Valley had less than 20 per cent kill despite
being spread in perfect conditions, he said.
At Gwavas Station in Central Hawke's Bay the virus had halved
the rabbit population in the first week.
A planned spread had been overtaken when the disease arrived on
its own.
However, Mr Harris said he was concerned that the strain spreading
in the area could be weakened by strong light and drought.

=====================================================================
========
                   /`\   /`\    Rabbit Information Service,
Tom, Tom,         (/\ \-/ /\)   P.O.Box 30,
The piper's son,     )6 6(      Riverton,
Saved a pig        >{= Y =}<    Western Australia 6148
And away he run;    /'-^-'\
So none could eat  (_)   (_)    email: [e-mail]
The pig so sweet    |  .  |
Together they ran   |     |}    http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
Down the street.    \_/^\_/    (Rabbit Information Service website updated
                                frequently)

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
       - Voltaire




Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 23:22:02
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Human embryo clones 'could help save lives'
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, January 30th, 1998

Human embryo clones 'could help save lives'
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor

HUMAN embryos could be cloned to help provide novel treatments for injury
and disease within a matter of years, the Human Genetics Advisory
Commission said yesterday.

The Government advisers launched a public consultation exercise with a
document that distinguished reproductive cloning - the production of
genetically identical human beings - from therapeutic cloning, where early
embryos may be cloned to develop treatments to improve life expectancy and
quality of life.

Under the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act licensed research on
human embryos up to 14 days old is already permitted. Ruth Deech, chairman
of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, said such experiments
could involve the creation of embryo clones for the development of new
treatments.

"For that sort of research, which has yet to be carried out, [it] would not
involve going as far as making anybody pregnant. We are just talking about
research on the very earliest stages of a fertilised embryo," Mrs Deech said.

"We would never grant a licence for any treatment that would result in the
production of an actual cloned baby," she said. But the HFEA will consider
applications for work on therapeutic cloning that will bring benefits to
patients.

So far no one had asked for a licence to carry out therapeutic cloning but
she said the authority would consider applications that had been approved
by an ethics committee and reviewed by scientists.

The cloning working group of the HGAC and HFEA is concerned that a blanket
ban on all cloning would prevent this research on therapeutic cloning. "We
have got to be careful not to legislate too rigidly too soon," said Sir
Colin Campbell, chairman of the HGAC.

Members want "to stop the wild and irresponsible notion of cloning whole
human beings" but allow "procedures that may in four to five to eight
years' time lead to the curing of diseases".

But the public must be consulted on where to draw the ethical and policy
boundaries, said Sir Colin. "Then we will be able to advise ministers,
probably later this year, about how we think ministers ought to make policy."

Nicholas Coote, assistant general secretary of the Catholic Bishops'
Conference, said that he could not support using and destroying human embryos.

Peter Garrett, research director of the anti-abortion charity Life, said:
"We know what a nightmare world is just around the corner if we once accept
any manipulation of human life in this way. They want to lull us into
allowing the cloners to get to work by proposing a 14-day limit on the
clones' lives initially. Then we get all the usual utilitarian talk about
'potential benefits of research' using laboratory clones. Having got us
used to the idea, they will quickly relax the age limit and away we will
go, full sail ahead, in a year or two's time."

Since the birth of Dolly, the cloned sheep, there had been "hysterical
stories on the possibility of genetically copying human beings," said Sir
Colin. "An awful lot of the scare stories are science fiction, not science
fact. In this country, that can't happen," he said.

Since the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act was passed in 1990,
cloning of whole human beings had effectively been banned, he said.

The everyday use of the term cloning was misleading, he added. A genetic
copy would never be truly identical because the "individual would have a
different experience in the womb, a different birth, a different mother and
a different environment".

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 23:27:38
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Cloning people 'would be repugnant'
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, January 30th, 1998

Cloning people 'would be repugnant'

CLONING humans would be "inefficient, unsafe and morally repugnant," said
Sir Colin Campbell, chairman of the Human Genetics Advisory Committee.

Several reproductive cloning scenarios have been put forward: to generate
an organ donor when there are no compatible organs, to allow a lesbian
couple to have a child, or to clone a dead daughter (even though the clone
would not be the same as the child that died).

But human dignity forbade the use of human beings only as a "means",
holding that they were to be treated as an "end" in their own right, said
Dr  John Polkinghorne, member of the committee's cloning working group.

"Why should we clone people?," he asked. "To reproduce ourselves or a lost
relative? That is an instrumental use of a person. People should be valued
for themselves and not as replacements for others."

Objections to reproductive cloning did not rest on the issue of genetic
uniqueness. Experience of identical twins suggested that a unique genetic
identity was not essential for a human being to feel and be identical.

Another objection rests on the risks and practical difficulties facing the
human use of the Dolly technique. Called "nuclear transfer", the nucleus
from an adult cell - the part containing its genetic instructions - is
fused with an unfertilised egg. Then the reprogrammed egg is implanted into
the womb, where it develops into a genetically identical copy of the donor.

However, Mrs Ruth Deech, chairman of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority, said that, ethical objections aside, human eggs were already in
short supply, let alone surrogate mothers.

Moreover, the age of Dolly's DNA at birth was the same as the original
sheep and so she might have a shorter lifespan or greater risk of cancer as
a result.

The team at the Roslin Institute and PPL Therapeutics required 277 attempts
to clone Dolly by nuclear transfer - "an extremely dangerous and unsafe
procedure", Dr Polkinghorne said. Only 29 resulted in implantable embryos,
all of which, save Dolly, resulted in defective pregnancies or malformed
births.

However an expert on cloning primates, Dr Don Wolf, of the Oregon Regional
Primate Centre in Beaverton, said the technology was advancing rapidly and
the unacceptable risks were bound to diminish. He produced two rhesus
monkeys, Neti, who is a female, and Ditto, a male.

Neti and Ditto are proof that nuclear transfer can work in a species
closely related to humans. The Roslin team did, however, achieve a more
difficult  feat because they cloned adult cells while Dr Wolf used cells
from several embryos.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 23:32:08
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Trust refuses to lift hunt ban
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, January 30th, 1998

Trust refuses to lift hunt ban

THE National Trust's ruling council has refused requests for hunts to cross
trust land or for hunting to continue for scientific research.

