A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue #
07/19/00
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MicheleARivera@aol.com
~ SavingLife@aol.com
THE EIGHT ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Strolling With Our Kin by Marc Bekoff
2 ~ Download the USDA Nutrient Database
3 ~ Stealth Attack on First Amendment
4 ~ "Canned" Hunt or Can Hunt?
5 ~ Website of Note (Low cost/free cat Spay/Neuter)
6 ~ No-Kill Conference
7 ~ Hell To Pay (poem)
8 ~ Quote To Remember
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Strolling With Our Kin
submitted by Marc Bekoff - bekoffm@spot.Colorado.EDU
http://www.codaily.com/Headlines/headline5.htm
Colorado Daily, July 7, 2000
Local scientist challenges our view of animals
By TERJE LANGELAND
Colorado Daily Staff Writer
If Marc Bekoff was driving a car and had to hit and instantly kill either the
last wolf on Earth or his companion dog, Jethro, which animal would he choose
to kill?
You might think that Bekoff, a CU-Boulder biologist specializing in animal
behavior, would want to save the wolf from extinction. But the answer, he
says, is that he would save Jethro. "Jethro really trusts me,"
Bekoff says. "Jethro is my friend, and it would be betraying him if I
killed him."
His decision might not be based on cold science or reason. Indeed, its a
personal, moral choice perhaps even a purely emotional one. But the
point, he says, is that ultimately, "We're all going to have to make
decisions about preferences" when dealing with animals, which have no say
in how we treat them.
While the wolf-vs.-Jethro scenario may be far-fetched, it highlights real
choices that face us every day: If trapping animals in one place to
reintroduce them in another place means that half of the released animals die,
is it worthwhile? If studying a drug to save human lives requires killing
10,000 laboratory animals, is that justifiable? What if 100,000 animals are
killed? Does it make a difference whether the animals are rats or chimpanzees?
What if we don't know for certain that the research will tell us anything worth
knowing?
Those are just a few of the myriad questions Bekoff asks in his new book,
"Strolling With Our Kin Speaking for and Respecting Voiceless
Animals." Bekoff says he decided
to write the book to try to answer some of the many questions he's frequently
asked while lecturing in schools and appearing on radio and television. "I was getting bombarded with
questions from people, such as, What's the difference between animal rights and
animal welfare?" Bekoff says. "People would ask me, what do you think
about zoos? ... There are these enormously complex social and moral questions
that need to be addressed."
While Bekoff has published about a dozen books, "Strolling" is
different from the others. Written in a casual, conversational tone using plain
English, the 65-page paperback is meant for anyone from children to interested
adults. "I didn't want to write a 3-inch tome that a kid would look
at and barf," Bekoff explains.
Why target children? Jane Goodall, the world-famous chimpanzee expert and a
friend of Bekoffs, speaks to the point in her foreword to his book.
"There always was abuse of animals, but we are more aware of it today
thanks to the animals," Goodall writes. "The horror of factory
farming is new. The extraordinary explosions of human populations worldwide has
cause an ever-increasing hostility between man and beast as they compete for
dwindling resources and the natural world is losing out. The grim inner-city
areas and the poverty that exists even in the most affluent countries
increasingly alienates children from nature. "There is a new need
for information that will encourage young people to understand the natural
world and their relationship to it. A new need to teach children in school
about the way their societies treat animals. And a new need to provide our
youth with opportunities that foster respect for all life and an empathy with
the animal beings with whom we, human beings, share the planet."
The issues raised in Bekoffs book range from the more heated ethical debates
over meat-eating and laboratory research on animals, to questions as to whether
humans should "redecorate" nature by reintroducing species, or
whether its advisable to intervene when wild animals are threatened by disease
or disaster. Bekoff even raises
questions about his own research methods observing animal behavior in the wild,
asking whether such research might sometimes be too intrusive.
Bekoff doesn't pretend to have all the answers, but that's not the point, he
says. While some scientists claim that
science can or should be "neutral," Bekoff says that ultimately, most
of these types of decisions are based on values, which vary among
individuals. "Its not a matter of right or wrong," he says
about the books message. "Its a matter of making sure decisions on
those issues are informed."
