Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news69~4.htm/text0000.txt

Text File | 1998-04-02 | 116.5 KB | 2,822 lines

Hunting controversy prompts more study of Canadian wolves

Reuters News Service
VANCOUVER, March 16, 1998

Canada's Northwest Territories, under fire for a huge wolf-kill by
snowmobile-riding hunters this winter, has agreed to step up research on
the wolf population, officials said on Monday.

The agreement with the World Wildlife Fund Canada is aimed at ensuring
the long term conservation of the three types of wolves found in
northern Canada, said Stephen Kakfwi, NWT's Minister of Resources,
Wildlife and Economic Development.

In a statement announcing the effort, Kakfwi stressed the importance of
hunting to people in a region where jobs are scarce, but said he was
open to discussing hunting practices with the territory's Native
communities.

"The Government of the NWT is committed to the humane treatment of
wildlife and has worked hard to ensure that methods for harvesting fur
bearers meet human standards," Kakfwi said from from the northern town
of Yellowknife.

Many details about the effort still have to be worked out, and much of
it may involve Arctic wolves which have not been the primary target on
hunters but may be having other environment problems.

Environmentalists and wildlife officials have expressed alarm about the
size of this year's wolf-kill -- which is expected to be between 1,500
and 2,000 animals. The annual average has been 915 pelts.

This year's kill-rate has been spurred both by high international demand
for wolf fur and hunters' use of snowmobiles to drive wolves into the
open where they are sometimes run to exhaustion, according to wildlife
experts.

The NWT is the only area of Canada where hunting by snowmobile is
allowed, and where there are no limits on how many wolves most hunters
can kill. The territory is believed to have between 5,000 and 10,000
wolves.

Federal Environment Minister Christine Stewart has warned territorial
officials that news reports about the hunt could hurt Canada's image
internationally, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Monday.

The media reports prompted the World Wildlife Fund Canada offer to help
pay for increased research.

Fund president Monte Hummel said on Monday the group was interested in
how the wolves were managed, but recognized the right of the NWT's
Native peoples to "earn a living from the land."

The research projects are expected to focus on the genetics and
population ecology of Timber, Tundra and Arctic. Territory officials
have maintained the Timber and Tundra wolf populations are healthy even
with the hunting.

A territory official said they are concerned about the health of the
Arctic wolf population, because of a decline in recent years in the
numbers of Peary caribou, the Arctic wolf's major prey.

By ALLAN DOWD, Reuters
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 23:04:17 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] US plans would banish genuine organic produce
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Content-Type: text/plain

The [London] Guardian  March 5 1998

US plans would banish genuine organic produce

FOOD FASCISM

George Monbiot

OPRAH WINFREY is an unlikely hero of the battle against big business.
Yet
the case she won last week, in which she established her right to
express
an opinion about the merits of eating beefburgers, ranks with the
McDonald's libel trial as one of the few serious setbacks suffered by
the
agro-industrial combines seeking to monopolise world food production.

She had been sued, by a syndicate of monster cattle ranchers, under the
surreal "food disparagement" laws introduced in 14 American states to
prevent people from questioning such practices as feeding bovine offal
to
cows.

These laws are a compelling demonstration of the lengths to which US
legislators will go to defend the interests of corporations against the
interests of the citizen.  We can only be thankful that there's an ocean
between us and American plutocracy.

Our happy state won't last, however.  Winfrey might have won her battle,
but the war waged by an industry that can tolerate no dissent has only
just begun.  Its latest attempt to silence criticism and eliminate good
practice is already well-advanced, and this time the consequences for
Britain are just as profound as the consequences for America.

ON MARCH 16, the US Department of Agriculture will close its
consultations
on a new national standard for organic farming.  Its proposals have
horrified small farmers, consumer groups and animal welfare campaigners.
If adopted and implemented as protesters predict, they will outlaw
genuine
organic production all over the world.

The USDA would allow fruit and vegetables to be labelled "organic" in
the
United States which have been genetically engineered, irradiated,
treated
with additives and raised on contaminated sewage sludge.  Under the new
proposals, "organic" livestock can be housed in batteries, fed with the
offal of other animals and injected with biotics.  "Organic" produce, in
the brave new world of American oligopoly, will be virtually
indistinguishable from conventionally-toxic food.

The solution would seem to be obvious: genuine organic producers should
call their food something else.  But the USDA is nothing if not
far-sighted.  The new proposals prohibit the setting of standards higher
than those established by the department.  Farmers will, in other words,
be forbidden by law from producing and selling good food.

The next step, if these standards are adopted in the United States, is
not
hard to anticipate.  American manufacturers will complain to their
government that the European Union is erecting unfair barriers to trade,
by refusing to allow them to label the poisonous produce they sell here
as
organic food.  The US Government will take the case to the World Trade
Organization.  The WTO will refer it to Codex Alimentarius, the food
standards body dominated by corporate scientists.  The Codex panel will
decide that they cannot see -any difference between American organic
produce and European organic produce, and the WTO will threaten Europe
with punitive sanctions if it continues to maintain the higher trading
standard.  This is precisely the means by which European consumers are
being forced to eat beef and drink milk contaminated with injectable
growth hormones.

There's no mystery about why US agribusiness wants its Washington
subsidiary, the USDA, to set these new standards.  The consumption of
organic food is rising by 20-30 per cent a year and, in some countries,
is
likely to become the dominant land use.  Organic farming is labour
intensive.  It responds best to small-scale production, matched to the
peculiarities of the land.

Big business simply can't operate in an environment like this.  There is
no potential for hegemony.  What it can't control, it must destroy. The
United States government claims to be the champion of free trade, but it
is, in truth, emphatically opposed to it.  It seeks instead to exercise
a
coercive power of central control and legislative diktat, on a scale
which
makes the command economies of the old Soviet Union look like a village
paper-round.

I've long believed that we should be allowed to vote in US elections, as
their outcome affects us almost as much as it affects the Americans.
British people now have a brief opportunity to do the next best thing,
and
demand of the USDA that it drops this attempt to smother the seeds of
rehabilitation.  There are no second chances.  Once the new standards
come
into force, our own Government will be powerless to protect us from the
consequences.

** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
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-----------------
Cari Gehl
[e-mail]

Bunnies and Easter don't mix!
Visit http://www.rabbit.org/easter to find out more.
----------------------------------------------------


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Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 23:10:15 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Mexican Wolf Field Update
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Content-Type: text/plain

>From alt.wolves....

March 13, 1998

I Have Come Eye-To-Eye With An Alpha Male
By: Kevin McHugh, Defenders Wolf Guardian, with Group 1 at Campbell
Blue, AZ.


I HAVE COME EYE-TO-EYE WITH AN ALPHA MALE

WeÆre down to the final count of days before release. IÆve been here
for seven weeks. At times, the hours go by more slowly than days, but
the weeks have gone past like minutes.

We are losing snow now, and have stopped using the snowmobiles. We
hike in and out of the upper camps, but we can still get a vehicle to
the camp at Turkey Creek. When we have to bring in a carcass to feed
the guys, we use an ATV to bring it to our tents in Campbell Blue and
HawkÆs Nest and then drag it by hand the rest of the way. We use a
wheelbarrow at Turkey Creek.

The job keeps getting harder and muddier every day. I wish it didnÆt
have to end, but our whole purpose is to get the wolves on the ground
and out of the pens.

WeÆve endured primitive conditions, equipment breakdowns, the extremes
of weather, and painfully cold and wet days and nights to get the
wolves out of their pens. WeÆre close now, and we are all excited.

I probably wonÆt see the actual opening of a pen, and thatÆs okay by
me: that moment will be for the wolves, not for me. ItÆs enough to
know the gates will be open.

Making Contact

We are absolutely prohibited from interacting with the wolves. This is
necessary and in their best interests. It is hard to do when you see
the Turkey Creek wolves running and jumping on the enclosure - you
want to calm them down so no one gets hurt - but we never do.

We are obnoxious to the female pup in Campbell Blue who approaches us
and stares in what seems to be curiosity. We yell, slam the enclosure
fences, or throw sticks in her general direction top frighten her.

We never have problems in HawkÆs Nest. The four young wolves run in
panic, and the adults simply disappear to hiding holes in the snow,
behind snags, at the back of the enclosure. We rarely see the adults.

During the last third of February, we were looking for signs of estrus
in all the pens, so our servicing chores became a bit longer. We would
scan the pen through binoculars from the outside anytime we were near
the enclosures. Rather than five to eight minutes, we were there about
12 to fifteen minutes.

I triple-check the locks on the gates whenever I go near the pens.
Lock them, test them, and look at them to make sure theyÆre latched as
I leave.

I was looking at the inside locks, and caught a movement at the far
side of the enclosure. I looked up, and the adult male wolf - who I
had never actually seen before - stepped slowly into view between the
trees. He was in a relaxed posture, 30 yards away.

Then he looked at me.

Our eyes locked, and I made contact with a Wolf.

Logically, the scientist still in me says that a wolfÆs eyes seem
expressive because of evolution: it is the color (yellow - like most
predators), the shape, the location in the skull. ThatÆs true, but
there is something behind those eyes.

I donÆt hold wolves to be magical or mystical creatures - thatÆs for
Unicorns and dragons. Wolves are simply living creatures - like us -
who eat, sleep, breathe, live and die. There was no communication
between he and me.

Craig, once I was lucky enough to look in the eye of a California Grey
Whale from about ten feet away. I accidentally came face to face with
a mountain lion, from about 20 feet, and we stared at each other for
two or three seconds before we both ran away. IÆve seen apes up close.
My dogs. Lions and tigers in the zoos. IÆve seen my share of eyes.

But IÆve never seen eyes like the eyes of that Wolf.

Writers like to say the eyes of wolves burn with malice or defiance,
pride or anger. They donÆt. The wolfÆs mask is dark, and the eyes are
very pale, but they are not lit by some internal flame. These are all
human words.

He stared at me, I stared at him, and I felt - understood - the
infinite gap that separates us, and a common bond. I was feeling
guilty for being at the enclosure for too long, for moving further
around the fence than usual looking for signs of breeding, and for
keeping the younger wolves agitated. I know IÆm projecting here, but
when he looked at me, I felt the same way I did once when I met the
father of a girl I was dating. The father and the Wolf had the same
look in their eye: "Why are you here bothering me and my family?"

He and I are alike: social animals, predators, and deeply involved
with our families It takes intelligence to maintain a social group of
predators, but his is wolf intelligence, not human intelligence. We
are the two top predators in any ecosystem, but while humans went on
to invent agriculture and supermarkets, wolves still use all their
instincts, skills, and strength. We are very much alike, deep down,
stripped of our computers and our refrigerators.

The lions and tigers in the zoo donÆt look you in the eyes - or if
they do, it is brief and over almost instantly. My dogs look away when
they meet your stare. The Wolf did not; I think he wanted to lock eyes
with me.

