A n i m a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 09/02/01
Editor
~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE NINE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Puerto Rico Not Animal Friendly by
Michelle Rivera
2 ~ Ocean Warrior Gets Deadline to Leave Galapagos
3 ~ Crosby, Stills & Nash Helping Bison
4 ~ Premarin Regrets by Ron Wilson
5 ~ Sweetener Slaughter
6 ~ Oysters Have Feelings, Too
7 ~ Anti-Fur Comic Book
8 ~ In a Selfish World by Robyn L. Stacey
9 ~ Memorable Quote
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Puerto Rico Not Animal
Friendly
by Michelle Rivera - MichelleRivera1@aol.com
I
agonized over it for a whole year. It was over a year ago that I heard
that my nephew would be getting married in Puerto Rico. My husband's
entire family, themselves of Puerto Rican and Italian descent, planned on
making a family reunion out of the event, and there was no way out.
The first thing I thought of when I heard I was to spend a week in Puerto Rico
was the article I saw in PeTA's Animal Times many years ago. It was a
photographical expose' of the hundreds of stray animals, dogs, cats, even horses,
who starved to death, unwanted and unassisted. The pictures were burned
in my memory for all time. Letters to Puerto Rico tourist boards were the
only therapy I could indulge in, and I wrote them with passion and anger.
A few years later, I learned about the Save A Sato organization. This unique
organization is dedicated to ending the suffering of the satos (street dogs) in
Puerto Rico. They fly over there, round up the strays that they can, and
fly them back to the mainland where they search for shelters who will take them
in and try to find homes for them. There's also a group who spends their
time and resources in Puerto Rico rounding up the street animals and
euthanizing them. There are no easy answers.
And don't even get me started on the cockfights.
"Just stick to the resort areas," I was told by friends I confided
in, "You won't see anything there that will make you sad." I
knew that I couldn't ruin the entire trip for the whole Rivera family by
spending the week in a dark, gloomy mood because of the animals I saw suffering
in the streets. I had to find a way to get through it without too much
angst.
The first one was a tiny kitten. She looked up at me with terrified blue
eyes, and her distinct Siamese markings broke my heart. My first and best
friend who lived 21 years before crossing over was a Siamese rescued from a
pound in Germany. (I have to admit I am so fond of these vociferous
kitties.) This baby reminded me of her. She was running from our car as
we inched along a mountain road. She was skinny, sickly and all
alone. A little baby alone in the streets. But she was feral, and
ran at the sight of us. She was only the first of many, many sick and
starving animals I saw during my week there, despite my efforts to stay only in
the resort. Driving along the road to the famous rainforest, I saw people
lined up along the street selling parakeets in tiny, filthy cages, chickens,
both dead and alive side by side in crumbling coops, and even pigeons, their
legs tethered to perches, some standing, some hanging dead. It was a
miserable experience. Cockfight arenas were everywhere, as was testimony
to their popularity. Souvenirs touting this bloodsport were on every
corner, every t-shirt, every shot glass, and recommendations of "see the
cockfight" were on the lips of cab drivers and merchants.
But the worst thing I learned about Puerto Rico came to my attention a few
weeks after I came home. Here is an excerpt (printed with permission of
Anna West, PeTA's correspondence coordinator), of yet another species suffering
in Puerto Rico's sweltering heat. It is not only canines, felines and
avians that suffer in the tropical heat and hostile streets, but Polar bears
too. Polar bears? Like on the Coke commercial? Like on ice floes
and Alaskan wilderness? In the Caribbean Sea? This can't be
happening. But it is, they are being used in circus acts, and you can see
the entire story at
http://www.peta.org/alert/automation/AlertItem.asp?id=223
The
Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources has filed cruelty charges against
the Suarez Bros. Circus. Rangers report that the [polar] bears were being kept
in filthy cages with no relief from temperatures that reportedly reached 113
degrees Fahrenheit. PETA has repeatedly warned federal agencies that
suffocating heat and humidity is causing the polar bears extreme suffering.
PETA has also obtained horrendous video showing the polar bears being abusively
hit and whipped during the show.
