A n i m a l W r i t e s
© sm
The official ANIMAL
RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 09/06/00
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MicheleARivera@aol.com
~ SavingLife@aol.com
Layout ~ Corrynthia@aol.com
THE SEVEN ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ An Activist Moves On by MicheleARivera@aol.com
2 ~ Two Victories from Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade
3 ~ Ideas for Campus Activism from pumodi@vassar.edu
4 ~ Join Friends of Animals for a Conference on "Animals, Nature
and
the New
Millennium" from foa@igc.org
5 ~ What Happens to the Udders? by Robert Cohen -
i4crob@idt.net
6 ~ Poem: Activist's Pledge by WantNoMeat@aol.com
7 ~ Quote to Remember - Norman Cousins
`*³³¤³*´`´`*³:»§«:´*´`´`*³¤³«:*´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³:»«:*´`´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³*´`´`*:»§«:³*´`´`*¤³³*'
An Activist Moves On
by MicheleARivera@aol.com
A dragonfly lands on the ring finger of the man
with whom I am having tea at a waterside table in sunny south Florida; and
for a moment is the safest place the insect will ever be. The gentleman reacts
with surprised delight. “Look at this,” he whispered, “look, it’s just a
baby. Maybe he’ll come home with me and be my dragonfly.” After a
moment, the fantasy ended and the bug flew off, and the man shrugged and said
“or not.”
How many of us would stop in mid-sentence to regard a small, harmless insect
alight on our fingers? Maybe most of us would slap it away before even
seeing what it was. But not this man, not Alex Pacheco.
Alex is probably not too well known as a bug person, unless, of course you
count a certain famous Beatle with whom he’s become somewhat friendly.
But that’s another story. What Alex is famous for, of course, is being
the co-founder of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,
(PeTA). That and a whole lot of dangerous and daring animal rescues.
Alex Pacheco came from very humble beginnings. The son of a doctor and
nurse, he was raised in Mexico along with his brother, now a globe-trotting
college professor, and his sister, a nurse in Seattle. Animals were part
of his daily existence. There were chickens on the roof, dogs and cats
and horses everywhere. There were all manner of mammals, fowl and
reptiles, even in the live markets, even in the streets. Alex came by his
passion for animals quite honestly.
His first real “mission” was to put a stop to the unlawful hunting of
whales. As a crewmember aboard a Sea Shepherd vessel, he sailed into
international waters to stop Norwegian and Japanese hunters from slaughtering
whales. He was just 18 at the time, and a long, long way from sunny
Mexico. Alex would later be accused of being the “ringleader” many
times after that, but this time, he was simply a crewmember. Still, he got an
award for being the best crewmember on the ship. It was a hint of things
to come.
He met Ingrid Newkirk some time after that, in the city shelter, in Washington
D.C. It was the early seventies and he and Ingrid struck up a friendship
based on their mutual passion for animals. Together they put together
campaigns and launched ideas. According to Alex, Ingrid was responsible
for taking the DC pound to new and wonderful heights. She was tireless in
all her pursuits for the animals in her care and never stopped working for
them. PeTA was not even a concept yet, and the use of the words “animal
rights” was not quite the household word it is today, not in this country
anyway. Living on Ingrid’s meager salary at the city shelter, the
activists recruited volunteers, held demonstrations, and used the media to the
best advantage for the animals, a controversial legacy PeTA continues today.
In 1981, about a year after the official founding of PeTA, their lives changed
forever. Alex took a job as a volunteer researcher’s assistant in an
animal laboratory in Silver Springs, Maryland. His duties enabled him
access to records and areas the general public, including the funding agencies,
were unable to view. He video-taped the animals in various degrees of
discomfort and pain. Some animals died long before their date with death.
The project was experimental stroke therapy. The chimpanzees had their
nerves severed so that they were unable use their limbs. And then, they
were forced to do so in order to simply survive. Of course, many didn’t
survive. This was all in a vain effort to determine what, if any, therapy
could be used for human stroke victims who have lost the use of a limb.
Alex videotaped all that he could, and then brought charges against the
researchers and the laboratory. The case became known as the infamous
Silver Springs Monkeys case, (the subject of a book entitled Monkey
Business), and went on for over four years. It represented thousands of
hours of court time, hundreds of appeals, and a lot of media attention.
The case set several precedents including the first arrest and conviction of an
animal experimenter in the United States on charges of cruelty to
animals. It also was the first ever confiscation of laboratory
animals. More importantly, it was also the first U.S. Supreme Court
victory for animals in laboratories.