I also understood why wolves have been vilified, tortured, and nearly
exterminated. Humans must be driven into a blind rage to meet the eyes
of any animal who does not look away; who holds your stare so calmly
that it seems to defy our belief that we have dominion over all
beasts. Men - especially men with all our male insecurities - would
lie about the reason we were killing any wolf on sight, and we would
convince ourselves that exterminating the wolf was for the greater
good of humanity.

The truth may be that we just couldnÆt tolerate any animal with eyes
like the eyes of a wolf. There is no bond between wolves and I because
of three of four seconds of eye contact. I am not a brother to the
Wolf who looked at me, and I am not mesmerized and under his spell.
After three or four seconds, I did what I was supposed to do: pulled
my sweatshirt hood over my head, "puffed-up" to convey dominance, and
walked away deliberately, without looking back.

He is still an animal in transition between a display in a zoo and the
wild, but he is getting a bit more wild every day. The scientist and
the Guardian in me wants to believe that he was exerting his
territorial rights over my intrusion into the enclosure area, because
that means he is getting close - real close - to being ready to
finally be released, and that means we have done our jobs as Guardians
correctly.

But in that brief instant of staring at each other, I understood how
far apart, and how much alike we are.

I have heard the wolves howl in the woods, and I have come eye-to-eye
with an alpha male. If it has changed me in any way, it is that I no
longer see the Blue Range as an area where wolves should be - where I
want them to be. Now the Blue Range is an area that should never have
been without wolves.

It was his turf we stood on, and we both knew it.

IÆm up here doing something good, Craig, and something good is
happening to me for doing it.

Kevin


Kevin McHugh is Defenders' Wolf Guardian and the co-founder of the
group Desert Watch in Tucson, Arizona. Craig Miller is Defenders
Southwest representative.

For more Mexican wolf field updates visit http:\\www.defenders.org


-----------------
Cari Gehl
[e-mail]

Bunnies and Easter don't mix!
Visit http://www.rabbit.org/easter to find out more.
----------------------------------------------------


______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 23:13:41 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Migratory birds e-zine
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Content-Type: text/plain

A new mailing list from rec.birds...

----------
Migratory Birds is a new web e-zine with articles, research and links on
the
complex issues of technified coffee growing and the destruction of
habitat
and disappearance of migratory and bird species in coffee-growing
regions.

The e-zine can be accessed at:

Migratory Birds: < http://www.shadycoffee.com/birds/index.html>

and at other birding links on the Internet.

Please send us your comments and/or contributions to:

<mail to: [e-mail]>

Thank you,

Geri and Alfred Webre

******************************************************************************
Geri & Alfred Webre
<mail to: [e-mail]>
Migratory Birds: < http://www.shadycoffee.com/birds/index.html>
A web e-zine preserving bird habitats, rain forests, and
community enterprises in shade coffee growing regions.


-----------------
Cari Gehl
[e-mail]

Bunnies and Easter don't mix!
Visit http://www.rabbit.org/easter to find out more.
----------------------------------------------------


______________________________________________________
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Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 23:41:45
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] BSE Inquiry - Day 4
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

BSE Inquiry - Day 4

The fourth day of the BSE inquiry in London heard evidence Monday from
Professor Roy
Anderson, of University of Oxford, fellow of Merton College and head of the
department
of Zoology since 1993.. Professor Anderson first wrote an article about BSE
(Bovine
Spongioform Encephalopaty) or 'Mad Cow Disease', in 'Nature' in 1996.

Answering questions about some of the statistics in his study of the
disease by inquiry
counsel, Paul Walker, Anderson stated that the number of cattle kept in the
UK had
declined from 13 - 14 million in 1974, to around 10 million in 1994. Most
of this decrease
was related to the payment of subsidies under the European Common
Agricultural Policy.

After encouraging farmers to start up dairy farming, production was so high
that farmers
were pouring milk down their drains.Overproduction also led to the creation
of so-called
"butter mountains", "milk lakes" and excesses of other dairy products.

Anderson told the inquiry he was surprised when he found the average life
expectency of
dairy cattle was only three and a half years. "The maximum life expectancy
for a very
productive dairy animal could be twelve to fifteen years," he said..

Asked by Walker why there was this discrepency, Anderson said: " Very high
numbers of
animals survive through to about 1.25 years of age, then a great deal of
culling takes place
for a variety of reasons.  Some go for human consumption, some are culled
simply
because they are not effective milk producers, and therefore it is not
profitable to keep
them in the herds and they are removed."

Anderson told the inquiry that his research team had been led to believe
that dairy cows
lived to be 12 to 14 years old.

He said this was important to the distribution of BSE, as many had been
sent for slaughter
prior to them showing any symptoms. He added that for a period of anything
up to a year
prior to cattle showing symptoms, it is believed they are highly infectious.

He believed that nearly one million cattle had been infected with the
disease by August 1996, but many of them had been slaughtered before they
showed any symptoms. He believes that about 410,000 were infected after the
feed ban. To date, approximately 180,000 cattle infected with BSE have been
detected and killed.

He also told the inquiry about several attempts he and other members of his
group had
made to obtain access to information from the Minsisty of Agriculture, Food
and
Fisheries, and several offers of assistance they had made. Although the
first offer had been
made in mid-1989,  he only received partial data in November of that year,
and did not
receive the full information until 1996. Despite the change of government,
getting access to information from MAFF was still difficult, he said.

Tomorrow, Professor Richard Lacey, a clinical microbiologist at the
University of Leeds,
gives evidence.

David J Knowles
Animal Voices News

The above is based on transcripts of the inquiry, which can be downloaded
from the
inquiry's website (www.bse.org)




Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 23:56:08
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [BR] Amazon fires rage on
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From The BBC website - Sunday, March 15, 1998 Published at 14:35 GMT

World: Americas

Amazon fires rage on

The federal government in Brazil says it is not yet willing to pay for
helicopters to try to put out the forest fires which are raging in the
northern state of Roraima.

A federal official who is visiting the state, Marco Franca, said he needed
to hear more expert opinion about whether the plan, put forward by the
state governor, Neudo Campos, was workable.

Local officials want the central government to release the $2.4m already
approved to rent
22 Russian and U.S. firefighting helicopters from a company in the nearby
Venezuelan
city of Maturin.

But Mr Franca, after flying over one of the worst affected areas, said the
fires were so bad that without rain there was simply no way of bringing
them completely under control.

Instead the government in Brasilia is to send a team of 50 specialists in
jungle firefighting to Roraima in the next few days, who will attempt to
put out the flames from ground level.

A quarter of the thickly forested state of Roraima is already either on
fire or in ashes - an area the size of Costa Rica.

The fires have destroyed 12,000 cattle and 30% of the region's crops, and
are now threatening some of the indigenous Indian villages.

Roraima, which has experienced its worst drought conditions in 30 years, is
one of Brazil's most remote states. It is also home to about 3,000
Yanomami, considered the world's largest surviving Stone Age tribe.

About 15 Yanomami villages are threatened by the fires, many of which have
been started by farmers clearing land to plant their crops.

Copyright - BBC 1998

Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 02:37:55 PST
From: "Cari Gehl" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Fwd: Sea Shepherd On Site at Canadian Seal Slaughter
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Content-Type: text/plain

Subj: Sea Shepherd Advisory
Date:98-03-16 16:40:13 EST
From:[e-mail] (Nick Voth)
 Sender:[e-mail]
 Reply-to:[e-mail] (Sea Shepherd Mailing List)
  To:[e-mail] (Sea Shepherd Mailing List)



TIME-SENSITIVE MEDIA ADVISORY


Sea Shepherd On Site at Canadian Seal Slaughter

MON. MARCH 16, 1998, 10:20 a.m. PST -- The Sea Shepherd III, flagship of
the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has arrived in the Canadian
Maritimes,
witnessing the opening of the controversial Canadian Harp seal hunt.
International observers on board are filming the hunt to provide
first-hand
evidence that the slaughter of baby Harp seals is continuing despite the
denials of the Canadian government, which continues to shield and
subsidize
the worldφs largest wildlife slaughter. Canada is also spending millions
of
dollars to police the hunt. The Sea Shepherd crew is preparing to go
onto the
ice and document the seal slaughter at close range.

The Canadian government has decreed that the act of witnessing the seal
hunt
is illegal. Canadian Coast Guard and RCMP units are now converging on
the
scene, 20 miles west of the Magdalen Islands, in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence.

"These are the worst ice conditions seen here in 100 years," said ship's
captain Paul Watson from the the Sea Shepherd III. "There's not enough
ice for
the seals to give birth on, so we're seeing a very high natural
mortality rate
for the baby seals, but we're surrounded by Coast Guard and RCMP units
who are
out here to make sure the seal hunters kill the seals. It is
unconscionable."

On-location interviews with Captain Paul Watson on the Sea Shepherd III
can be
arranged through the following contacts:

Lea Anne Mallett, Prince Edward Island    902-566-2222/ 902-626-6128
Michael Kundu, Seattle                    360-658-6252
Carla Robinson, Los Angeles               310-301-7325

###

=====================================
Sent from Nick Voth
Internet Representative
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
P.O. Box 628
Venice, CA. 90294
USA
e-mail: [e-mail]
Web Site: http://www.seashepherd.org
Tel: 310-301-SEAL(7325)
Canada: 604-688-7325
Fax: [phone]
=====================================





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-----------------
Cari Gehl
[e-mail]

Bunnies and Easter don't mix!
Visit http://www.rabbit.org/easter to find out more.
----------------------------------------------------


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Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 18:48:55 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (NZ)Possums become own worst enemies
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
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Possums become own worst enemies
New Zealand - Landcare News

16 February 1998 -- A scientist from Landcare Research has tricked possums
into producing fewer young.

Dr Janine Duckworth is developing a system of immunocontraception for
possums. This form of birth control turns the possum's immune system
against its own reproductive system.

Immunocontraception has been used for many mammals but not for marsupials
like possums.

Dr Duckworth's first step was to show that the technique would work on
possums. She injected female possums with the outer coating of pigs' ova,
called zona pellucida. Pigs' zona pellucida vaccines are used as a
contraceptive for many animals, including those in zoos.

The possum's immune system reacts to the zona pellucida, treating it as a
foreign body. The immune system produces antibodies that travel through the
possum's body. These antibodies attached themselves to the possums' own
eggs, which have very similar coating. Sperm cannot fertilise an egg
covered by antibodies, so fewer young are born.

"When these possums mated, they produced only a third as many young as
possums that we didn't immunise," said Dr Duckworth.

Dr Duckworth's next step is to make a possum specific vaccine.

Colleagues from the Marsupial Cooperative Research Centre have isolated a
protein from the possums' ova that is unlike that found in other animals.
They are currently testing its effectiveness as a contraceptive vaccine.

A possum specific contraceptive is needed so that other animals, like cows
and sheep, are not affected by the contraceptive when it is used.

Supplied by Landcare Research journalist Brian Ellison.

=====================================================================
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Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 20:51:11 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (MY-DE) New breed of goat
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>The Star Online
Tuesday, March 17, 1998

                   Malaysians and Germans create
                   a new breed of goat

                   KUANTAN: Universiti Malaya has made a breakthrough after
18 years of experiment to cross-breed a goat that will mature faster and
produce more
meat and milk.

