Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news68~2.htm/text0005.txt

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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, March 8th, 1998

Hunt Bill could lose Labour ú1 million
By Tom Baldwin, Political Correspondent

ANIMAL welfare groups are planning to withdraw their funding to the Labour
Party following the Government's refusal to support backbench attempts to
ban hunting.

At the last election the Political Animal Lobby (PAL) gave ú1million to the
Labour Party because it was convinced that Tony Blair would back large
parts of its agenda. However, they were disappointed by the Government's
failure to act decisively against vivisection and they believe that
ministers may also be seeking to water down international efforts to ban
the trade in ivory.

Now they are planning a new strategy. They will slash funding for political
parties' election campaigns and use their considerable war chest to target
individual opponents instead.
These will include leading Cabinet ministers such as Jack Straw, the Home
Secretary, who has suggested that foxhunting could escape a ban for 50 years.

Anger will intensify this week when the Government faces a political
backlash over its refusal to grant extra parliamentary time to the
backbencher Bill to outlaw hunting with dogs. Although the proposal has the
support of most MPs, it is doomed to be "talked out" by opponents in the
Commons on Friday.

PAL's sister organisation, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, is
already drawing up plans to exert new pressure on ministers and MPs who
have opposed the Bill. Many activists
have contrasted the success of the Countryside March last weekend in
influencing government thinking with the apparent failure of their own
low-key approach.

One official said: "We have played it by the book and have not sought to
embarrass the Government, but we may now need to look at doing this in
other ways." Among the tactics under consideration is direct mailshots to
contituents and local newspapers, highlighting the behaviour of particular
MPs. There will also be concerted lobbying, with backbenchers being
mobilised to put ministers on the spot - beginning with this week's meeting
of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Mr Straw is increasingly the focus of their anger after saying the
Government had no mandate to ban hunting and should play no part in helping
the Bill to outlaw the sport. Ian Gibson, a backbench Labour MP, said: "I
think that parliamentary democracy says we should get it through and that's
why we're MPs. I think if what he said is true, then it was a stab in the
back."

Jack Straw has been leading a group of senior ministers opposed to the Bill
becoming law. Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, as well as Jack
Cunningham, the agriculture minister, and Peter Mandelson, the Minister
without Portfolio, have also applied pressure behind the scenes to make
sure it does not receive parliamentary time.

Last week The Sunday Telegraph revealed that the Home Secretary is
determined to stop any attempt to revive the Bill at a later stage in this
Parliament. Backbenchers are planning to table the hunting ban as an
amendment to a Criminal Justice Bill expected within the next two years,
but Mr Straw is understood to be examining ways of drafting this
legislation so that it cannot be changed in this way.

Yesterday anti-fox-hunt groups, funded by IFAW, released a Mori opinion
poll commissioned in Mr Straw's own Blackburn constituency, showing 77 per
cent of those surveyed believed
 that their MP should support the Bill to outlaw hunting with dogs. Little
more than one in 10 said they opposed the proposal. Some ministers are
believed to be backing calls for a
compromise to take the heat out of the issue, in which an independent
inquiry would be set up to examine cruelty in all field sports and decide
if hunts could be licensed.

The plan has been suggested by the cross-party Middle Way group headed by
Labour MP Kate Hoey. She said yesterday: "This debate is not going to go
away. The Government should surely seek a solution which can satisfy most
people." However, officials in both Downing Street and the Home Office last
night said they had not discussed any plans for an inquiry or a Royal
Commission into fox hunting.

Members of the Hunt Saboteurs' Association have indicated to The Telegraph
that they now plan to step up their illegal activity against field sports
following what they believe is "the failure of the parliamentary route".
One said yesterday: "Our protests have been more effective than the antics
in the House of Commons. The public want this barbarism stopped, most MPs
want it stopped. In our view they are already outlaws and we'll stop them."

But Mike Foster, the Labour MP behind the Bill to ban hunting, yesterday
appealed to supporters of his Bill to be patient, saying: "I've always
believed that hunting with dogs is likely to be stopped before the end of
this Parliament. There is no need to take direct action."

He is planning to ask Tony Blair for a meeting next week to  discuss the
Government's plans for future legislation on the issue. However, he said he
would be willing to discuss an
inquiry into field sports "only if there was a moratorium on hunting in the
mean time."

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Telegraph, and may not agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or anyone
connected with 'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide furthe
information, where possible, but comments about the content should be
addressed to the ET and not myself.
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 23:06:31
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] MPs act to block pony slaughter
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, March 8th, 1998

MPs act to block pony slaughter
By Catherine Elsworth

A LOOPHOLE in the law means that New Forest ponies are being herded into
lorries and sent on 1,000-mile journeys so that they can be sold for meat
in France.

The ponies, bought at animal markets for as little as ú3, are taken to
Scotland in trucks, shipped to Northern Ireland and then driven south to
Rosslare or Cork to be ferried to France and Belgium for slaughter.

The elaborate route is designed to foil British laws which require all
horses exported live to be worth more than ú220 and to have an official
export licence. The Minimum Values Order is designed to prevent the export
of British horses for the cheap horsemeat trade while still allowing
racehorses and pets to travel. However, the rules do not apply in Ireland.

Now MPs are urging the Government to legislate to block the loophole.
Twenty-five MPs have so far signed an early day motion tabled by Robert
Syms (Poole) and Julian Lewis (New Forest East).

The motion "notes with concern the trade in exporting New Forest ponies to
France for meat, and that many dealers take these ponies on 1,000-mile
journeys round Britain to Stranraer to
be shipped to Southern Ireland and then to France to avoid the requirement
for export licences". It calls on the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food to to crack down on the trade.

Martin Taggart, director of welfare at the British Horse Society, said he
was concerned by the practice but obtaining evidence was problematic. The
RSPCA had also been investigating. He said: "MAFF and the Irish government
are extremely interested in this. If it is happening, it's absolutely
disgraceful and I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to stop it
happening."

One butcher in the New Forest area, who declined to be named, said he knew
of dealers who exported ponies to France via Ireland. "They buy them for a
few quid at pony sales, bunch them up and take them up to Stranraer in
trucks," he said. "It's local people - but not forest people - who do it.

"They also deal in cattle and pigs. I don't know how much they make. You
can get about ú30 for a slaughtered horse, but they like them fresh and
with a French or Belgian stamp on it, so it must be more than that. They
wouldn't go all that way for nothing. But it's a long way for the poor
little things to travel. They take them up live but whether they all
survive or not, I don't
know."

Peter Stevenson, of Compassion in World Farming, said: "There's nothing to
stop somebody taking horses from the New Forest to Northern Ireland and
then down to Southern Ireland for
export to the Continent. Shipping them across to Stranraer would be lawful.
But I'm appalled by it. It's clearly cruel and if this loophole is being
abused, then the Government should be
making sure legislation is in place to stop it."

One horse welfare worker said: "These people are making a fortune. My
understanding is that they take 20 to 70 at a time up to Stranraer or
Preston, then over to Ireland. I heard about one shipment where they found
three of the ponies dead and 15 not fit to travel. These people will always
find a way round the law to make money."

MPs supporting the motion include Alan Clark, (Kensington and Chelsea),
Martin Bell (Tatton) and David Amess (Southend West).

Mr Syms said he had acted following letters from constituents.He has
written to Elliot Morley, the minister responsible for animal welfare. He
said: "I think it is disgraceful that people can
get away with this trade by exploiting a loophole and I have written to the
minister asking him to act."

A MAFF spokesman said: "There is provision to prevent the export of horses
for immediate slaughter but this does not apply to ponies taken from Great
Britain to Northern Ireland. We would not hesitate to take action if there
is evidence that this is happening."

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Telegraph, and may not agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or anyone
connected with 'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide furthe
information, where possible, but comments about the content should be
addressed to the ET and not myself.
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 23:16:46
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Cut-price vet attacks 'greed' over pet jabs
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, March 8th, 1998

Cut-price vet attacks 'greed' over pet jabs
By Andrew Morgan

A VETERINARY surgeon has broken ranks with her profession and accused
"greedy" colleagues of inflating their bills to unjustifiable levels to
boost profits.

Judy Walker, a vet for 16 years, has set up a clinic offering vaccinations
for less than half the price of other practitioners. She claims that most
fellow vets inflate their bills with hidden
extras. Prices have become so high, she says, that the majority of pet
owners cannot afford basic vaccinations and treatments.

Colleagues have been so angered at her moves that they have tried to get
the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons to investigate her reduced prices.
Ms Walker spays bitches for ú35
while some vets charge more than ú100. Her ú20 bill for dog castrations is
far less than the average ú70-ú80 elsewhere.

Kitten vaccinations against two main diseases - cat flu and enteritis -
cost ú20, compared with ú45 in general practice. An anti- leukaemia vaccine
is ú14 compared with ú30. She is
offering a course of injections for puppies at her practice in Coventry for
just ú17.50 - compared with ú45 charged by most other vets. The
vaccinations protect against the five deadly diseases of distemper,
hepatitis, leptospirosis, parvo virus and parainfluenza.

Ms Walker, who accuses colleagues of "greed" through overpricing, began the
cut-price vaccinations in Coventry last week. She will be offering the
service in Birmingham from tomorrow. Her practice, the Pets Vaccination
Clinic, has proved so successful that up to 40 pets a day are brought in,
compared with only a handful at other practices.

She agrees that many vets have higher overheads than her, but says they
have more clients and their income is bigger. She said: "Over the years,
they have chosen to overcharge for
vaccinations. I think that some vets see their business slipping away with
me around, but there's nothing to stop them charging the same. I just want
to ensure that we stop pets from dying. I wanted to make low-cost
vaccinations available to every household pet because many people don't
have them done because they're too expensive.

"Other vets see me as a rebel. But I feel I can help people a lot by
limiting myself to vaccinations and neutering, putting the basics in reach
of everybody." She claims that as many as 70 per cent of her clients would
never have had their pets vaccinated if her service was not available. Many
vets belong to the 1,450-strong Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons -
"Spivs" as some know it. Last week, about 70 attended a seven-day
conference in the French Alps, with skiing thrown in.

SPVS circulates examples of average regional fees to its members and
charges are often discussed among vets in an area. However, they deny
price-fixing. Senior vets in some
London practices earn more than ú90,000 a year, often in addition to perks
such as a car, free petrol and the payment of telephone bills.

When Ms Walker sold her senior partnership in a practice in Leamington Spa,
Warwickshire, four years ago, she was earning ú65,000 a year, and had the
running costs of a sports car paid for. She said: "That's a lot of money.
Vets are able to do that because of the huge mark-up they include in their
bills."

She explained how bills in one medium-sized town practice in the Midlands,
are calculated. The bills were drawn to her attention when an elderly woman
came into her clinic to
compare prices. The "raw cost" of an annual booster injection for a dog -
which covers the animal against the major diseases - is about ú4. But the
bill sent to the client exceeded ú40.

"The cost of the booster vaccination had been marked up from ú4 to ú26,"
she said. "Then an 'injection fee' of ú2 was added.That was the charge for
filling the syringe and giving the
injection." Added to that, Ms Walker said, was a "consultation fee" of ú11.
The client had also been "strongly recommended" to give her pet de-worming
tablets - another ú4. The basic cost of the tablets is about 50 pence.

"It's standard practice for the price of these injections to be given as a
flat fee," Ms Walker said. "On the whole, the cost is never broken down so
that the pet owner never knows how much the cost of the treatment is marked
up."