This was the first of many such cases for Alex. However the notoriety it
brought him made it increasingly difficult working undercover at labs and
slaughterhouses. His picture was
circulated as a warning to other laboratories. Alex had body guards
wherever necessary, and became a student of the martial arts. His stories of
rescues and other battles are the subject of his many public appearances at
animal-rights conferences and conventions. Having been arrested forty times,
Alex has some extraordinary stories.
Alex left PeTA after twenty years in October 1999. When asked why he left
what surely must have been the high point of his life, he gives only a generic
“We had some differences.....” The more important question is whether
Alex will continue his life’s work for animals.
The answer is a most emphatic yes! Living in South Florida, Alex is
involved in two new ventures; All American Animals.Com. and Humane
America. Alex serves as President of both of these organizations.
Legendary artist Peter Max (Blue Dog) is his partner and Town & Country
Magazine editor Frank Zacharay serves as celebrity liaison for
AllAmericanAnimals.com.
Alex’s goal now is to get vegetarian foods into all of the institutions.
“They serve ten thousand meals a day at any given prison, university, hospital
or other institutions. I am out to get them to realize that going
vegetarian for at least half of these meals makes good sense economically,”
says Alex “we tried persuading them by compassion, I say that economics is the
way to get through to them, and that’s what I am going to try to do.”
Alex’s new venture, AllAmericanAnimals.com is a little different from his
other undertakings. This one is a “for profit” company that will
assist charities in getting started. Alex will be available as a consultant on
all matters of fundraising and other details of starting a nonprofit. He has
access to a lot of celebrities too, and much like an agent, he will get one to
come to a fund-raiser or charity event to raise money and awareness of new
organizations. “You never know where an animal-person may be
hiding," he says when asked about some of his more unpopular senatorial
acquaintances. As I find myself looking around the steakhouse restaurant that
Alex has chosen as the site of our meeting, I wonder how it is that the people
around us have no clue who Alex is, a scenario that plays out much differently
at gatherings of animal-rights activists where his picture and autograph are
much sought-after treasures. I have to admit that I have been guilty of
such treasure hunting, and have pictures of myself and Alex throughout the
years at various functions.
And just what do those in the animal-rights movement have to say about all
this? We asked some of them:
"Although I have never met Alex in person from what I have seen
from his
tireless efforts he is completely dedicated to ending abuse and
oppression.
His heart and his head speak one language, that of the animals who do
not
speak."
~Susan Roghair, President (aka EnglandGal@aol.com), Animal
Rights Online
“I don't know him personally. When I first embraced the animal
rights movement,
PeTA was my first point of entry and he was my mentor. PeTA is not
the same
organization without him. Alex has taught me that this movement is
not about
'loving animals' -- it is about fighting injustice. Because of
him, I've learned that
as long as animals are treated as property and as commodities, they will
never
have their JUST day in court. The ARA's are the TRUE humanitarians
-- and
should NEVER let unjust laws take precedence over an animals right to be
free.
Because of Alex's example, I have become determined NOT to get caught up
in apathy and inaction. What a shallow life I must have led before
this single
human being made me open my window of compassion and hear the cries of
the enslaved animals and the tumult of the animal kingdom. I look
forward to
meeting Alex Pacheco one day. He would be pleased to know that
because
of him -- activism engulfs me. Activism is near. Activism is
now."
~Melissa Waz, Activist, Tampa, Florida
"Alex had his ups and downs with the organization. We're
very happy he's
settled on something and we definitely are rooting for him. We
hope his new
group will be a success and that it will truly benefit
animals."
~Ingrid Newkirk - cofounder of PeTA
“Alex Pacheco is a pioneer in the modern animal rights movement,
having co-
founded PeTA and investigated an animal research laboratory leading to
the
first conviction of an animal researcher under an animal cruelty
statute. Since
PeTA's founding, it has helped to place the term "animal
rights" in the modern
lexicon.”
~Wayne Pacelle, HSUS
“I'm presently in the midst of some travel but I can quickly say that
I met Alex
in the late 1970s in England after he jumped from the Sea Shepherd after
it
rammed a pirate whaler in a Portugal port."
~Kim Stallwood, President and Publisher, Animals Agenda
“Alex Pacheco was my hero long before I met him. When we did meet, I
was
surprised to find a fun-loving, playful guy. He is absolutely charming
but not
what I had expected from one of the founders of such a serious social
move-
ment. I expected a personality brimming with commitment and passion. I'm
sure they are there, underneath a nice layer of levity”
~ Karen Dawn, President & Founder, DawnWatch.com.