A proposal to allow hunting over a small area in the Quantocks was turned
down yesterday, as was a request from hunts and farmers to be allowed to
hunt on part of the Holnicote estate on Exmoor, to allow neighbouring land
to be hunted effectively. The council said it would look at any suggestions
arising from a meeting between the forestry authority and the Quantock Deer
management group next week on how deer might  be controlled.

The trust, which banned hounds hunting for deer last April, welcomed a
proposal from the Countryside Alliance for further research on deer hunting
but refused to allow it to take place on its land.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 23:38:48
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Trust refuses to lift hunt ban
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, January 30th, 1998

Tamworth Two abattoir is 'named and shamed'
By David Brown, Agriculture Editor

THE abattoir from which the Tamworth Two, Britain's most celebrated runaway
pigs, escaped this month was among 70 slaughterhouses and meat plants
"named and shamed" by meat hygiene officials yesterday.

V and G Newman, of Malmesbury, Wilts, scored 61 out of 100 points in meat
hygiene assessment figures being made public for the first time. The
minimum target is 65. Butch and Sundance, a couple of cross-bred Tamworth
boars, escaped shortly before they were due to be slaughtered and swam
across a river to live wild in the countryside. Eventually they were
recaptured and, after being bought by a national newspaper, now live as
celebrities at a wildlife sanctuary in the West Country.

Jeff Rooker, the food safety minister, said: "They obviously didn't want to
die in a low-scoring abattoir."

Jeremy Newman, acting manager, said: "We seem to be in the news these days,
what with the pigs that got away and everything. But these hygiene scores
were based on the
average of figures over three months. Our latest score is now 67 which
reflects general improvements and is higher than the ministry target."

Seventy slaughterhouses and meat plants out of 1,352 inspected failed to
hit the target of 65 out of 100 marks, according to figures published by
the Meat Hygiene Service. All are now being subjected to tighter scrutiny
by vets and meat hygiene inspectors. Some have lost their
licences and others are expected to be closed down. Ministers said meat
inspectors had been assaulted and obstructed while carrying out their work
in some abattoirs. In one case, an inspector allegedly had a noose placed
"playfully" around his neck.

Mr Rooker said the incident was still being investigated. Other court
action was pending and abattoir staff in Yorkshire had been charged with
assaulting a vet. Intimidation would not be tolerated, Mr Rooker said.
Bottom of the league table was Cruisedeal of Manchester with a
score of 34. It has already had its licence revoked but continues to
operate pending an appeal.

Joe Potts, administration manager, said the figures did not reflect the
improving conditions in the abattoir. "Cruisedeal is a new company which
took over from the Manchester Wholesale Meat and Poultry Market, which went
into receivership in November. We are carrying out substantial renovations
to the abattoir."

Top of the list was N Knowles and Son, of Bury, Lancs, which scored a
maximum 100 - the only plant to do so. Britain is the only country in
Europe, and possibly the only one in the world, to subject abattoirs to a
hygiene league table working on a points system.

Scores are judged on the cleanliness of animals coming to the
slaughterhouse and efforts made to avoid cross-contamination. Correct
skinning, handling and storage of meat is also taken into account, together
with overall conditions in abattoirs and meat plants. Those with
low scores - only six per cent - will be targeted with extra inspections.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

I am in no way related to T. Knowles and Son - David]

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 23:47:49
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [US] $10,000 puts pets in lap of luxury for life
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, January 30th, 1998

$10,000 puts pets in lap of luxury for life
By David Sapsted in New York

A GLEAMING, million-dollar retirement home is taking shape on a 60-acre
site in the fashionable Hamptons on Long Island, heralding a new chapter in
care for the elderly in America.

Like thousands of similar homes across the US, it will offer 24-hour
medical care, recreation areas, sun rooms and on-site companions to talk to
and care for the 100 residents. The difference is that when its doors open
this autumn, the ageing residents will all be cats and dogs.

For a one-off fee of $10,000, (ú6,250) owners can rest safe in the
knowledge that their ageing animals will live in air-conditioned splendour
in the Bide-A-Wee retirement home until death overtakes them - when they
will be buried in a pet cemetery next to the home in
West Hampton.

The residents, 50 cats and 50 dogs, will all have to be at least eight
years old. The cats will mingle freely in a common room and the dogs will
have individual kennels with their own runs.

The Bide-A-Wee Association, a charity that already runs three animal rescue
shelters in Manhattan and Long Island, has received more than 2,000
inquiries about its latest venture.

Julia Maucci, a spokesman for the association, said: "We are not offering
the home to people who simply don't want to look after their pets any more
because they are old.

"The home is for animals whose owners die. Many people are worried about
what will happen to their cats and dogs. Our home guarantees the cats and
dogs will be cared for and loved for the rest of their lives." she said.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 23:49:02
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [NZ] 1,000 sea lions are found dead
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, January 30th, 1998

1,000 sea lions are found dead

CONSERVATION officials in New Zealand were last night trying to solve the
mystery of why up to 10 per cent of the world's population of Hooker's sea
lions, a species on the brink of extinction, has been found dead.

The carcasses of more than 1,000 of the mammals have been discovered on the
sub-antarctic Dundas Island, with others on nearby Enderby Island.The
islands are the sea lions' major breeding ground. Many of the dead are pups.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 23:56:29
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [US] 'Grow your own' recipes for space colonists
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, January 29th, 1998

'Grow your own' recipes for space colonists
By Roger Highfield

CHEFS are preparing recipes for Moon and Mars colonists, such as cosmic
tortillas and cheesecake, that will depend mostly on ingredients produced
in space.

To help Nasa plan the cuisine for future space colonies, a team at Cornell
University in New York State, including a chef, nutritionist and biological
engineer, is cooking up "tasty, nutritious and economical" recipes that up
to 200 astronauts can prepare from a limited set of 15 to 30 crops to be
grown in future space habitats.

Wheat and potatoes are the staples to be complemented with rice, soy and
peanuts, salad crops and fresh herbs, all to be grown hydroponically in
artificially lit, temperature-controlled space farms.

The fare now being tested at Cornell by weekly taste-testing panels
includes tacos with lettuce and tomato sprinkled with Earth-made cheese,
carrot "drumsticks", basil pesto with soy nuts, pasta primavera and tofu
cheesecake.

The team must take into account "bioregenerative life support", in which
plants and micro-organisms are used to regenerate air, water and food for
crews engaged in long-term space exploration.

"Our goal is to develop a database of food-processing information and a
menu of at least 100 primarily vegetarian recipes of familiar and new menu
items based on crops raised in a bioregenerative life support system," said
Jean Hunter, who is in charge of the project.