Still, while he encourages readers to make up their own minds, Bekoff clearly
makes a case for strengthened animal protections. Citing volumes of research,
statistics and anecdotes, he seeks to shatter accepted truths about humans
superiority over animals and the usefulness of animal research. "I
would be a fool if I didn't admit I have an agenda," Bekoff said. The book
is published by the American Anti-Vivisection Society, which will receive most
of the proceeds.
Through all the philosophical and scientific discourse, Bekoff also reveals a
sense of wonder and a love for animals which may be the key to appealing to
young readers. "Marc Bekoff is the wisest scientist I know,"
writes author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, in reviewing the book. "For he is
the only expert who truly loves animals in the way that children are able to
love animals, with all his heart."
"Strolling With Our Kin," from Lantern Books, will go on sale in
bookstores and on the Web later this month. It is listed at $9.95 and can be
pre-ordered at Amazon.com.
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Download the USDA Nutrient
Database
How
do dairy products compare to vegetables for calcium? The answer to this -- and
every other nutrient question you could think of -- is now available online.
Bill Harris, MD, has complied USDA data and put it in Excel spreadsheet format
at:
http://www.vegsource.com/harris/food_comp.htm
Source: Jeff
Nelson <headveg@vegsource.org>
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Stealth Attack on First
Amendment
Poised to Slip Through Congress
WASHINGTON, DC (July 17, 2000) -- A blatant
assault on freedom of speech is on the verge of being enacted by the U.S.
Congress, hidden in a bill dealing with financial management issues in the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
On Wednesday, July 19, the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Drinking
Water of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works will hold
hearings on S. 2609, "The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs
Improvement Act of 2000." One little-noted provision of this bill bars any
organization that opposes or encourages opposition to "the regulated
hunting or trapping of wildlife" from receiving a grant under one of FWS'
most widely used programs.
Heidi Prescott, national director of The Fund for Animals, said, "This
bill would deny a federal benefit solely on the basis of the applicant's
exercise of first amendment rights. It's a threat to our most fundamental
freedoms."
Christine Wolf, director of government and international affairs for The Fund
for Animals, added, "It's not just the right to oppose sport hunting and
fur trapping that's at stake here. It's the right of all Americans to speak out
on any political issue without having the enormous coercive power of the federal
government turned on them."
Founded in 1967 by author and social critic Cleveland Amory, The Fund for
Animals is one of the nation's largest and most active animal protection
organizations. The Fund has applied for grants from the FWS, and has been
rejected because its proposals were "not consistent with the mission or
the intent of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act."
The public interest law firm of Meyer and Glitzenstein has analyzed S. 2609's
companion bill, H.R. 3671, which passed the House with similar language, and
determined that it was clearly unconstitutional. A copy of this constitutional
analysis is available by calling 301-585-2591.
Source: Michael
Markarian <mmarkarian@fund.org>
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"Canned" Hunt or Can
Hunt?
by tapster@mindspring.com
[Editor's Note: This last weekend, a youth hunt was held at the
Brady Ranch in Indiantown, Florida. These children were guaranteed a kill
because the ranch is completely fenced. All proceeds were to go to the
evangelical ministry group that used the hunt to teach kids about God and
nature.]
There
‘it' is, little David Jones. Do you see that extremely aware and sensitive
creature with slightly upturned nose, sniffing an invisible scent in the
mid-day air? He is standing over there in the mulberry bushes, near the moist
fir tree, with a beating heart of gold.
Now, David, I'm gonna stand behind you and help you line the cross hairs up
just so. Don't move, David. Stay perfectly still. Don't take
your eye off the target because you are gonna pull the trigger real soon.
Now on the count of three, I want you to pull your small, innocent finger
toward your chin. Make sure you get ‘it' on the first shot, little
David. You wouldn't want to make the 'thing' suffer. It is an
animal, but always bear in mind that God says we have the right to kill them
because we are superior. We have the nature of God more than they.
