A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 12/05/01
Editor
~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE SEVEN ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ The Fur Fringe by Danielle Bays and
Lydia Nichols
2 ~ Volunteer Job Opportunity
3 ~ Premarin Foals for Adoption
4 ~ Pigs Can't Fly, But You Can
5 ~ NotMilk by Robert Cohen
6 ~ Solar Flavors
7 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
The Fur Fringe
By Danielle Bays and Lydia Nichols
The
Animals' Agenda Online: News
http://www.animalsagenda.org/articledetail.asp?menu=News&NewsID=490
When
you think of fur "fashion" you might picture a traditional mink coat or
maybe even a more contemporary, brightly colored fox-fur chubby. But what about
a microfiber jacket trimmed with fox fur?
Although historically the fur industry's emphasis has been on full-length
coats, fur trim is becoming a mainstay of the trade. The Fur Information
Council of America (FICA) recently claimed that retail sales of fur rose 21
percent over last season (fall 2000-winter 2001) to $1.69 billion. However, the
income from fur storage, cleaning, and repair have traditionally been included
in sales figures, and FICA—which only surveys select members of its
organization for data—no longer provides a breakdown of what percentage of
revenue comes from services and what comes from the purchase of new fur
products. As fur retailers branch out to include more and more nonfur items and
products with small amounts of fur trim, this sales statistic becomes more and
more dubious.
Yet while sales of fur coats are undoubtedly down, the fur industry can
rightfully claim victory in its efforts to make fur trim socially acceptable.
In 1996, fur-trimmed and fur-lined items made up 46 percent of the value of all
fur garments sold. Since then, the number of fur-trimmed items sold has
increased. Using FICA's latest figures, the fur-trim market is worth nearly $500
million annually. However, FICA obtains its figure by surveying a select number
of specialized retailers and does not include more general retailers that sell
a broad range of clothing and accessories, including fur-trimmed items. Adding
in those sales would make this figure uglier than it already is.
With the trim trade expanding, the death toll is rising. Sandy Parker
Reports, a fur industry newsletter, predicts that the number of animal
pelts used for trim will soon outnumber those used for all-fur garments in
western European and U.S. markets. According to a recent headline in Sandy
Parker Reports, "New York trimming manufacturers report they are having
their best season in memory." Demand for fur trim is currently so strong
that some U.S. manufacturers that typically produce only full-fur garments are
now moving into the trim business.
Economics, and the deaths of many of the veteran fur manufacturers, has led to
the demise of the once-thriving U.S. fur-manufacturing center. Emphasis on
mass-produced fur trims and accessories has enabled fur manufacturing to move
overseas, where the labor is cheap and controls are less stringent. China is
now the top nation for the manufacture of full-fur and fur-trimmed garments.
The vast amount of fur products shipped out of the country nearly masked
China's use of dog and cat fur in the trim trade, but once U.S. consumers were
alerted to this atrocity they successfully lobbied for a ban on such products
("The Far Reach of the Barbaric Fur Trade: Asia's Dog & Cat Fur
Business," Jan./Feb. 1999). Demand for fur trim puts less emphasis on pelt
quality, color, and uniformity, and has driven up the price for lower-grade
pelts and pelts from breeder animals. This means that the quality of the
animals' care—which is known to be deplorable already—is likely getting worse.
A little trim, a lot of suffering
For some people, wearing a garment with "just a little" fur trim may
not seem as inhumane as wearing a full-length fur. But the animals suffer and
die just the same, victims of the institutionalized cruelty of fur farms or the
agony of steel traps.
Foxes are the most common animals used for fur trim. Ninety percent of the
foxes raised on fur farms are killed for the fur-trim market. Blue foxes (the
industry term for cage-raised arctic foxes) are the primary type used, followed
by the silver fox (cage-raised red foxes). Trapped foxes—red, gray, and
arctic—are also skinned for the trim trade.