                   Its vice-chancellor Tan Sri Abdullah Sanusi Ahmad said
the experiment
was carried out by a team of Malaysian and German scientists.

                   "The new breed, a cross between a local goat and a goat
from Germany, is about half the size of a cow and produces more milk and
meat," he told  reporters after paying a courtesy call to Mentri Besar Tan
Sri Mohamad
Khalil Yaakob here yesterday.

                   "Named Germanasia, the goat's mature age is about eight
months
compared with a year for a normal goat."

                   He said the university was ready to proceed with commercial
cross-breeding and was looking for a company to enter into a joint
venture.

                   Khalil said the state was interested and a subsidiary
company of Pahang
Foundation would be sponsoring the project.



Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 20:51:06 +0800 (SST)
From: Vadivu Govind <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (HK) More tests on seafood imports as cholera cases reach 43
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"


>Hong Kong Standard
17 Mar 98
More tests on seafood imports as cholera cases reach 43

By Cynthia Wan and Ceri Williams

CHOLERA has now struck 43 Hong Kong people, health officials revealed,
announcing tough new measures to inspect restaurants for potentially deadly
bacteria and increase tests on imported seafood.

The government's cholera task force says it will step up the testing of
shellfish such as clams, oysters and mussels _ except for imports from the
mainland.

The move follows an increased number of tests now being carried out on
imported cockles. Seven people were infected with cholera after eating them
last month.

The Inter-Departmental Co-ordinating Committee on the Prevention and Control
of Cholera announced the measures at a crisis meeting on the disease yesterday.

Dr Paul Saw Thian-aun, acting Director of the Department of Health, said:
``The cholera situation is not getting out of hand.

``This is a worldwide trend, not just in Hong Kong.''

Dr Saw said seafood from the mainland was not included in the new tests
because it was not considered an import.
The Department of Health said last night that 25 of the new confirmed
cholera cases were tourists who visited Thailand on tours run by Hong Thai
Travel Citizens Travel.

They said there were now 43 confirmed and 10 suspected cases, with all the
victims in either stable or satisfactory condition at Princess Margaret
Hospital.

The Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong has asked Thai health officials to
say how many cholera cases there are in Thailand.

Executive Director Joseph Tung Yao-chung, of the Travel Industry Council of
Hong Kong, said Thai health officials had promised to tell them in the next
few days the extent of the cholera outbreak.

He said about 600 to 700 Hong Kong tourists visited Thailand each day on
group tours, yet very few had cancelled trips despite of the cholera scare.
Tourist bosses alerted visitors to Hong Kong about the recent cases of
cholera and warned people to take extra care over hygiene.

A spokesman for the Hong Kong Tourist Association said there had been
incidents of cholera but there was no need to panic.

Cholera is a potentially fatal bacterial disease with severe intestinal
symptoms. It can be caught from poorly cooked, infected food or impure water.


Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 06:57:31 -0800
From: pegasus1 <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Whales, et al.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Dear People,
     Where are we with respect to establishing the link between the Navy
LFA SURTASS and the multiple deaths of marine mammals lately?
     Assuming that the connection is made & proved, what's the next step?
     Is someone making a list of the deaths to date?
     Just from today's page at Dreamweaving.com I see 2 Cuvier's beaked whales
in
NZ (+2 somewhere else), a bunch of them over the last coule of years as
documented in the posting by Prof. Frantzis at Univ. of Athens, Greece, 110
sperm whales in Tasmania, 100 dolphins in Caracas, etc.
     Can someone assemble this info?  It's shocking & impactful, & should be
disseminated.  I have just started a log of beachings/deaths on the
Dreamweaver bulletin board which can be accessed from
http://www.dreamweaving.com
     In Peace & Love,
     Dwight Stone
     Hacienda Heights


Date: Tue, 17 Mar 98 09:17:34 -0000
From: "Eric Mindel @ LCA" <[e-mail]>
To: "ar-news" <[e-mail]>
Subject: a/r job opportunities
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hi all,

LCA is expanding staff in its main Los Angeles office.

Open are two part-time investigator positions, salaried half-time and
exempt from benefits.  Candidates should possess some investigative
experience, hours and schedule vary with case assignments.  Candidates
should be available for travel if necessary.

Also open is an administrative/program support position, salaried
full-time and including benefits.  Candidates should possess some
administrative support experience and should be familiar with a/r issues.
 Hours are regular, M-F, no travel necessary.

For more information about the organization, please browse
www.LCAnimal.org.

For more information about the positions, please email me privately.

Also feel free to submit letter of interest and resume via email or fax,
310-271-1890.  References will be necessary prior to hire.

eric





Eric Mindel
Last Chance for Animals (LCA)
[e-mail]
http://www.lcanimal.org
8033 Sunset Blvd, Suite 35
Los Angeles, CA  90046
310/271-6096 office
310/271-1890 fax


Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 11:10:02 EST
From: SMatthes <[e-mail]>
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]
Subject: Dog Sex Abuse Case in Manatee County, Florida
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Re:  Bradenton Police Dept. Case No: 98-4939, and Probable Cause Affidavit,
Manatee County on defendant Juan J. Alonzo, charging cruelty to animals under
F.S. 828.12.1.

Court arraignment date was scheduled for March 13, 1998, but did not make that
docket. Arraignment has been rescheduled for 9:00 a.m., March 27, 1998 in
Courtroom B, Manatee County Courthouse.

Witnessed incident report states defendant, Juan J. Alonzo, was having anal
sex with a 50 pound black dog who was heard yelping.  Investigating police
officer found Alonzo pulling up his pants and was with the dog.  Allegedly,
the dog ran away and has not been caught.  Alonzo is still being held in the
Manatee County jail (as of 11 a.m., Marcj 16, 1998) and has not posted the
$500 bail.

Judge who is scheduled to preside over this case is:

Judge Peter Dubensky, 12th Judicial Circuit (Manatee County, Florida)
Fax:  [phone]
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 11:58:09 EST
From: SMatthes <[e-mail]>
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]
Subject: Animal Acts in County Fairs all over the State of Florida
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

With many circuses wintering in Florida and the paying public seemingly
intrigued with the "entertainment" in animal acts, many county fairs have
booked a large number of cruel animal acts (they book at a fair-booking-expo
held every summer).  Two huge fairs, the Strawberry Festival in Plant City and
the Florida State Fair, Tampa, are typical examples.   Other smaller fairs are
held in almost every county in Florida.

Sarasota In Defense of Animals asked animal protectionists and animal rights
"activists" to join in a protest at the Florida State Fair in Tampa in
February which was chosen because it was THE STATE FAIR OF FLORIDA, a common
ground, germaine to all Floridians.   We had been investigating the Ramos's
acts, who perform for Hanneford Circuses and had acts at the Florida State
Fair.  (The Ramos's winter in Gibsonton, Florida and have a large number of
tigers, leopards, elephants, and other exotics.  Although the Ramos's refused
a USDA official inspector entrance to their facility, the Ramos's were later
charged with violations of the Animal Welfare Act and recently settled with
the USDA on alleged AWA charges.)

The February protest held at the Florida State Fair attracted a whopping 11
animal rights protestors - 1 from Clearwater, 1 from St. Petersburg, 1 from
Tampa and 8 from Sarasota who had professional signs made, braved a cold
Saturday afternoon, and travelled 60 miles to the event.  This must give us a
clue to something?  What?  Is there little or no interest? Are animal acts not
a popular issue with the movement?   Are protests a "thing of the past"?   Or
is it just too much to ask "activists" to give up a Saturday afternoon to
stand out in the cold to make a statement?  Of course when the fair comes to
town these same people start calling to complain about animal acts!

It's a weird, twisted world in this animal rights business.

Elise Matthes, SDA





Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 10:11:56 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Lawrence Carter-Long)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: USA Today: Computers hasten search for cures
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

03/16/98- Updated 10:37 PM ET

Computers hasten search for cures: Genetic database
may put drugs on shelves years faster
By Doug Levy, USA TODAY

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Steven Evans-Freke and
scientists at his company, Sugen, are trying to cure
brain and ovarian cancers.

They've spent eight years and $100 million so far,
a fraction of the 12 years and $300 million to $400
million or more that it traditionally takes to discover
a drug and start making profits from it. Evans-Freke
thinks his team eventually can shrink the drug-
design process to seven years and, in the process,
rake in profits from drug successes sooner and save
millions of research dollars aimed at drugs doomed
to fail.

To do so, Sugen and about 2,000 other biotech firms
in this northern California biotech belt and elsewhere
increasingly are supplementing the costly trial-and-
error work of test tubes and tissue samples with high-
speed computer analysis and genetic advances. "Any
improvement in getting an innovative drug to market
will have a huge payoff," says Elliot Sigal, vice president
for applied genomics at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

That's where the new science of genomics and massive
computer capability come in.

Pharmaceutical giants are forming partnerships and
alliances with dozens of superspecialty biotech firms,
each focusing on specific methods or disease processes.
For instance, SmithKline Beecham has a large contract
with Human Genome Sciences. Bristol-Myers Squibb
works with Genome Therapeutics and Incyte
Pharmaceuticals. Scientists are using computers to
manipulate huge databases housing knowledge about
every gene in the human body, to design potentially life-
saving drugs at a speed unimaginable a few years ago.
Some envision using this information to target drugs to
patients most likely to benefit and least likely to suffer
serious side effects.

Not everyone agrees that high-tech drug design will
yield cures or treatments soon. In fact, despite billions
of dollars poured into biotech firms in recent years,
no drug developed using the latest computer techniques
has yet reached consumers.

"It will take years to figure out how to apply all this
technology," Sigal predicts.

But drug giants and biotech firms, many of them
privately held start-ups, say the promise of such
methods is compelling in the high-risk, high-reward
pharmaceutical industry, where makers of the first
drug of its kind on the market that treats a significant
disease can expect a revenue stream of $300 million
or more a year.

Sugen, a small, 7-year-old biotech firm that employs
200, focuses on one type of gene, the kind that controls
communication from one cell to another and which
Sugen scientists think plays an important role in
cancers and other diseases, such as diabetes. When
scientists at Sugen examine databases of genetic
information, they look only at the role of those genes -
leaving tens of thousands of other genes for other firms
to study.

Specialization, speed

Such single-mindedness makes it possible to identify
potential new drugs faster. Instead of first finding a
substance in a plant or animal that could become a
drug and searching for its use, companies identify a
genetic target (such as the signal transduction genes),
then search for a compound that affects it. It's a type of
analysis that has only recently become possible.

Sugen has six cancer drugs under study, including one
for brain cancer that is approaching the final steps before
the company can seek government approval. A second drug,
which cuts off the growth of blood vessels in cancer tumors,
is also in early human trials. It aims at a biological target
identified only five years ago. Two years later, clinical trials
began. "It is extremely quick by pharmaceutical industry
standards," says Evans-Freke, 46.

