A n i m a l
W r i t e s © sm
The official ANIMAL
RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 04/21/02
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE NINE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ PETAs 6-Month Undercover Investigation By
Ingrid Newkirk
2 ~ Another Farm Bill Addition
3 ~ Dealing With Burnout
4 ~ Dreams, Reality, and Burger King
5 ~ Certainly My Heart Is Defective: It Breaks Too Easily
6 ~ Justice Denied For Savannah the Elephant
7 ~ Take Action
8 ~ A Poem To My Foster Dog
9 ~ Memorable Quote
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PeTA's 6-Month Undercover
Investigation
From Ingrid Newkirk - IngridN@peta.org
April
18, 2002 - We are breaking a six-month undercover investigation today in North
Carolina. For more information, please check out peta.org.
PETA EXPOSES HIDDEN WORLD OF CRUELTY TO "LESSER" LAB ANIMALS IN JESSE
HELMS' HOME STATE
PETA Asks Congress to Vote Against N.C. Senator's Bid to Exclude Billions From
Federal Protection, Based on Findings of UNC-Chapel Hill Investigation
Raleigh - At a news conference today, People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA) will reveal the shocking findings of a six-month undercover
investigation into the animal laboratories at the University of North Carolina
(UNC), Chapel Hill. This week, the U.S. Congress is set to vote on an amendment
to the Farm Bill that, if passed, would forever exclude birds, mice, and rats
from the protection of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the oversight
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The "back door"
amendment was introduced as a favor to medical research trade groups by North
Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms. Today, every congressional conference committee member
received investigative footage and documentation of egregious animal suffering,
courtesy of PETA.
Date: Thursday, April 18 Time: 11 a.m. Place:
Clarion Hotel State Capital, 320 Hillsborough St., Raleigh
PETA's investigator documented cruel practices that would be illegal under the
AWA if inflicted on any other animals in labs. Documentation of the following
practices, which also violate the NIH guide for lab animal use, will be
presented to NIH by PETA next week:
* no veterinary care for sick and dying animals
* experimenters lying to conceal sick and dying animals
* cruel, inept, and insufficient killing methods
* live animals who had their necks broken or who were improperly gassed and
thrown out with the dead
* surgeries and other procedures conducted without the required oversight of
the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
* severely overcrowded cages, in violation of NIH recommendations
* an ineffectual and uninformed IACUC
PETA's investigator was hired on October 15, 2001, as an animal care technician
in the Thurston Bowles Building at UNC. She stayed until yesterday, April 17,
documenting animal care violations and the failure of the IACUC to address the
problems that she had brought to their attention in February, March, and April.
"The animals at UNC are treated hideously cruelly, and in trying to gloss
over and perpetuate their suffering, Jesse Helms is out of line with a nation
that is increasingly conscious of humane issues," said PETA's Director of
Research and Investigations Mary Beth Sweetland. "Rats and mice may not be
as attractive as cats and dogs, but they suffer every bit as much when they
have their heads cut off with a pair of scissors.
The USDA agrees that it must oversee rats, mice, and birds, and Helms needs to
step out of the way and let the federal agency do just that. "Video
footage of the investigation is available and can be seen at PETA.org.
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Another Farm Bill Addition
From Buffalo Field Campaign -
stop-the-slaughter@wildrockies.org
Farm
Bill Could Mean Killing of Sick Bison in Yellowstone
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
HELENA, Mont., April 18 -- National Park Service officials and
environmentalists say a provision in the farm bill could lead to the slaughter
of bison and elk in Yellowstone and other national parks.
The provision, the Animal Health Protection Act, was added to the bill in the
Senate by Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa, to consolidate and broaden the
Department of Agriculture's authority to manage animal disease. The purpose was
to make it easier for agricultural officials to respond to livestock diseases
like mad cow and foot-and-mouth and to counter possible food contamination by
terrorists.
The contention comes down to the word "animal" in the definition of
the "pests" that would be subject to the department's new
authority. That addition, critics say, would give that department control
over any animals that threaten livestock.
Among those that could be affected, the critics say, would be elk and bison in
Yellowstone, which have brucellosis in large numbers. Ranchers in Montana and
Wyoming fear that the disease could be passed on to their cattle.
The Interior Department, which oversees national parks and has authority over
wildlife, has opposed efforts to kill infected elk and bison under a philosophy
that nature should be allowed to take its course.
Even though there have been no documented cases of brucellosis transmission to
domestic cows in the wild, Montana has a zero-tolerance policy and shoots any
buffalo that leave Yellowstone.
"For 60 years, the state veterinarians and Department of Agriculture have
wanted to come into the park, round up elk and bison, test them and slaughter
the ones that have brucellosis," the chief scientist at Yellowstone, John
Varley, said. "My guess is that would be their first priority."
A spokeswoman for the Agriculture Department said the bill was not intended to
grant the agency authority over other jurisdictions.
"Any action we would take that involves another government agency, we
would consult with them very closely," the spokeswoman, Alisa Harrison,
said. "We work closely with the National Park Service."