It’s true. As I was chiding Alex for being so derelict in responding to
his e-mail messages, he was sheepish in his apology and revelation that he really
hasn’t gotten the hang of the computer thing. “I sometimes get jokes from
my friends,” he explains. “I really like a good joke now and then, but I can’t
always figure out how to open them.”
Speaking of joking, I simply can’t end this article without commenting on the
running joke among women in the movement, and a common theme on
which everyone who has seen Alex agree, he’s a heartbreaker! But
that seems to be a prevailing theme among men in the movement. I don’t
want to mention names (Wayne, Gene, Kim, even our own Greg......) but an
unscientific poll (I asked most of you) proved that so many great-looking guys
are drawn to our movement. The compassion and vegan lifestyle is dowright
sexy.
And I would be derelict in my responsibility as a reporter if I didn’t report
that, happily, there was NO RING on the finger on which the little dragonfly
landed.
`*³³¤³*´`´`*³:»§«:´*´`´`*³¤³«:*´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³:»«:*´`´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³*´`´`*:»§«:³*´`´`*¤³³*'
Two Victories
Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade
CAFT13@aol.com
First,
the Arizona Supreme Court has shot down the Arizona Trappers Association's
lawsuit to overturn Prop 201, the ballot measure that banned trapping in most
of the state.
This lawsuit cost the ATA thousands, but the Supreme Court had no interest in
hearing their case.
The ATA and the National Trappers Association have filed another lawsuit to try
and overturn the suit. It is doubtful they will succeed.
But wildlife advocates are needed to defeat Prop. 102, a measure that will
appear on this years ballot in Arizona. Prop. 102 would take away the
public's right to pass wildlife related ballot initiatives in Arizona by
majority rule. The measure would require a vote by 2/3 majority to pass
ballot initiatives related to wildlife, whereas the politicians will be able to
pass laws effecting wildlife with a simple majority.
Trophy hunting groups are expected to outspend those who care about voting
rights and wildlife by a substantial margin. Help is needed!
More info is available at: www.no102.com
The second victory comes to us from Maryland. The Maryland Fur Trappers
Inc. are disgruntled by the fact that the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources refused
to support the MFT's "Junior Trapper Day".
The MD DNR explained to the MFT that there was not the public support needed
for the DNR to be involved in such a thing.
We only wish the fish and game depts. in other states were as aware of the
overwhelming public opinion against fur trapping.
Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade
PO Box 21780
Washington, DC 20009
www.banfur.com
www.skinnedpuppy.com
`*³³¤³*´`´`*³:»§«:´*´`´`*³¤³«:*´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³:»«:*´`´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³*´`´`*:»§«:³*´`´`*¤³³*'
Ideas For Campus Activism
pumodi@vassar.edu
Here
are some ideas for campus activism that we've done at Vassar.
*Tabling at the dining hall with literature (and video/pictures).
*Meetings with chair of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
for info on animal use on campus.
*Editorials and stories in the college paper.
*Vegan food at various events on campus. (free cookies or brownies if people
read literature and tell you a fact they learned from it)
*Constant communication with dining facility about vegan and vegetarian
options.
*Offering campus space for local animal rights organizing.
*Use school organization funds to help build ties with community activists.
*Always a lot of free literature and stickers.
*Sell merchandise like shirts, pins, etc. which promote animal rights.
*Hold a vigil or publicly seen action to draw attention to animal use on
campus.
*Support anything mainstream that ties in animal rights and then discuss it
(like show the movie Bambi, book bands who support animal rights, etc)
*Work to get cruelty products in the campus store.
*Encourage local restaurants and businesses to put signs in their window which
read "Vegan friendly" or something with a similar theme (make the
signs for them don't expect them to do it)
*Participate in national days of action with petitions and tabling and
protests.
`*³³¤³*´`´`*³:»§«:´*´`´`*³¤³«:*´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³:»«:*´`´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³*´`´`*:»§«:³*´`´`*¤³³*'
Join
Friends of Animals for a Conference on
"Animals,
Nature and the New Millennium"
from foa@igc.org
Keynote address by Gary Francione, Professor
of Law, Rutgers University.
