A n i m a l
W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue #
03/31/02
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE EIGHT ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ The Slaughter Continues by Dan Brister
2 ~ An Appeal To Earth & Animal Liberators by Robert
Cohen
3 ~ Why Should I Write a Letter to the Editor of my Local Newspaper?
4 ~ Avoid Hitting Deer
5 ~ Vegetarian Philanthropist & Comic Milton Berle Dies at 93
6 ~ Primate Freedom Tags
7 ~ How Didn't They Know?
8 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
The Slaughter Continues
By Dan Brister
Buffalo Field Campaign - buffalo@wildrockies.org
www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
Yesterday
I woke at 4am with the rest of the morning patrols. We ate our breakfast
of home-fries in the cabin's main room as we slowly made our transitions from
the world of dreams to the waking world. Out the door by five, the
various patrols climbed into our vehicles and drove to strategic locations along
the West side of the park: Duck Creek, Fur Ridge, Cougar Creek, the Madison
River, and Horse Butte. The positions of these patrols are determined by
the presence of buffalo and whether or not Department of Livestock (DOL) agents
are in town.
Yesterday we knew a mixed herd of eight bison had come out the day before and
we knew the DOL was here. My patrol partner and I climbed into the back
of the Toyota pickup with two other volunteers and headed for Horse
Butte. Our job was to ski along the Madison between the Butte and the
highway and locate the small herd of buffalo. Because the previous day's
patrols had seen the DOL come into town and because they were unable to capture
any buffalo during our week of action (we had more than 70 volunteers) we knew
they would try to capture the herd.
We skied along the bluffs, overlooking the Madison Arm of Hebgen Lake and the
ever-widening pond of open water. We counted more than 80 trumpeter swans
floating on the water and observed great blue herons and a young bald eagle.
After skiing nearly five miles we found the buffalo--two pregnant females and
five yearling calves. Two of the calves had shaved swaths on their
shoulders and hindquarters and wore yellow tags that the DOL attached when they
were captured on February 24. They had been part of a different herd that
migrated out in late February and were promptly captured. Orphaned after
their mothers were sent to slaughter they went back to the park where they were
adopted by a different herd.
We found them on a steep hillside, grazing on the newly exposed grass.
Over our two-way fm radio we learned from the other patrols that the DOL was
out and about on their snowmobiles, locating buffalo and making sure we didn't
try to shepherd them back to the park. We dug a small shelter in a
snowbank to shield us from the strong wind and waited, watching the beautiful
buffalo. As I watched them graze I was saddened, knowing their hours of
freedom and--for some--life were numbered.
Shortly after ten am a swarm of eleven snowmobiles arrived, and DOL agents
began shouting orders at Park Service rangers and Montana game wardens.
The swarm converged on the buffalo and cracker-rounds--loud explosives fired
from shotguns--shattered the peace. I stood in a snag and videotaped as
the frightened buffalo took off running.
The agents chased them fast and we followed the operation on our skis, not
quite able to keep up. Cracker-bursts let me know I wasn't far
behind. I skied along the snowmobile trail, looking down at the bison's
tracks. For four of the buffalo, these would be the last tracks of their
lives. I reached the Horse Butte trap five minutes after they had been
confined. Occasional clangs of horn against the trap's cold steel panels
were the only indication of the eight bison in the trap.
The two pregnant mothers were slaughtered today along with two of the
calves. Four of the calves, including the two orphaned in February, were
released without mothers.
At 12:30 we were relieved by afternoon patrols and climbed back into the truck
for the ride home. As we neared Duck Creek we saw the armada of
snowmobiles on the side of the highway. They had been joined by
ATVs. We pulled over, climbed out, and confronted the agents.
"Do you enjoy killing pregnant mothers?" someone asked. Someone
else asked why they killed bulls when scientists acknowledge that they pose no
risk to cattle. Another asked whether there had ever been a case of
transmission from wild bison to cattle (there hasn't). They ignored the
questions, talking instead about college sports.
After a few minutes a large bull emerged from the woods, being chased by
several agents on snowmobiles. The ATVs then chased him north on the
road, toward the Duck Creek trap. The bull nearly outran them, cantering down
the road, then jumped off and hid on some private property. The agents,
usually vocal proponents of private property rights, didn't flinch as they
passed the signs reading "Buffalo Safe Zone: No Shooting or Harassing
Bison Permitted by Order of the Landowner."
