Animal Writes© sm
The official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter


  Publisher ~
EnglandGal@aol.com                                      Issue # 09/22/02
       Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ ParkStRanger@aol.com
                 ~ MichelleRivera1@aol.com
                 ~
sbest1@elp.rr.com


THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:


1  ~ Florida Sanctuary Retires All Chimpanzees and Monkeys At
          Defunct Coulston Primate Lab
2  ~
No More Homeless Pets Conference
3  ~
Vegetarian School Lunches
4  ~
Fifteen Reasons To Eat Meat  by Mark Sutton
5  ~
Millions in Legal Fees to Defend a Principle  by Robert Cohen
6  ~
Dog Days  by Jim Willis
7  ~
Memorable Quote

*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`
~1~
Florida Sanctuary Retires All
Chimpanzees and Monkeys
At Defunct Coulston Primate Lab

ALAMOGORDO, N.M., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The notorious Coulston Foundation primate-testing laboratory has shut down and each of the 266 chimpanzees and 61 monkeys will be permanently removed from research, the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care announced today.

The Center, a non-profit organization that currently cares for 25 chimpanzees at its innovative sanctuary in Florida, took over the Coulston facilities on September 16. The primates range in age from 2 to 40 years old.

"We are thrilled to offer these long-suffering chimpanzees and monkeys the best possible outcome in the nearly decade-long controversy over this laboratory," said Dr. Carole Noon, founder and director of the Center."  After endless rhetoric nothing had been accomplished on the chimps' behalf.  They had run out of options. The Coulston Foundation had been reduced to selling baby chimps just to make payroll.  Now we begin the process of rehabilitation and restitution for the terrible wrongs inflicted on these individuals in the name of science."

The Center was approached this spring by Foundation CEO Dr. Fred Coulston, whose lab was facing bankruptcy and foreclosure after years of mounting regulatory problems and opposition from animal advocates.  Prior to contacting the Center, Coulston had tried and failed to find a buyer for his financially ruined lab.

According to the Center, the Coulston Foundation was investigated at least seven times and formally charged an unprecedented four times by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for violating the federal Animal Welfare Act.  The charges included the negligent deaths of ten chimpanzees and four monkeys.

Among these were Donna, a 36-year-old chimpanzee formerly owned by the Air Force, who died from a massive infection and ruptured uterus after carrying a large dead fetus in her womb for weeks, as well as Robert, James and Raymond, who literally cooked to death when a malfunctioning heater sent the temperature in their cage soaring to 150 degrees.

Coulston was also facing possible disqualification of his lab by the Food and Drug Administration for widespread and repeated Good Laboratory Practice violations.  In 2001, after repeated inspections, the FDA warned Coulston that it would not accept any study results from its lab while the violations continued.  This eviscerated the lab's private client base.

In 2001, after years of funding the lab despite its record of violating federal law, the National Institutes of Health discontinued all support to Coulston.  The move dealt a deathblow to the lab, which had received as much as two-thirds of its annual income from the federal agency.

In addition to the loss of its critical NIH funding and inability to attract private clients because of the FDA sanctions, the lab was dealt another crippling blow when its major creditor, First National Bank of Alamogordo, filed foreclosure papers last December for over $1.1 million in outstanding loans.  Over the past year, state and federal tax liens filed against the lab totaled $427,000.

Until the Center stepped in with an offer to purchase the Coulston Foundation buildings and equipment conditioned on the donation of all the chimpanzees and monkeys, the lab was unable to make payroll and its employees were threatening to walk.

The Center's purchase was made possible by an unprecedented grant of $3.7 million from the Arcus Foundation of Kalamazoo, Michigan, a long-time supporter of the Florida sanctuary.

According to Dr. Noon, if the Arcus Foundation had not embraced her vision and taken responsibility for these chimpanzees their future at best would not have been anything more than continued misery and exploitation.  "This is the largest single effort on behalf of captive chimpanzees ever," said Dr. Noon.

The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, Doris Day Animal League, Friends of Washoe, In Defense of Animals, and New England Anti-Vivisection Society provided additional support.

Among the chimpanzees being permanently retired are 16 of the celebrated Air Force chimpanzees, who are survivors or descendants of chimpanzees used in the U.S. space program.  Also included are chimpanzees unceremoniously dumped by the NIH, New York University and New Mexico State University and acquired by Coulston.