Email: <francion@andromeda.rutgers.edu>
Other speakers include:
~ Anna Charleton, Adjunct Professor of Law, Rutgers University
~ Bill Clark, International Program Director, FoA
~ Brooks Fahy, Predator Defense Institute
~ Gail Eiznitz, Author of "Slaughterhouse"
~ Bill Mannetti, Animal Rights Front
~ Paul Shapiro, Compassion Over Killing
FoA has added a special presentation by Steve Wilson and Jane Akre,
"Standing up to the Media Empire." Wilson and Akre are the
former Fox news reporters who were just handed a $425,000 judgment in a
landmark case against Fox which stemmed from efforts by Fox to manipulate an
investigative report on the effects and use of bovine growth hormone.
Read about how they stood up to intense pressure from Monsanto and Fox, go to:
Come
and meet them at the conference as we examine how the media systematically
works to keep our issues from public consideration.
The conference will be held at the historic Algonquin Hotel in New York
City,
on Saturday, September 30 (8:30 AM - 5 PM)
and Sunday, October 1, (9:00 AM- 3:30 PM)
Registration is $60 for both days, paid in advance
$80 for both days, paid at the door (if available)
$40 for single day registration
For more information, email foa@igc.org or call 203-656-1522
`*³³¤³*´`´`*³:»§«:´*´`´`*³¤³«:*´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³:»«:*´`´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³*´`´`*:»§«:³*´`´`*¤³³*'
What Happens to the Udders?
by Robert Cohen - i4crob@idt.net
I woke up in the middle of the night after
dreaming about cows dangling from ropes tied around their hind legs.
The animals moved slowly down the line, twitching as the life ebbed out of
their bodies, blood spurting from gashes in their necks delivered moments
earlier by a man wearing a bloodstained smock.
Occasionally, there would be an animal, still alive, mooing loudly and shaking
spasmodically, seeking a way to escape.
In my dream, one animal made eye contact with me, her eyes bulging, wild with
pain and fear.
Once awake, I envisioned their enormous udders, some still filled with
milk. White creamy discharges mix with dark red blood and feces, dripping
from lifeless carcasses to the concrete floor. I imagine the smell of the
slaughterhouse. A thought comes into my mind. What happens to the
flesh on their faces, cheeks, lips, and eye sockets?
What happens to the anus? What happens to the udder? Do these body parts
become a cruel joke for Ronald McDonald? Do you really "deserve a break
today" or desire to "have it your way?"
SLAUGHTERHOUSE
Last weekend I visited Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York. At the time of
my visit I was reading Gail Eisnitz's remarkable book, SLAUGHTERHOUSE.
http://www.hfa.org/slaught.jpg
I petted the animals at Farm Sanctuary, Holstein
cows, goats, and hogs, and, at the same time, was reading truths about how pigs
met their death.
http://www.meatstinks.com/raw/cpl3.jpg
Gail Eisnitz writes:
"These hogs get up to the scalding tank, hit the
water, and just start
screaming and kicking. I'm not sure whether the hogs burn
to death
before drowning. The water is 140 degrees. I do not believe
the hogs go
into shock, because it takes them a couple of minutes to
stop thrashing.
I think they die slowly from drowning."
After a few well-placed phone calls, I connected with Gail at her Montana home.
http://www.hfa.org/eisnitz.jpg
"What happens to the udders?" I asked.
Gail related to me a dairy cow's last moments. I had also read the
gruesome details in her book.
"When a conscious cow arrives at the first
hind-legger, usually the legger
tries to make a cut to start skinning out the leg.
Unfortunately, it is very
difficult and dangerous to do that when an animal is
kicking violently.
So the legger will cut off the bottom part of the
animal's leg he's working
on with a pair of clippers."
Her book does a remarkable job of exposing the cruelty applied to 8 billion
farm animals each year. Each one dies a painful death. Killers become so
used to the act of killing that these animals are treated with great
disdain. Sometimes they are brutally tortured before and during death.
Would we eat their bodies if we could witness their suffering? That was a
question I asked myself as I walked through a supermarket this very
morning. I have tried unsuccessfully to read excerpts of
"SLAUGHTERHOUSE" to my children. This book reads a little
differently than "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. Americans
may not want to read this book. Deaf, dumb, mute, and blind.
Gail's agenda involves much more than compassion to animals. She exposes
unsanitary slaughterhouse conditions and practices. By eating such
renderings, one shows little compassion to one's own body.
Eisnitz writes:
"Federal records show that major meat packers smoked
rancid meat to
cover foul odor, or marinated it to disguise slime and
smell... chickens
and hams were soaked in chlorine baths to remove slime and
odor, and
red dye was added to beef to make it appear fresh. Plant
managers
repeatedly fought to allow 'some contamination' such as
feces, grease,
hydraulic oil, maggots, metal, floor residue and rancid
meat..."