"Because the cost of transporting food for these missions will be
astronomical," added David Levitsky, "our dishes will typically contain
under 10 per cent of calories from Earth-made foods. These imported foods
will probably be the fats, flavour concentrates and various meat and
dairy-based foods to be used mostly as condiments as well as a few
luxuries, such as chocolate. This will allow the crew to splurge on weekly
special meals and a monthly feast, which will help break up the monotony
and isolation of long-term space travel."

Working with them are Rupert Spies, a chef who helps to make the dishes
attractive, and Adriana Rovers, a former caterer and teacher of vegetarian
cooking who prepares the recipes and runs the tasting panels.

"Food plays a critical role in the psychological well-being of isolated
crews," Levitsky said. "We will strive to make the diet familiar to the
crew, give them a sense of mastery in preparing the food and a sense of
pride in producing attractive and tasty dishes."

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.



Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 00:08:54
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Weird World: Dog saviours
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Thursday, January 29th, 1998

Weird World: Dog saviours
Paul Sieveking investigates the real-life heroics of man's best friend

I WAS struck by the fairy-tale quality of Misty Harger's adventures in the
Arkansas                       wilderness. The 12-year-old girl, out
walking on the afternoon of Dec 27 with her 11-year-old sister and foster
parents, wandered off into the woods bordering the canyon of the Buffalo
river.

Two hours later, she was found by Scotty, the family's scruffy mongrel. The
dog stayed with the disorientated girl as she went deeper and deeper into
the forest. Meanwhile, a police helicopter and 100 searchers with
bloodhounds were trying to find her.

She was dressed in light clothing and would almost certainly have died had
she fallen asleep during the night, when temperatures dropped to -8C (15F);
but she was not only kept warm by Scotty but also awake by his almost
constant barking at a mysterious white owl perched nearby that "kind of
glowed".

Misty was found, 24 hours after becoming lost and 90 minutes before a
snowstorm blanketed the area. Undoubtedly, the mongrel had saved her life.
Sgt A D Bolen of the Searcy County sheriff's department said: "I don't know
of any white owls in the county. That's some kind of sign . . . I' ve never
seen one in my life."

Other tales of canine rescue recall the upbringing of classical figures
such as Romulus and Remus. In November 1996, a new-born baby abandoned in
sub-zero temperatures in Bucharest, the Romanian capital, was saved by a
pack of wild dogs. Two dogs stood guard over the tiny bundle while the
barking of two others attracted patrolling police officers.

The boy was found covered in fallen leaves and with the remains of his
umbilical cord and placenta attached. It was thought that a dog had licked
the baby's body clean. The child was adopted by one of the policemen.

It happened again in Romania the following February, in the village of
Salistea. A naked premature baby, weighing 3lb 11oz, was dumped in
freezing weather in a neighbour's garden. His pet pooch, Dana, dragged the
baby into a barn where she was suckling her pups and kept it warm until the
dog's owner found the child. At the time of the report, the child,
recovering in an incubator, was to be reunited with the mother, Diana
Minerva, 32. The mother of six had dumped the baby because she had no money.

Other dogs show impressive ingenuity. On March 15, 1995, Bjorn
Marthinussen, 29, and his stepsons were asleep when their house in the
Norwegian town of Rognan caught fire. Argo, his four-year-old German
shepherd dog, who had never shown a mastery of door handles before, managed
to open two doors and race upstairs to wake the family. All escaped just in
time.

 At 4am on June 25, 1996, Roc, a cross retriever/Rottweiler, noticed a fire
started by lightning in the attic of his owners' house in New Bern, north
Carolina. His barking failed to wake them, so he rang the doorbell.

Rosevelt and Linda Matthews and their two teenage children lost everything
but their lives in the fire. Roc won their eternal gratitude. The dog had
never been trained by the family to ring doorbells, although he had done it
once before.

Some dogs seem to be prescient. Donna, a four-year-old retriever, saved the
life of her master, Sture Abrahamsson, 53, on Jan 9, 1998,  when his house
in the Swedish village of Halland burnt down. He was asleep on the sofa in
front of the television set so Donna barked and pulled his ear. Just in
time, he smashed a window and jumped out with the dog before the house was
completely destroyed.

Donna usually slept in the horses' stable, 50 yards from the house, but on
that particular night she dodged into the house. The fire did not reach the
stable, so it was not the horses that needed protection that night.

Paul Sieveking is editor of Fortean Times.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.



Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 20:09:31 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (NZ)Infection risk to pet rabbits
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From The Press - January 29, 1998

Infection risk to pet rabbits

Rabbit calicivirus disease has been found on a Swannanoa farm near Tram
Road.

A dead rabbit killed by RCD was found by a farmer on Monday. RCD has also
been reported in the hills around Redcliffs.

Canterbury Regional Council pest services manager Ian Lucas said the
reports meant pockets of RCD were so close to Christchurch that rabbit
owners needed to take care.

"It's time to inoculate pet rabbits as RCD is now here," Mr Lucas said.

The Swannanoa report was significant in that it was at least 7km from the
only planned RCD release he had heard of in the area.

RCD was turning out to be unpredictable in both its performance and in
where it turned up.

"This is turning out to be the pest control season we cannot plan for," he
said.

The release of RCD in the South Island had raised hopes it would wipe out
so many rabbits that traditional pest control steps would not be needed.

As mixed reports of the kill rate of RCD were compiled Canterbury Regional
Council staff and farmers were starting to consider normal pest control
steps such as poisoning.

Mr Lucas said he was making tentative inquiries about carrot supplies this
week.

He said he was convinced some rabbits had developed immunity to RCD. In
areas where rabbit infestation was high, rabbits would be tested for
immunity. If they proved RCD-resistant, poison would be laid.

 The Press - January 28, 1998

RCD reaches Port Hills

Rabbit calicivirus disease has arrived on the Port Hills with reports of
dead rabbits in the hills around Redcliffs. However, it has had only
limited effect over much of the Canterbury Plains.

In the Mackenzie area, where farmers introduced RCD, the virus has taken a
heavy toll of rabbits but the results are more patchy elsewhere.

Canterbury Regional Council pest services manager Ian Lucas said RCD had
reportedly hit the Port Hills, stalled in McLeans Island, and had done
little in most parts of the Canterbury Plains.

Canterbury Regional Council staff had no specimens of the dead rabbits but
RCD was now common enough to be the likely source of the deaths. Some form
of immunity developing among rabbits was possible, Mr Lucas said.