"We are pleased to initiate this effort to save hundreds of chimpanzees from the hopeless and hidden world of biomedical research," said Jon Stryker, founder of the Arcus Foundation.  "It's time to fulfill society's responsibility for these individuals who were used by science then callously discarded by the federal government and academic institutions.  Our commitment includes a dollar for dollar matching grant for operational support through the year 2003."

With the addition of the 266 Coulston chimpanzees, the Center will care for 291 individuals who will be housed at expanded facilities in Florida and, at least temporarily, in New Mexico.

[Editor's Note: For further information on this issue, including a history of the Coulston lab, check out the following website]:

http://www.vivisectioninfo.org/Coulston/totalvictory/
Total Victory for IDA

*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~2~
No More Homeless Pets Conference
From Bonney Brown - bonney@bestfriends.org


October 25 – 27, 2002
Atlanta, Georgia
presented and sponsored by Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
Register before September 26 and save.

You'll get practical information, inspiration, and advice from people who are creating life-saving changes for the animals in their own neighborhoods, cities, or states.

The conference includes panel discussions and workshops that explore successful model programs and provide how-to information on coalition-building strategies, fundraising methods, increasing adoptions and spay/neuter, feral cat programs, volunteer recruitment, foster care, media relations, coping with burnout, and more. There are also optional advanced seminars on Friday for those who want to explore one of these topics in depth: Polishing your skills as a spokesperson, Developing your membership, Creating effective marketing strategies, or Spay/neuter programs that will work for your community.

For more information go to: http://www.bestfriends.org/nmhp/atlantafrm.htm
or call: 435-644-2001 X129 or e-mail: info @bestfriends.org

*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~3~
Vegetarian School Lunches

A Massachusetts-area reporter is looking to do a story about school lunches in that state. If you know of a campaign to increase vegetarian offerings in the MA public schools, please contact me ASAP with the details. 

Thanks very much!
Simon C.

Simon Chaitowitz, Communications Director
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20016, U.S.A.
202-686-2210, ext. 309; simonc@pcrm.org
http://www.pcrm.org

*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~4~
Fifteen  Reasons to Eat Meat
©2001 by Mark Sutton - vegetus@pobox.com

1.  My parents fed me dead animals N years ago and they obviously knew what was good for me, just like the plastic white bread, red dye, DDT, and cigarettes.

2.  McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's, have all done exhaustive nutritional research on diet in their extensive efforts to produce the most nutritious, healthy, and low fat food in the known space-time continuum at the lowest price possible for people everywhere.   They pay well and only hire people who are so strong as to not need health insurance paid by the company they work full-time for.

3.  It's obvious that drinking the bodily fluids of female bovines that are used to fatten up young calves is extremely healthy for adult human beings of another species entirely.

4.  The slaughter of 4 billion animals per year globally for food is okay, just like terrorism, as long as it isn't in my backyard.

5.  All those studies of human diet for decades in China that clearly show a vegetarian diet is the healthiest were obviously sponsored by organizations that are only interested in telling us what to do, and don't care about the freedom to enjoy that which can kill you if used improperly, but it's my option and my right as an American to do what feels, tastes, smells, is seen as, and is heard as gud.  Real gud.

6.  You mean you don't like ground up dead cows grilled and put on a whole-wheat bun slathered with high fructose syrup tomato sauce, ground up mustard seed sauce, onions, and sliced vinegared & garliced sugared yellow-dyed cucumbers?

7.  The millions of tons of livestock excrement and urine dumped into our ecosystem will produce, through the laws of evolution, even stronger plants, animals, and humans.  Nature likes a challenge, and the decreased clean water, lesser productive soil, and more unbreathable air will just make all living things tougher through Natural Selection.   No problemo.

8.  The FDA has a great track record for knowing what's good for us: at least 50% of the drugs they approve don't have any unforeseen side effects.  (note:  real stat)

9.  Fermented/congealed cow and goat fluid discharges, rotting chunks of pig, decaying slabs of cow, and often infected pieces of chicken anatomy are so good for you, we need the USDA to spend millions of our tax dollars every year promoting their consumption, and warn you that you need to cook 'em at high temperatures to kill any bad microorganisms in them that the USDA doesn't have the resources to check for, that slaughterhouses don't check for, and that can kill you and currently make hundreds of thousands of people sick every year.  If vegetables were so important we'd spend more than a million dollars a year promoting them (note: that's a real stat).

10.  Just look at the numbers of doctors and nutritionists, as well as television commercials, advocating eating at least 4 to 5 servings of meat every day.  They couldn't do that if it weren't true and they weren't paid enough.