WHAT HAPPENS TO UDDERS?
Gail paraphrased the well-publicized dairy industry campaign with her own
question.
"Got hot dogs?"
"Not for the last three years," I responded.
A PANDORA'S BOX OF PATHOGENS
Eisnitz begins Chapter Thirteen with a quote from David Carney, a USDA meat
inspector.
"We used to trim the shit off the meat. Then we
washed the shit off the meat.
Now the consumer eats the shit off the meat."
If you eat chicken, you might want to skip the next paragraph. If you buy
and prepare chicken for your family, you cannot afford not to read what
follows.
Gail writes:
"Today, thanks to automation in the industry,
individual poultry plants...
can kill and process as many as 340,000 birds per day.
Since it's easier to bleed a bird that isn't flapping and
struggling, most
live birds have their heads dragged through an
electrically charged
water bath to paralyze -- not stun -- them. Other
industrialized nations
require that chickens be rendered unconscious or killed
prior to bleeding
and scalding so they won't have to go through the process
conscious.
Here in the United States, however, poultry plants... keep
the stunning
current down to about one-tenth of that needed to render a
chicken
unconscious.
A conveyor then carries the shocked and paralyzed birds to
a high-speed
circular blade meant to slit their throats but which
occasionally misses
birds as they rush past at the rate of thousands per hour.
After their heads and feet are removed and they've been
washed (and
feathered), the chickens are re-hung on an evisceration
line. There,
machines automatically cut them open and pull their guts
out.
In the scald tank, fecal contamination on skin and feathers
gets inhaled
by live birds, and hot water opens bird's pores allowing
pathogens to
seep in. The pounding action of the de-feathering
machines creates an
aerosol of feces-contaminated water which is then beaten
into the birds.
Contamination also occurs when the birds have their
intestines removed
by automatic eviscerating machines. These high-speed
machines
commonly rip open intestines, spilling feces into the
bird's body cavities.
Rinsing a chicken 40 times does not remove all of the
bacteria.
Water in chill tanks has been aptly named 'fecal soup' for
all the filth
and bacteria floating around. By immersing clean,
healthy birds in the
same tank with dirty ones, you're practically assuring
cross-contamination.
Chickens that bathe together get contaminated
together."
Gail finishes the chapter by quoting Gerald Kuester of USDA:
"There are about 50 points during processing where
cross-contamination
can occur. At the end of the line, the birds are no
cleaner than if they
had been dipped in a toilet.
CONCLUSION
Out of sight, out of mind. If only every American could just see what
goes on in a slaughterhouse. That's now possible by reading Eisnitz's
book.
MILK
What drips down a cow's leg while it's being milked? Feces, mucous,
blood, bacteria. A filter is used to remove those impurities before the
milk enters the bulk holding tank. Drink that milk and devour the
glorious essence of bovine excrement.
MEAT
Eat their flesh and you consume those diseased animals that no longer produce
enough milk to guarantee a profit to the dairyman. When cows are
diseased, with cancer or paratuberculosis, leukemia or other sicknesses, that's
when they are sent to their final fate. Your dinner plate.
Gail Eisnitz is an investigator for the Humane Farm Association.
Her
book can be ordered, online:
http://www.hfa.org/form-2.html
`*³³¤³*´`´`*³:»§«:´*´`´`*³¤³«:*´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³:»«:*´`´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³*´`´`*:»§«:³*´`´`*¤³³*'
Activist's Pledge
by WantNoMeat@aol.com
Until the last flesh is consumed
and no more animals are born to doom
Our struggle is beside the weak
respect for life is what we seek
Until the last is forced to entertain
and no more animals are driven insane
For all those beaten to a cower
we lend our strength and our power
Until the last suffers in a cruel test
and scientific fraud is finally confessed
To those voiceless we give them word
until their agonizing cries are heard
Until the last dead skin is worn
and for our usage no animal is born
Relentless battles we must fight
until all others see compassion's light
Until the last abuse has ceased
and existence is granted to every beast
We won't abandon or give in
because this war we intend to win
`*³³¤³*´`´`*³:»§«:´*´`´`*³¤³«:*´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`³:»«:*´`´`*:»§«:*´`´`*:»«:*³¤³´`³¤³´`³¤³´`*:»³¤³*´`´`*:»§«:³*´`´`*¤³³*'
Quote To Remember
"Nothing
is more powerful than an individual acting out their conscience,
thus helping bring the collective conscience to life."
--Norman Cousins
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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=-
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
(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