Polar bears are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. We can use this
to our advantage in helping to get them out of Puerto Rico. Please visit
the site and get the addresses to write letters to the Puerto Rican
authorities. I
have been told that this fight is one we can win!
As far as the satos, the stray meezers (Siamese) and other cats, the cocks and
all the birds sold on the highway, well, that may take some more time and
effort.
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Ocean Warrior Gets Deadline To Leave Galapagos
anonymous
-
Filming legal violations as Coast Guard stands by
- Ecuadorian embassy is lying
PUERTO AYORA, GALAPAGOS -- The five-day stand-off between the Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society flagship Ocean Warrior and the Ecuadorian Navy in the
Galapagos appears to be reaching a climax: This evening Ecuador naval personnel
gave Ocean Warrior caption Paul Watson a written order to leave Ecuador by 0800
hours on August 31.
Ocean Warrior has been unable to refuel. Forcing a vessel out to sea without
sufficient fuel or provisions to reach another port is a major violation of the
maritime law of all nations.
“If they force us out, we will not be able to make port, and we will be
effectively stranded at sea,” said Captain Paul Watson.
The Ecuadorian embassy, in response to a barrage of outraged e-mails, faxes and
phone calls from the public since Monday, has disseminated reports that the
Ocean Warrior’s crew members are not under detention, may go ashore escorted by
Galapagos National Park personnel, and have not requested visas. All
these statements are false. Ecuador naval personnel are not allowing anyone on
or off the Ocean Warrior. As of Wednesday morning, National Park personnel are
no longer being allowed on board the ship, as had been the case on Tuesday when
the Navy relented slightly under public pressure. Every member of the
crew had entry visas stamped in their passports on August 24, the day the Ocean
Warrior arrived in Puerto Ayora, allowing legal entry into Ecuador for 30 days.
Three crew members who flew into Galapagos and joined the Ocean Warrior after
it arrived are likewise being detained on board and not allowed to go ashore,
even though they were not part of the crew manifest when the ship arrived.
Ecuador’s statement that Ocean Warrior was permitted into the Galapagos for
five days “under pretense of emergency entry” is also an attempt at
deception. Filing for emergency entry was a recommendation of the Port
Captain in Puerto Ayora after the Ocean Warrior was denied normal entry.
Authorities were informed four months in advance of Ocean Warrior’s impending
arrival.
A Navy gunboat remains alongside the Ocean Warrior.
“The Navy has been gunning for us since day one,” said Sean O’Hearn, Sea
Shepherd’s marine liaison officer in the Galapagos. “When our patrol vessel
started busting poachers in the Marine Reserve last March after years of
inaction by the Navy, and then blew the whistle on the corrupt admiral who was
ordering the ships released, we made enemies in high places, but the Park and
the people of the Galapagos have been overwhelming in their support. They’ve
let us know they are very grateful to find an organization that will help them
fight to protect the natural heritage of these islands.”
Earlier today, Ocean Warrior crew filmed the tourist ship Polaris being
refueled in harbor by the tanker San Cristobal, in direct violation of
regulations passed since the near-disaster of the Jessica oil spill in the
Galapagos last January. A fuel line was deployed between the two ships and they
proceeded to refuel, as Naval and Coast Guard personnel guarding the Sea
Shepherd vessel looked on.
Ocean Warrior is in the Galapagos to bring needed parts and service to the Sea
Shepherd patrol vessel Sirenian, which has been engaged in successful
anti-poaching patrols of the Galapagos Marine Reserve on a five-year contract
with the National Park Service. Ocean Warrior engineers have been prevented
from servicing Sirenian’s engines, installing new filters, and surveying a
damaged propeller.
“We have been prevented from transferring crew to Sirenian; we can’t re-supply
and service our vessel in accordance with the terms of our contract with the
Park,” said Captain Watson. “We have provided and are attempting to provide
Ecuador with material assistance at our cost. We do not detect much gratitude
in the way we are being treated in return.”
The nationalities of Ocean Warrior’s current crew are British, American, Cayman
Islands, Canadian, and German.