The human body contains about 100,000 genes. Each is
responsible for a specific protein that, in turn, has a certain
function in the body. Different proteins regulate disease
processes. Once scientists discover a gene involved in a
disease, they can begin to discover ways to prevent or treat
the disease by manipulating the appropriate protein.

The genomics revolution was spurred in part by the federal
government's massive Human Genome Project, aimed at
mapping all the genes in the human body. In the early 1990s,
former National Institutes of Health geneticist Craig Venter,
founder of The Institute for Genomic Research, developed a
technique of partially decoding genes using rapid computer
analysis. Venter's work and that of others has led to the
discovery and mapping of more than half of all human genes.

"We used to study one gene at a time. Now we can study
the interactions of tens of thousands of genes" simultaneously,
says Bristol-Myers' Sigal. Within hours, for example, scientists
can take a sample of a prostate cancer tumor and figure out
how its genes differ from healthy tissue, Evans-Freke says.
With that understanding, researchers can search for or even
design molecules that could block the disease process and
become the foundation for drugs to treat or prevent a disease.
"Five years ago, you physically couldn't have done that," he
says.

More systematic

Randy Scott, president of Incyte, likens the genomics revolution
to an auto mechanic who goes from understanding 2% of a car
to 80%.

The old way, drugs were discovered somewhat by chance.
Scientists would identify part of the process that caused a
disease, then test thousands of compounds against it to
see if any of them changed the process. In many cases, even
the scientists who created drugs on the market today don't
understand why they work.

The ability to catalog, analyze and deliver all the genetic
information available is fundamental to the new model of
drug creation, Scott says.

"Right now, we're trying to cure cancer, but we don't
understand what makes a cancer cell a cancer cell," he
says. But with genomics, "probably in 10 years we'll
understand the molecular basis of every major human
disease."

Scott says Incyte's main product is no longer pharmaceuticals
but genetic information, which customers can access for drug
research.

At Seattle-based Immunex, just such a database search
led scientists to a protein they call TRAIL, which appears
to play an important role in a wide range of cancers. The
drug they are studying as a result could be an effective new
cancer fighter and among the first produced out of high-
tech computer processes.

Immunex, started in 1981, has 850 employees and 1997
revenue of $185 million. Like most research-heavy biotech
firms, the company hasn't yet shown a profit. But promising
drugs in its pipeline give company leaders and investors in
Immunex reason for optimism.

Doug Williams, senior vice president at Immunex, says it
took only months to identify TRAIL using gene-based technology. Traditional
methods probably would have taken four to five years.
Not only does this save millions of dollars a year in research
costs, it gives Immunex proprietary rights to the gene. If another
company wants to develop a product based on TRAIL, it must
license the information from Immunex.

Soon, Williams expects to begin human trials of TRAIL to
determine its effectiveness in treating cancer in humans. If
all goes well, Williams estimates Immunex will bring the
new drug to consumers two years earlier than previously
possible. That two years can mean an additional $600
million or more in revenue.

Designing for speed

Kwang-I Yu, CEO of Paracel, a Pasadena, Calif., firm
that designs computers for biopharmaceutical analysis,
sees the world of new drugs as "low- hanging fruit" just
barely out of reach. He's optimistic that computer analysis
can replace or at least limit the need to perform safety tests
of new drugs on animals, a step now required before the
Food and Drug Administration allows human studies.

Kwang-I's company is speeding up computers by limiting
their abilities. Unlike a desktop  PC, Paracel's computers
can analyze DNA but cannot do word processing or a variety
of functions. Paracel's latest computer has up to 7,000
microprocessors that can do 10 billion genetic calculations
in one second, vs. a few million for an ordinary computer
workstation, Kwang-I says.

Ultimately, the genomics-driven biopharmaceutical industry
could result in new, highly specific drugs capable of treating
diseases in ways never before possible.

A study by Andersen Consulting finds that most pharmaceutical
companies expect their drug discovery timelines to be halved
within the next few years. But until that happens and drugs
resulting from those technological advances start reaching
consumers, skeptics will remain.

"It's hard to imagine how understanding diseases at the
molecular level at some point will not lead to dramatic advances
in therapy," says Charles Engelberg, biotech analyst atmeriCal
Securities. "But so far, it's all sort of theoretical."

Evans-Freke and his counterparts are undaunted. "If you
reach the finish line with a real product on the market, the
returns for everybody - including the patients - are very
considerable."

===================================
What's your view ?

If you would like to comment on editorials, columns or
other topics in USA TODAY, or on any subjects important
to you.  Send e-mail for letters to the editor to:

[e-mail]

Please include address and daytime phone numbers
so letters may be verified. Letters and articles submitted
to USA TODAY may be published or distributed in print,
electronic or other forms.

===================================
posted by:

Lawrence Carter-Long
Science and Research Issues, Animal Protection Institute
email: [e-mail], phone: [phone] x. 215
world wide web: http://www.api4animals.org/

"Xenotransplantation is a unique medical enterprise.  It
puts the public at risk for the benefit of the individual."

Dr. Fritz Bach, Harvard University School of Medicine
New York Times, February 3, 1998

-----Annoying Warning Notice -------

My email address is: [e-mail]

LEGAL NOTICE: Anyone sending unsolicited commercial
email to this address will be charged a $500 proofreading
fee. This is an official notification; failure to abide by this
will result in  legal action, as per the following:

By U.S. Code Title 47, Sec.227(a)(2)(B), a computer/modem/printer
 meets the definition of a telephone fax machine.
By Sec.227(b)(1)(C), it is unlawful to send any unsolicited
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By Sec.227(b)(3)(C), a violation of the aforementioned Section
 is punishable by action to recover actual monetary loss, or
 $500, whichever is greater, by each violation.



Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 10:35:08 -0800 (PST)
From: "J. Bearscove" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail], [e-mail]
Subject: 1997 IFAW Statement on Korea
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Dated August 22, 1997 from the IFAW:

"Although some consumption of dogs does continue in South Korea, in
general it is phasing out as the standard of living continues to rise in
that industrialized nation."


FACT:  This statement issued a few months after the world's first
chain-restaurant specializing in dog meat opened in South Korea offering a
wide variety of dog meat dishes at a greatly reduced price.

Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 13:00:02 -0800
From: [e-mail] (Jason A LaGreca)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: NJ - Xenotransplants
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Copyright 1998
New Jersey Online ⌐

Weighing risks of pig transplants

03/15/98

By Kitta MacPherson and Edward R. Silverman
STAFF WRITER


It could be a science fiction fantasy, replete with a Light and Dark
Side.

Scientists find a way to implant animal organs in humans, forever doing
away with the problem of persistent donor shortages.

A band of Cassandras warns, however, that such transplants risk the
creation of a super infectious agent, aping the way the AIDS virus was
created.

This is no futuristic fairy tale. A small, but growing band of
scientists,
industrialists and entrepreneurs, many based in New Jersey, are
pioneering
the field of animal-to-human organ surgery known as
"xenotransplantation."
And they're quickly closing in on the human experiments that will, once
and
for all, prove what this technology can do. They will be inserting pig
parts in people.

At the same time, in a quiet, behind-the-scenes battle being mediated by
the Food and Drug Administration, these xeno-scientists are combating
fears
held even by some of their own colleagues that, in trying to save
thousands
of individuals who would otherwise certainly die, they will be
endangering
many more, perhaps all of society. The fear is that, by transplanting a
foreign species into a human, scientists could transmit a virus that
could
bloom and spread among people.

Minimizing the risk, therefore, is essential. So as early as May, the FDA
is expected to release long-awaited guidelines that will shape the field
--
and affect the lives of millions of people around the globe -- for years
to
come.

"The science is very exciting," conceded Jay Fishman, a practicing
physician and research scientist who heads up the transplantation
department at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and counts himself
as one of the "worriers" in the debate. "It's at the point where
researchers have reached their Holy Grail. But since many of these are
corporate entities who are not necessarily driven by service to mankind,
we
have to be very circumspect about the role they are playing in ethical
decisions."

Organs in demand


Certainly, there's a need for more organs. As of March 4, there were
54,403
patients waiting for a transplant in the U.S., according to the United
Network for Organ Sharing, a non-profit group that oversees the national
organ exchange network. And two years ago, 3,916 people died waiting for
a
transplant. With the numbers expected to grow, the promise offered by
xenotransplantation takes on a greater sense of urgency.

True to any new scientific endeavor, this controversial field includes a
wide variety of players, from some of the biggest health care companies
running laboratories with the most expensive research equipment in the
world to hard-bitten entrepreneurs operating out of briefcases as they
juggle the intricate demands of reconciling cutting-edge science, public
policy and profits.

Among them is Novartis AG, the huge Swiss pharmaceuticals manufacturer
that
has U.S. offices in East Hanover and Summit. A leader in
xenotransplantation research, Novartis also dominates the $1 billion
global
market for cyclosporine, a so-called immunosuppressant drug used to
combat
organ rejection. With interests in both research and post-operative
treatments, Novartis stands to reap huge profits if the technology
eventually boosts the number of transplantations performed each year.

"Right now, the market is only limited by the number of organs available
for transplantation," said Sergio Traversa, a securities analyst with
Mehta
Partners, an investment firm that specializes in health care, who
calculates the market for the drugs is growing by 10 percent annually.
"Xenotransplantation is going to be a big change. But without it, the
market for immunosuppressant drugs is pretty limited."

A medical harvest


At the other extreme is Ari Marshall, an aviation consultant originally
from Turkey who several years ago struck a deal to commercialize
xenotransplantation technology being developed in Bulgaria. Working out
of
a Woodbridge condominium a stone's throw from the town's sprawling
shopping
mall, he works a telephone, fax and computer in a furious attempt to
interest scientific leaders and pharmaceutical executives in his rural
Bulgarian pig farm and the experimental operations he has scheduled for
next month.

"Nobody else is doing this," says Marshall, as he holds aloft test tubes
containing freeze-dried arteries and veins taken from his specially bred
Bulgarian pigs. "There are no live cells. It's virus-free. We freeze-dry
the tissue and apply a solution before the operation. We want to do this
with a person soon and invite Western experts to watch. It was already
being done under the Communist regime, but there were no records."

Even with the wider debate, there is controversy over technique. And
while
few experts say they have heard of Marshall or his company, Cryobiogenics
Corp., his approach to extracting pig parts for later use in humans
prompts, by turns, doubt, amazement and curiosity. His efforts also take
on
an air of mystery, however, because his company's work is being conducted
in Eastern Europe, out of the purview of the FDA and the widely accepted
standards governing clinical research.

More typical is Nextran Inc. The fledgling biotech company, based in
Princeton, is owned by Baxter Corp., one of the largest suppliers of
medical devices and blood products. Like Cryobiogenics, Nextran breeds
special pigs, but its farm is in Ohio. Nextran has achieved a high degree
of visibility through its research into making pig organs palatable to
the
human body.

In the hands of the FDA


Sooner, not later, each of these companies and the nearly dozen others
pioneering this field will have to answer to the FDA. The agency recently
asked the firms to halt their clinical trials, the necessary round of
medical studies conducted before a drug or device can be approved.