Christchurch virologist Dr Lance Jennings said there was no evidence to
suggest humans were affected by the disease.

Dr Jennings, Ministry of Health study group spokesman, said blood samples
from 120 people living close to the original RCD outbreak in Central Otago
were being tested in Christchurch.

He said he hoped to complete testing of the samples for RCD antibodies by
the end of March. "We will decide what the next step will be on the basis
of the information we receive."

Dr Jennings said humans produced antibodies in reaction to viral infections
and to viral antigens, the latter being the basis of immunisation.

A helicopter survey over the Clarence Valley area on Monday showed signs of
a resurgent rabbit population after a dramatic drop in an earlier
assessment.

Farmers who had hoped for the high kill rates of their Mackenzie peers were
now considering more traditional control measures, Mr Lucas said. "In
Mackenzie they got in at the right time to get the bulk of the adult
population," he said. The hot weather appeared to have slowed the spread of
the disease.

Some farmers were now trying to re-release RCD, he said.

Mackenzie farmers said yesterday that RCD had "blitzed" the rabbit
population in their area, the worst for the pest in New Zealand.

Haldon station manager Paddy Boyd said few rabbits were on the vast
property inland from Burkes Pass. The station had just been mustered and
there was still grass on some back blocks, in spite of three months of hot
winds, because it was not being eaten by rabbits, he said.

Rabbits were still in pockets that had not had contact with the virus.

Mr Boyd said the initial virus might have lost its effectiveness, as he had
not seen many fresh carcasses. It might have to be reintroduced if rabbit
numbers rose, he said.

He had not noticed signs of rabbits building up an immunity.

Surviving rabbits caught from areas that had been infected had been given
the virus, and died within 24 hours. The virus also killed young rabbits,
he said.

Twizel station owner Malcolm Walls said RCD was working well in the region;
his property had few rabbits.

He said there was more feed, though it would take four to five years to
repair the damage from years of rabbit infestation.

=====================================================================
========
                   /`\   /`\    Rabbit Information Service,
Tom, Tom,         (/\ \-/ /\)   P.O.Box 30,
The piper's son,     )6 6(      Riverton,
Saved a pig        >{= Y =}<    Western Australia 6148
And away he run;    /'-^-'\
So none could eat  (_)   (_)    email: [e-mail]
The pig so sweet    |  .  |
Together they ran   |     |}    http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
Down the street.    \_/^\_/    (Rabbit Information Service website updated
                                frequently)

It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
       - Voltaire

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 07:58:42 -0500 (EST)
From: Debbie Leahy <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [US] Canada Goose Kill
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII

            ILLINOIS CANADA GOOSE KILL

An Illinois state representative has introduced legislation
to kill federally-protected Canada geese.  Citing nuisance
issues, Representative Tom Johnson (R-West Chicago) wants
the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to develop a
plan to eradicate the birds.  Complaints seem to be
generated by golf courses and office complexes that have
landscaped habitat which naturally attracts geese.  Please
voice your objections to Rep. Tom Johnson, phone
630/231-0340.

Reasons for opposition include:

Humane alternatives have not been fully explored or
implemented.

Habitats could be modified to be less attractive to the
geese.

Violence is not an acceptable solution to solving problems.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, like virtually
every other state, is an agency dominated by hunters.  With
such a serious imbalance, the decision-making process is
flawed from the onset.

---------------------------------------------------
Illinois Animal Action
P.O. Box 507
Warrenville, IL  60555
630/393-2935
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 98 07:52:36 UTC
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: News from PETA's calendar
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Today marks the day in 1996 when United Airlines stopped serving
foie gras !!!!!!!!  A victory for the animals that animal rights activists
can certainly take credit for! (Letters poured into United Airlines asking
them to stop serving foie gras!!)

-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 11:34:25 EST
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Box Turtle Illegal Sales
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit


A/w Oklahoma City news:

Four Oklahoma men have admitted in federal court to collecting and
illegally selling thousands of Oklahoma box turtles.  Most of the turtles
were sold for more than $2 each to a Texas dealer between 1995 and
Aug. 1996.  The dealer than shipped them to pet dealers on both coasts
and overseas, a/w Linda Epperly, assistant US Attorney in Muskogee, Ok.

Sentencing will be set in about 60 days for Frank Ketchum, 61; Billy
Ketchum, 33, and Neil Ketchum, 38, all of McAlester, and Kendall
Ketchum, 36, of Indianola.  The case against Frank Ketchum was a
felony and the others faced misdemeanors.  The men were charged
and pleaded guilty Tuesday to violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits
the export or import of wildlife protected by states.  The four men
admitted to engaging in a conspiracy to export box turtles in violation
of Oklahoma wildlife protection statutes.

Epperly said the men captured and paid children to capture the turtles
in eastern Okla.  and take the turtles to a flea market in Canton, Texas
where most were sold to Claude Davis, III.  Davis pleaded guilty in
Texas federal court to similar charges.

Oklahoma wildlife officials started investigating the men in 1995 and
investigators then set undercover buys at the flea market.  Law
enforcement officers confiscated 821 box turtles in Aug. 1996 as
part of the case. Fifty-two of the turtles showed symptoms of vitamin
defciency--runny noses and swollen eyes--and were treated by
veterinary students at Okla. State Univ.  The seized turtles were
than released in Oklahoma.

Prosecutors think this was the largest seizure ever made of Okla.
box turtles and that this is the first federal prosecution to protect
the Oklahoma species.  Oklahoma residents may legally have up
to six box turtles as pets, Epperly said.

                                                           For the Animals,

                                                           Jana, OKC

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 11:18:02 -0600
From: [e-mail] (Victoria Mireles)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Fish swallowing
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT
MIME-Version: 1.0 (WebTV)

Chicago Tribune:

AKRON - A man choked to death Thursday after trying to swallow a live
5-inch fish on a dare.

Paramedics removed the aquarium fish from 23-year-old Michael Gentner's
throat but could not resuscitate him.

"They could see the tail still sticking out of his mouth," said fire Lt.
Dennis Ragins.

Three unidentified friends had called 911 to say Gentner had a fish
stuck in his throat and was having trouble breathing.

Police said it was unlikely charges would be filed against them.

"If I dare you to jump off a bridge and you do it and you're 23 years of
age, you're stupid," police Maj. Mike Matulavich said.


It is not enough to be compassionate.  You must act.