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Telegraph, and may not agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or anyone
connected with 'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide furthe
information, where possible, but comments about the content should be
addressed to the ET and not myself.
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 23:20:45
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] 'We need the mark-up to cover overheads and equipment'
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, March 8th, 1998

'We need the mark-up to cover overheads and equipment'
By Tim Reid

THE Society of Practising Veterinary Surgeons denies that the profession
overcharges.

It says that the mark-up is necessary to cover the cost of overheads and
equipment. Judy Walker's fellow vets claim that her business offers limited
services and has tiny overheads
compared with their own. The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons confirmed
that it had received representations over Ms Walker's clinic, including her
low prices.

But it says there are no statutory charges for services and its remit does
not include fees. Alan Leyland, a Merseyside vet and the president-elect of
the SPVS, said: "Price variations can be justified because you will get
more in terms of facilities if you pay more.

"Most clients aren't too price-conscious if they feel that they've had a
good service. Vets overall aren't overpaid when you consider the hours that
they work. Nobody can do the job
thoroughly at a low fee level."

Another leading SPVS member said that his charges included a follow-up
consultation several weeks after the vaccination. His costs also included
"puppy parties" allowing the dogs to "socialise with each other in the
surgery after their injections".

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Telegraph, and may not agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or anyone
connected with 'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide furthe
information, where possible, but comments about the content should be
addressed to the ET and not myself.
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 23:30:21
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Tree rustlers strip garden county's orchards
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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[Is this a sign of the times? In the days gone by, it used to be cattle and
sheep that were rustled]

>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, March 8th, 1998

Tree rustlers strip garden county's orchards
By Peter Birkett

FRUIT growers in Kent, many already struggling for survival after losing
most of last year's crop to the frost, are now losing whole orchards to
tree rustlers.

In recent weeks thousands of young fruit trees have been dug up and taken
away in the night by expert thieves who steal trees by named variety and,
possibly, to order.

One small grower, Roger Butler, who invested in replanting two acres of his
20 acre fruit farm at Norton, near Faversham, with apples, was robbed of
400 trees worth ú1,200 in one night. Another farmer, Paul Mansfield, who
grows 1,200 acres of fruit near Canterbury, has lost 5,800 trees worth
almost ú17,000 in two raids on his orchards and tree nursery.

The outbreak of tree rustling - there have been at least five large raids
in a month - coincides with the annual orchard planting season and comes at
a time when young fruit trees are in short supply.

For Mr Butler the loss of two acres of newly planted orchard has come as a
huge blow. "I bought the farm to fulfil my lifelong dream of becoming a
fruit grower," he said. "But last year I lost most of my apples to the late
spring frosts and now I have probably lost a whole year of my investment in
the future. The thieves just came in the night. There must have been a lot of
them because removing a whole orchard takes a lot of work. They knew
exactly what they wanted, they took 300 Cox trees and 50 each of the
pollinators, Discovery and John O'Gold."

Mr Mansfield lost a total of 5,800 plum, apple and cherry trees when the
thieves struck 10 days ago. "I am absolutely mortified," he said. "They
took 5,000 of the trees from my nursery. Then they removed 800 which were
newly planted in an orchard."

The most baffling element of the orchard crime-wave is who is buying "hot"
fruit trees in such huge numbers. "I believe we would know if other farmers
were planting up with stolen trees so the thieves must be selling them in
small numbers, perhaps though [car] boot fairs or maybe farm shops," Mr
Butler said.

Kent police urged anyone offered cheap fruit trees to report it. "We are
trying to find the outlets being used by the criminals," said a spokesman.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Telegraph, and may not agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or anyone
connected with 'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide furthe
information, where possible, but comments about the content should be
addressed to the ET and not myself.
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 23:59:26
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
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[Sorry, don't know what happened here - this posting was sent with a
subject header, but came back to me without one. I'll try again, with
header put back on]

>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, March 8th, 1998

Hunt Bill could lose Labour ú1 million
By Tom Baldwin, Political Correspondent

ANIMAL welfare groups are planning to withdraw their funding to the Labour
Party following the Government's refusal to support backbench attempts to
ban hunting.

At the last election the Political Animal Lobby (PAL) gave ú1million to the
Labour Party because it was convinced that Tony Blair would back large
parts of its agenda. However, they were disappointed by the Government's
failure to act decisively against vivisection and they believe that
ministers may also be seeking to water down international efforts to ban
the trade in ivory.

Now they are planning a new strategy. They will slash funding for political
parties' election campaigns and use their considerable war chest to target
individual opponents instead.
These will include leading Cabinet ministers such as Jack Straw, the Home
Secretary, who has suggested that foxhunting could escape a ban for 50 years.

Anger will intensify this week when the Government faces a political
backlash over its refusal to grant extra parliamentary time to the
backbencher Bill to outlaw hunting with dogs. Although the proposal has the
support of most MPs, it is doomed to be "talked out" by opponents in the
Commons on Friday.

PAL's sister organisation, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, is
already drawing up plans to exert new pressure on ministers and MPs who
have opposed the Bill. Many activists
have contrasted the success of the Countryside March last weekend in
influencing government thinking with the apparent failure of their own
low-key approach.

One official said: "We have played it by the book and have not sought to
embarrass the Government, but we may now need to look at doing this in
other ways." Among the tactics under consideration is direct mailshots to
contituents and local newspapers, highlighting the behaviour of particular
MPs. There will also be concerted lobbying, with backbenchers being
mobilised to put ministers on the spot - beginning with this week's meeting
of the Parliamentary Labour Party.

Mr Straw is increasingly the focus of their anger after saying the
Government had no mandate to ban hunting and should play no part in helping
the Bill to outlaw the sport. Ian Gibson, a backbench Labour MP, said: "I
think that parliamentary democracy says we should get it through and that's
why we're MPs. I think if what he said is true, then it was a stab in the
back."

Jack Straw has been leading a group of senior ministers opposed to the Bill
becoming law. Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, as well as Jack
Cunningham, the agriculture minister, and Peter Mandelson, the Minister
without Portfolio, have also applied pressure behind the scenes to make
sure it does not receive parliamentary time.

Last week The Sunday Telegraph revealed that the Home Secretary is
determined to stop any attempt to revive the Bill at a later stage in this
Parliament. Backbenchers are planning to table the hunting ban as an
amendment to a Criminal Justice Bill expected within the next two years,
but Mr Straw is understood to be examining ways of drafting this
legislation so that it cannot be changed in this way.

Yesterday anti-fox-hunt groups, funded by IFAW, released a Mori opinion
poll commissioned in Mr Straw's own Blackburn constituency, showing 77 per
cent of those surveyed believed
 that their MP should support the Bill to outlaw hunting with dogs. Little
more than one in 10 said they opposed the proposal. Some ministers are
believed to be backing calls for a
compromise to take the heat out of the issue, in which an independent
inquiry would be set up to examine cruelty in all field sports and decide
if hunts could be licensed.

The plan has been suggested by the cross-party Middle Way group headed by
Labour MP Kate Hoey. She said yesterday: "This debate is not going to go
away. The Government should surely seek a solution which can satisfy most
people." However, officials in both Downing Street and the Home Office last
night said they had not discussed any plans for an inquiry or a Royal
Commission into fox hunting.

Members of the Hunt Saboteurs' Association have indicated to The Telegraph
that they now plan to step up their illegal activity against field sports
following what they believe is "the failure of the parliamentary route".
One said yesterday: "Our protests have been more effective than the antics
in the House of Commons. The public want this barbarism stopped, most MPs
want it stopped. In our view they are already outlaws and we'll stop them."

But Mike Foster, the Labour MP behind the Bill to ban hunting, yesterday
appealed to supporters of his Bill to be patient, saying: "I've always
believed that hunting with dogs is likely to be stopped before the end of
this Parliament. There is no need to take direct action."

He is planning to ask Tony Blair for a meeting next week to  discuss the
Government's plans for future legislation on the issue. However, he said he
would be willing to discuss an
inquiry into field sports "only if there was a moratorium on hunting in the
mean time."

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Telegraph, and may not agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or anyone
connected with 'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide furthe
information, where possible, but comments about the content should be
addressed to the ET and not myself.



Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 00:00:57
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [US] At last - no more chips in the sea
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, March 8th, 1998

At last - no more chips in the sea

UNTIL recently, Hanauma Bay in Hawaii was teeming. Not just with the
tropical fish that made it famous, and brought in visitors with masks,
snorkels and bags of food for the fish. It
was teeming with visitors.

The beach, 10 miles from Hawaii's main tourist centre, Waikiki, had a
problem. "We had up
to 13,000 people a day," said Alan Hong, the manager of Hanauma Bay Nature
Preserve. "At
peak times, that was equivalent to a busload of 42 tourists coming every 57
seconds and
emptying everyone on to the beach. The bay simply couldn't cope."

But the nature preserve has been so successful at turning people away that
last week it won
three of the Tourism for Tomorrow awards sponsored by British Airways.
These awards
recognise projects that take steps to minimise the impact of tourism on the
environment.

David Bellamy, who was one of the judges, said Hanauma Bay won because "a
group of
people got together and saw their environment was being destroyed and their
livelihood
disappearing. They took a brave decision to limit the number of visitors".

In 1990, tourist buses were banned from the beach. Coach visitors may now
stop only at the
upper level, 200ft above the beach, for a maximum of 15 minutes. "But it's
been a constant
battle ever since then, with the tour companies trying to sneak people into
the park," said Mr
Hong.

The total number of visitors has fallen by 60 per cent, however, and the
beach is significantly
cleaner. Sewage from the four restaurants in the area is now fed into the
island's treatment
system, and visitors are forbidden from bringing their own food for the
fish. They have to buy
special feed locally, although that, too, will be banned from next year.

According to Nancy Westcott, the president of the Friends of Hanauma Bay -
a voluntary
organisation that was formed to protect the beach - many people used to
bring food to feed
the fish.

"Bread, frozen peas, potato chips, anything," she said. "You'd swim around
and be
surrounded by bits of food in the water. It was horrible. And by the middle
of the day you
could see an oil slick on the surface, from all the suntan lotion."

Keeping visitors away, says Mr Hong, hasn't been easy: "Tourism in Hawaii
is in a
depressed state, but we had to bite the bullet now if we wanted to enjoy
the park in the
future."

David Bellamy said that he hoped Hanauma Bay would inspire other tourist
attractions to find
"imaginative" solutions to an increasingly overcrowded planet.

"Otherwise, what we enjoy today won't be worth going to any more," he said.
James
Bedding

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Telegraph, and may not agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or anyone
connected with 'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide furthe
information, where possible, but comments about the content should be
addressed to the ET and not myself.
Date: Sat, 07 Mar 1998 23:50:23
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Feeling a charge from the depths
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Sunday, March 8th, 1998 - Travel Section

Feeling a charge from the depths

Rosie Walford was only mildly interested in whales, until she took a
'research holiday' in the Azores . . .

Report Filed March 1998

AMONG the glossy brochures and razzmatazz of a holiday fair, the literature
about whale and dolphin research holidays in the Azores stood out: it was
understated, black and white, scientific. And leaking out between the
lines, somewhere in the eyes of the bearded man on the stand, was the
seductive whiff of intense human passion - that curious fanaticism inspired
by whales.

Ten years ago, Chris and Lisa Beer met on an animal welfare crusade ship,
trying to              convince Azoreans that the lucrative whaling
industry might be replaced by a less brutal alternative - whale-watching
for tourists. As part of the persuasion, Lisa started a mammoth study to
measure the local sperm-whale population. Before her research was complete,
though, anti-whaling legislation took hold and the welfare boat moved on.