Nonetheless, research is proceeding at a rapid pace and regulators expect
to devise guidelines spelling out safety procedures and monitoring
efforts
without inhibiting the experiments under way. The biggest fear among some
scientists is that a so-called porcine endogenous retrovirus -- a virus
that is normally found in pigs -- could be passed along to humans and
prove
fatal.

The argument against xenotransplantation goes like this: each individual
whose life may be saved with a pig organ could, nonetheless, jeopardize
untold numbers of other people if a previously unknown virus is created
then transferred among the population. That is how AIDS and the fearsome
Ebola virus spread.

With AIDS, scientists believe that a monkey passed the virus to a human,
probably through a bite, transferring what had principally been a latent
virus to a new medium. No one knows what the host organism for Ebola is,
it
could possibly pass to humans through insects or rodents like other
hemorrhagic fevers, but it causes death in most humans infected with the
deadly pathogen.

Science fiction has explored these ideas for decades. Organ
transplantation
and transferring genetic material between animals and humans has appeared
in H.G. Wells' "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and more recently, in Robin
Cook's current medical thriller "Chromosome 6." Now, though, the
possibility that a virus hiding deep inside an anonymous pig will
contaminate the human race has put even experts on notice.

"Right now, there's a big yellow sign up that says caution," acknowledged
Amy Patterson, the FDA's deputy director of the division of cellular and
gene therapies. "Infectious diseases don't carry passports. But we have
to
balance this against the recognition that this technology can save
lives."

Success with an old idea


Researchers began experimenting with organ transplantation in the 18th
century. Over the years, a veritable zookeeper's roster of animals --
sheep, goats, rabbits, pigs, cows, chimpanzees -- were experimented on in
China, Russia and other corners of the world.

Transferring human organs into other humans, a fantastically complex
business, was attempted successfully by the mid-20th century. And now,
transplants of kidneys, livers, hearts, pancreases and lungs are
considered
an integral part of medical treatment.

In the last 20 years, key breakthroughs occurred, such as the development
of drugs that suppress the human immune system and, therefore, thwart
organ
rejection. This allowed for a larger number of organ transplants and a
longer survival rate for transplant recipients. Most notable was Jean
Borel's discovery of cyclosporine, culled from a soil fungus in the
mid-1970s. The drug was approved for commercial use in 1983.

Until now, the best-known case of xenotransplantation may have been Baby
Fae, an infant born with a heart defect that within a month would kill
her.
In 1984, physicians operated on the 2-week-old baby, replacing her heart
with one from a young baboon. Three weeks later, Baby Fae died. Her
immune
system had done what it was designed to do, successfully waging war on
the
foreign organ.

Now, though, researchers believe they have a much clearer idea as to why
the human body fiercely rejects organs from other animals. And they've
figured out various ways to circumvent that destructive process. The
future, as they see it, is in pigpens.

Pigs are easy to raise, they mature quickly, produce large litters, and
have organs that are comparable in size to humans. And since they're
widely
raised for food, using their organs for xenotransplantation would likely
raise fewer ethical concerns among most Americans, as opposed to using
organs from non-human primates, such as chimpanzees and baboons.

"Biologically, pigs are perfect," said Marvin Miller, Nextran's chief
executive. "And we believe we can justify using them on an ethical basis,
too."

But even if xenotransplantation can save lives, it's not clear whether
the
procedure will save money. Nextran, for instance, says the cost of one of
its pig organs will eventually carry the same price tag as an organ
donated
by a human -- between $12,000 and $18,000. As is typical in the widening
debate over the technology, even discussion of its economic benefits
produces little agreement.

"At this point, it's hard to say if anything could be saved," said Roger
Evans, an economist at the Mayo Clinic's health services evaluation
division. "We don't freeze the cost of dying by doing a transplant. If we
become more effective in our ability to save lives, we increase health
care
costs, because those people will live longer and eventually die of
something else. We're not at the point where technology has developed to
be
able to make any claims. It's going to cause a whole social dilemma."

--------- End forwarded message ----------

_____________________________________________________________________
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: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 14:00:11 -0500 (EST)
From: "Jeffrey A. LaPadula" <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US-NJ) John Guarino letter to the editor 3 - 17 (
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

This letter to the editor appeared in the local paper march 17.
Home News Tribune:
March 17

       Don't hold animals prey to our
       faults

       John Guarino of Furs by Guarino stated in his Feb. 19 letter
       that animals never can be raised to the level of humans. I think
       he should say that animals never can be debased to the level
       of humans.

       It's our species, after all, that produced Adolf Hitler, Jeffrey
       Dahmer and Ted Bundy. Only the human animal is capable of
       evil, including greed, duplicity, malice and envy.

       We should hang our heads in shame, not only for what humans
       have done to each other, but for what they always have done,
       and are doing every day, to innocent creatures that never have
       wronged us. Animals never have plotted against a human
       being, never have committed genocide, never have turned on
       us except when driven to desperation by abuse or hunger or in
       defense of their babies.

       The patient suffering and endurance of these maligned souls is
       beyond description. We exploit them and murder them
       without compunction, and then we heap them with hatred and
       disdain. Some exploiters, it's true, assert that animals should
       be treated with compassion. Guarino says so, but still he sells
       their skins after their necks are snapped or after they're
       poisoned, stomped to death or electrocuted. This is the most
       sickening hypocrisy. Only Charles Dickens in his most
       macabre mood could do justice to it.

       I hope that the courageous members of the Animal Defense
       League succeed in eliminating Guarino's cruel, disgusting and
       immoral business.
       Adele Frisch
       MEDFORD
****************************************************************************
                     ANIMAL DEFENSE LEAGUE - NEW JERSEY
                                 P.O. Box 84
                             Oakhurst, NJ 07755
                             [phone]
                    http://envirolink.org/orgs/adl
****************************************************************************


Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 14:32:38 -0500
From: Shirley McGreal <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Gorilla feet ashtrays and gibbon arms
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

>From 17 May 1998 New York Times

Store Owner Pleads Guilty to Selling Skulls of Indians,  by David Rhode

              NEW YORK -- The owner of a Manhattan boutique specializing in
human and animal bones pleaded guilty Monday to selling the skulls of
Native Americans illegally and operating what law enforcement officials
said was one of the largest rings in the Northeast involved in smuggling
the remains of endangered species.
          The store, Evolution: Natural History in SoHo, prominently
featured a sign that informed customers that all of its specimens were
obtained legally and that no endangered species remains were being sold,
investigators said.
          But the store's owner, William Stevens, sold Seminole and Peoria
Indian remains, including six skulls, 10 skull fragments and one jawbone,
and smuggled a wide variety of endangered species bones, such as gorilla
and bald eagle skulls, in violation of federal law, according to prosecutors.
          Stevens, 49, pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court in Brooklyn.
          Prosecutors said Stevens, who is scheduled to be sentenced May
21, could be sentenced to probation or up to 11 years in prison. He faces
up to $600,000 in criminal fines, and prosecutors are asking that he be at
least forced to pay the expense of returning the Native American remains to
their tribes for reburial.
          Native American and conservation groups expressed outrage over
the practice. "A human being is a human being and it should be accorded a
proper burial," said Billy Al Cypress, executive director of the
Ah-tah-thi-ki Museum in Florida, which is operated by the Seminoles.
          Among the illegal items found during a Sept. 16, 1997, search of
the store were ashtrays made from gorilla feet, a stool made from an
elephant foot, a chimpanzee skeleton, 35 lion claws, a  walrus skull and
tusks and a gibbon arm. The remains of a Seminole were displayed in a glass
case inside the store.
          The sale of human bones obtained under proper procedures is legal
in New York state, law enforcement officials said. But decades of grave
robbing prompted the passage of federal laws barring the sale of all Native
American remains.
          Stevens' lawyer, Michael Golden, said the vast majority of the
goods sold in the store -- known for a trademark, real human skeleton
posted at its door -- were legal. Stevens, a former commercial artist, said
when he opened the store in 1993 that he decided to make his longtime
avocation of collecting fossils and skulls into a business.
          "Of the innumerable sales of lawful items during that time, the
store unfortunately engaged in the attempted sale, and sale, of
approximately $10,000 worth of illegal items," Golden said.
          Golden said that Stevens would not disclose to prosecutors where
he had received the illegal remains. He said Mr. Stevens hoped to keep the
store open after he was sentenced.
          Edward Grace, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, said Stevens illegally smuggled the remains of endangered and
threatened animals into the United States by mislabeling them. Stevens

shipped two gorilla skulls and one wild boar skull from Paris in boxes
marked "clothing."
          In a separate case last week, Henry Galiano, the owner of Maxilla
and Mandible Ltd., a store on Manhatta's Upper West Side that sells animal
bones, paid a $25,000 civil fine in a plea agreement in Oklahoma City.
Galiano was accused of selling manatee and crocodile skulls to an Oklahoma
City businessman.
          Galiano said in an interview that the sale of the skulls was
legal because the animals were raised in a zoo. But federal prosecutors
said the sale of endangered species remains, no matter where the animal was
raised, was illegal.
          Dorene Bolze, a spokeswoman for the Wildlife Conservation
Society, the operator of the Bronx Zoo, cautioned that some store owners
who sold large volumes of pets or animal remains also dealt in endangered
species, but their customers were unaware of it. "People don't realize it,"
she said. "You go into a store and assume everything is legal."



Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 15:21:15 EST
From: NOVENA ANN <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Advocacy Group Spotlights Value of Animal Testing
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Advocacy Group Spotlights Value of Animal Testing During National Poison
Prevention Week, March 15-21

WASHINGTON, March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Much of the lifesaving information poison
control centers disseminate to the American public would not be available
today without the continued use of animal testing, according to Dr. Paul Ford,
Executive Director of Join Hands, a non-profit health and education alliance.

"We know all chemical substances are potentially dangerous and due to safety
testing, we know the medical steps to take to save a child who has consumed a
toxic substance or has been exposed to hazardous materials," said Dr. Ford.

According to Ford, National Poison Prevention Week (March 15-21) is an
important reminder to all Americans that 60 percent of poisoning accidents
involve children and that animal research and testing is invaluable to their
well being.

He noted that poison control centers in the United States receive millions of
calls each year from panicked parents whose children have been exposed to a
hazardous substance.  The 1996 Annual Report of the American Association of
Poison Control Centers Toxic Exposure Surveillance System found that more than
one million children aged five and under were exposed to potentially poisonous
substance in 1996 alone.

The report also concluded that human exposures to poison increased by nearly
1000 percent between 1983 and 1996.

When accidents happen or products are misused, safety-testing data helps
poison control centers and emergency room physicians to understand which
exposures are actually harmful and how to treat patients in time to prevent
serious consequences.

"Never can we take safety for granted," said Ford.  "When it comes to the
safety of consumer products and medicines, all chemical substances are
potentially dangerous."