His Holiness, Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, 1992.




Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 10:16:08 -0700
From: buffalo folks <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: 3 buffalo calves and their moms shot yesterday; thrown in dump
Message-ID: <v04003a0fb0f7bb2c8969@[208.4.224.30]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

story at
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo

 thought you'd like to know!

********************************************************
This is an all volunteer effort.  Your actions make the difference.

TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT the Stop-the-Slaughter SITE (1/98)
http://www.wildrockies.org/bison

********************************************************
Check out Buffalo Nations site!  constantly updated with new info from the
field!
http://www.wildrockies.org/Buffalo
write a letter to the editor of one of the papers listed there!
***********************************

For the Buffalo!
Mitakuye Oyasin (All My Relations)
********************************************************


Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 22:23:37 +0100
From: [e-mail] (Clemens Purtscher)
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: RFI mink farming
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Content-ID: <[e-mail]>

Dear friends,

I┤m posting this in the name of the Austrian animal welfare society
RespekTiere.

I need your help urgently to close down the last mink farm in Austria.
The
next to last farm closed down this winter.

This last farm now had to apply for a license to keep the mink under a
new
law. For this procedure I want to provide the authorities with
scientific
studies or statements that mink need swimming water, must not be kept in
wire cages, etc.

Therefore I ask you to send me any scientific information that might
help
me convince the authorities. This would mean the end of mink farming in
Austria!

As I need it rather soon please send it within the next week to:

RespekTiere
Clemens Purtscher
Postfach 97
1172 Wien
Fax: [phone]

Thank you very much in advance!
Best wishes

Clemens Purtscher
--- OffRoad 1.9s registered to Clemens Purtscher
--

***********************Black*Box Online Community***********************
* palazzo - die virtuelle Bastelwelt | http://www.blackbox.at/palazzo/ *
************************************************************************
Black*Box FirstClass BBS: [phone] (Modem) | http://www.blackbox.at
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 16:19:14 -0600
From: [e-mail] (Rick Bogle)
To: "AR-News Post" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Vilas update
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Greetings:

This morning at 7:00 a.m. the Henry Vilas Zoo Commission met to discuss and
vote on resolution 241 which orders the Zoo Commission to develop a variety
of options for the final disposition of the 150 macaques living in three
separate colonies at the zoo.

Those attending in support of the resolution included its author, Tom
Stobig, and seven monkey supporters.  Also in attendance were the Wisconsin
Regional Primate Center interim director Joe Kemnitz and two other center
employees.

The Commission listened to comments from most of those present and after a
short discussion voted unaniamously to approve the resolution.

They were clear that the number of calls they had received had a strong
effect on their vote.  A letter from the Zoo Commission to the university
has been drafted to request that the university guarantee the monkeys'
safety until the resolution has time to be considered by the Ways and Means
Commission and the Public Works Commission.

This is a small hopeful victory for these monkeys, and we must now continue
our lobbying effort over these next two hurdles.  You did it before, and
you must now call again.  (See the Alliance's earlier post for these
numbers.)

On a more somber note, three or four monkeys were apparently removed from
the zoo and taken to the primate center at around noon today.  Our
investigation continues.

R
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 10:39:21 -0600
From: "Alliance for Animals" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Zoo Comm votes to support monkeys..still work to do..
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30
THANKS TO YOUR EFFORTS....
We have crossed one hurdle..that the Zoo Commission met this morning
and voted unanimously to SUPPORT the resolution to protect the
monkeys.  There are still calls to make to the WAYS AND MEANS
Committee and the PUBLIC WORKS Committee to ensure that they too will
vote to support the resolution. Please don't delay.  We can win for
the monkeys and work together on this important issue.
 THEY NEED TO HEAR HOW YOU FEEL
 Please Contact the following committee members who are assigned to
 work on Resolution 241: Directing the Zoo Commission and Zoo Director
 to Develop options to retain the monkey colonies at the Henry Vilas
 Zoo. Ask that they work to keep the Vilas Monkeys here in Madison.
 We know it takes time to make so many calls, but if we fail to
 generate enough phone calls, the monkeys are sure to be sent to
 Tulane Primate Research Facility where they will be used in invasive
 research.
They do NOT deserve such a fate.
We CAN still work to keep them safe!

Ways & Means Committee
Name, District
    Jonathan Becker, Chair,11Hm:238-7076Wk:267-0647
    John Hendrick,6Hm:257-1409
    Kevin Kesterson,34Hm:838-9518
      Ruth Ann Schoer,9Hm:836-1312Wk:277-8887
    Tom Stoebig, 15Hm:222-6429
    Helen Hellenbrand,27Hm:849-8451
    Larry Olson,12Hm:244-1480
    Judith Pederson,1Hm:274-4016
    Mike Blaska,38Hm:837-2652
    Dave Gawenda,16Hm:221-4021
      Andrew Janssen,5Hm:238-9396Wk:266-1182

Public Works & Facilities Management Committee
Name,District
    David Ripp, Chair,29Hm:849-7643
  James Mohrbacher, Vice-Chair,18Hm:246-9153
   Eugene Craft, Sec.,30Hm:437-5652
    David Blaska,7Hm:271-4882
     Jonathan Becker,11Hm:238-7076Wk:266-4360
    Judith Pederson,1Hm:274-4016

Thank you for your help on this important issue!  Alliance for Animals
608-257-6333
Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 18:00:34 -0600
From: "Alliance for Animals" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: VIlas Monkey Update/URGENT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

JANUARY 30, 1998
URGENT

On Tuesday, February 3rd at 5:45pm the PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE will
meet to discuss and VOTE on RESOLUTION 241 regarding the Vilas Zoo
Monkeys. Please contact the following committee members and
respectfully ASK THAT THEY SUPPORT THE RESOLUTION to keep the monkeys
here in Madison or here until a safe home can be found for them.  We
at the Alliance will do all we can to facilitate that effort.  You can
make a difference by calling and letting these members of the Board
know how you feel.  Thank you!

Call soon!  Tuesday is coming fast!

Public Works & Facilities Management Committee
Name,District

   David Ripp, Chair,29Hm:849-7643
  James Mohrbacher, Vice-Chair,18Hm:246-9153
   Eugene Craft, Sec.,30Hm:437-5652
    David Blaska,7Hm:271-4882
     Jonathan Becker,11Hm:238-7076Wk:266-4360
    Judith Pederson,1Hm:274-4016

Thank you for your help on this important issue!  Alliance for Animals
608-257-6333

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 16:26:24 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Kundu <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: motor sought
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I am desparately searching for someone who has a small, dependable (4-10 hp)
boat motor which they would be willing to donate to an effort to oppose the
resumed gray whale hunt by the Makah tribe of Neah Bay, Washington.