<> <> <> <> <>
Contact:
Senor Gustavo Noboa
Presidente de la Republica del Ecuador
Fax: 593-2-580-735
E-mail: despresi@presidencia.ec-gov.net
IN THE USA
Ivonne A-Baki
The Embassy of Ecuador
2535 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
Tel: 202- 234-7200
Fax 202- 667-3482
E-Mail: mecuawaa@erols.com
IN CANADA
The Embassy of Ecuador
50 O Connor St., Suite 113
Ottawa, ON K1P 6L2
Tel: 613-563-8206
Fax: 613-235-5776
E-mail: mecuacan@sprint.ca
IN EUROPE
The Embassy of Ecuador
Koninginnegracht 84
2514 AL Den Haag, Netherlands
E-mail: embecua@bart.nl
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Crosby, Stills & Nash Helping Bison
Contacts
-
Avacado Productions - 800.728.-6223 or mailto:guacfund@bigplanet.com
Su Gregerson, Buffalo Field Campaign; 406.721.6954 or
mailto:bfc-programs@wildrockies.org
Special Crosby, Stills and Nash are offering benefit tickets to Save the last
the wild buffalo herd, the Yellowstone Bison. They are on sale now by
calling 800-728-6223 or by emailing us at mailto:guacfund@bigplanet.com.
Proceeds from these special benefits ticket sales will be used to support the
work of the Buffalo Field Campaign, the only organization that is actively in
the field 365 days a year, putting their bodies between the Department of
Livestock and the last wild herd of buffalo.
Only ten tickets for each of the following concerts are available for this
special program. Six for $100 include after show backstage passes and
four for $200 include after show backstage passes and a "meet and
greet" with members of Crosby, Stills and Nash.
The tickets are located at
San Antonio, TX ~ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Tuesday, 4 September 01
Houston, TX ~ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Wednesday, 5 September 01
Dallas, TX ~ Smirnoff Music Center
Saturday, 8 September 01
Albuquerque, NM ~ Journal Pavilion
Wednesday, 12 September 01
Concord, CA ~ Chronicle Pavilion
Wednesday, 19 September 01
San Diego, CA ~ Summer Pops/Navy Pier 11
Friday, 14 September 01
Quincy (George), WA ~ The Gorge
Friday, 21 September 01
Eugene, OR ~ Hult Center for the Performing Arts
Saturday, 22 September 01
"The Buffalo Field Campaign is honored to have the band help raise
awareness of the plight of the last wild buffalo." said Su Gregerson,
Program Development Coordinator for the Campaign. "People from all nations
and walks of life are joining together declaring that the Yellowstone buffalo
should be protected for future generations and the State of Montana should stop
their slaughter of this national heritage."
More info on ticket locations is available at
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
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Premarin Regrets
by Ron Wilson - bogiebird@mindspring.com
Thanks
to my late father, a drug made from animal waste is the most widely prescribed
drug in the world today. My father, Dr. Robert A. Wilson, penned the
influential 1960's book "Feminine Forever," which promoted and
popularized the idea of menopause as a disease. Menopause is a "living decay,"
he wrote, which often destroys a woman's "character as well as her
health." He added, "The unpalatable truth must be faced that all
postmenopausal woman are castrates. A man remains a man until the very end. The
situation with a woman is very different. Her ovaries become inadequate
relatively early in life. She is the only mammal who cannot reproduce after
middle age."
My father's solution: abolish menopause altogether, through the use of
estrogen drugs, and woman will stay "feminine forever." The idea
took. One hundred thousand copies of "Feminine Forever" were sold in
its first seven month of publication, and in the late 1960's and early 1970's,
newspapers and women's magazines ran hundreds of articles promoting estrogen
use. Doctors across the country jumped on the bandwagon, prescribing estrogen
drugs for millions of women. Unfortunately, the estrogen drug that is most
widely prescribed, Wyeth-Ayerst's Premarin, has a secret ingredient that my
father had no trouble accepting: animal suffering.
Premarin is made from the estrogen-rich urine of pregnant horses. To
collect the urine, farmers in the United States and Canada confine some 75,000
mares to tiny stalls for six months at a stretch. Some of the horses receive
exercise every few weeks, but most don't see the light of day for months. The
mares must also wear cumbersome urine-collection bags which chafe their legs
and prevent them from ever lying down comfortably.