While Ford emphasized the continued need for animal testing to make products
safe and to find cures for life threatening diseases, he said that Join Hands
supports efforts to reduce the number of animals used in testing, to refine
tests to eliminate discomfort and to replace animal tests where possible.

Join Hands is a nonprofit coalition of consumer groups, labor unions, public
advocacy groups, individuals and research companies formed to address the
growing public misunderstanding of the essential use of research animals to
ensure health and safety.

SOURCE  Join Hands

CO:  Join Hands

ST:  District of Columbia

IN:  CHM MTC

SU:

03/17/98 12:10 EST http://www.prnewswire.com
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 15:24:54 EST
From: NOVENA ANN <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Murray's Chickens to Launch Advertising Campaign
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Murray's Chickens to Launch Advertising Campaign Addressing New York's Mayor
Giuliani's Request for New Yorkers to Have Better Manners

The Four Rules of Chicken Etiquette to be Highlighted

 SO. FALLSBURG, N.Y., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Murray's Chickens announced
today that it will be launching an advertising campaign offering Murray's
Chickens rules of etiquette for New Yorkers in response to New York City's
Mayor Giuliani's request for New Yorker's to improve their manners.  A series
of ads will be launched in a variety of major newspapers in the tri-state area
with the first scheduled to run in the New York Times on Wednesday, March 18.
The tongue-in-cheek campaign will highlight Murray's Chickens four rules of
etiquette including drug use, jaywalking, strip clubs and "fowl" language.
Steve Gold, President of Murray's Chickens said, "Murray's Chickens got its
start in New York City and from the phenomenal acceptance and raves we have
received from New Yorkers, we feel that Murray's has become the official
chicken of New York.  We want to show our appreciation to the Mayor and to the
great city that accepted us with open "wings" and offer our chicken's rules of
etiquette, because like Murray's, New Yorker's are pure, natural and in a
class by itself."

Murray's Chickens is a major processor of "all natural" chickens which are
grown without the use of any antibiotics, growth drugs and animal by-products.
Murray's Chickens are available nationwide at finer butcher shops, gourmet
stores, food markets and health food stores.

SOURCE  Murray's Chickens

CO:  Murray's Chickens

ST:  New York

IN:  REA RST ADV

SU:

03/17/98 08:16 EST http://www.prnewswire.com
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 15:32:51 -0800
From: FARM <[e-mail]>
To: AR-News <[e-mail]>
Subject: MEATOUT Letter to Editor
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Dear Friends: Please e-mail or fax this letter or some version thereof
to the editor(s) of your local newspaper(s) ASAP. Remember: every one
percent drop in national meat consumption prevents the suffering and
death of 93 million animals per year - more than the number abused and
killed in all US laboratories and pounds. Thanks, Alex H.
     ----------------------------------------------------------
Dear Editor:
   Spring is just around the corner, ushered in once again by the Great
American Meatout on March 20.  This is the day when weÆre supposed to
kick the meat habit, at least for a day, and explore a more wholesome,
less violent diet of grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits, just like
mom said.
   This year, the timing is uncanny:
⌐ A recent survey by Opinion Research Corporation found that 75 percent
of American con-sumers would eat more vegetarian meals if they were
widely available, and supermarkets and fast food chains are scrambling
to meet the demand.
⌐ Kids and teens are flocking to meatless eating, and food manufacturers
are offering a variety of meatless foods with kid appeal, from baby
foods and fortified cereals to veggie hot-dogs, burgers, burritos, and
even dairy-free ice cream.
⌐ Consumers Reports found that most chickens are contaminated with
deadly Campylobacter and Salmonella  bacteria, as the US Department of
Agriculture acknowledges that it canÆt vouch for the safety of the meat
and poultry supplies.
⌐ Oprah WinfreyÆs victory over Texas cattlemen in the infamous æveggie
libelÆ trial frees consumer protection organizations to tell the truth
about the health hazards of consuming animal fat and meat without fear
of costly retribution.
   Indeed, the beginning of this Spring provides a great opportunity to
turn over a new leaf, to kick the meat habit, and to get a new lease on
life.
   Sincerely,


Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 16:02:51 -0500 (EST)
From: Katherine Catau <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: unsubscribe
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII



we hope your rules and wisdom choke you
radiohead - exit music (for a film)

there is no armour against fate.
unknown



Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 18:06:59 EST
From: SMatthes <[e-mail]>
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]
Subject: Re: (US) Rogue Parrots Escape Florida Cages
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Parrots, cockatoos, primates, hedgehogs, rare fishes, tarantulas, snakes,
iguanas, and other reptiles are being bred and sold in Florida at alarming
rates.  The exotic animal trade benefits only those who profit from their
sale; everyone else loses, especially the animals.  People purchase
undomesticated animals when they're cute, cuddly and young, but often soon
discover they are unmanageable.  Conflicts arise as the animal reaches puberty
and displays natural protective behavior and the frustration of a cramped
cage.  With zoos and sanctuaries bulging at the seams with excess exotic
animals, some people opt to release the animal into the wild.  Although most
die from predators or starvation, some do survive and propagate as the parrots
and parakeets have done in Florida.

When non-native species threaten the survival of native species, government
agencies step in to destroy the exotics.  The Florida Game & Fresh Water Fish
Commission is charged with protection of Florida's wildlife and also allows
the possession of exotic animals with only minimal restrictions.  Our
organization is working toward stricter controls of non-native species and the
establishment of a state owned free-roaming sanctuaary where confiscated and
discarded wild animals can live out their natural lives.  Maybe this will
eliminate the need for disparaging remarks about exotic species such as "They
amount to a form of pollution" by Henry Cabbage, spokesman for the Florida
Game Commission, quoted in the article "Wild parrots threaten native birds"
from The Associated Press.

Sumner D. Matthes
Wildlife Coordinator
Sarasota In Defense of Animals
Sarasota, Florida
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 18:29:23 EST
From: SMatthes <[e-mail]>
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]
Subject: HB-1533, Mule Diving Bill in Florida Legislature
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

Thanks to Representative Suzanne Jacobs (D-Delray Beach, Dist. 88) for
introducing HB-1533 amending Florida Statutes 818.12 making certain types of
animal exhibitions a crime.  The bill makes it a crime for commercial animal
exhibitors to have certain types of equine animals jump downward 10 feet or
more.

Having been involved with protesting the Tim Rivers high diving mule act at
the Manatee County fair in 1995, and personally witnessing the obviously
terrified mules reluctantly jumping into an ice cold pool, Representative
Jacobs' bill is most welcome.  The bill moved out of the Agriculture Committee
of the Florida legislature on March 12, 1998.

Florida activists are urged to ask their state legislators to co-sponsor
HB-1533.  Florida citizens may direct a thank-you letter to Representative
Suzanne Jacobs, fax [phone].  Her telephone number if 850-488-1662.

Elise Matthes
Sarasota In Defense of Animals
Sarasota, Florida
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 16:40:57 -0800
From: Dena Jones <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Addition to "Ohio Wildlife Alert"
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Apologies for the omission of the full address for Chief Mike Budzik of
the Division of Wildlife, Ohio Department of Natural Resources in
yesterday's (March 16) posted alert regarding proposed changes to Ohio's
Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators regulations.

The full address is:

Chief Mike Budzik, Division of Wildlife
Ohio Department of Natural Resources
1840 Belcher Drive
Columbus, OH 43224


Camilla Fox
Animal Protection Institute
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 19:49:47 -0500
From: jeanlee <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: HB-1533, Mule Diving Bill in Florida Legislature
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

A bit more about Suzanne Jacobs' bill.  Ten feet would be the maximum
height for diving animals.  The legislation is needed because a judge in
Manatee County has ruled that the exhibitions, usually featuring horses,
mules, or donkeys jumping into a pool of water, are not covered by
existing state laws on cruelty to animals.

Animal Rights Foundation of Florida is also asking Floridians to write
to the chairman of the Crime & Punishment Committee asking him to allow
the bill to be heard and passed successfully out of committee. His
address is:  Randy Ball, Chairman
             Crime & Punishment Committee
             204 House Office Building
             Tallahassee, FL  32399-1300

Thanks!
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 19:49:10 -0500 (EST)
From: Debbie Leahy <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: <US> Exhibitor Sued
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII

                                ANIMAL EXHIBITOR SUED

Last October, a baboon at a petting zoo reportedly bit and scratched a
4-year-old girl, leaving permanent scars on her arms.  The petting zoo animals
were rented from Animal Entertainment, based in Neshkoro, Wisconsin, and
displayed at Goebberts Pumpkin Farm in South Barrington, Illinois.  There
were three adults and one baby baboon on display.  Last week, the girls
mother filed a lawsuit against the exhibitor and pumpkin farm, charging
negligence.  The suit is asking for damages in excess of $1.2 million.

We have found the danger and liability issues to be of particular concern to
sponsors and local officials when trying to get these traveling and performing
animal acts stopped.

IAA posted an alert last December regarding this exhibitor--they supplied
animals for a nativity scene at a church in south suburban Chicago.  Other
items from Animal Entertainments troublesome past:

- a wallaby escaped from the zoo,

- a hippopotamus who escaped from the zoo was shot to death,

- zoo operator, Mark Schoebel, paid a $1,000 federal fine after being accused
of supplying wild bears to Korea, and

- the USDA recommended Schoebel be penalized for moving a primate across state
lines without a health certificate (this snow macaque had been purchased by,
and was being delivered to, Lorin Womack of Land O'Lorin).


=====================
Illinois Animal Action
P.O. Box 507
Warrenville, IL  60555
630/393-2935
=====================
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 19:49:16 -0500 (EST)
From: Debbie Leahy <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: <US> Meatout Banner
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII

                   GIANT "PIG," "CHICKEN," and "COW" UNFURL HUGE
                           BANNER FOR GREAT AMERICAN MEATOUT

CHICAGO -- Each March, caring folks across the country urge consumers to kick
the meat habit and explore a more wholesome, less violent diet.  The Great
American Meatout was launched 14 years ago by the Farm Animal Reform Movement
and has grown explosively to involve thousands of animal advocates,
environmental groups, consumer organizations, and celebrities.

Illinois Animal Action (IAA) activists wearing pig, chicken, and cow costumes
will display a giant 5 foot by 25 foot banner that reads "Perform a Death
Defying Act - GO VEGETARIAN" to promote the event locally.  The message refers
to the 8 billion animals slaughtered for food each year in the United States,
and the heavy toll on human health resulting from a meat-based diet.

Date:        Friday, March 20, 1998
Time:        8:00 A.M. sharp
Location:  North Avenue pedestrian bridge over Lake Shore Drive - Banner
facing north

The factory farming system of modern agriculture is cruel to animals and
harmful to the environment.  The three biggest killers of people in the United
States--heart disease, cancer, and stroke--have been conclusively linked to
meat consumption.  The trend towards vegetarianism is growing rapidly:

- Over 30 million Americans have explored a meatless diet
- Teens are kicking the meat habit at a record rate
- Beef and veal consumption have dropped 25 and 70 percent, respectively
- Food industry manufacturers and restaurants are marketing meatless meals
- Health advocacy organizations are touting plant-based eating
- The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans have endorsed vegetarian diets

IAA is offering FREE vegetarian starter kits that contain tasty recipes and
tips for making the switch to a vegetarian diet.  The kits may be ordered by
calling IAA at 630/393-2935.