This motor will be used alongside a main 90 hp unit which is presently
driving my zodiac (not entirely dependably, I might add).  Please respond
directly to Michael Kundu, Pacific Northwest Coordinator, Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society Whale Guardian Network.

Michael Kundu: Project SeaWolf
Arcturus Adventure Communications
Marysville, Washington State
*NOTE: Email address change -- [e-mail]

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 23:02:29 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Horse adoption program overwhelmed with too many animals
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

BLM horses
from CNN http://www.cnn.com
--------------------------------
Horse adoption program overwhelmed with too many animals

A wild horse fights as officials work to brand and vaccinate it

January 30, 1998
 Web posted at: 9:20 p.m. EDT (2120 GMT)

(AP) -- A federal program to round up excess wild horses and burros on
public land and offer them for adoption is overwhelmed with too many
animals and not enough people willing to take them home.

More than 6,000 unadopted animals have accumulated in government corrals
and sanctuaries.

This is the latest problem for a Bureau of Land Management
program exposed a year ago for allowing people to sell adopted horses for
slaughter.

The 26-year-old Wild Horse and Burro Program was intended by Congress to
save the lives of wild horses that compete with
ranchers' cattle grazing on public land in the West. The BLM has decided to
limit the number of horses and burros on public lands to 26,000, but an
estimated 44,000 are roaming free in 10 Western states.

The BLM has tried to get the situation under control by rounding up about
10,000 animals a year and offering them for adoption. However, The
Associated Press reported last year that thousands of adopted animals had
been sold for slaughter and that BLM employees were among those profiting.

AP also found that the BLM lost track of about 32,000
adopted animals and that agency officials gave false information about the
program to Congress.

Finding homes for the horses has been difficult

Pat Shea, a Utah lawyer with a passion for the outdoors, took
charge of the BLM in October and promised to overhaul the program. However,
he said the reform is not coming easily. "When a mistake is made," he said,
"there is a tendency to gather together and avoid recognition of the problem."

In the wake of disclosures, finding homes for the animals has
been more difficult. For one thing, people who adopted large
numbers of horses in the past and then sold them for slaughter are no
longer allowed to participate. Jim Edwards of Columbus, Montana, was the
first to be rejected.

Tim Murphy, manager of the BLM's district office in Miles City, Montana,
rejected Edwards' application.

"This decision is based on the fact that you were involved in the sale of
wild horses for slaughter in the mid-1980's," he wrote in October, "and
that you were the caretaker of more than 20 horses that died from
malnutrition during that period."

Edwards did not return calls. His wife, Sherry, said BLM agents encouraged
the family to adopt the horses in the mid-'80s and sell them for slaughter.

At that time, she said, it seemed the only way to get rid of
excess horses.

"There are good people in the BLM, there are
lunatics in the BLM, and there are some people who have no clue about
horses," she said.

Last year, BLM crews rounded up 10,443 horses and burros and
were unable to find homes for 1,751 of them. They joined thousands more
left unadopted from previous roundups. A January BLM survey counted 6,285
wild horses in BLM corrals and sanctuaries. This year the agency hopes to
round up even more animals.

Animal welfare

In the next three months, some of these animals will find homes during 31
adoptions around the country. But other animals, some of them old, ugly or
mean, are destined to live out their days as federal welfare cases.

Wild horses and burros are not cheap or easy for the government to keep.
Already, the BLM is spending $50,000 a week to maintain them, and their
numbers are growing. They also catch and share viruses, suffocate in
snowdrifts and, if not carefully separated, reproduce.

An internal audit of the program released in August blamed both the BLM and
Congress for the program's problems. It said Congress hamstrings the BLM by
prohibiting the agency from killing healthy animals. And it said the agency
has not "aggressively pursued other options for controlling herd sizes,
such as birthrate controls."

Shea said such options require a bigger budget. He said he needs $19.4
million to care for the animals and reorganize the adoption program, but
Congress has appropriated only $15.8 million. He plans to ask Congress this
month for permission to move money from other BLM programs.

Shea hopes to find more adopters this year through publicity and education.
He is also asking program managers to use better science and pushing for
some kind of birth control.

And he's asking them for straight answers. "The people I have met in the
program are very, very dedicated public servants," he said. "But faced with
an impossible job they have shown a tendency to cover up their mistakes and
problems rather than try to resolve them."

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 23:09:34 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Oprah's guest: `I delivered my opinion'
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Friday, January 30, 1998 7:30 p.m. CT

Oprah's guest: `I delivered my opinion'
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey

By CHIP CHANDLER
Globe-News Staff Writer

There are more ways to educate than just using facts, a defendant in the
Oprah Winfrey trial said Friday.

Howard Lyman, a guest on the April 16, 1996, episode of Winfrey's show that
sparked the lawsuit, said repeatedly on Friday that he was just stating his
opinion on the show. He was called to the stand by attorneys for cattlemen
who are suing Winfrey, her production company and Lyman.

During the taping of the show, Lyman made a number of comments that area
cattlemen allege were false, including that an outbreak of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, "could make AIDS look like
the common cold."

Lyman said he was only expressing his opinion.

"Aren't you in fact implying that you have facts to back that up?"
plaintiffs' attorney David Mullin asked.

"I did not make any implication on what was there. I delivered my opinion,"
Lyman answered.

In an earlier exchange, Lyman called himself an educator and said he
considered himself an expert on BSE.

Mullin asked if he had any scientific background that would make him an
expert.

"I believe that many people educate themselves on subjects. That doesn't
mean you have to be in a laboratory. . . . I think we learn a lot of things
by reading," he said.

Later, plaintiffs' attorney Joseph Coyne said that Lyman just regurgitated
things he read.

Lyman again called himself an educator and said, "I believe there are a lot
of ways of educating other than facts."

Lyman said he was not trying to be inflammatory when comparing AIDS to the
possibility of a BSE outbreak.

He said he did not make the statement from any factual research, but "based
on the information I had in my soul."

Lyman also said he did not believe he was responsible for ensuring that
certain facts were broadcast on the show. Among the facts the cattlemen's
attorneys said he left out was that the Food and Drug Administration had
given cattle feeders notice that it would ban the use of supplemental
protein, which is made of rendered, processed parts of cattle and other
animals.