But Lisa was hooked. Determined to keep the study alive, the Beers bought a
yacht big enough to carry tourists as well as their research equipment, and
began "whale and dolphin research holidays" to fund their research.

I'd never been more than passingly interested in whales, but I felt
intrigued by the one-offness of this holiday package. And I wanted to know
what had so inspired the Beers. Before long, I found myself aboard the
yacht Colomban, mid-Atlantic with seven complete strangers, scouring the
horizon for whales.

The others seemed rational, normal people on the outside. But it emerged
that they were card-bearing whale junkies. They belonged to the Whale and
Dolphin Conservation Society, and exchanged whale-watching tales in
reverential tones.

By mid-morning of the first day, we were still close enough to Faial island
to make out its hedges of hydrangeas and livid green hills, but the other
two islands within reach, Pico and Sao Jorge, were just distant volcanic
shapes. Although we ate biscuits, sunbathed and pretended to be content,
anticipation was edging towards impatience. Through gently gritted teeth,
one person dared to joke about the awful prospect of going home without
seeing whales.

Then, from nowhere, the water came alive with arcing forms - a troupe of
maybe 40 spotted dolphins. Fast and furious, they dived and leapt, surging
just beneath the clear waves then spinning in the sun. Cutting across the
bows within inches of their lives, they gave an unbidden, masterly display
of aquabatics.

>From muted quiet, the deck of Colomban erupted into frenzy. Previously
sensible adults were running from side to side, whooping and shouting at
once, anthropomorphising like amateur Johnny Morrises - "Here comes old
smiling black-back again"; "There's mummy number two, showing off as usual
. . ." For 20 minutes we jabbered frenetically.

The dolphins eventually dropped behind. Bonded and perhaps embarrassed by
the noise we'd made jointly, the group giggled for a while and then fell
quiet, basking in a shared satisfaction as tangible as a post-orgasmic lull.

I found this exciting as a warm-up, especially as I knew that dolphins were
merely icing on the whale-watcher's cake. To keep our impatience at bay,
Chris showed us how we were going to find the whales. He demonstrated
Colomban's hydrophone, a microphone that trails in a long tube behind the
boat. Though roughly made of rubber piping, old hi-fi headphones and a car
battery, it worked wonderfully. Against an ethereal watery soundscape, we
learnt to distinguish a certain clicking emitted like radar by diving sperm
whales. Then we practised using the stereo to find the direction from which
the sound was coming. Within an hour, I was steering the skipper towards
whales that were miles away.

I loved listening to the unearthly noises, but even more I loved the
concept of an itinerary directed by live, abstract sounds coming from an
unseen deep.

When Lisa first yelled "blow", I expected a major fountain to rise on the
horizon, but all I saw was a tiny spume. We were squinting at a small lump
of blackness, barely moving, like a log on the waves, but Lisa made sure
Colomban stayed back.

In the absolute quiet of the open sea, eyes, binoculars and cameras
strained. After a rapt 15 minutes, the log rose slightly, and then the
famous tail fin swung up into the air and cut down through the water,
leaving a great hollow of turbulence behind.

My seven companions were beside themselves. But, by a strange quirk of
human nature, they were discussing the big moment in terms of the photos
they had or hadn't got. One woman said she'd got her perfect picture, and
could now quite happily go home. I was feeling faintly disappointed by the
whole spectacle. Because of the distance, it seemed only an exemplary, tiny
rendition of pictures in the brochures. I remembered a similar anticlimax
on seeing the Mona Lisa, distanced behind glass, after knowing her only
from a teatowel print.

Meanwhile, Lisa was busy recording our bearings and noting sea conditions.
We rushed towards the shrinking turbulence ring and Chris dived in with a
butterfly net, hoping to scoop up stray samples of skin for genetic
identification. The information would feed into records revealing the
movements of individual whales.

The Azores' waters were teeming with life. On our second day, during a
glorious orange sunset, we located six whales floating together. They were
rubbing and nudging each other, audibly grunting in turn. Again we stayed
far back but through binoculars I pieced together the expanse of their
flanks in my imagination, and gradually got a sense of the enormous whole.

It was curiously uplifting to witness these huge animals choosing to be so
close when they had the whole ocean to roam. I could not stop dwelling on
the idea that there are social instincts - even affection - in a parallel
universe that we still know so little about. The romance of whales had
crept up on me and I felt strangely becalmed.

Ten years ago, the same tranquil waters would have witnessed bloody
massacres. Whales mattered in the Azores only for their flesh, and local
heroes in flimsy canoes would risk lethal "sleigh rides" as they gripped
the ropes attached to their harpoons. If their bravery and ingenuity
overwhelmed sheer strength and size, their efforts were well rewarded with
cash.

Now, the world has outlawed the trade in whale products. Instead, people do
yoga to whale music and, as the Azorean whalers play dominoes in honourable
retirement, a crowd of outside entrepreneurs has descended on the port of
Horta to capitalise on the new fascination with whales.

All around the marina, there were specialist boats for charter. Two shop
windows showed footage of diving whales, advertising encounter trips. A
French artist was at work producing photographs of dancers with whales.
This seemed quite harmless compared with the recent whaling past, but
behind the animal-friendly faτade a war is boiling.

Lisa was full of bitter accusations: she claimed the tour operators' noisy
inflatables were disrupting the whales' breathing cycles. She was venomous
about the French photographer, condemning the disturbance of whales in the
name of art as immoral.

But the bitching was mutual. One inflatable crew (which approached whales
from behind) claimed that other companies were wrong to approach from the
side. The photographer implied there was no scientific validity to Lisa's
research.

All parties wanted one thing - the whales relaxed and visible - yet they
were videoing each others' practices like spies, and snitching to the
authority that issues licences. Fuelled by the emotive language of animal
welfare, their wranglings boiled down to a cocktail of financial interest
and virtuous concern for the whales.

I would have found Lisa more inspiring if she had dropped her surly,
moralistic tone. But the background carping did nothing to impair the
revitalising effects of the expedition.

The Whale Watch Azores formula was relaxing without being predictable.
While I spent much time on the bow sprit, dreamily dangling my toes over
the waves, I could have been steering the boat or working the hydrophone.
There was a sense of choice.

I felt I'd been truly exposed to the vagaries of the wild. We left port
only if the winds were safe, set our itineraries by sounds from the depths,
let our moods be catapulted from torpor to frenzy in seconds. For a
refreshing week, we abandoned time-planning and went with nature's rhythms.

With pump loos and tiny shared cabins, Colomban eschewed luxury. Yet I felt
I'd been pampered enough: the cook appeared each morning with bulging bags
of food, and spoiled us three times a day. Eating on a sunny deck while
listening to dolphin cries through a hydrophone brought a particular form
of bliss.

By the end I knew my sperm whales from my beaked whales, my spotted from my
bottlenose dolphins. When we picked up a passing turtle and its tag showed
it had paddled from Florida, I realised that I had caught something of the
fascination.

The romance came less from the sightings than from getting absorbed in
imagining their uncharted, roaming lives. For one unusual week, I felt
involved in the whale's wild freedom, a part of something still unknown,
much bigger than myself.

⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1998.

Disclaimer: Articles from the Electronic Telegraph are posted for
informational purposes. Any views expressed therein are those of the
Telegraph, and may not agree with those of 'Animal Voices' or anyone
connected with 'Animal Voices'. I will be pleased to provide furthe
information, where possible, but comments about the content should be
addressed to the ET and not myself.
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 09:29:32 -0500
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Subscription Options--Admin Note
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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another routine post.....

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Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 09:31:48 -0500
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) ORYXES FACE DEATH PENALTY
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

posted for [e-mail]
------------------------------------------------
FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
DENVER, COLORADO

>From Colorado & The West
ORYXES FACE DEATH PENALTY IN NEW MEXICO
By Rebecca Rolwing
Associated Press Writer

ALBUQUERQUE-
An efficient solution is proposed for up to 200 African antelope trapped at
the White Sands National Monument in southern New Mexico: quick, fatal shots
to the heart.

The large, horned oryxes were brought to the adjoining White Sands Millile
Range in 1969 to be hunted.  Over the years the herd has grown to 2,500 strong
and some drifted to the national park's 275 square miles of white sand dunes.

The animals at the park have become a nuisance.  State officials are
recommending the majestic, humped animals be killed and their hide, meat and
heads--with straight or slightly curved horn--be sold.

The proceeds, by law, would go into a game protection fund.  The irony is not
lost on Animal Protection of New Mexico, whic his furious.

"It's particularly bad that we introduced them into that area and when they
went into an area that we don't want, then the solution is to shoot them,"
Executive Director Elisabeth Jennings said.

One proposal would have New Mexico Department of Game and Fish hunters shoot
the animals after Easter.

"They're agressive animals-a game warden was mauled by one and they have
attacked vehicles," said Bill Conrod, resource management specialist at White
Sands National Monument.  "They're mean, they can fend off the biggest African
predators."

They're also beautiful creatures whose presence is appreciated by most at the
military base.  "It is quite an animal to see," said Patrick Morrow, a
wildlife biologist for White Sands Missile Range.

An $885,000, 68-foot mile fence was built in 1996 to keep the oryxes out of
the national park, a parched environment of sand and desert plants.

While it worked for the most part, a herb of 100 to 200 animals became trapped
inside the gate, upsetting the ecosystem and threatening native animals,
Conrod said.

"They eat native plants, they eat cactus, they eat anything, " he said.

And they multiply at a steady rate.  removing the animals from the park will
allow the vegetation and soil conditions to recover and will avert a future of
oryx overpopulation and eventual starvation, Conrod said.

A plan that proposed five options to deal with the animals is being drafted
and will be submitted for public review soon, Conrod said.

Wildlife officials could shoot the animals, drive them from the monument or
use dart guns and drugs to capture and remove the beasts.  Other options
include constructing a one-way fence, "praying" the animals go through it and
doing nothing, Conrod said.

The monument prefers to have the animals shot as an efficient, cost-effective
plan for animals that were brought to the area to be hunted.

Jennings said her organization recommends a nonlethal method of removing.

The Las Cruces district office of the state Game and Fish Department supports
the park's preference, said Lee Duff, district wildlife supervisor.

Still, there are dissenters within the department.  Jerry Maracchini, state
game and fish director, said he prefers moving the animals out of the park
alive.

"If it's cost-effective and environmentally sound, I'd prefer them to be
trapped and moved out," he said.

Hunters have been brought in for years to shoot oryxes that wander off the
military base, Morrow said.

This fall, permits will be issued to 515 hunters and about 700 will likely be
issued in 1999, officials said.

Contact:

1.  Superintendent; White Sands National Monument; PO Box 1086; Holloman Air
Force Base, New Mexico  88330; [phone]; email:
[e-mail];

2,  Robert G. Stanton, Director, National Park Service; PO Box 37127;
Washington DC  20013  [phone]; email: [e-mail]

3.  John E. Cook; Regional Director; National Park Service; 12795 East Alameda
Parkway; Denver CO  80225; [phone]; email: [e-mail]

4.  Bruce Babbitt; Secretary of the Interior;1849 C St NW; Washington DC
20240; [phone] email:  [e-mail]

5.  Mr. Jerry Maracchini; Director; New Mexico Department of Fish and Game;
3841 Midway Place NE; Albuquerque, NM  87101; [phone]; email:
[e-mail]; Web site:  www.gmfsh.st.nm.us

6.  Animal Protectin of New Mexico; PO Box 11395; Albuquerque, New Mexico
87192; [phone]; email:  [e-mail]


Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 09:39:16 -0500
From: Liz Grayson <[e-mail]>
To: ar-news <[e-mail]>
Subject: Iditarod-Nary a word about the dogs.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Let the mushing begin

                                     Iditarod teams take off on 1,000-mile sled race

                                     Posted: Sat March 7, 1998 at 7:13 PM ET

                                     ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Clad in
                                     yellow glare goggles against the
                                     spring-like sunshine and striking the
                                     casual pose of a winner, defending
                                     Iditarod champion Martin Buser began
                                     his 15th Iditarod Sled Dog Race on
                                     Saturday -- one of four ex-champs
                                     entered.