Illinois Animal Action
P.O. Box 507
Warrenville, IL  60555
                                                         ###
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 17:45:52
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK] Professor Richard Lacey's evidence
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

BSE Inquiry - Day 5

Professor Richard Lacey's evidence

David J Knowles
Animal Voices News

Tuesday, March 17th, 1998 - The BSE Inquiry today heard evidence from
Professor
Richard Lacey, professor of clinical microbiology at Leeds University.

Lacey told the inquiry that he had serious concerns about the use of
injectable products
into cattle. BST was one example, he said. Giving cows an injection of BSE
was a
concern to him because it was already well known from human medicine that
if you put
someone under stress to increase a particular metabolic function, as is the
case with BST,
in cows, then you often unmasked a latent infection.

He added that there was also a possibility that BSE could be transmitted by
the multiple
use of needles and syringes. He was also concerned that injection sites
which oozed blood
could also provide a route of transmission.

Lacey told the inquiry that he had raised these concerns at the Veterinary
Products
Committee, which he was a member of at the time. He stated the committee was
examining requests from two companies to allow the use of BST in British
cattle.

Commenting on the Southwood Committee, Lacey said he was surprised there
was no one
appointed to the committee who specialised in human medicine or microbiology.

Lacey was asked by inquiry counsel, Paul Walker, what he thought about the
Spongioform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee's comments remarks that:"Many
extensive epidemiological studies around the world have contributed to the
current
consensus view that scrapie is not causally linked with CJD.  It is urgent
that the same
reassurance can be given about the lack of effect of BSE on human health.
The best way
of doing this is to monitor all UK cases of CJD over the next two decades.
This UK
cohort of CJD cases will be available for the testing of any future
hypotheses.  The cost is
low, the priority very high."

"It is the second sentence that concerned me.  Within a report assessing
research priorities,
it seems to me totally inappropriate, the sentence: 'It is urgent that the
same reassurance
can be given about the lack of effect of BSE on human health.'

"You only produce reassurance about the lack of a danger after the event
has happened or
the research has been done.  That is the problem, that this already is a
statement that is
outside the context of the terms of reference.  It is totally wrong, in
1989, to be discussing
reassurance because they had not actually produced the data.  This is why I
have written it
in my evidence that, in principle, the best way of doing this is to monitor
all human cases
of CJD over the next twenty years.  How can you produce urgent reassurance
if you are
planning to monitor cases for twenty years?"

Lacey said that there is a great deal of pressure for various reasons to
hope and want BSE
to disappear by it self. He did not believe that this would happen,
however, based on
scrapie in sheep, which has been present for centuries.

 He said he could not believe the official figures because:"... first, the
number of cases has
been very obviously associated by the compensation paid.  Farmers rightly
are interested in
their livelihoods, money and so on.  First of all, there was no
compensation paid, then 50
per cent, then 100 per cent and the numbers went up.  Then the compensation
dropped."

"...There seems to be an exclusive access from the Department of Zoology in
Oxford and
the Ministry vets.  I would like them to be published, and I would like to
see exact details
of the false positives."

Lacey told the inquiry that he had a deputation from the rendering industry
come to his
home on Friday.

"They are worried about their livelihoods.  What they told me I found very
disturbing.
That is because the value of animal carcasses who die is now negative, the
animals are
being buried, in a massive scale, in farm graves.  They produced video and
photographic
evidence of this, including cattle.  And I fully understand the emotions
and reasons, why
the incredible pressure to try to reduce BSE numbers and get accreditation
that farmers
should dispose of animals in that way; and the passport documentation goes
back to the
Ministry, but there is no record of the disposal of the animal.  Because of
this pressure
from [the] European Union I believe this is happening very, very widely.

"There is also a silly consequence of BSE, the fact that the carcasses are
now worthless.
It is also extremely relevant to the increasing epidemic of E-coli 0157,
because these open
graves, which apparently only contravene the 1986 Dogs Act, have access to
all sorts of
birds, and the infection will be spreading around.  The knackermen
[renderers] are
desperate, they are all going bust.  The farmers are burying their animals
on their own
fields.  I really think that something has to be done about this, because
it means the actual
figures, the animal deaths, the causes of death, the infectivity, are going
to be lost.

Lacey gave evidence that in 1992, after the feed ban had been introduced,
that a farmer in
York had contacted him about a cow which he thought had BSE. The cow has
two calves
which subsequently became ill. One had been born the year after the feed
ban had been
brought into effect. The farmer had been visited by the first of two vets
from MAFF. This
vet had confirmed it was BSE, and put a restriction order on it. A second
MAFF vet had
then been to visit the farm and told the farmer: "It is not BSE because it
is born after the
feed ban." He told the farmer to "Have it slaughtered and send it into the
food chain if you
want to use it."

The farmer, said Lacey was ethical and so did not. The farmer's own vet had
been called in
and diagnosed the calf as suffering from a condition he called ketosis
which, Lacey said,
just means a non-specific chemical change.

"I saw the animal. It was vesiculating, its muscles were twitching, it had
lost weight, an
awful amount of weight, it could not stand up properly.  It was in a
terrible state, it is
clinical BSE.  I have seen several.  So the farmer gives the animal to me
and, Stephen [ Dr
Dealler] has it slaughtered, and we have the head taken off and the brain
preserved and
sections taken.  And we sent the sections to three different laboratories,
including
Weybridge, the Ministry's, and they all confirmed BSE..."

Lacey said he thought the actions of the second MAFF vet and the farmer's
own vet was a
procedure to obstruct the diagnosis of BSE.

Lacey said that he had encountered serious problems regarding the
publishing of a book ha
had written about the BSE problem. He refused to name the publisher, due to
them being
intimidated.

"... I was approached in early 1994 by a small  publishing company based in
Wales who
asked me to write a book on the history of BSE.  I said that I would be
delighted to.
Somehow the local community where the publisher is -- was -- got to find
out this was 9
happening; and it is a rural community, and they began to be intimidated,
from bricks
through windows, wire cutting et cetera.  They then decided to set up a new
company in
Jersey in order to prevent this; and this is why it is published in a
subsidiary company, in
Cypsela.  Incidentally, this company has now gone bankrupt and someone has
taken all the
money, and they owe me several thousand pounds, but that is an aside.  I
actually made
ú6,000 out of this, just in case anyone thinks that I am profiteering out
of the bad food.

"Anyway, they were obviously in difficulty; they sent it for review, copies
to various
people, and several magazines did reviews; but the significant one was The
London Times
[They were] sent a copy, directly from the publishers.  And a hostile
review appeared in
November1994 written by two journalists.  I was not consulted.

"The people quoted in it were the Ministry of Agriculture vets, who were
highly critical of
this book, basically saying I was lying; and subsequently not a single
major book chain
stocked it.  I purchased 1,000 copies and gave them away to people I
thought ought to see
it. Subsequently, I was speaking to one of the authors of The Times article
who told me,
over the telephone, that he had not actually read the book."

"[People who wanted a copy] had to write to the publishers, as they could
not know who
the publishers were, it was a question of writing to the Channel Islands.
It was not listed
in any catalogue and was virtually impossible to get. Lots of people used
to phone me up
and ask me for it and I used to give them a free copy."

He was asked if there was any diference between the way BSE had been handled
compared to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease which had occured in the
70's.

" I can make a contrast of the discrepancy between the control of diseases
in animals that
have a primary and adverse effect on farming and farming communities, like
foot and
mouth disease, like salmonella pullorum, which is entirely a chicken
salmonella.  There
action has been taken vigourously and sensibly and radically.  Diseases
which impinge
onto the human population, for example salmonella Campylobacter and BSE,
the main
thrust of the control has been cosmetic to appear to be taking action, and
the main attempt
has been to so-called restore consumer confidence.  Thus food poisoning in
general
continues to rise.  We have had no adequate resolution of the salmonella in
eggs problem.
We have had no adequate resolution of the very high numbers of
Campylobacter from
affected animals.  So there has been a major difference.

"If BSE had had a major impact on farming, cattle farming, then more action
would have
likely been taken. As the disease largely affects dairy cows towards the
end of their life,
the potential effect on human population has obviously not been taken as
the first priority;
the first priority has been towards the welfare of the animal husbandry."

He said he stood by his comments that, in the worst case scenario, up to 5%
of the UK's
human population could be affected by CJD, and called on the government to
make CJD a
notifiable disease.




Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 21:31:15 -0500
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: No EU Ban On Some Animal Parts Use
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

MARCH 17, 11:40 EST

No EU Ban On Some Animal Parts Use

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- The European Union's executive agency will
indefinitely postpone a ban on the use of animal parts at risk of carrying
mad cow disease after agriculture ministers rejected the proposal.

The United States, Australia, New Zealand and several EU countries had
opposed the ban, arguing their cattle were only marginally exposed to the
disease.

The United States said the proposal would disrupt billions of dollars a
year of pharmaceutical exports, which are made with animal byproducts
judged most at risk of the disease, also known as Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy.

An estimated 80 percent of oral medicines contain animal byproducts that
the proposal would have prohibited. Almost every pill or capsule contains
tallow, made from boiled cattle carcasses, and gelatin, made from animal
bones, drug companies say.

The European Commission had initially planned to impose the ban in April,
but then delayed it to July 1. EU countries and trade partners opposed to
the ban were to be granted an exemption until next Jan. 1.

But EU farm ministers said even the January date was too early and that
the Commission had to reduce its list of animal parts considered at risk.

The agency wanted to prohibit the use of the head and spinal cord of
cattle, sheep and goats more than 12 months old as well as the spleen of
sheep and goats.

Those animal parts are believed to be most at risk of harboring BSE.

On Monday, the farm ministers eased a 2-year-old ban on British beef
exports, allowing the resumption of beef sales from Northern Ireland.

The EU banned all British beef exports on March 27, 1996, in response to a
possible link between mad cow disease, and the deadly human brain ailment
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

The EU will allow the export of Northern Irish beef that comes from
animals between six months old and 30 months old in herds with no history
of mad cow disease, officials said.

Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 21:37:18 -0500
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail] (truddi lawlor)
Subject: (Fwd) children's protest
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

posted for [e-mail] (truddi lawlor)
--------------------------------------------
Press release from IFAW

March 11th, 1998

                     CHILDREN AND MPs IN 1 MILLION PROTEST
                            OVER SEAL PUP SLAUGHTER

A symbolic group of young children, aged from 9 months upwards, was joined
by a delegation of cross-party MPs when they handed in a 1 million signature
petition to the Canadian High Commission in London today, Wednesday,
(March 11) to protest at the slaughter of more than 1 million young seal
pups in Canada.

The protest was organized by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
to coincide with the start of this year's hunt off the east coast of Canada.