They
continued to chase him and he ran back out onto the highway, back in the
direction from which he had come. After several near misses with pursuing
ATVs, the bull darted off the road and plunged through the deep snow along
Cougar Creek and toward the park. Because of the thick willows along the
creek, the agents on snowmobiles were unable to pursue him. After
watching the capture of the eight bison in the morning, we were uplifted by the
bull's escape.
Spring is a difficult time for the buffalo and hundreds are expected to leave
the park in the coming weeks. We need volunteers to help us protect the
buffalo and document the actions taken against them. If you've been
wanting to help, now is the time. Volunteers are provided with room and
board in exchange for help with patrols. We'll be very busy between now and
mid-May and welcome any help you can give. Thanks for being such
dedicated supporters.
With the Buffalo,
Dan Brister
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~2~
An Appeal To Earth & Animal
Liberators
By Robert Cohen - notmilk@earthlink.net
http://www.notmilk.com
Please
do not consider committing an act of agricultural bioterrorism.
The stated goal of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) includes an agenda designed
to:
"Inflict economic damage to those who profit from the destruction
and
exploitation of the natural environment."
The stated goal of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) includes an agenda
designed to:
"Inflict economic damage to those who profit from the misery
and exploitation of animals."
Should America's meat and dairy supply become tainted with foot and mouth
disease, anthrax, mad cow disease, or other infectious diseases, the
consequence of your action will result in an unprecedented American tragedy.
People will immediately cease eating meat or consuming dairy products, and that
might appear to be a good thing, but it is not. Millions of animals will
have to be slaughtered as they were in England during last year's foot and
mouth disease outbreak. Such dramatic change will only be temporary, as it was
in Europe. Once the food supply becomes safe again, people will go back to
their old habits and perhaps eat more meat. Terror does not teach people new
ways. The world must be changed with education and love.
Without meat and dairy, there will be a run on existing supermarket foods.
People will hoard commodities, and there are no emergency measures that will
prevent looting and food riots.
The effects of an act of passion, performed by those with honorable intentions,
might very well backfire by hurting millions of people very badly.
Please...if you are considering an act of terror and justify your action as
"for the animals," you must reconsider.
This past Monday, March 25, 2002, 140 agriculture industry representatives met
in New York City at the Conference for Agricultural Bioterrorism and learned
that just one case of foot and mouth disease would probably destroy America's
agriculture industry. One area of discussion at this conference was a review of
law enforcement's role in combating bioterrorism, and the latest technologies
used to prevent acts of bioterrorism, including sophisticated surveillance
measures.
Three years ago, milk and dairy products in Belgium were found to contain 100
times the safe level of dioxins. For one full month, milk, cheese, and meat
were pulled from supermarket shelves. The people of Belgium never again want to
relive the worst examples of human depravity. People will do anything to obtain
food for themselves and family members.
The United States Department of Environmental Protection has not released a
dioxin report that reveals greater contamination in our food supply that even
Belgium experienced. USDA and FDA both fear food riots. For once, I agree with
both agencies. The existing news is horrible, and is being censored so that
such food riots do not occur in America. The report should not be released.
One day, everybody will eat a plant-based diet. One day, all people will
learn that drinking body fluids from diseased animals and eating polluted flesh
do not do the human body any good. One day, people will learn that twelve
pounds of diseased and contaminated milk are concentrated to become one pound
of delicious toxic ice cream.
Today is not that day. Too much change too quickly will create enormous harm.
We need a gradual transition to a plant based diet.
Biological terrorism is not the answer. Agricultural terrorism will do
more harm than good. Should such an event happen, food will immediately become
very scarce.
PLEASE, if you are considering an act that will change the world in this way,
consider all of the consequences.
If we have learned one lesson from the horror of 9/11, we must face the reality
that a small group of motivated individuals, willing to die for a cause, can
defeat billions of dollars worth of sophisticated security measures.
The animal and earth liberation fronts include individuals who have
unquestionable passions and motivations to change the world. It is unfortunate
that their methods include violent actions. These controversial people are
proud of the fact that for all the burned buildings and damaged property, they
have never taken a human life.