Don't worry about those animal rights people with the tough tattoos on their
calves, holding their silently loud signs out front, who protest just beyond
the unforgiving fence. They need to get lives. They need to stop
being concerned with saving the lives of mute animals who cannot defend themselves.
They should instead be concerned with saving the minds of children who are
taught by calloused, ignorant adults they think they can trust, to perpetuate
the ritual of speciesism under the guise of religion. Some of us do
penetrate through the brainwash storms of life, little David, and learn that
religion, along with culture and tradition, may eventually reconcile people who
possess the same mindset, to band together to invoke any atrocity, as long as
it is legal!
‘Canned' hunts are as premeditated and as cold as they sound. Let the
child feel the thrill of the kill, so when he wants to feel the same power and
control again, he will have already gotten practice on an animal. When he
premeditates killing again, perhaps it will be a human. At least he will be
versed and prepared. He has gotten
practice by an adult he loves. He will know that old black magic; the excited,
tingling feeling; the rush of snuffing out a substantial life to the individual
who possessed it.
When this child grows up to have the kind and benevolent eyes of a grandfather,
will he tell the tale of how a band of bloodthirsty people with the same
mindset, all set out one hot summer day in mid July 2000, to terrorize a select
number of victimized animals? Will his grandchildren learn speciesism;
being careful to carry on the family religion?
Will he walk away from this experience knowing it is okay to kill the shiny
mockingbird on the bough, who imitates and recites so many melodious sounds
with all of his/her heart? "Train up a child in the way he shall go;
and when he is older he shall not depart from it."
Someday, the lion shall lay down with the lamb. Perhaps both these animals, who
sit in security now, were murdered by a handicapped child. When the LionLamb
Day evolves, no creature will ever suffer again because of human ignorance. We
hope for this day soon. It is a much needed day. It will be a day for
global celebration; for it will be the first day the Earth is healed of the
things which don't yet exist; the things we pray for the most.
2000 By Diana Moreton.
Written in response to the Brady Ranch canned
hunt I attended on July 15, in Indiantown, Florida.
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Website of Note
Spread the word about this website in order to
help control the severe cat overpopulation crisis.
Low Cost &
Free Spay Neuter Programs in U.S. for Cats
http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter/spayneuter.html
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No Kill Conference
The
No-Kill Conference is one of the largest animal welfare conferences in the
world. It is the only national educational conference that focuses on nonlethal
alternatives to killing healthy, homeless dogs and cats to control their
overpopulation. The No-Kill Conference welcomes all animal caregivers and
humane organizations and enjoys a growing international attendance.
The annual No-Kill Conference has quadrupled in size and in duration since its
inaugural event in 1995. Now covering four days, the No-Kill Conference is
presented in different regions of the United States each year to reach as many
animal advocates as possible.
Seminars, workshops, keynote speakers, and exhibitors represent the finest and
most respected contributors to the animal welfare community.
NO-KILL CONFERENCE 2000
September 14-17
Tucson, AZ
for info, write to:
Doing Things For Animals
59 S. Bayles Avenue
Port Washington, NY 11050-3728
fax: 516-944-5035
Conference Information
http://www.dtfa.org/pages/conf.html
Source: gaertnersandie@hotmail.com
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A
viewpoint on animal abusers
“Hell To Pay”
Christine D (localmews@aol.com)
Even in death, hear the whimper & sigh,
Hear it even in silence, everyday that goes by
A blow to the ribs, a kick in the teeth
A punishment served daily -
A pure diet of grief.
The Saint for all animals, if that title was mine,
I’d show you no mercy in your box made of pine.
An eye for an eye is how your story would go,
So you’d know the pain of each hurtful blow.
Woe to you know ... may it be on your head
t’was not the animal who died
but you that is dead.
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Quotes To Remember
"Let
us create Peace by our thoughts and our actions. Then let us share this
Peace with The birds of the air, The creatures of the sea, And all who dwell
upon the earth. For all life is interconnected. The smallest is no
less precious than the largest."
-- Unknown
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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal Rights Online=-
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