Farmers are encouraged to limit horses access to water so that their
urine will yield more concentrated estrogens. A veterinarian who works on
pregnant mares' urine (PMU) farms told inspectors from the United States
Department of Agriculture that this practice can cause mares to suffer from
renal and liver problems."
The 70,000 foals born on PMU farms every year fare little better than
their mothers. Some are used to replace exhausted mares - many of whom are
forced to stand on the "pee line" for up to 20 years! But most of the
foals are sent to feedlots where they are fattened, then slaughtered for meat.
Claude Bouvry, Canada's leading horsemeat exporter, says the PMU industry is
his "biggest source of supply." Without the overseas demand for
horsemeat, Bouvry says, "there would be no market for the young horses
procured by [PMU] mares."
These horses do not have to die. Synthetic and plant-based estrogen
drugs are readily available, and many physicians prefer them to Premarin. Small
wonder: The Food and Drug Administration cautions that "the urinary
estrogen excretion by pregnant mares is widely variable." Studies have
shown that the amount of estradiol - one of the active hormones in Premarin -
can vary by almost 400 percent from one batch to the next. Of even more
concern, some studies suggest that long-term treatment with Premarin
significantly increases breast cancer risk.
Sadly, my father's contribution to medical science resulted in a
prescription for animal cruelty. I encourage woman of all ages to learn more
about Premarin and its many alternatives.
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Sweetener Slaughter
from vivisectionkills@hotmailcom
SUNDAY
MIRROR - 5/8/01
mike.hamilton@sundaymirror.co.uk
12,800 animals die for no-calorie pills. Dogs were killed after 52 weeks
of treatment by exsanguination. Beagles were among thousands of animals
killed in laboratory tests on a new artificial sweetener.
The dogs probably had their throats cut, while marmoset monkeys died from brain
damage and rabbits were poisoned during the 20-year study into the effects of
Sucralose.
The sweetener -- sold in the United States as Splenda -- is expected to be on
sale in the UK in a couple of months.
Researchers estimate that 12,800 animals died during the research. The
death toll came to light in articles published in a scientific journal.
Sucralose -- which is 600 times sweeter than sugar -- is the first no-calorie
sugar-based sweetener to be developed. It is set to be a money-spinner
for British sugar giant Tate & Lyle, who commissioned the research.
But thousands of animals died in a series of gruesome laboratory experiments to
test the sweetener both here and in the US, anti-vivisection campaigners have
revealed.
In the most shocking tests, 32 beagle dogs were locked in metal cages for 52
weeks at the McNeil Specialty Products labs in New Jersey. They were
given Sucralose mixed in with their normal feed, and blood and urine samples
were collected. At the end of the study they were anesthetized and had
their throats slit open so they bled to death. They were then cut open
and their organs -- by now drained of blood so easier to dissect -- were
examined to test the product's toxicity levels.
A report of the study was published in the journal of Food and Chemical
Toxicology. It read: "Dogs were killed after 52 weeks of treatment
by exsanguination (draining of blood) while under anesthesia and
examined." Thousand of monkeys, rabbits, mice and rats were killed
during tests in the UK.
In one experiment at the controversial Huntingdon Research Centre in
Cambridgeshire, four beagle puppies were starved before being force-fed
Sucralose through tubes. Researchers took blood samples from the animals'
jugular veins and examined their urine and feces to discover the effect of
Sucralose on their metabolisms. It is unclear whether the puppies
survived or not.
An unspecified number of marmoset monkeys died or were killed after they were
force-fed Sucralose at the Life Science Research lab in Eye, Suffolk, now part
of Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Twelve male monkeys aged under 10 months were examined and force-fed Sucralose
for seven weeks. On the seventh day of the study, two of the monkeys died
from brain defects, a third was killed after four weeks and the remainder of
the brain-damaged animals were put down. In another British-based
experiment, also carried out at Eye, rabbits were given a dose of Sucralose
1,200 times the expected human daily intake. Many died from trauma.
Others suffered extreme weight loss, convulsions and intestinal disorders.
Tests on pregnant rabbits and thousands of mice and rats were also carried out
at Huntingdon. Experiments which have not been published, were also
carried out at labs at Inveresk, near Edinburgh, and at Covance at Harrogate,
Yorkshire. The British Union For the Abolition of Vivisection (email:
info@buav.org), estimates tens of thousands of animals have died.