As an ex-volunteer firefighter, I responded to over 500 calls. I and other
firefighters are aware that hundreds of firefighters have been seriously and
permanently injured, some killed, by responding to false alarms or by acts of
arson. I have zero tolerance for acts of violence.
Animal and earth liberators want the world to immediately begin the transition
to a plant based diet in which living creatures no longer die. That is
mankind's benevolent destiny. That transition can occur over the course of a
few months or a year, as factory farm owners or small farmers transition into
alternative food growing operations. To change the world in one day will create
a three dimensional domino effect of unparalleled magnitude.
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~3~
Why Should I Write a Letter
to the Editor of my Local Newspaper?
Source: API's Spring Issue of "Animal Issues," pp
20-25.
Visit them on-line at: http://www.api4animals.org
While not everyone reads the opinion pages of the
newspaper, the most influential people certainly do! Public and corporate
officials, as well as the media, PAY GREAT ATTENTION to what appears in opinion
letters and columns. Having a letter published, particularly in a major paper,
is probably the single most effective action you can take on behalf of animals.
It takes very little time and costs nothing but the price of a first-class
stamp or logging onto the Internet.
However, if your letter is timely, concise, and written well; it stands a VERY
GOOD CHANCE OF BEING PUBLISHED, especially by the smaller, local papers.
The best opportunities for submitting letters to the editor are in response to
a recent news item, opinion piece or another letter that appeared in the paper,
or in anticipation of an event such as a vote on animal-related legislation,
the circus's arrival in town, the annual Fur-Free Friday or Meatout
observances, Easter, Christmas, etc. etc.
The first step is to determine the newspaper's requirements for submitting
letters. This information is available by calling the paper, checking the
paper's website, or looking on the letters page itself. If no word limit is
specified, keep your letter to 200-250 words. Restrict your remarks to two or
three points on one subject. HUMOR, IRONY, AND EVEN SARCASM – in
moderation – CAN WORK WELL.
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~4~
Avoid Hitting Deer
From Merritt Clifton, editor,
ANIMAL PEOPLE. - anmlpepl@whidbey.com
One
morning last summer I came over a blind rise at an "S" curve on the
paved road nearest to the dirt road where I live just in time to see a pregnant
doe drop her fawn right in the middle of the road. She had obviously been
startled--as I was--by a speeding car which had hurtled past me a few seconds
earlier, going much faster than the road conditions there ever warrant.
Someone with a small red pickup truck blocked the road while the doe ran into
the brush and the fawn tottered to her feet and followed.
Jogging in the vicinity almost every day, I often saw the fawn nearby with her
mother.
Tonight, with her spooked mother watching, I dragged the carcass of the fawn
off the edge of the road to the brush, where the local crows and coyotes can
safely clean her bones. She was killed within 10 feet of where she was born.
Again someone was going much faster than the "S" curve and the dip
down to the dirt road junction ever warrant. Add to that the wet pavement
today, increasing stopping distance, and the now nine-month-old fawn never had
a chance.
The fawn was traveling safely, however, as she always did--watching carefully
to see if her mother got across the road before starting out herself.
Perhaps the driver who killed her saw her mother cross, then assumed the way
was clear and stepped on the gas.
As every driver should learn before ever getting behind the wheel of a car, 70%
of all deer/car collisions involve the second deer in a doe/fawn pair.
More than 100 drivers and their passengers die each year, along with 720,000
deer, in easily avoidable deer/car collisions.
The secrets to avoiding and surviving deer/car collisions, again, are:
1) If you see one deer, always look for another. Even bucks often travel with a
buddy.
2) Deer respond to cars as they do to natural predators: they
hide. They choose crossing points where drivers will have difficulty
seeing them: in the middle of an "S" curve, at a
dip, where brushy cover comes close to the traveled lanes at either
side. (Deer paths are also natural superhighways for other
wildlife, so always slow down and be careful at such places. The
life you save might be your own.)
3) Deer are most likely to be in the road at twilight and dawn.
4) There is no time of year when it is safe to drive like a bat out of
hell in deer habitat. However, more than half of all deer/car collisions
occur in October and November. The rut (mating season) is one cause of
this, but (in all states) the peak for collisions coincides more closely
with the peak days for hunting than with the peak of rut. If you see
hunters' vehicles parked by the road, therefore, watch for frightened deer
running from gunfire, or hunters driving deer.