"I believe that Dr. (Gary) Weber and Dr. (William) Hueston were there to
point out that. I was there to give my opinion regarding mad cow disease,"
he said.

Earlier Friday, Lyman testified that Winfrey made up her own mind about
beef.

"I believe that I raised some issues that she probably had never heard of
before, and it was her own decision," he said. He also said it was not his
agenda on the show to get people to stop eating beef.

"I raised the issue with individuals about their diet and what they're
eating, but I'm not pointing my finger at them and telling them not to eat
beef," Lyman said.

Lyman said on the show that "cows are eating cows," his term for the use of
rendered supplements. Winfrey replied: "It has just stopped me cold from
eating another burger."

In earlier testimony, jurors heard guests appearing on "The Oprah Winfrey
Show" must be knowledgeable, informative and good communicators in addition
to delivering the information in a truthful manner, according to Alice
McGee, supervising senior producer.

Lyman was considered "my best guest for this viewpoint," McGee said in a
videotaped deposition, which jurors heard Friday morning.

She said the only thing done to verify truthfulness and accuracy of the
message was to request copies of past interviews and verify the
individual's identity.

"It's that guest's opinion. We verify they are a credible person, and they
are entitled to their opinion," McGee said.

She said the priority of the show is to deliver a truthful show that
educates and enlightens. Impact on the general public and the cattle
industry in particular in this case were not considerations, she said.

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 23:11:29 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Witness: Knowledge crucial
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Friday, January 30, 1998 1:16 p.m. CT

Witness: Knowledge crucial
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey

By KAY LEDBETTER
Globe-News Farm and Ranch Editor

Guests appearing on "The Oprah
Winfrey Show" must be knowledgeable,
informative and good communicators
in addition to delivering the
information in a truthful manner,
according to Alice McGee, supervising senior producer. McGee took the
witness stand this morning, the final day of the second week of the area
cattleman vs. Winfrey trial, via videotaped deposition.

Howard Lyman, a guest and a defendant in the case, was considered "my best
guest for this viewpoint," McGee said. McGee however said the only thing
done to verify truthfulness and accuracy of the message was to request
copies of past interviews and verify who the individual is.

"It's that guest's opinion. We verify they are a credible person, and they
are entitled to their opinion," McGee said.

She said the priority of the show is to deliver a truthful show that
educates and enlightens. Impact on the general public and the cattle
industry in particular in this case were not considerations. The same, she
said, was true for ratings.

An associate producer testified late Thursday that the April 16, 1996, show
was balanced, even though it was two against one.

Ray Dotch - who also appeared in a videotaped deposition - was questioned
about a number of subjects, one of which was dealing with vegetarian
activist Lyman.

Lyman was on the show with Dr. Gary Weber of the National Cattlemen's Beef
Association and Dr. William Hueston of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dotch said he was told by his supervisor to tell Lyman to "hammer home" his
beliefs, but never got a chance to do so. He said he made the notation
because Lyman was outnumbered.

"There were two people with one opinion and one person with another
opinion," Dotch said. "Since it was two against one, we wanted to make sure
it wasn't lopsided."

Dotch said he still felt the show was balanced, even though he thought
Lyman was a better guest with more "TV savvy."

Thursday was Winfrey's birthday, and repeatedly she answered the question
"What do you want for your birthday?" with "a good night's sleep." She said
she was tired and hoped to get away for a while this weekend.

Stedman Graham, her boyfriend, arrived in Amarillo shortly before the noon
break and spent the afternoon in court sitting behind Winfrey.

In a lighter moment during the trial Thursday, when Dotch was being
questioned about the supervisory structure, immediately answered the
question, "Who's Oprah Winfrey's boss?" with "God."

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 23:14:41 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Activist was seen as `better' guest
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Friday, January 30, 1998 6:57 a.m. CT

Activist was seen as `better' guest
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey

By CHIP CHANDLER
Globe-News Staff Writer

An employee of Oprah Winfrey was told to tell vegetarian activist Howard
Lyman to "hammer home" his beliefs, but never got a chance to do so,
according to testimony Thursday.

Ray Dotch, an associate producer of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," also said he
thought Lyman was a better guest than Dr. Gary Weber of the National
Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Dotch said he made a notation on his to-do list to tell Lyman he needed to
"strongly express his opinion." He said he was told by his immediate
supervisor to talk with Lyman if he got a chance, but Dotch said he never
did.

He said he thought Lyman should hammer his point home because Lyman was
outnumbered.

"There were two people with one opinion and one person with another
opinion, so since it was two against one, we wanted to make sure it wasn't
lopsided," Dotch said.

Lyman faced off against Weber and Dr. William Hueston of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, who also testified in the case this week.

Dotch said that he still felt the show was balanced, even though he thought
Lyman was "more TV savvy."

Jurors in the cattlemen versus Winfrey beef-defamation trial in U.S.
District Court watched Dotch testify in a videotaped deposition filmed last
year.

Dotch said he was in charge of researching some segments of the show,
including a woman who said she thought her mother-in-law died of
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease that she contracted by eating beef in England.

There have been no confirmed cases in America of CJD that is related to
bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

The woman, Linda Marler, and her mother-in-law's physician, Dr. James
Miller, both appeared on the episode that prompted the lawsuit.

Attorneys asked Dotch whether he thought it should have been pointed out
that there was no scientific evidence to say whether the woman got CJD from
eating beef.

"It was made clear that was a possibility," Dotch said. "The fact that it
was a possibility meant that it could be or it couldn't be."

Dotch said the show did not cause him to stop eating beef, as it did
Winfrey.

He did say that he thought what Lyman termed as "cows eating cows" was
unnatural.

"I don't know whether it's a health risk or not, but it concerns me," he
said.

Some U.S. cattle were fed supplements made with the rendered, processed
meat and bone meal of other animals, including cattle, until a mandatory
ban on the practice went into effect last summer.

Plaintiffs' attorneys asked whether Dotch thought the show had a
responsibility to balance speculation with proven science.

"We provide a forum for conversation, and people with opposing views are
going to come on and talk," he answered. "We try, or I try, to make sure
that all views are presented."

Dotch also said he did not consider if the show would have an effect on the
cattle market.

"For my purpose on the show, this wasn't important for me to know," he
said.

Dotch was the second witness to testify in the trial by video deposition.

His testimony caused one of the few light moments in Thursday's court
session.