                                     "You learn not to be nervous," Buser
                                     said, leaning against the cab of his
                                     customized dog truck while handlers
                                     attended to his 12-dog team.

                                     The 26th running of the 1,000-mile
                                     Anchorage-to-Nome race attracted 63
                                     teams this year, including nine women
                                     and 19 rookies. The field is among the
                                     largest in at least five years. If past
                                       experience holds, leaders will reach the finish at

     Nome in about nine days.

                                        Saturday's start is ceremonial and does not count
     toward a musher's final elapsed
                                        time. The Anchorage scene -- full of bundled up
     children hoisted for a better look -- is
                                        staged largely for the hundreds of fans who press
     in on Fourth Avenue.

                                       A typical Saturday morning in winter finds the gift
     shop and saloon-lined street with
                                     few strollers. Iditarod changes all that.

                                     "I don't want to go home," said race fan Sandra Wallsmith, who arrived
Friday nite from Houston, Texas, and bought a commemorative pin and Iditarod calendar from a
street vendor.


"Am I excited? Very!" shouted Moira DeMarcos of
  Vancouver, British Columbia, as she rode off in a sled
 driven by musher Matt Hayashida. DeMarcos, celebrating
 her 50th birthday Sunday, is among "Iditariders," who bid
 on a chance to ride the trail's first eight miles in an Iditarod
  sled.

 Teams depart every two minutes under a red-white-and
  blue banner declaring Iditarod "the last great race."

   Favored to win this year are Buser, driving a 16-dog team
   of Iditarod veterans, as well as Montana's Doug Swingley,
   holder of the Iditarod's speed record, two-time champ Jeff
   King from Denali Park, and Rick Swenson from Two Rivers,
                                     the Iditarod's only five-time champ.

                                     Swenson generated some pre-race will-he-or won't-he guessing after
being
                                     withdrawn from the 1996 race and sitting out last year in protest.

                                     Swenson, who mines a cantankerous musher image, was removed two
years ago
                                     when one of his dogs died within the race's first 100 miles. He bitterly
protested and
                                     eventually won a reversal of the decision.
"I'm glad you stayed out and I'm glad you're back, race fan Judy See from Anchorage called to
Swenson, addressing the musher as he looked over ropes on his sled. "I'm glad you took a stand."
 Appearing relaxed with less than an hour before the start, Swenson wondered aloud about other
mushers who say they have their race strategy mapped out.

I don't have a clue," Swenson said of his own approach. "Or mayb I'll tie my dogs onto Martin
Buser and let him pull me.


A few blocks away,Willow musher Vern Halter said he's heard other drivers say he may have the
team to beat. The trail is hard and spare of
 snow in some      spots -- good news
                                                                                  from teams accustomed to fast
                                                                                  trails, and not so good for others.

                                     A veteran of nine Iditarod's including every race since 1993, Halter
finished fifth last
                                     year in nine days and 20 hours. Buser's time was 14 hours faster.

                                     Halter plans three sled changes, starting out with a 45-pound sled capable
of
                                     withstanding the early trail's gorges and mountain passes. He plans to
dash for
                                     Nome in a new 23-pound sled imported from France.

                                     He has twice claimed the fastest time from Safety to Nome, the Iditarod's
last 77
                                     miles.

                                     "You push, you keep it up, keep it up, till you get to Nome," Halter said.
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 09:45:01 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (TH/US) Thais Seeking Monkeys From Wis. Zoo
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Associated
MARCH 08, 05:51 EST

Thais Seeking Monkeys From Wis. Zoo

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press Writer

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Government officials and animal rights activists
planned to meet this week to discuss ways to clear obstacles to Thailand
taking back 51 monkeys facing eviction from a zoo in Madison, Wisconsin.

A flamboyant hotel entrepreneur who arranges an annual feast for wild
monkeys has offered to provide land for a sanctuary for the zoo animals.

The meeting Wednesday at Thailand's national forestry department in
Bangkok was to discuss a possible waiver of a legal requirement that
private individuals cannot own endangered species. Officials also planned
to take up a request that the Finance Ministry grant an exemption from
import duties should the animals be sent here.

Yongyuth Kitwatananusont told The Associated Press that he is willing to
construct an open-air sanctuary surrounded by a moat on 12 acres of land
in Lopburi province, 70 miles north of Bangkok.

He said he would grow bananas, papayas and beans on the land for the
monkey's food supply.

``I love monkeys, I will take good care of them,'' Yongyuth said.

He said that if he cannot hold title to the monkeys, he will donate the
land anyway and let it be staffed by government employees.

``But staying with me would be better,'' he added.

Lopburi town is home to a colony of several hundred wild monkeys who
congregate around an old Buddhist temple. Each year, with great fanfare,
Yongyuth gives an elaborate banquet for them.

The event attracts tourists to the town, where he owns the major hotels.

The Wisconsin monkeys -- stump-tailed macaques -- are mostly descendants
of a group that was sent to the United States in the mid-1970s, shortly
before Thailand passed a law prohibiting the export of monkeys for medical
research.

The monkeys are housed at the Henry Vilas Park Zoo, but actually belong to
the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center at the University of
Wisconsin, which had been using them for behavioral research.

Last year, however, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced
termination of funding for the research program, leaving no funds for
their upkeep at the zoo.

Animal rights activists in Thailand wrote to the U.S. ambassador, William
Itoh, asking his help in having the monkeys sent to Thailand.

``This colony, the largest of its kind in the world, is in effect a
Thailand national environmental treasure,'' the leaders of three
organizations wrote in the letter.

The letter contended that ``the only alternatives open to the animals are
for them to be killed or sold to a commercial venture for potentially
painful and lethal product testing and research.''

Their quest acquired some urgency last week when about 100 rhesus monkeys
at the Wisconsin center, affected by the same budget cutbacks, were
transferred to another primate research center in Louisiana. Under the
conditions of the transfer, they could eventually be subjected to invasive
laboratory testing.

A large number of hurdles remain before the stump-tailed macaques could
come to Thailand.

Montana Senator Max Baucus, approached when he visited Thailand last year,
has agreed to help arrange transportation for the monkeys.

But few concrete plans have been made, said Jordana Lenon, a spokeswoman
for the primate center.

Under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, permits
are needed before the monkeys can be exported, but so far the center has
been unable to obtain the information necessary for applying for a permit,
despite requests to Thai officials.

``This will delay the possible transfer of the animals by some time,''
Lenon said by e-mail to the AP.

Lenon said the center also received had a letter last week from The Thai
Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals, expressing concern that
there are no places in Thailand ``with either the facilities, resources or
the expertise to manage these macaques.''

``We will not send the stump-tail colony to any facility that does not
have appropriate housing and the ability to properly care for this
threatened species,'' Lenon said.
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 11:50:33 EST
From: Snugglezzz <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Bowhunter's Buck Breaks State Record
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

(Tulsa World, OK, USA): Oklahoma deer hunting is getting better each year.
Oklahomans are harvesting (read: killing) more animals than ever before -
around 60,000 now - and the state's diverse terrain is producing more really
big bucks each season.

A deer taken (killed) last fall by a bowhunter on a bitterly cold morning one
day before the modern firearms season opened is the new Oklahoma record
typical whitetail buck. Larry Luman, 42, of Atoka, was hunting Nov. 21 on a
private-land deer lease operated by Deer Run Lodge, a 7,100-acre ranch north
of Durant.

Luman was hunting just inside Bryan County. He was hunting a huge buck which
he had seen the year before, and had placed a treestand in exactly the same
location where he had first viewed the massive whitetail.

The buck was trailing a band of does and Luman stopped the buck by using a
grunt call. Although he said the arrow hit the animal a little high, being an
experienced bowhunter who has claimed (killed) a lot of good whitetails
previously, he knew enough to wait a full hour and a half before going after
the deer. The hit had been good enough and they found the buck a few yards
from where he had disappeared from sight in thick woods.

Official scorers from the Oklahoma Wildlife Department scored the buck's
antlers last weekend. They scored the head at 184 1/8 points, surpassing the
old record of 181 and 6/8ths.


-- Sherrill

Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 12:28:01 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Do we need more victims?
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

vegetarianism/social justice issues/ethics
from  Centre Daily Times http://www.centredaily.com/
-----------------------------------------
Friday, February 13, 1998

                         Do we need more victims?

-------------------
By KATHY A. BARTELL
-------------------

The State College Area School Board is going to discuss whether sexual
orientation should be added to its nondiscrimination policy. This is Round
2 in the role of homosexuality in our school district.

While it is understood that the board desires to appear enlightened and in
tune with society's politically correct agenda, why stop with sexual
behavior? Why not be innovative in establishing a policy that includes food
preferences? Let the district take a leadership role and be the first to
increase awareness of and provide protection for, say, vegetarians. Think
of the lack of support and the intolerance vegetarians face. Every week
chicken nuggets are served in elementary schools, pepperoni adorns pizza,
and countless turkeys are served each year for Thanksgiving lunch.

Before dismissing this idea as absurd, consider the following: Sexual
orientation addresses a behavior that recent studies say most of us
participate in about once per week. In comparison, we eat three or more
times each day. During each school lunch period, and in some cases
breakfasts, vegetarians are faced with being different. Should they be
forced to brown-bag it every day? Think of the humiliation vegetarians face
when answering the inquiries of insensitive students. This is a fairness
issue. It is our responsibility to reach out, attempt to understand and
affirm that which sets them apart. Although they may be a small percentage
of the population, we need to provide acceptance and support.

It is not enough merely to write a policy which is inclusive. We should
teach all our children about vegetarians so that a whole new generation is
aware of and can accept this lifestyle.

Some say being vegetarian is a choice, and that those who make that choice
must deal with consequent difficulties. That shows just how close-minded
and misinformed they are. In many cases, health reasons require people to
eat a meatless diet. Although a specific gene has not been identified to
make a person vegetarian, there is a tendency for it to run in families.
Many may have no choice.

Be honest -- have you ever thought about the pain vegetarians feel at
seeing so many of us talk about and enjoy eating cows and pigs that were
living, breathing animals? Not only do we not feel their pain, we neglect
to give them the recognition they deserve.

Unlike homosexuality, a vegetarian diet is considered to be healthy. We can
all benefit by a greater understanding of this lifestyle. Start young.
Kindergarten students can bring home pamphlets that explain the benefits of
the vegetarian lifestyle. This can be followed by meatless recipes children
can make when the parents are not home. By capturing the minds of children,
the schools can redefine eating in our society. If we can only release
ourselves from our restrictive thinking, we could change the way America
thinks about eating and have the satisfaction of knowing it all started
here. ...

I urge school board members to give a great deal of thought to the
potential outcomes before making any changes to the nondiscrimination
policy. One option is to elevate sexual behavior to the same level of
importance as race, gender and religion. Another option is to recognize
that it is not the role of the public school to make policy about
lifestyles.