5) If you collide with a deer, duck. Driver fatalities tend to result
from a deer coming through the windshield after having her legs knocked out
from under her. The lower you are, the better-protected you are from this
type of accident.
6) If you see a fresh deer carcass in the road or near the road, expect a
grieving doe to be nearby. She will typically remain close for six to
eight hours, or until coyotes arrive to chase her off.
Contact me for other roadkill avoidance tips at <anmlpepl@whidbey.com>.
Thank you,
Merritt Clifton
Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE
P.O. Box 960
Clinton, WA 98236
Telephone: 360-579-2505
Fax: 360-579-2575
E-mail: anmlpepl@whidbey.com
Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org
[ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original
investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide, founded in 1992.
Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the decision-makers at more than 9,000
animal protection organizations. We have no alignment or affiliation with any
other entity.]
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~5~
Vegetarian Philanthropist &
Comic
Milton Berle Dies at 93
From ctabolition@www.com
Milton
Berle who lifted hearts for 7 decades, and made the careers of many comedians
through his generosity, lived 93 years. He was a vegetarian like Leo
Tolstoy and George Bernard Shaw.. both of whom lived into their 90's.
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~6~
Primate Freedom Tags
From Lisa Marie - myrebadog@att.net
Primate
freedom tags are available to those who are concerned about the primates being
used in research. They are a unique record pressed into a stainless steel tag
("dog-tag") that can be worn as a necklace or placed on a key
chain. They are special because each one holds the serial number of a
monkey or nonhuman ape being held for experimentation in one of our nation's
Primate Research Laboratories. The record includes the date of birth,
gender, species, and location of the primate.
After receiving your tag, you can wear it to educate others about primates in
research and how they too can obtain a tag to support them. There is also
information that comes with your tag on how to contact the specific primate
center to ask them for more information about your adopted primate.
By writing to them, this also reminds them that they are responsible for their
cruelty against animals.
Please visit < http://www.primatefreedom.com/whatare.html >
for more information on how to donate $10.00 and receive a tag if you are
interested in supporting a primate at a research center.
You might not like to wear the tag because of what it is representing, but you
will feel good knowing that you are wearing it because of your support for the
animals. And when you educate others while wearing your special tag, it
will be close to your heart.
Further Information:
Primate Freedom Project
< http://www.primatefreedom.com/index.html >
Primate Research Laboratories:
< http://www.primatefreedom.com/researchcenters.html >
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~7~
How Didn't They Know?
by Kristen Sharer
From Marisa Herrera - lovenature@pacificcoast.net
When Billy was 6
One fine Easter day,
He received a gift
With which he could play.
It was a sweet little bunny
With hair to the floor.
What could have happened
When it was found dead by the door?
Accidental, they said.
Billy's just a child.
He just played too rough.
He got a little bit wild.
When Billy was 10
At a neighbor's house,
He poured some bleach
On a friendly pet mouse.
Boys will be boys
Is what they said.
Be careful, they added
As they patted his head.
When Billy turned 12
They found some deep cuts
On the face and the neck
Of the sweet family mutt.
No harm was done.
The dog's not hurt bad.
He didn't mean to do it.
He truly feels sad.
When Billy was 16,
He took a gun to school.
He fired upon them
While calling them fools.
When Billy was finished
Having his fun,
He smiled at his carnage
And lay down his gun.
The town went on weeping
All through the trial.
He showed no remorse.
He showed not a smile.
What happened, they asked,
To a boy so fine?
How could it be
He showed not a sign.
What about me?
Said the ghost of the long dead mouse?
And I the rabbit
Who was found dead in his house?
And the elderly dog
With scars that still showed
Softly whined and wondered,
HOW DIDN'T THEY KNOW?
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~8~
Memorable Quote
The Sending of the Animals
by Henry S. SALT (1851-1939)
For animals, you say were "sent"
For man's free use and nutriment.
Pray, then, inform me and be candid,
Why came they aeons before man did,
To spend long centuries, on earth
Awaiting their devourer's birth?
Those ill-timed chattels sent from heaven,
Were, sure, the maddest gift e'er given -
"sent" for man's use (can we believe it?)
When there was no man to receive it!
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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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