A spokesman for Mr. Harkin's office said the language in a small but critical
section of the bill that transferred authority was an oversight.
"It wasn't Senator Harkin's intent to infringe on the Department of
Interior's jurisdiction," the spokesman, Seth Boffeli, said. "We are
working with wildlife groups and are hopeful a compromise can be reached."
Based on past studies of the 3,000 or so bison in Yellowstone, Mr. Varley said,
up to 80 percent of the animals could test positive for brucellosis and could,
under the proposed legislation, be shipped to slaughter. Yellowstone bison are
descendants of the few animals that survived the slaughter in the late 19th
century. They are the last free-roaming herd in the West.
Steve Torbit, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation in Denver
and a former wildlife biologist for Colorado and Wyoming and the United States
Fish and Wildlife Service, said the proposed legislation would also usurp a
state's authority to manage its own wildlife.
"It would," Mr. Torbit said, "give authority to kill wildlife to
a single special interest, the livestock industry."
<> <> <> <> <>
Please take 5 minutes and contact your two Senators with your opinion regarding
the above. Their contact info is at:
http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm
Call your Senator's local office (as well as their D.C. office) today.
You may also phone the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and
an operator will connect you directly with the Senate office you request.
Let them know that our last wild buffalo must be protected.
Thank you!
For the Buffalo!
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Dealing With Burnout
7 Tips from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
By Faith Maloney - Best Friends Magazine writer
Source E Breakstone - queeniefound@hotmail.com
If
you're flooded with calls to rescue animals, stop answering the phone and let
your voicemail or answering machine pick it up. If you have a spouse, friend,
or family member who can field the calls for you for a time, ask for their help.
Give them a tip sheet on how to respond to various situations. If you can't get
help, return calls when you feel most able to deal effectively with the
problem.
It helps to be able to tell the person about options and possible solutions for
the animal they are calling about, whether it's a stray, a feral or a companion
animal. If possible, provide them with literature on how to find homes for
homeless animals.
Keep positive reinforcement in your life. Look to all the stories of animals
that were helped. (That's how Best Friends magazine began!)
Seek out friends and other animal people when you feel overwhelmed. You can
support each other emotionally. Online forums and chat rooms can provide help,
too.
Recognize that you did not create the problem. All too often, we compulsively
try to take on the responsibility for a situation we did not originate. Your
part in the situation is to offer people help, advise, and some of the tools
they'll need to extricate themselves from their problem.
Strive for balance in your life. Go and see a movie, take up a hobby, or
explore the great outdoors. When we take care of ourselves, we get to live
another day to help the animals.
Remember that most people love their companion animals and would never abandon
them, and that there are lots of people who, like you, take in strays and work
to rescue animals. You are not alone.
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Dreams, Reality, and Burger
King
By Alex Hershaft of Farm - farm@farmusa.org
Once
upon a time, in our wildest dreams, we may have pictured victory as an array of
slaughterhouses and fast food chains lying in smoldering ruins, or at the very
least, undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, with organic health food stores and
vegan fast food chains taking over the food retailing business.
Well, guess what, folks. It’s wake-up time.
As a welcome reality check, Burger King, the evil transnational corporate
giant, has handed us a beautiful present for this year’s Meatout observance: a
real veggie burger. Not just in a dozen avant-garde outlets in Greenwich
Village, but in all 8,300 outlets throughout America.
To be sure, the burger will not pass the muster of the vegan police: the patty
is truly vegan, but it’s grilled with the bloody ones, the mayo contains egg
whites, and the bun is tainted with ‘butter flavor.’ Moreover, BK is still the
evil transnational corporate giant.
But, you know what? The thousands of cows who won’t suffer and die to make
those patties are delighted. And so am I.
The Burger King veggie burger is one of the nicest things that has happened to
farmed animals in decades. One of the nicest things that we can do for these
wretched animals is to promote this product to all our friends and supporters.
You can be sure that all the other fast food chains are waiting to see how this
product does. If it succeeds, it will prevent the suffering and death of
millions. But, if it fails, it will set us back substantially. We absolutely
can not afford to let that happen.
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Certainly My Heart Is
Defective: It Breaks Too Easily
By Linda J. Howard - lindajhoward@earthlink.net
Source flh@all-creatures.org
Most
other members of my species, presumably cut from the same mold, seem not to be
concerned over the institutionalized killing of animals for
"food." Yet, the mere thought of the fear and agony experienced
by the "farmed" animals who are killed for no reason other than the
greedy desire for the taste of their flesh breaks my heart... My heart must be
defective.
Without batting an eye, members of my species abandon companion animals at
shelters often for reasons which are trivial, or callous, or based on laziness
or apathy. Yes, they know full well that millions of healthy animals are killed
each year in shelters and that there are not enough homes for all the
animals-in-need, but it does not seem to break their hearts as it does mine.
Mental note: Call cardiologist to schedule heart transplant; surely my heart is
defective.
It is difficult to accept that those who cause excruciating pain to animals in
laboratories (in the name of $cience) are members of the same species.
How can they repeatedly shock, burn, blind and experimentally infect sentient
animals? Does it not break their hearts as it does mine? Or perhaps it is just
that my heart is defective...