It is the board's job to provide an environment that is safe and free from
ridicule for all students. However, it is futile to attempt this by
defining victim status for select groups of people. Educating teachers and
students about the difficulties of being homosexual alienates and discounts
other groups, who also feel in the minority and victimized. All people are
worthy of respect and teaching that concept should be enough.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kathy A. Bartell lives in College Township.
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 12:37:20 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US)  Animal rights activists protest at Shrine Circus
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

[picture is available at the site]
from Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/news/locway/qshrine7.htm
-----------------------------------------

  Animal rights activists protest at Shrine Circus

     Gary Yourofsky of Royal Oak lies chained to his car at the state
fairgrounds in Detroit on Friday. He was joined by Tiiu Ruben of Ann Arbor.
(Photo by Jeff Kowalsky)

Animal rights activists protest at Shrine Circus  March 7, 1998

BY JENNIFER DIXONFree Press Staff Writer

Two animal-rights activists locked themselves to their car at the entrance
of the state fairgrounds Friday, blocking traffic for nearly an hour on the
opening night of the Shrine Circus.
With his neck connected with a bicycle lock to the axle of his 1992 Toyota
Corolla, Gary Yourofsky shouted that "animals don't do stupid tricks in the
wild" and are abused by the circus. Tiiu Ruben knelt silently with a
U-shaped lock around her neck and the passenger-side door frame.
After about 40 minutes, firefighters cut through the locks. Police led
Yourofsky and Ruben away in handcuffs -- but not before an officer snapped
some photographs.
"Of course it's illegal," the officer, who didn't give his name, said about
the protest. "But it doesn't mean it's not a Kodak moment."

Police said Yourofsky, 27, an Oakland University journalism student who
lives in Royal Oak, and Ruben, 23, a graphics designer from Ann Arbor,
would be charged with disorderly conduct and released.
Yourofsky is the president of Animals Deserve Adequate Protection Today and
Tomorrow. He said he locked himself to his car to call attention to the
"oppression, discrimination and cruelty that is hurled upon defenseless
animals."
Antoinette Pressley, who was at the fairgrounds entrance with three
children, called the protest "a little bit extreme."
Said Shriner Kirk Trail of Redford, who was collecting parking fees: "It's
pretty stupid. It messes everything up for the whole public that wants to
come and see the circus, and they're late for the show."

Jennifer Dixon can be reached at 1-313-223-4542.
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 12:58:47 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US)  Fur is back, the fashion magazines tell us,
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Philadelphia Online http://www.phillynews.com/sunmag/111/STYLE.shtml
-----------------------------------------------------
     STYLE by Patricia McLaughlin
     Fur play.

     Start with Luxury. Add ingenuity and whimsy.

     Fur is back,
     the fashion magazines tell us,
     and it certainly
     is back in the
     magazines - though
     what they're
     showing isn't
     exactly your
     grandma's mink.

        Credit the cleverness of the fur industry,
     which all along has been inviting bright young
     designers to work in fur, and showing them how.
     According to the Fur Information Council of
     America, 160 ready-to-wear designers used fur in
     their collections last year - compared to only
     42 in 1985. All those young designers let loose
     in the furriers' workrooms have learned to use
     fur like a fabric - to drape it, dye it, shear
     it, knit it, crochet it, use it for collars and
     cuffs, muffs and boas, coats you can wear to
     work every day or drive a car pool in.

        Some of the credit for moving fur fashion
     forward belongs to the the animal-rights
     movement, too.

        Dan Matthews of People for the Ethical
     Treatment of Animals doesn't see it that way,
     and he doesn't think fur is back. "Furriers may
     be able to buy the fashion editors, but they
     can't buy public opinion," he says. Young people
     think fur is "disgusting," he says. And:
     "Conspicuous consumption may be back," he says,
     "but that doesn't mean people want to look like
     Leona Helmsley."

        The old lady flaunting her wealth in fur must
     have seemed an irresistible target for
     animal-rights activists - just the way, in
     Depression-era comic strips, the tycoon's top
     hat attracted the surly schoolboy's snowball.
     The rich old lady in the big fur coat had useful
     built-in negative vibes, as Julia Emberley
     found.

        Emberley, who teaches women's studies at the
     University of North British Columbia, started
     paying attention when she noticed the misogynist
     tone of anti-fur slogans - such as "It takes 40
     dumb animals to make a fur coat and only one to
     wear it." Her book, The Cultural Politics of
     Fur, will be published by Cornell University
     Press this month.

        She found that fur had been defined as an
     unnecessary indulgence of luxury since the 13th
     century, when sumptuary laws began to restrict
     its use to aristocrats and wealthy merchants.
     And the image of the predatory female draped in
     fur (revived last year with Disney's Cruella
     DeVil) has been a staple of darker sexual
     fantasies at least since the 19th-century novel
     Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, who
     donated his name to masochism.

        Emberley also noticed that the anti-fur
     movement, which drew mostly middle-class white
     liberals, arose in the 1980s, when the leveraged
     buyout kings were spending like crazy and
     middle-class wage-earners were being callously
     downsized - which must have made it easier to
     identify with vulnerable minks.

        Some animal-rights activists find eating meat
     or wearing leather just as objectionable; some
     even object to wool, since sheep don't volunteer
     to be shorn. That's a hard sell; most Americans
     aren't ready to demonize Big Macs and woolly
     mittens. But the rich old lady in the fur coat
     was an easy mark, just what they needed to build
     an ad hominem argument to exploit the emotions
     and prejudices of their audience.

        By pillorying the old lady for wearing the
     skins of dear little furry creatures, instead of
     conducting an intricate philosopical discussion
     about the proper relationship of man and beast,
     the anti-fur campaigns seem to have succeeded in
     stigmatizing - not the wearing of fur per se -
     but the long, shapeless, formal, frankly furry
     fur coat of stereotype.

Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 13:04:31 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US)  PETA wants to decide for everyone
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Knoxville News-Sentinel http://www.knoxnews.com/
------------------------------------------------
    PETA wants to decide for everyone

    By Bob Hodge News-Sentinel outdoor editor

    Thirteen years ago Dawn Carr made a lifestyle choice. She not only
swore off eating meat,  she became a vegan.

   Vegans don't wear leather, silk or any material that is derived from
animals. They don't use any product that was tested on animals. They
don't want to see any animal harmed in any way for any reason.

   Carr, a  28-year-old former photographer, went to work for People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals about 18 months ago. As coordinator of the
animal rights group's anti-fishing campaign, it is her goal to protect
the lips and lives of everything from trout to tarpon.

   In her world, fishermen would simply lay down their rods and find
something else to do. A ban on fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains, and
other national parks, is just another nifty idea.

   "Helping the fish is what I have always wanted to do," Carr said
about her career choice. "I love this campaign. To me it's all
about extending compassion."

   And if fishermen don't come along voluntarily, she's not opposed
to doing it by force of law. Carr is not content with making her own
choices; she wants to make them for everybody.

   At PETA's website (www.peta-online.org) you can find all the cyber
compassion you could want.

   You can read about PETA's history, PETA's goals and PETA's
methods. You can read about Gill, a 7-foot tall leviathan that carries the
organization's "Get hooked on compassion" anti-fishing message.

   You can read "action alerts" that try to rally support for
PETA's causes. You can read about how to become an activist, which
includes suggestions on "quotable" phrases you can have for the
media. You can order neat PETA merchandise.

   You can also find PETA's mission statement, which says  "PETA is
dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals. PETA
operates under the simple principle that animals are not ours to eat, wear,
experiment on, or use for entertainment" (the emphasis is theirs).

   That's fine for the 600,000 or so folks who've joined PETA and
the thousands of others who belong to the various animal rights
organizations. But they want to make their "simple principle" a
straight jacket we all must wear.

   To get its point across PETA advocates everything from taking to the
field and disrupting hunts  - playing loud radios near hunting areas is one
recommended  method -  to throwing pies in the face of Ronald McDonald. It
trivializes history by comparing  people's attitudes toward animals to
the Holocaust or slavery.

   And PETA likes to  play loose with the facts.

   One of its anti-hunting fact sheets says hunters "claim to pay for
conservation by buying hunting licenses, duck stamps, etc. But the
relatively small amount each hunter pays does not cover the cost of hunting
programs or game warden salaries."

   PETA needs better researchers in Tennessee.

   Here, hunting licenses and other fees pay not only for programs and
personnel, but they've paid for the purchase of thousands and thousands
of acres of land. Hunters have paid for the animal and habitat restoration
projects that benefit not only game, but all wildlife.

   PETA claims animals have rights because they are sentient, which means
they are capable of feeling. But PETA is guilty of acting sententiously,
which means it is given to pompous moralizing.

   Remember, PETA is not only after hunters and fishermen, but also
everybody who eats meat or chicken or frog legs. It wants the fur hanging
in the closet and the steak sizzling on the grill.

   It wants to choose your diet, your clothes and even how to rid your
house of  mice. It wants you to put your dogs and cats - despite cats being
nature's most physically advanced predator - on vegetarian diets.

   Still, like people,  no organization is all bad.

   PETA was the organizer of  the "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear
Fur" campaign that featured supermodels Cindy Crawford, Tyra Banks,
Christy Turlington and others posing nude.

   Now I am not against wearing fur, but I wholeheartedly support
supermodels in the altogether.

   Call it a lifestyle choice.

Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 13:13:06 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Animals' advocates huddle near D.C.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from Baltimore Sun http://www.sunspot.net
----------------------------------------
Animals' advocates huddle near D.C.  Lobbying groups find advantages in area

By Candus Thomson
SUN STAFF
Montgomery County has animal magnetism.

Home to the Humane Society of the United States, the largest office of the
Fund for Animals and a half-dozen smaller advocacy groups, the county
recently added renowned primate researcher Jane Goodall to the stable.

The bait?

Proximity to power without residing in the high-rent district. An almost
limitless pool of volunteers. Access to some of the world's greatest
research libraries. A large press corps eager to cover a staged event.

And, for some organizations, a short commute for the boss.

"The D.C. area was the attraction," said Jennifer Lindsey of the Jane
Goodall Institute. "It's an animal- and environmentally friendly area,
which is icing on the cake. And Bill Kaschak, the executive director, lives
in Bethesda."

Ditto for the founders of United Poultry Concerns and the Farm Animal
Reform Movement, who set up shop at or near their homes.

Goodall went to Silver Spring late last month to announce that she has
exchanged her headquarters in the suburbs of New York City for an office
just inside the Washington Beltway.

She outlined an agenda that includes international conservation programs,
working with the World Bank and the Peace Corps and establishing an
outreach program with local schools.

Goodall also hopes to find homes for retired research chimps from the Air
Force and the nearby National Institutes of Health. (But there won't be any
halfway houses downtown.)

"If you want to save the species, you have to save the habitat," Goodall
said. "If you want to save the habitat, you have to bring people into the
equation."

Montgomery, with 810,000 residents, has plenty of potential volunteers and
a history of involvement in social causes.

But it's not just raw numbers but the kind of numbers that is significant.

Northern Virginia has the reputation of being the home of dead animal
groups: the National Rifle Association, the Fur Information Council of
America and the Animal Industry Foundation, which notes in a publicity
blurb, "Animal rights may be trendy, but farmers want consumers to have the
truth about animal production, not emotion."

Montgomery swings the other way.

"We're more progressive than Northern Virginia," Montgomery County
Executive Douglas M. Duncan said with a chuckle. "There are those who say
we get the life sciences and they get the dead sciences."