BUAV's director of research, Sarah Kite, said: "They are particularly
nasty. Animals have been made to suffer and die simply to put out another
sweetener which we don't need. These appalling tests, which involve
slitting the animals' throats, are legal, but we feel they should not be
allowed in this country." Sucralose is already on sale in 40
countries including the US -- where it is marketed under license is by Johnson
& Johnson -- Australia and Canada. It is sold as tiny sweetener
tablets or as a powder for use in soft drinks, ice cream and jams.
Tate & Lyle has applied to the European Union and the UK's Food Standards
Agency for Approval to release Sucralose. Tate & Lyle divisional
managing director, Austin Maguire, said: "We have done the minimum number
of tests required. Sucralose is unique. Consumers welcome that
additional choice." A spokesman for Huntingdon Life Sciences -- bailed
out by the Government this year when its bank became the focus for protests and
withdrew their loan -- said: "We would only do these tests if there was no
alternative. Most were done at Huntingdon some years ago and are not
happening now."
A Home Office spokesman said: "Anyone who wants to do safety testing has
to show a clear necessity for using animals to gain a license."
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Oysters Have Feelings, Too
from PeTA - peta@norfolk.infi.net
It
is often thought (and dead wrong it is) that fish cannot feel pain, so it is
false that bivalves do not have nervous systems -- they do. They may not have
faces, or discernible personalities, but that does not mean they cannot suffer.
Bivalves (like oysters, clams and mussels) are mollusks, as are octopus,
cuttlefish, and snails. Denying sentience of any animal, we have seen, is
generally an argument of convenience to smooth over our conscience as we stick
the fork into their flesh.
Oysters, and other bivalves, are generally taken from the sea by trawling or
dredging (like clear cutting in the ocean) and many other animals are victims
as well, including sea turtles and huge numbers of non-target fish, who are
generally thrown overboard dead or dying.
Oysters are filter feeders, getting their meals by filtering particles from the
water. If that water contains contaminants, they can build up in the animals'
flesh, causing health problems for people who eat them. Shellfish meat is also
highly susceptible to bacterial contamination, so if someone were to turn their
back on the animal suffering inherent in the bivalve industry, they may be
faced with a nasty illness.
It is true that we know much more about the sentience and nervous systems of
fish than we do of mollusks, but that should not mean open season on bivalve
consumption. If there is any question (and clearly with mollusks there is) we
should give the animals the benefit of the doubt. We don't need to eat them to
survive, and they cannot survive when our appetites master our compassion.
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Anti-Fur Comic Book
The
Fund for Animals has just produced a new comic book for elementary school
students on the issue of fur. "Fur Crying Out Loud" tells the story
of three kids who discover how animals are killed in traps and on fur farms in
order to make coats, and then help to shut down the fur store in their town. If
you would like copies of the comic book to distribute to schools or young
people in your area, please contact Lesa Miller at The Fund for Animals
(fundinfo@fund.org or 301-585-2591).
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In A Selfish World ©1994
By Robyn L. Stacey - KYLPTTY44@aol.com
Monsters of steel drive on by
Never hearing the helpless cry
Of a woodland creature left to die
On the roads of mankind.
Such is the squirrel that falls to the ground
Gone from this world without much of a sound.
It's lifeless body singed and browned
From a live wire the wind had downed.
We see their deaths along the streets;
There are so many who have met defeat.
In an urban world where only we compete,
An animal life has become obsolete.
And to our young it should be known
That on this Earth we are not alone.
The world before us is just on loan,
And is not for us to call our own.
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Memorable Quote
"Life is life's greatest gift. Guard the life of another creature as you
would
your own because it is your own. On life's scale of values, the
smallest
is no less precious to the creature who owns it than the largest
...
~ Lloyd
Biggle Jr. (1923- )
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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=-
&
Advisory Board Member, Animal Rights Network Inc.,
not-for-profit publisher of The Animals' Agenda Magazine
http://www.animalsagenda.org/
The Animals' Agenda Magazine: WebEdition
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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