Members of my species purchase and wear the furs and skins of animals for
vanity's sake. They flaunt what they believe is their prestige, but imagining
the original owner of the fur or skin struggling to get free from a Leghold
trap, or shrieking in pain while being skinned alive or while being anally
electrocuted breaks my heart. Have they no heart or does it confirm, as suspected,
that mine is defective?
Those dressed in camouflage who invade the natural homes of wild animals to
kill them for what they call "sport" are members of my species. They
don't even flinch as their bullets or arrows take the lives of innocent
animals. Again, my heart must be defective for it breaks seeing formerly
majestic wild animals strapped to the tops of trucks. Will this qualify me for
a heart transplant?
At the zoo, members of my species often are teaching their young how to harden
their own young hearts. They muse at the sight of incarcerated animals but the
pacing of the poor tiger suffering from boredom breaks my heart. Is it ever too
late to harden a heart which breaks so easily unlike other members of the same
species? Or is a heart transplant in order?
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Justice Denied for Savannah the
Elephant
By Dr. Steven Best - sbest1@elp.rr.com
President, Voice For all Animals
On Tuesday April 16th, the City Council voted 4
to 2 in favor of keeping Savannah at the El Paso Zoo and bringing in another
elephant, Juno. Representatives Jan Sumrall (a self-professed “animal
lover”) and Luis Sarinana excused themselves from this controversial vote in a
patently opportunistic way. Representatives Larry Medina and Anthony Cobos had
the moral vision to see the wrong in keeping Savannah confined at the zoo when
the doors of freedom are open for her at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.
Hundreds of concerned citizens were shut out of the deliberation process and
their letters and calls of concern were never answered. The decision to bring
in another elephant was virtually rubber-stamped. Yet El Paso animal rights
group Voice For All Animals has a vision for vastly improving the zoo, and we
deserve to be heard. This involves freeing Savannah, and bringing in other
elephants from still worse condition than the El Paso zoo, and ideally finding
sanctuaries for them. The zoo would be transformed from a prisonhouse to a halfway
house for rescuing elephants. But we must begin by freeing Savannah. When
there is an opportunity for a being to have a better life, the opportunity
ought to be granted.
Please write/call/fax Jan Sumrall and Luis Sarinana and criticize them for
missing this important vote. Please strongly criticize Reps. Cook, Power,
Rodriquez, and Escobar for voting against Savannah. Please thank Reps. Medina
and Cobos for their compassion and courage. Your letters truly can help us,
thank you.
<> <> <> <> <>
Mayor Caballero Mayor@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:Mayor@ci.el-paso.tx.us>
phone 915-541-4145; fax 915-541-4501
Jan Sumrall District#1@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:District%231@ci.el-paso.tx.us> 541-4886; Fax
915-541-4380
Rose Rodriguez District#2@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:District%232@ci.el-paso.tx.us> 541-4996; Fax 915-541-4348
Larry Medina District#3@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:District%233@ci.el-paso.tx.us> 541-4572; Fax 915-541-4258
John Cook District#4@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:District%234@ci.el-paso.tx.us> 541-4140; Fax 915-541-4213
Dan Power District#5@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:District%235@ci.el-paso.tx.us> 541-4701; Fax 915-541-4360
Paul Escobar District#6@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:District%236@ci.el-paso.tx.us> 541-4182; Fax 915-541-4262
Luis Sarinana District#7@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:District%237@ci.el-paso.tx.us> 541-4108; Fax 915-541-4134
Anthony Cobos District#8@ci.el-paso.tx.us
<mailto:District%238@ci.el-paso.tx.us> 541-4123; Fax 915-541-4300
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Take Action
From Bruce Friedrich - BruceF@peta.org
Solicit
more members for your local group, or plug PETA's vegetarian hotline:
In many local papers (like DC's City Paper) you can put free notices in as long
as they're under 25 words, usually in something like a "Notices"
section.
True, it's small, but we always get at least one phone call from it each week,
meaning probably many more people see it.
You can place free notices saying "FREE Vegetarian Starter Kits. Learn
about the ethical, environmental, and health benefits of vegetarianism. Call 1-888-VEG-FOOD for your FREE
pack." (Or substitute whatever number or web site you want.)
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A Poem To My Foster Dog
Author Unknown
I am the bridge between what was and what can be.
I am the pathway to a new life.
I am made of mush,
Because my heart melted when I saw you,
Matted and sore, limping, depressed,
Lonely, unwanted, afraid to love.
For one little time you are mine.
I will feed you with my own hand
I will love you with my whole heart
I will make you whole.
I am made of steel.
Because when the time comes,
When you are well, and sleek,
When your eyes shine,
And your tail wags with joy
Then comes the hard part.
I will let you go -- not without a tear,
But without a regret.
For you are safe forever -
A new dog needs me now.
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Memorable Quote
"All that breathes is precious. Who is
to say that the suffering of an animal is less worthy of solace than the pain
of man? The spark of life is no dimmer simply because it is encased in
fur or leather."
~~
Anonymous
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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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