PETA the exception

The glaring exception to the trend, it seems, is the group that started it
all in Montgomery County -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Founded in Takoma Park in 1980, it moved to Rockville and then to Norfolk,
Va., in July 1996.

"It was economics," said spokesman Brad Whipple. "We could buy a building
here cheaper than we could rent there. We don't lobby, so we don't need to
be near Washington."

But PETA bred spinoffs.

United Poultry Concerns, an 8,000-member, 30-hen, eight-rooster, two-duck
sanctuary near the Potomac River, started after founder Karen Davis took
part in activities with other animal rights activists.

`Friendly back yard'

"We got to know PETA and FARM. There's a core of activism here, and over
the years we built a strong friendship," said Davis, who pickets poultry
farms and nurses ailing fowl. "You can always stage an event and be near a
lot of people very quickly."

The Fund for Animals is headquartered in New York, home of its founder,
Cleveland Amory. But it established its national campaign office in Silver
Spring, eight subway stops from downtown D.C.

"I think with e-mail and online services, we could probably be anywhere,"
acknowledged Michael Markarian, director of campaigns. "We have campaigns
all over the country, but it always helps to have a friendly back yard."

Wayne Pacelle, who worked for the Fund for Animals before becoming vice
president of government affairs and media for the Gaithersburg-based Humane
Society, agreed.

"It's like an ethnic community," Pacelle said. "You tend to hang around
with those who share your background."

Originally Published on 2/18/98
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 10:46:05 -0800
From: "Bob Schlesinger" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Help Oregon's Other Dogs on Death Row
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

HELP CHANGE OREGON'S LAW REQUIRING DEATH FOR ALL DOGS THAT CHASE
LIVESTOCK

     Although Oregon officials spared Nadas from death for chasing a horse, they did
not do so willingly and the alternative they forced after 17 months -- lifetime banishment to
Utah's Best Friends Sanctuary without possibility of adoption or a family -- was needlessly
cruel to both Nadas and Sean Roach, his young owner.

     Three other Oregon dogs now face the fate that Nadas narrowly escaped.  In
Linn County, Cheryl Train is struggling to save the life of Cody, her chocolate Chesapeake
Bay retriever.  Her ten-year-old daughter's cockapoo/chow is already dead.  In Klamath
County, Sherry and Les Wood are appealing the death sentences imposed upon Jake
and Sebastian, a chow and a shepherd mix that escaped from their kennel on the first
day in their new home.

     It takes extraordinary courage to challenge the livestock industry and Oregon's
government.  Sean Roach [who with his mother paid over $4500 for Nadas' death row
confinement] endured violations of his civil rights and constant character defamation as
his fight continued.  After her children stood off animal control officers, Cheryl Train was
told that she would be jailed if she did not surrender her dogs.  She could not afford the
over $600 needed to appeal for both and had to choose which would live: Billie died.
The Wood family was given 3 days to come up with the $1000 required to keep their
dogs alive while the appeals continue.  Klamath County is attempting to punish the
Wood's lawyer for his efforts to save the dogs and has even tried to prevent presentation
of a petition for clemency signed by more than 1000 county residents.

Unless the livestock owner drops the charges, most Oregon counties insist that dogs be killed,
regardless of circumstance or whether harm occurred.  Few livestock owners are willing to
give up the right to vengeance granted by Oregon's laws.  The "hearings" that precede death
are meaningless, kangaroo trials that refuse to consider any alternatives to death.  Oregon's
largest newspaper -- The Oregonian -- praises the mandatory death law.  Without public support,
Oregon's dogs don't have a chance.  Their owners will continue to face impossible "Sophie's
Choices"
between their companions' lives and the financial and personal sacrifices of appeals for justice.

But, we can win; we can curb the disproportionate power of the livestock industry.  With your
support, we can force changes that require fair hearings and consideration of alternatives
to death.

WATCHDOG has established the "Nadas Fund" with Bank of America [400 4th Street, Lake
Oswego,
Oregon, 97034].  Your financial contributions will help.  Most importantly, your participation in
the
efforts to change the laws and protect our animals from needless cruelty is needed.  For more
information, call Gail R. O'Connell-Babcock, WATCHDOG's volunteer coordinator, at (503)
590-0290
or fax her at [phone].  In the meantime, let Oregon's media and government -- city,
county,
and state -- know that you will no longer tolerate what Nadas, Cody, Billie, Jake, Sebastian, and
thousands of other dogs have endured.

 John Kitzhaber, GovernorTel:  503-378-3111
  254 State CapitolTel:  503-378-4582 [Citizens' Representative]
       Salem, Oregon  97310Fax:  [phone]

  Klamath County CommissionersTel:  541-883-5100
  409 Pine, Second FloorFax:  541-883-5163
 Klamath Falls, Oregon  97601Email:  [e-mail]
Bill Garrard, Steve West, and Al Switzer


City of Klamath Falls, Oregon
  Todd Kellstrom, MayorTel:  541-883-5316
   P.O. Box 237Fax:  [phone]
 Klamath Falls, Oregon  97601Email:  none provided

Klamath County Newspaper
   The Herald and NewsTel:  541-885-4410
   Editor - Pat BusheyFax:  541-885-4456
    P.O. Box 788Email:  [e-mail]
Klamath Falls, Oregon  97601

Linn County Board of Commissioners
 Catherine SkiensEmail:  [e-mail]
  Dave Schmidt           [e-mail]
 Larry J. Johnson           [e-mail]
   Linn County CourthouseTel:  541-967-3825
    P.O. Box 100Fax:  [phone]
Albany, Oregon  97321


City of Albany, Oregon
  Chuck McLaren, MayorTel:  541-917-7502
333 Broadalbin, SW
Albany, Oregon 97321

Linn County Newspaper
  Albany Democrat-HeraldFax:  541-926-4799
  Hasso Hering, EditorEmail:  [e-mail]
   P.O. Box 130(note in correspondence this is a letter to the editor)
  Albany, Oregon  97321

Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 19:24:04 +0100
From: Jordi Ni±erola <[e-mail]>
To: AR News <[e-mail]>
Subject: [ITA] Sabrina Salermo against fur coats and animal torture.
Message-ID: <01bd4abf$60918380$LocalHost@default>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: MULTIPART/ALTERNATIVE;
 BOUNDARY="Boundary_(ID_a8tcEu3QFFgbNDXO/8Xscg)"

<x-html><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>

<META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META content='"MSHTML 4.71.1712.3"' name=GENERATOR>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Sant Joan despí, Barcelona, Sapin: Today, sabrina
Salerno, a famous italian eighty years singer explain in a TV program in TV3,
Catalan Television, that she fight against animal torture. Every year, organize
a concert, with other italian artists, to collect many founds. She explain that
when she was a young, she looks fur coats, but an animal activist set in his fur
coat a sticker that said " YOU ARE A KILLER". After, this accident,
Sabrina Salerno, hates the fur coats and don't use. In the program, Sabrina,
says that she intents don't use a cosmetic products that are testing with
animals.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Jordi Ninyerola i Maymí</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2><A
href="../../../tppmsgs/msgs21.htm#2174" tppabs="http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/6506/pellcas.htm">http://www.geocities.com/rai
nforest/vines/6506/pellcas.htm</A><BR><A
href="../../../tppmsgs/msgs21.htm#2175" tppabs="http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vines/6506">http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/vine
s/6506</A><BR><A
href="../../../tppmsgs/msgs21.htm#2176" tppabs="http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/academy/2855">http://www.geocities.com/hollywoo
d/academy/2855</A><BR><A
href="../../../tppmsgs/msgs21.htm#2177" tppabs="http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/loge/3128">http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/log
e/3128</A><BR><A
href="mailto:[e-mail]">[e-mail]</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>"Matar per sobreviure és un acte de
la natura, matar per diversió<BR>o per lluïr una pell, és un
acte que no fan ni els més cruels dels
animals"</FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>
</x-html>Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 15:27:25 -0500
From: Vegetarian Resource Center <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail]
Subject: Thais Seeking Monkeys From Wisconsin Zoo
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Thais Seeking Monkeys From Wis. Zoo
.c The Associated Press

By GRANT PECK

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Government officials and animal rights activists
planned to meet this week to discuss ways to clear obstacles to Thailand
taking back 51 monkeys facing eviction from a zoo in Madison, Wisconsin.

A flamboyant hotel entrepreneur who arranges an annual feast for wild monkeys
has offered to provide land for a sanctuary for the zoo animals.

The meeting Wednesday at Thailand's national forestry department in Bangkok
was to discuss a possible waiver of a legal requirement that private
individuals cannot own endangered species. Officials also planned to take up a
request that the Finance Ministry grant an exemption from import duties should
the animals be sent here.

Yongyuth Kitwatananusont told The Associated Press that he is willing to
construct an open-air sanctuary surrounded by a moat on 12 acres of land in
Lopburi province, 70 miles north of Bangkok.

He said he would grow bananas, papayas and beans on the land for the monkey's
food supply.

``I love monkeys, I will take good care of them,'' Yongyuth said.

He said that if he cannot hold title to the monkeys, he will donate the land
anyway and let it be staffed by government employees.

``But staying with me would be better,'' he added.

Lopburi town is home to a colony of several hundred wild monkeys who
congregate around an old Buddhist temple. Each year, with great fanfare,
Yongyuth gives an elaborate banquet for them.

The event attracts tourists to the town, where he owns the major hotels.

The Wisconsin monkeys - stump-tailed macaques - are mostly descendants of a
group that was sent to the United States in the mid-1970s, shortly before
Thailand passed a law prohibiting the export of monkeys for medical research.

The monkeys are housed at the Henry Vilas Park Zoo, but actually belong to the
Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin,
which had been using them for behavioral research.

Last year, however, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced
termination of funding for the research program, leaving no funds for their
upkeep at the zoo.

Animal rights activists in Thailand wrote to the U.S. ambassador, William
Itoh, asking his help in having the monkeys sent to Thailand.

``This colony, the largest of its kind in the world, is in effect a Thailand
national environmental treasure,'' the leaders of three organizations wrote in
the letter.

The letter contended that ``the only alternatives open to the animals are for
them to be killed or sold to a commercial venture for potentially painful and
lethal product testing and research.''

Their quest acquired some urgency last week when about 100 rhesus monkeys at
the Wisconsin center, affected by the same budget cutbacks, were transferred
to another primate research center in Louisiana. Under the conditions of the
transfer, they could eventually be subjected to invasive laboratory testing.

A large number of hurdles remain before the stump-tailed macaques could come
to Thailand.

Montana Senator Max Baucus, approached when he visited Thailand last year, has
agreed to help arrange transportation for the monkeys.

But few concrete plans have been made, said Jordana Lenon, a spokeswoman for
the primate center.

Under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, permits are
needed before the monkeys can be exported, but so far the center has been
unable to obtain the information necessary for applying for a permit, despite
requests to Thai officials.

``This will delay the possible transfer of the animals by some time,'' Lenon
said by e-mail to the AP.

Lenon said the center also received had a letter last week from The Thai
Society for the Conservation of Wild Animals, expressing concern that there
are no places in Thailand ``with either the facilities, resources or the
expertise to manage these macaques.''

``We will not send the stump-tail colony to any facility that does not have
appropriate housing and the ability to properly care for this threatened
species,'' Lenon said.