In the next few weeks the Canadians plan to kill a further 285,000 seals,
most of them pups of less than 1 year old, to add to their million plus
tally since the 1987 agreement by the Canadian Government to no longer allow
the commercial slaughter of baby whitecoat harp seals and blueback hood seal
pups.

The children included nine-month-old Tabitha Springford, Mary-Beth Hamilton,
aged one, and James Key and George Mortley, both aged 2. They were joined by
Labour MP Ian Cawsey and Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Taylor.

"The children handing in this petition are a symbol that represents the 1
million people across Europe that have signed opposing the terrible
destruction of seal pups that are mostly only days or weeks old," said
Canadian Mark Austen, who runs IFAW's European seal campaign.

"Canada has got away with fooling the world that it gave up killing seal pups
in the 1980s, but in reality they are now killing about 220,000 pups each
year."

IFAW is also seeking to highlight that thanks to its undercover filming of
cruelty violations seven sealers are at present facing court action over 17
charges under the Canadian Marine Mammal Regulations. Two have pleaded
guilty and will be sentenced this May and the other five face trial.

"I have just been out to see the seals in the Gulf of St Lawrence and it
sickens me that the pups face being shot or clubbed to death after they are
just 12 days old," said Labour MP Ian Cawsey.

Lib Dem MP Matthew Taylor, who joined other European politicians in the
delegation to Canada's icebound seal nurseries last week, added: "The cruelty
of what is the biggest marine mammal hunt in the world has been totally
exposed by this undercover film and the subsequent court cases, although
sadly many more examples of cruelty obviously go unseen."

Last year more than 80% of seals killed were pups of only days or weeks old,
whilst left alone they can live to 30 or 35 years old. Those adult seals
which are killed are often slaughtered solely for their penises, which can
sell for up to $600 (Canadian), for use as so-called aphrodisiacs in the Far
East.

"We have already seen how this kind of trade in animal parts can endanger
animals, such as rhinos, tigers and elephants, and the same could happen to
seals," said Austen.

The Canadian government heavily subsidizes the seal hunt, which otherwise
would probably collapse. In 1996 the subsidy amounted to approximately
$3.4 million.

Austen added: "This year's quota of 285,000 seals is the highest ever, and
even the government's scientists admit that the true number that die may
well be as high as 500,000 because of those that are wounded but lost.

"Today's protest underlines once again that this is an incredible waste of
wildlife, that is mostly barely a few weeks old. This is unacceptable to
the people of Europe, just as it is, in fact, to the vast majority of
Canadians."



Further Information: Mark Austen 0171 872 5693 / IFAW UK-CA
>Nick Jenkins 01634 830888 or 0385 504424 / IFAW UK
>
>
>



Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 21:38:21 -0500
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Cc: [e-mail] (truddi lawlor)
Subject: Press Release from Nick Jenkins
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

posted for [e-mail] (truddi lawlor)
--------------------------------------------
The following press release is from Nick Jenkins at IFAW-UK

IMPORTANT: Photocall- Canadian High Commission, 1 Grosvenor Square, London W1
DATE: Wednesday, March 11th
TIME: 12 noon

TV and Picture Editors:YOUNG CHILDREN AGED FROM 9 MONTHS UPWARDS WILL
BE
HANDING
IN A 1 MILLION-STRONG PETITION TO THE CANADIAN HIGH COMMISSION IN
LONDON AND
HOLDING A GIANT PROTEST PLACARD IN A SYMBOLIC PROTEST ABOUT THE 1
MILLION
YOUNG SEAL PUPS KILLED BY CANADIANS. THEY WILL BE JOINED BY A
CROSS-PARTY
DELEGATION OF MPs.

NB: Betacam footage from an undercover investigation team covering the seal
hunt is available. Still photographs also available.


NEWS.......NEWS........NEWS.........NEWS..........NEWS..........NEWS......NEW
                     CHILDREN AND MPs IN 1 MILLION PROTEST
                            OVER SEAL PUP SLAUGHTER

* A symbolic group of young children will be joined by a delegation of
cross-party MPs when they hand in a 1 million signature petition to the
Canadian High Commission in London tomorrow, Wednesday, (March 11) to
protest at the slaughter of more than 1 million seal pups in Canada.

* The protest is organized by the International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW) to coincide with the start of this year's hunt off the east coast of
Canada. The petition was collected in the UK and Europe.

* In the next few weeks the Canadians plan to kill a further 285,000 seals,
most of them pups of less than 1 year old, to add to their million plus
tally since the 1989 agreement by the Canadian Government to no longer allow
the commercial slaughter of baby whitecoat harp seals.

* IFAW is also seeking to highlight that thanks to its undercover filming of
cruelty violations seven sealers are at present facing court action over 17
charges under the Canadian Marine Mammal Regulations.

* Those adult seals which are killed are often slaughtered solely for their
penises, which can sell for up to $600 (Canadian), for use as so-called
aphrodisiacs in the Far East.

Further Information: Mark Austen 0171 872 5693 IFAW UK/CA
                     Nick Jenkins 01634 830888 or 0385 504424 IFAW-UK




Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 17:07:45 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Molly G Hamilton)
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Lethal Medicine
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


I am so happy!  I just got my local television station here in
Middletown, N.Y.  to air "Lethal Medicine."  They have informed me that
they will air it at 12:00 noon on Thursday, March19th.

Love, Peace & Liberation,
Molly

_____________________________________________________________________
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: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 00:02:11 -0400
From: Ty Savoy <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (Ca) Praise For Nova Scotia Circus-free Town
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"





  Digby earns praise from around globe for animal-act ban

By BRIAN MEDEL / Yarmouth Bureau

Digby - Last year a national magazine chose Digby as the most romantic town in
Canada. This year the community of 2,500 is being lauded as one of the most
animal friendly towns on the planet.

Mayor - or should that be Burgomester? - Frank Mackintosh and town council get
mail almost daily from around the world thanking them for banning travelling
animal acts.

One recent note from a German woman, penned in English,  reads, "Dear
Burgomester, I thank you so much for your decision to stop the tricks with
animals."

It was just about one year ago that Digby became the first town in Nova Scotia
to ban circuses travelling with trained animals from setting up within town
limits.

The news was published in various forms around the world, and now many animal
lovers are planning vacations to Nova Scotia, including a stop in Digby.

A group from Albuquerque, New Mexico is petitioning its own city council and
wants to know how the ban was set up in Digby.

"Do you have any suggestions or helpful hints?" asked one councillor.

Digby's deputy mayor Bob Vidito spearheaded passage of the bylaw, which makes
it an offence for animals to be made to fight or to perform for the simple
amusement of onlookers.

Notable exceptions include the riding of horses and ponies and the showing of
animals in agricultural fairs, pet shows or magic acts.

"We've received approximately 130 letters from all over the world - England,
the Netherlands, South Africa, all of them congratulating us on our circus
animal bylaw," said Mr. Vidito, recently as he opened some mail at the town
hall.

"Here's one just in today," he said, reading a card from Cedar Falls, Iowa.

"Several of them have asked for information on our town and several more have
said they planned to visit," said Mr. Vidito.

Local residents have also been supportive, although they haven't written
letters.

"That's not unusual. The town is so small you pass people on the street," said
Mr. Vidito.

He's not aware of any negative comments about the bylaw and said residents are
mostly supportive.

In neighboring Yarmouth County, the Municipality of Argyle and the town of
Yarmouth have passed similar bylaws prohibiting exotic animal acts.

Not all circuses have taken the attacks lightly.  A brochure prepared several
years ago by one circus touring the province encouraged circus lovers not to
let animal rights militants - "an ill-informed minority" - spoil their day at
the                    circus.

Circus animals are generally treated better than animals at most horse racing
stables, dog kennels and zoos, the pamphlet stated.




Date: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 13:01:07 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (UK)Poultry contamination
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

CAMPYLOBACTER, POULTRY CONTAMINATION - UK
*****************************************
Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 16:53:28 -0600

Source: Sunday Times March 15 1998 [edited]


Unpublished research commissioned by the [UK] Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food from Aberdeen University suggests that 100% of chickens
that pass through [British] mechanised slaughter houses leave infected with
campylobacter.

The ministry study was conducted by Professor Hugh Pennington, the
microbiologist appointed by the government to investigate the _E. coli_
outbreak which killed 20 people in Lanarkshire and central Scotland in 1996.
It suggests that British slaughter houses are spreading campylobacter much
more widely than previously suspected, infecting birds that may have entered
the system clean from uninfected flocks. "There is a lot of campylobacter
out there and it is getting through and being spread by the processing
system," said Pennington last week. "Not all birds are contaminated when
they go in, but in our study all were contaminated when they came out."

In 1989, 32,000 campylobacter poisoning incidents were  reported to the
Public Health Laboratory Service. Last  year there were more than 50,000.
The true figure is probably 10 times that, or 500,000 campylobacter
poisonings a year, according to experts. "Most cases are simply not
reported," said Pennington.

The British poultry industry denies that 100% of birds are infected during
the slaughter process, as the Aberdeen study - which tracked chickens in
batches over a 10-month period last year - concluded. But it does concede
that some birds can be infected. Peter Bradnock, chief executive of the
British Poultry Meat Federation, said: "We would not disagree with what they
are saying in the main. Campylobacter is a serious problem on farms and it
is not surprising that cross-contamination is occurring in processing
plants. It is an issue the industry is addressing.

"We might dispute the 100% infection figure for birds leaving these plants,
but certainly the infection rate could be between 40% and 90%."

There are no up-to-date British statistics for the proportion of chickens
infected by campylobacter by the time they reach supermarket shelves, but
freezing does not eradicate the bug. Past studies suggest that about 40% of
ready-to-cook birds are contaminated. Last year the British ate 1.13m tonnes
of chicken, the equivalent of about 13 birds each. The ú1.6 billion market
has grown by more than 60% since 1985 on the back of red meat health scares
and the trend towards a leaner diet.

A recent survey published by Consumer Reports, the American version of
Which? magazine, found campylobacter in 63% of 1,000 fresh chickens bought
from grocery stores in 36 American cities. Salmonella was found in 16%, and
8% were infected with both. The magazine concluded that no brand of meat was
cleaner than any other. As a group, "premium" chickens - including
free-range birds - were found to be most contaminated.
=====================================================================
========
                   /`\   /`\    The Balance:
Tom, Tom,         (/\ \-/ /\)   NATURE's balance is so fine-
The piper's son,     )6 6(      Take care when altering her design!
Saved a pig        >{= Y =}<    A species introduced could grow
And away he run;    /'-^-'\     To be a source of endless woe;
So none could eat  (_)   (_)    While culling another could unfold
The pig so sweet    |  .  |     A horde of pests it once controlled.
Together they ran   |     |}    from "The Judgement of the Animals"
Down the street.    \_/^\_/     by Willow Macky (published by the RNZSPCA)
***************************************************************************
Rabbit Information Service      http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
P.O. Box 30,                    email [e-mail]
Riverton,                       Was Jesus a vegetarian? Vegan and AR info;
Western Australia 6148          http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4620

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