11.  Eating meat is like driving an SUV (substitute "smaller car" for "plant-based food sources"):  it's more dangerous than plant-based food sources, uses up more natural resources than plant-based food sources, puts out more greenhouse gas pollution than plant-based food sources (potentially endangering all life on this planet), promotes environmental degradation, and is a symbol of my God-given freedom in this greatest country in the world to do whatever I want to whatever I want as long as I don't do the killing unless it's the right season in the right place.

12.  There was this guy in North Dakota who ate nothing but meat all his life, smoked, and drank like a fish.  With enough practice, we can do the same.  It's "no pain no gain." Genetics, schmetics....

13.  Bringing home a big chunk of cutup dead cow muscles, a bird's cut-up chest flesh, or ground-up pig organs stuffed into intestinal sacs, and cooking the hell outta them for my family, is one of the greatest joys and freedoms in the world, and demostrates how much I love my husband/wife and children, and want them to be healthy and live happy productive disease-free long lives.  God Bless Us All.

14.  Ain't nuthin' like clarified bovine fluid fried dead chicken embryos with pig fat fried stripped slices of pig flesh on the side, and a steaming cup of coffee bean juice with female cow lactations and a buncha refined sugar to getcha ready for a cold winter day at the office.   All part of balanced meal.

15.  It tastes gud.  Real gud.

(just in case someone got this far and though otherwise, I've been a vegetarian for 20 years... MSS)

*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~5~
Millions in Legal Fees to Defend a Principle
By Robert Cohen - i4crob@earthlink.net
http://www.notmilk.com

Howard Lyman, lead defendant has won!
His co-defendant, Oprah Winfrey has won too.

Nearly six years. Numerous appeals. Only in today's America is it still against the law to call an agricultural product "unsafe."

Howard and Oprah were sued by cattlemen after Oprah said "I've eaten my last hamburger."  On that day, in front of millions of viewers, Howard Lyman told America the news about Mad Cow Disease and other foodborne illnesses that taint meat. It's no baloney, folks.

After the show aired, cattle futures plummeted.  Millions of dollars were lost. Meat producers litigated, blaming Howard & Oprah for their losses.

This summer, the final appeal heard in Federal Court was dismissed "with prejudice." The trial will not be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Who is Howard Lyman? Who is that Mad Cowboy?

THE MAD COWBOY

He walks to the microphone and is greeted with a standing ovation.  Howard Lyman is an ex-cattleman rancher-turned vegetarian.

"I was raised in Montana, and I when I was growing up I knew one person who was a vegetarian." He pauses for effect and eyeballs the audience.  "And she was a straaaange lady." His timing is perfect. He drawls the word "strange" and the audience erupts with laughter.

"I learned better living through chemistry during my four-year college career," continues Lyman. "Not once during my education did I hear the word 'vegetarian.' Being from Montana, I would have rather been caught riding a stolen horse than be called a vegetarian." The audience roars with delight and applauds. Howard has them eating tofu out of his enormous hands.

HOWARD AND OPRAH

Nearly six years ago, Howard Lyman appeared as a guest on "Oprah."  The subject that day was meat. Howard discussed E. coli and salmonella and mad cow disease. Oprah remarked, "I've eaten my last hamburger."

THE OPRAH SUIT

As American housewives (who comprise the greatest part of Oprah's audience) heard that message, so too did traders in the cattle futures market. Word quickly spread. America will no longer eat beef!  Speculators began to sell contracts and cattle futures plummeted.  Fortunes were lost in a few minutes of trading. By the end of the day, many millions of dollars were lost by panicking options traders either buying or selling their calls and puts.

A few of the losers got more than angry. They got even. A suit was filed against Howard Lyman and Oprah. In America, freedom of speech is merely an illusion. There are now laws making it illegal to criticize an agricultural product.

AGRICULTURAL DISPARAGEMENT ACTS

It is still illegal in thirteen states to criticize an agricultural product.  Howard and Oprah learned this the hard way. Texas is one of those thirteen. They sued the wrong people. Oprah has very deep pockets.  This was one case that she could not afford to lose. This was much more than just hamburgers. This was about an industry attempt to muzzle the press. Would the media even be tempted to ever tell the truth if Oprah Winfrey lost to the cattlemen?

The case went to trial, the jury came in with a verdict: not guilty!  Howard and Oprah won and the cattlemen lost. The case was appealed.  Howard and Oprah won again. And again. And again.

HOWARD'S BOOK

I've read "Mad Cowboy," and books do not get much better than this one.  Howard's account of how rich the soil used to be on his farm, with earthworms in rich loam, is written with great emotion. One college education and hundreds of chemicals later, Howard managed to turn that soil into an asbestos-like artificial fiber.