AP-NY-03-08-98 0551EST

Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 17:03:37 EST
From: STFORJEWEL <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: DECLAWING KITTIES
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
DENVER, COLORADO
Saturday, March 7, 1998

>From the Colorado Critters Section
Rebecca Jones, Colorado Critters Editor
[phone]
email: [e-mail]

DECLAWING NOT UP TO SCRATCH FOR SOME VETS
By Keren Graham

Linda Ryan's cat, Dallas, adopted 11 years ago as an abandoned kitten, never
consistently used her litter box--the only one of the Lakewood woman's eight
cats to have such problems.

Dallas, who died last month, was also the only one of Ryan's cats to be
declawed, and she suspects that's no coincidence.

"I'd say 75% of cats that get declawed are extremely inconsistent litter-box
users," says Ryan, who runs The Cat Spa, a feline boarding facility.  "Here at
The Cat Spa, the only ones that don't use the litter boxes are declawed ones,
period."

Declawing--widely viewed by pets owners and veterinarians as an acceptable
solution to problem scratching--is coming under increasing scrutiny by those
who say the surgery's long-term physical and behavioral after-effects are not
well understood.

Veterinarian Juli White, of Alameda East Veterinary Hospital (Aurora,
Colorado), refuses to do declawing surgery, called onychectomy.  "I see both
sides of the issue, but my opinion is, you got a cat knowing it has claws,"
she says.

"The thing that upsets me most is when owners will come in and say, "We want
to have her spayed and declawed.  How old does she have to be for that?' And
it's an 8-week old kitten."

White says veterinarians should advise clients to wait until the cat is older
to consider such surgery, and to explore other options first is scratching is
causing problems.

Veterinarian Kimberly Harrison, who owns The Cat Doctor, an all-cat practice
in Aurora, says it's not in most vet's financial best interests to discourage
declawing.

"Declawing is easy money, I will tell you flat out," says Harrison, who no
longer performs the surgery.  "The front claws can be done in 10 minutes."

"It's more financially advantageous to do declaws than any other alternative,"
Harrison says."  "Money is a great, great factor, if not the major factor."

The American Veterinary Medical Association's 1994 policy states, "The
declawing of the domestic cat is justifiable when the cat cannot be trained to
refrain from using its claws destructively."

But in a phone survey of 10 Denver veternarians--in which they were asked, "I
want to get my cat declawed.  Could you tell me about the operation, what I
need to do and how much it costs?"--eight readily agreed to set up an
appointment for declawing.  Prices ranged from $40 to $211.

Two mentioned other measures, including behavior modification, trimming the
claws, using a type of press-on nails for cats called Soft Paws, or a less
extreme operation called a tendonectomy.

That even 2 out of 10 veterinarians mentioned alternatives surprised animal
behaviorist Anne Bruce. She works with cat  owners to solve behaviorial
problems, most of which, she says, are caused by declawing.

"They just don't know how important claws are.  Declawing undermines the
health of the cat," Bruce says.

Bruce says 8 out of 10 abandoned cats in shelters are declawed--animals
possibly turned out of their homes when their frustrated owners could no
longer tolerate their litter box problems.

Harrison agrees behavioral problems frequently haunt declawed cats, though
they may not manifest for some time after the surgery, so the owner never
makes the connection.

"By far the commonest thing we see is cats not using the litter box," she
says.  "When cats have stress beyond what they can take, it often shows up as
a litter-box problem and declawing makes them stress intolerant, in general,
for the rest of their lives.  We get anywhere from 3 to 12 calls a day about
litter-box problems in cats, and after ruling out medical problems, 90% are
declawed cats."

Among the organizations opposing cat declawing:  the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; the Humane Society of the US; the
Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights; the Cat Fanciers Association;
and PETA.

But it does have proponents.

"Destructive clawing of furniture, walls, and other items is one of the most
common reasons cats are abandoned, end up in humane shelters or are
euthanized," says veterinarian Dr. Mike Richards, a Virginia-based
veterinarian who writes for veterinary magazine and hosts an internet pet
health page: www.vetinfo.com.

"I think the loss of the claws, even though it is painful for several days to
a week, is a small price to pay for harmony in the household and a greatly
increased chance for continuing to have a home," Richards says.  (Until,
because of the declawing, they won't tolerate stress and get booted out for
not using the litter box or other undesirable behavior issues.  Sounds like
cats are between a rock and a hard place-Ed.)

Harrison insists behavioral and physical problems are often extreme and
longlasting--and can be exacerbated by a less-than-skillful surgery.

A 1994 study by the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Washington
State University College of Veterinary Medicine found that 163 cats having
declaw surgery, 50% had one or more complications immediately after surgery.
Of the 121 cats in which follow-up was performed, 20% had continued
complications such as infection, bone protrusion into the pad, and prolonged,
intermittent lameness and an abnormal stance.

Harrison puts declawing in the same category as tail docking, ear cropping and
debarking--all of which are either illegal or considered inhumane in some
countries.

"It takes time to coach people about declaw alternatives, like behavior
modification," Harrison says.  "In the time it takes us to discuss with an
owner how to get a cat to use a scratching post, and not to use furniture, I
could have done the declaw and made $100."

Note:  Bubble wrap, plastic wrap, or tin foil pinned, taped or somehow
attached to the surfaces that kitty is multilating will keep them from using
it as a scratching post.  They don't seem to like scratching on these things.
They can be removed when company comes and then reattached.-Ed.
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 18:13:08 EST
From: Snugglezzz <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Elephants Try to Break out of the Zoo
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Tulsa World, OK, USA:  The Tulsa Zoo's two female elephants started pushing on
the walls of their enclosure Monday, and the fence crumpled under the massive
weight.

The elephants didn't time their escape so well,though. They made a break for
it just before the zookeepers left for the day.

Zoo officials asked the City Council on Thursday evening for $25,000 in
emergency funds to enclose a large part of the yard with a pipe fence. A pipe
fence encloses the back part of the exhibit, where "the girls" are being kept
now.

On Friday, Gunda and Sooky put on a show and proved just how strong that pipe
fence was. Gunda climbed up the fence, leaning half of her weight on the bars
while her trunk swung over the top, seemingly in protest of the confined
space.

That small enclosure is "adequate for now," Karen Dunn, large-mammal curator
said, although the elephants can't be viewed by visitors in the back pen. And
the elephants have to be shut inside at night - something they don't like in
warm weather.

A new fence for them should be complete in the next two weeks, but securing
the area will take about $35,000 more.

-- Sherrill
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 19:12:07 EST
From: STFORJEWEL <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: LO DO STUPIDITY
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
DENVER, COLORADO


>From the Business Section
Rob Reuteman, Business Editor
[phone]
[phone]
fax: [phone]

DENVER, INC COLUMN
By Michele Conklin
and Al Lewis

LOW-DOWN IN LODO (LOWER DOWNTOWN DENVER)

Our 10-gallon hats are off to Dick's Last Resort for its ad in the souvenir
program for the National Western Stock Show.  The LoDo eatery's ad shows a
fork dripping with ketchup--or perhaps blood--and asks, "Why view the animals
when you can eat them?"

CONTACT:  Dick's Last Resort; 1909 Blake St; Denver, CO  80202; (303)
292-1212; fax: [phone]

Michele Conklin and Al Lewis are business reporters at the Rocky Mountain
News.  Michele can be reached at [phone] or [e-mail].  Al
can be reached at [phone] or [e-mail]

Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 19:45:32 EST
From: [e-mail] (Pinckney Alonzo Wood)
To: [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail],
        [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: Protest for Vilas Monkeys in New Orleans
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


PROTEST IN NEW ORLEANS -- SEND THE MONKEYS BACK!

(Contact: Pinckney Wood, 504 282-5243)

Today in New Orleans, after a day of stormy weather, the sun came out and
so did ten animal protection activists to bring the story of the Vilas
Park Monkeys to the doorstep of Tulane University. Maria Alvarez, Paul
Cory, Adrian Dillon, Rita Leoni, Cathy Musmeci, Angie Strachan, Pat Volk,
Tracy Whittington, and Gayle and Pinckney Wood stood with placards across
the street from the university at the entrance to Audubon Park.

The placards read: LEAVE THE ZOO MONKEYS ALONE,  EXPERIMENT ON DR.
GERONE
---- TULANE, GIVE MADISON SCHOOL CHILDREN THEIR MONKEYS BACK ----
MADISON
CHILDREN HEARTBROKEN BECAUSE TULANE TAKES ZOO MONKEYS ---- SHAME
ON
TULANE AND DR. PETER GERONE ---- TULANE PRIMATE CENTER DOESN'T NEED
MORE
VICTIMS ---- TULANE, RELEASE YOUR HOSTAGES, THEY'VE ALREADY SUFFERED
ENOUGH.

The protesters also had a letter to Tulane president, Dr. Emon Kelly, for
passers-by to sign.

Numerous people who were out walking, biking, walking their dog, etc.
stopped to inquire. Most who stopped wanted to sign the letter; even a
biker with a talking Amazon parrot named Chuckie on his shoulder who
greeted the protesters. Several cars stopped on St. Charles Avenue in
front of the protest and people got out to sign the letter. One woman,
who was noticed looking back as she passed, circled around, stopped, got
out, scrutinized the placards, and signed the letter. She said she had
been a surgical nurse at Tulane. "That's a good one," she commented about
the
"experimenting on Dr. Gerone" placard. A few people didn't want to sign.
One worked for Tulane. That's understandable. But they all wished the
protester well.

Pinckney Wood, organizer of the protest, said that he has been to many
such events over the years, and that this was by far the most productive
in terms of positive responses from the public. There was a great deal of
interest and apparent heart-felt concern about the monkeys.

The letter which shall be sent to Dr. Kelly reads as follows:
     March 8,
1998

Dr. Emon Kelly, President
Tulane University
New Orleans, Louisiana

Dear Dr. Kelly:

     A most regrettable thing has happened for the community of
Madison, Wisconsin involving  Tulane University.

     Two colonies of zoo monkeys which were considered a treasure by
the community, and especially loved by the children of Madison, have
been, as a result of bureaucratic blundering, sent to the Delta Regional
Primate Center with the promotion and support of the Center's director,
Dr. Peter Gerone. The University of Wisconsin decided to give up the
monkeys when it was discovered that they had been using some of them for
research after they had promised they would not. To maintain good public
relations, the University decided to give them to the community.

     Before having been sent to Delta last week, the two colonies of
Rhesus monkeys had been kept at the zoo in conjunction with a third
colony of endangered stump-tailed macaques. All three colonies are
uniquely valuable because they have been at the zoo for more than 35
years and consist of a number of matriarchal hierarchy family groups. It
may be that there is no other such established situation in captivity
anywhere else in the world. Dr. Gerone has said they will be used as any
other monkeys at the Center. This undoubtedly means that they will all be
eventually
consumed in the "make work" kind of research projects typically done at
the Center.

     The hearings held by Madison officials over the last several
weeks culminating in a vote of the County Board of Supervisors all
resulted in recommendations not to allow the monkeys to be sent to
Tulane's primate center. Most of these decisions were by unanimous vote,
even though representatives of Delta were there to lobby for sending the
monkeys here.

     Dr. Kelly, these monkeys should be maintained as intact colonies,
and they should be maintained as such in the community of Madison, a
community which knows them well, and cares very much about them. We, the
undersigned, ask that arrangements be made to accomplish this, and that
the monkeys be returned to the community of Madison.