Attorneys asked him who his boss is and, in a series of questions, worked
their way up the ranks at Winfrey's company, Harpo Productions Inc.

"And who is Oprah Winfrey's boss?" attorney Vince Nowak asked.

"God," Dotch answered, to a brief burst of laughs in court. Winfrey did not
join in the laughter, though some jurors appeared to smile.

Dotch said he meant Winfrey is the top authority at Harpo.

His testimony followed similar testimony by another associate producer,
Andrea Wishom.

Wishom said Lyman was not the only guest considered for the show that
opposed eating beef.

Wishom said she talked with another vegetarian activist, but "I didn't ask
him because I thought he might communicate some of his views. He might
scare our viewers. He seemed a little extreme, and he had an agenda - that
beef wasn't good - and I wasn't sure he saw a way for it to be good."

But Wishom said the show was not concerned about the biases of Lyman and
Weber.

"What we do is present a forum for different opinions and ideas," she said.
She said both Weber and Lyman had knowledge about the issue and good
communications skills.

Wishom was questioned by plaintiffs' attorneys about how guests were
chosen; what she knew about the guests; how much research she conducted;
and what she knew about BSE. In many instances, she replied she knew only
what she was told by those she interviewed.

When asked whether she knew anything about Lyman before calling him, she
said no, but during the call she learned "he was passionate, and he seemed
knowledgeable."

Attorneys asked what he seemed passionate about, to which she said what he
thought were bad practices such as feeding cows to cows. She considered him
knowledgeable because he was a former cattle rancher.

Wishom agreed she did not talk to any other cattle ranchers before taping
the show.

Globe-News Farm and Ranch Editor Kay Ledbetter contributed to this report.

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 23:17:32 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Trial highlights
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

[Don't forget...you can *vote* on the trial!]
from @marillo Globe-News http://www.amarillonet.com/oprah/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Web posted Friday, January 30, 1998 5:50 a.m. CT

Trial highlights
Cattlemen vs. Oprah Winfrey

* Ray Dotch, an associate producer on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," said in
videotaped testimony that he was told to tell Howard Lyman to hammer his
points home but never did so.

* Dotch said he thought Lyman was more "TV savvy" than others on the show
and made a better guest.

* Another associate producer, Andrea Wishom, said the show was not
concerned about the biases of guests. She said the program is intended as a
forum for opinions.

Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 12:21:28 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (NZ)700 sea lions found dead.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


> E Ravji,
> 13 Stanley Street,
> Woodville.
> NZ.
> Ph/Fax + 64 6 3765024
> email: [e-mail]
>
> From Elayne Ravji FOENZ
>
> The Dominion 30/1/1998 (This is only a partial report)
>
> 700 Sea Lions found dead
>
> Scientists Fear Pacific Epidemic
>
> By Alan Samson and Gil Norman
>
> More than 700 sea lion pups have been found dead on
> a sub-antarctic island, and scientists fear deaths may be
> linked to reports of dead and dying fish stocks throughout
> the Pacific Ocean.
> The latest reported deaths, of rare Hooker's sea lion pups,
> were reported by Nick Gales, a Conservation Department
> -contracted veterinarian on Dundas Island, in the Auckland
> Islands, 320 kilometres south of New Zealand. The deaths
> comprised about 30 per cent of the pups born at the main
> breeding colony in the Southern Ocean.
> Scientists think the dead pups, following reports of dead and
> dying sea life along the Wairarapa coast, may be of a pattern
> of deaths across the Pacific.
> American authorities earlier reported that EL Nino had wrought
> marked changes in fish populations, with warmer waters off
> parts of the United states also encouraging the growth of
> dangerous bacteria in shellfish.
> Though New Zealand scientists are less sure that EL Nino is
> to blame, they acknowledge that there problems throughout
> the Pacific.
>
> Evening Standard 30/1/98
>
> Massey begins probing sea lion deaths (this is only a partial report)
>
> by Kirsty McTamney and NZPA
>
> Early statements on the possible cause of the mysterious
> deaths of sea lion pups are speculative, says Per Madie,
> director of Massey University's Cetacean Investigation Centre.
> The testing at Massey would start with a "blank page", Mr Madie
> said today.
> Yesterday, it was reported 170 rare Hooker sea lion pups had
> been found dead on the Auckland Islands, 320 km south of New
> Zealand.
> Massey scientists recieved 170kg of samples- including two frozen
> carcasses- this morning. Testing was to begin tomorrow, after they
> had defrosted.
> Mr Madie, a senior lecturer, said scientists wouls "start at one
> end and go through each possibility". It was not known exactly
> when the cause of the deaths would be known. The inquiry might
> take "weeks or months".
> He speculated the deaths were caused by either a virus or a
> marine bio-toxin.
> In response to suggestions the deaths were linked to reports of
> dead and dying fish stocks throughout the Pacific, Mr Maddie said
> a link was possible if the deaths were caused by a marine bio-toxin.
> But they could also be a coincidence.
> If a toxin were identified, it would be out of Massey's field, and
> further tests would have to be conducted elsewhere. If a virus
> were found, it might also have to be typed elsewhere.
> Concerns from conservationists were valid, especially as the
> Hooker sea lion was endangered, he said.
>
> Evening Standard 30/1/98
>
> Fish Deaths Linked to Gas
> NZPA
>
> Masterton- Dead fish and mammals washed up on the
> Wairarapa coast have scientist baffled. But according to
> one theory, their deaths could have been caused by dumped
> wartime surplus.
> Local fisherman Mike Sinclair senior said a lot of equipment,
> including surplus mustard gas, was dumped in the Hikurangi
> Trench, off the Wairarapa Coast, in 1946. "You never know
> what is happening under there," he said.
> Dead broadbill, louvar, penguins, tuna, paua and seals have
> been found washed up on beaches along the coast from
> Castle Point to Cape Palliser.
> John McCoy, National Institute of Water and Atmosphere
> regional fisheries manager, said no cause for the deaths
> had been found yet. "We are only guessing at the moment. It
> is hard to see what could commonly hit penguins, paua and
> fish."
> Mr Sinclair said that in 1946 huge quantities of posion gas were
> dropped over the side of the steamer Matai about 45km south
> of Cape Palliser, and these containers could now be corroding.
> "I read an article saying this happened in the Baltic, and presumably
> this could now be happening off the Wairarapa', coast.
> What ever is happening on one here has seen anything like it
> before".
>
>
>

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