"Mad Cowboy" picks up where Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" left off.  The book is brilliantly written and filled with details of the toxins in our foods. Read this book and you'll soon be buying organic fruits and vegetables. The alternatives are simply not worth it. Howard is often asked about the difference in price between organically grown vegetables and those treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. His response? "Can you afford the cost of cancer?"

HOWARD'S CANCER

Howard Lyman's cancer was a one-in-a million. He blames it on the dangerous chemicals and even more dangerous lifestyle. Howard says, "When I was younger, I never found an animal product that I didn't want to stuff down my throat." The tumor removed from his spinal column should have put Howard in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.  Instead, he is now the symbolic leader of the vegan movement in America.

HOWARD'S QUOTES

"If 5 people go to dinner and one is a vegetarian, who do you think is the one to pick the restaurant?"

"It takes 70 calories of energy to produce one calorie of meat. Sixteen pounds of grain are used to produce one pound of meat. Sixteen pounds of grain can feed 32 people . . . or one Rush Limbaugh."

"One-third of Americans will get cancer and one-quarter will die from it. There are 600 chemical compounds in our bodies that did not even exist 50 years ago."

HOWARD'S WEBSITE:

http://www.madcowboy.com

I LOVE HOWARD!

Howard and I often lecture together. I have learned quite a bit from this man. Long before I was traveling across America, warning people about the dangers of milk and dairy products, Howard was speaking to small and large groups doing just that. A month after I learned about Monsanto's genetically engineered hormone, I received a tape of Howard speaking in a Chicago area library. There were about six people in the audience.

Howard would corner an audience of one in a phone booth to get out his very important message.

Recently I received a great compliment from my good friend, Howard. I had given a talk to a standing-room only audience at the University of Pittsburgh. Howard attended, sitting in the back of the room. An hour later, we sat down for a vegetarian lunch in the college cafeteria. I mentioned to Howard that I saw him sitting in the back of the room.

He asked, very seriously, "Know what I was doing there?"

I shook my head and he continued, "Stealing material!"

Howard, you've led the way and my hat is off to you! Just for the record, there is one person who I give credit to for inspiring me to eat a plant-based diet. That man is Howard and he has taught me and thousands of others the right and wrong ways to treat a human body.  Combine my NOTMILK campaign and Howard's NOTMEAT campaign and you'll possess a valuable roadmap to discovering the fountain of youth.

If you would like to receive the free weekly Mad Cowboy newsletter, please visit:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mad_Cowboy

*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~6~
  Dog Days
Copyright Jim Willis 2002
http://www.crean.com/jimwillis


The 'dog days' are upon us,
and for a dozen summers you have slumbered, shaded,
under the same tree.
As I watch you from the window, as I always do,
wishing that I could lie there, too,
but not wanting to disturb your peace,
I am envious.
You haven't a care in the world and I have too many.
Still, I'm glad that you are so carefree.
Perhaps that is one of my greatest accomplishments.
Perhaps that is why Man keeps dogs...
as a reminder that life isn't only worries and responsibilities,
and that we can give you what we cannot give ourselves.
You remind me that simple pleasures are enough,
more than enough...that it should take so little to be happy.
Would that with a life of worry we had your years,
and with a life of contentment, you had ours.
But neither of us made these rules.
So sleep well, my friend, there in your cool shade.
One day, you will rest there forever.
I'll glance out the window again in awhile,
to make sure all is well,
and to be assured that you are still the keeper of my peace,
and to be grateful that I am the caretaker of yours.
*******

**We're pleased to announce publication of Jim's new book:
"PIECES OF MY HEART - Writings Inspired by Animals and Nature"
For complete information: http://www.crean.com/jimwillis/
**See the above site for a special fundraising discount offer.

*´`³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`*´`³¤³´`*:»«:*´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`
~7~
Memorable Quote

"The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of
yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he
will make a fool of himself too."
-Samuel Butler

«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
(Permission Granted To Quote/Forward/Reprint/Repost This Newsletter In
Whole Or In Part with credit given to EnglandGal@aol.com)

*   Please forward this to a friend who you think
might be interested in subscribing to our newsletter.

* ARO gratefully accepts and considers articles for publication
from subscribers on veg*anism and animal issues. 
Send submissions to JJswans@aol.com


** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners.  I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the coprighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. 
 

 

Return to the ARO Newsletter Archives

Return to the ARO Homepage

1