     This letter is respectfully signed by the following:

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]

Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 20:07:04 -0800
From: FARM <[e-mail]>
To: Veg-News <[e-mail]>, AR-News <[e-mail]>
Subject: MEATOUT Proclamation
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Dear Fellow Activist:  If you are positively unable to do a real Meatout
event this year, you can at least drop a letter to your governor or
mayor requesting a Meatout proclamation. Suggested text of letter,
proclamation are provided below. If you do hear from these folks, pleae
call us ASAP at 1-800-MEATOUT. Thank you. Alex H.
         ---------------------------------------------------------
Dear Governor/Mayor:
   On March 20 (first day of spring) caring folks in one thousand
communities in ____________ and the other 49 states will welcome spring
with information tables, ex-hibits, lectures, cooking demonstrations,
public dinners, and food festivals. They will ask their neighbors to
ôkick the meat habit,  at least for a day, and to explore a more
wholesome diet of whole grains, vegetables, and fresh fruits.ö
The occasion is the Great American Meatout, the nationÆs largest and
most colorful annual grassroots dietary education campaign.
   We respectfully request that you proclaim March 20 Great American
Meatout Day in _____________.  A suggested text is enclosed. Your
proclamation will encourage our citizens to explore a diet more
conducive to better health, cleaner environment, lower costs, and more
humane treatment of animals. Twenty governors and dozens of mayors have
signed similar proclamations in the past (see partial list below).
   Some remarkable trends occurred since Meatout was launched in 1985:
⌐ Over 30 million Americans have explored the vegetarian diet
⌐ Beef and veal consumption are down by 25 and 70%, respectively
⌐ Most teens think that vegetarianism is æcoolÆ
⌐ Mainstream public health organizations are touting plant-based eating
⌐ US Dietary Guidelines has endorsed vegetarian diets
⌐ Major manufacturers and retailers are marketing meatless foods.
These accomplishments are due in large measure to the support of the
Great American Meatout by consumer and environment protection advocates,
by health experts and educators,  by the mass media, and by public
officials like you.
   Please feel free to contact us for any additional information you may
require. Sincerely,

PS:  Similar proclamations have been signed in the past by the governors
of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana,
Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska,
Oklahoma, Penn-sylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah,
Washington, West Virginia and by the mayors of Asheville, Baltimore,
Birmingham, Charleston, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Des Moines, District of
Columbia, Houston, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Los Angeles,
Louisville, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Raleigh, Sac-ramento,
San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tucson, and many smaller cities.
Copies are available on request.
                --------------------------------------------

               PROCLAMATION - The GREAT AMERICAN MEATOUT
                            March 20, 1998
⌐ WHEREAS a wholesome plant-based diet of whole grains, vegetables, and
fresh fruits reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer,
diabetes, and other chronic and infectious diseases that cripple and
kill 1.5 million Americans annually, and
⌐ WHEREAS such a diet helps preserve topsoil, water, energy, and other
food production resources that are essential to human survival, and
⌐ WHEREAS such a diet helps preserve our forests, grasslands, and other
wildlife habitats and reduces pollution of our waterways by soil
particles, debris, manure, and pesticides, and
⌐ WHEREAS such a diet helps prevent the suffering and death of more than
nine billion sentient animals each year in the US, and
⌐ WHEREAS, for the past 13 years, many dedicated Great American Meatout
volunteers in ________________ have encouraged their neighbors to
explore such a diet,
⌐ THEREFORE, I, _____________________________________ hereby proclaim
March 20, 1998 the GREAT AMERICAN MEATOUT DAY in ___________________ and
encourage our citizens to explore a wholesome diet of whole grains,
vegetables, and fresh fruits.

Date: Mon, 9 Mar 1998 09:54:23 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (Australia)Pink and grey galahs clubbed to death.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

On January 22nd 1998 the Adelaide Advertiser (the main daily paper in the state
of South Australia) featured a large colour picture on the front page of a man
clubbing to death pink and grey galahs (parrots) that were walking on the
ground eating. The article stated that the galahs were shot and clubbed to
death because they were a nuisance in Port Lincoln , Adelaide. They were an
annual nuisance, eating spilled grain (possibly from harvesting) and because
they attack the branches of Norfolk pines in Port Lincoln (these trees are
not native to Australia but are found on Norfolk Island - they are planted
in Australia , often near the sea in windy areas because they tolerate the
sea winds and are hardy).

On January the 23rd, an article appeared in which the S.A. minister for
environment, Mrs Kotz, said it was "not allowed to just take up a club and
club animals". Police and RSPCA were inundated with complaints after the
front page feature of the 22nd of January in the Adelaide Advertiser showing
a close up of a resident clubbing to death several galahs (who were so tame
they did not even try to escape!).

End.
=====================================================================
========
                   /`\   /`\    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)

Jesus was most likely a vegetarian... why aren't you? Go to
http://www.zworx.com/kin/esseneteachings.htm
for more information.

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

Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 21:12:51 EST
From: SMatthes <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Fwd: Enforcing the Animal Welfare Act
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: multipart/mixed;
     boundary="part0_889409571_boundary"

Re: USDA AND GIBSONTON, FLA., ANIMAL EXHIBITOR SETTLE ALLEGED AWA
VIOLATIONS
From: SMatthes <[e-mail]>
Return-path: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Enforcing the Animal Welfare Act
Date: Sun, 8 Mar 1998 21:09:50 EST
Organization: AOL (http://www.aol.com)
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Can you expand on exactly what specific violations were placed against Manual
Ramos in Gibsonton, Fl?  It is our contention that the USDA inspections,  in
most cases, are conducted, some follow-up is made but firm action is seldom
taken to close or restrict the operation of violators.  We have requested this
matter as a topic item and intent to present this problem to Ron DeHaven
during the USDA public meeting to be conducted by USDA at 4700 River Road,
Riverdale, Md. on Tuesday, May 12, 98.  We have also contended that one of the
major reasons that violators have not been shutdown is because of the problems
associated with the humane disposition of animals that would be confiscated by
USDA in the event of a shutdown.  Since no national or state operated
sanctuaries are maintained, reliance is placed on private facilities to
humanely care for and maintain sanctuary for any such confiscated animals.
>From our personal experiences we know it is extremely difficult to place
animals in such privately run sanctuaries because funding for their care and
maintenance is not available from any source other than donations from the
public.   As a result, totally unsatisfactory operations are allowed to retain
their licenses and flaunt the USDA and AWA standards for animal welfare.  To
resolve this problem, state and national sanctuary facilities are needed right
now.  We hope that you and as many other animal rights and animal welfare
organizations as possible will atttend the May 12th meeting and express our
concern for the problems that we all know exist with enforcement of the AWA by
USDA.  Keep sending out the type of violation action  information you have
from USDA.  It at least lets others know that in some cases the AWA has a
little clout. We have also suggested support from USDA of U.S.
Senate Bill (SB995) and companion U.S. House Bill (HB 1202 The Captive Exotic
Animal Protection Act 0f 1997 which are presently sitting in their respective
judiciary committees. Also, USDA should review the state of Michigan House
Bill No. 4791  passed by the house and presently in committee in the Michigan
Senate.  This bill, in our opinion, is the most comprehensive piece of
legislation ever drafted regarding the possession of dangerous exotic animals
by members of the public and should be a model for national legislation on
this extremely important subject.

Sumner Matthes, Wildlife Coordinator, Sarasota In Defense of Animals and Board
Member Animal Sanctuary Association


Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 21:17:15 -0800
From: Hillary <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: UN says hormone treated milk/meat safe
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Subj:UN: Hormone-Treated Milk, Meat Safe
Date:98-03-05 11:41:03 EST
From:AOL News
 BCC:FreeAnmls

UN: Hormone-Treated Milk, Meat Safe

.c The Associated Press

 ROME (AP) - A new United Nations report says milk and meat from cows
treated with a growth hormone is safe. The hormone BST is widely used in
the United States but looked at with suspicion in Europe.

``There are no food safety or health concerns related to BST residues in
products such as meat or milk from treated animals,'' said a report
released Thursday by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

BST, also known as BGH, has also been endorsed as safe by the World Trade
Organization and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Despite these
endorsements, the 15-nation European Union banned the importation of beef
containing hormones in 1989.

The U.N. report noted that the hormone can increase a cow's milk production
by 10 to 15 percent.

BST is produced naturally in a cow's pituitary gland but can be injected as
a supplement to increase milk output. The engineered hormone is made by the
St. Louis-based Monsanto Co., which says it is now used in 25 percent of
the U.S. dairy herd.


Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 21:20:32 -0800
From: Hillary <[e-mail]>
To: "[e-mail]" <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Controls for animal farms
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Subj:EPA Plans New Controls on Farms
Date:98-03-05 10:39:53 EST
From:AOL News
 BCC:FreeAnmls

EPA Plans New Controls on Farms

.c The Associated Press

 By H. JOSEF HEBERT

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency said today it will
place new controls on thousands of large livestock and poultry farms to
reduce the flow of animal and chicken wastes into the nation's waterways.

Some farmers claimed the restrictions would lead to higher food prices,
while environmentalists argued the crackdown was long overdue and only a
first step to stem growing pollution from agricultural runoff.

The EPA initiative is the first installment of a broader plan to protect
the nation's waterways. President Clinton last month singled out the need
to protect lakes and streams from urban and agricultural pollution as one
of his top environmental priorities.

EPA Administrator Carol Browner said urban and agricultural runoff accounts
for half of the pollution in the nation's lakes and rivers and waste ``from
animal feeding operations in particular has been associated with threats to
human health and the environment.''

The plan, once it is formally adopted, would reflect a significant
broadening of the federal government's oversight of an estimated 6,000
commercial livestock and poultry farms across the country.

The agency said the largest of these facilities would have to fully comply
with new pollution controls by 2002 and the rest by 2005. Currently only
about a fourth of the animal feedlots are regulated by states, according to
the EPA.

The EPA strategy called for regulating large poultry and other livestock
farms, or feedlots, to curb pollution into nearby waterways much as
factories currently are regulated under the Clean Water Act. The controls
would not apply to cattle ranches, but only to feedlots where the livestock
are fattened before slaughter.

Beef or dairy cattle, hog and poultry farms would be subject to regular
inspections, require pollution permits and be required to develop plans
limiting release of chemicals, manure and other wastes into waterways, the
agency said.

Such pollution has been blamed for excessive nutrients and toxic chemicals
getting into lakes and streams, leading to a growing number of fish kills
in waterways in many parts of the country.

Wastes from poultry farms on Maryland's Eastern Shore was blamed last
summer for an outbreak of the microbe pfiesteria that killed thousands of
fish and forced state officials to close infected rivers along the
Chesapeake Bay to fishing.

The flow of large amounts of nutrients from livestock into rivers and
streams also has caused oxygen-choking algae blooms in waterways, creating
in some cases ``dead zones'' where fish and other aquatic life no longer
can survive.

The EPA proposal would require permits for farms with more than 1,000
cattle, 2,500 swine or 100,000 laying hens. Permits also could be required
for smaller farms that were found to pose an environmental hazard to
specific environmentally sensitive waterways, the sources said.

Currently cattle feedlots, large commercial hog farms and poultry farms are
regulated by the state with pollution standards and permits varying from
one region to another.

The new EPA initiative had been expected within the agriculture industry.
Some livestock groups have been critical of increased federal controls,
arguing they would put U.S. farmers at a disadvantage against farms in
Mexico and other countries, and lead to higher consumer prices for chicken,
beef, pork and dairy products.

Still other farmers, however, have said federal standards may be an
improvement over what some consider a hodgepodge of state regulations, with
farmers in some states required to meet more stringent pollution controls
than competitors in a neighboring state.

AP-NY-03-05-98 1036EST

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