Mink and sable—both those raised on intensive farms and those trapped in the wild—are
regularly converted into neckpieces and other vanity accessories. Male mink,
whose pelts are larger, are killed almost exclusively for trim (makers of
full-length coats prefer female pelts). Other animals regularly exploited for
the trim trade include such wild-caught animals as raccoons, coyotes, and
beavers, as well as cage-raised chinchillas and Finraccoons (the moniker given
to raccoon dogs, a wild Asian species commonly raised on Finnish fur farms).
Despite the benign-sounding industry propaganda surrounding fur
"ranches," there is nothing humane about fur farms. Life inside
small, barren wire cages is a far cry from these animals' natural environments.
The animals often resort to unnatural behaviors, such as incessant pacing, self-mutilation,
and even cannibalism, to escape the boredom and frustration created by their
harsh and deprived conditions. Foxes are extremely fearful of humans; they
tremble, defecate, and withdraw to the rear of their cages when approached.
They have a high rate of cannibalism— primarily mothers killing their young—as
a result of cramped caging. Fox farmers lose an estimated 20 percent of their
animals prematurely, and half of those deaths result from cannibalism. Death is
no easy escape either, as the most common killing method of farmed foxes is
anal electrocution.
The increased use of raccoon fur as trim on cloth and leather garments has
renewed demand for this type of fur. The number of raccoons trapped in the
United States dropped an estimated 75 percent this past season, but with the
trim market expanding, the forecast for this winter may be deadly for raccoons.
Trapped animals suffer a different type of torture than those on fur farms.
Volumes of documentation prove that leghold traps mutilate wild animals caught
in their grip-ripping flesh, tearing tendons and ligaments, and even breaking
bones. Many animals, especially raccoons, will chew or twist off their own
limbs in a desperate attempt to escape. The indiscriminate nature of all traps
is well documented, with scores of nontarget animals (including family
companions) caught by traps intended for other animals. Body-gripping traps
often cause excruciating pain and prolonged death; neck snares are particularly
cruel for coyotes and foxes because the significant musculature around these
animals' tracheas and carotid arteries slows death and magnifies suffering.
Buyer beware
By actively marketing fur-trimmed items, the fur industry seeks to inundate
consumers with fur-buying options. Shoppers don't have to go to fur salons or
seek out furriers anymore; fur trim can be found even in discount stores,
where, ironically, people may assume the trim is therefore synthetic. Consumers
are looking for innovative apparel rather than the traditional styles of fur
fashion, one reason why the fur industry markets fur-trim products to a younger
generation in an effort to broaden their customer base.
The fur industry views fur trim as a consumer's "introduction" to
fur: something that will make a person want to purchase a more expensive
full-fur coat in the future. This is simply a desperate marketing scheme to
raise interest in a dying fashion. Consumers may be able to justify fur trim by
accepting false notions of its origin, yet the leap to a full-fur item could
well be dismissed as too much animal suffering or as an ostentatious fashion
"don't."
According to fur industry publications, furriers believe fur-trimmed garments
will become more important than all-fur garments in terms of repeat business
because such items might be replaced in only a few years, whereas a fur coat
may last for 20 years or more. Furriers also believe that fur trim is what
helped bring younger consumers back to fur stores and boutiques. Additionally,
they believe these consumers are much more receptive to fur than they were five
years ago. Designers such as Gucci, Chanel, and Christian Dior are using more
vibrant colors and unique styles in hopes of attracting younger consumers.
People who check garment labels can be confused or even deceived by the fact
that most products aren't required to state whether trim is made of real fur or
what kind of animal was killed to produce it. With fur trim coming in such a
range of colors and cuts, it has become increasingly difficult for consumers to
identify what is real and what is not. Labels don't help much, since labels on
most trimmed products aren't required to state whether the fur is real and, if
it is, what kind of animal was killed to obtain it. A loophole in the federal
Fur Products Labeling Act exempts garments costing less than $150 from
truth-in-labeling provisions.
As a movement, we must broaden our focus on the fur industry to include fur
trim and to condemn this trend as vigorously as we do full-fur items. We can't
let someone off the ethical hook because they are wearing "just a
little" fur. Let's educate the public about the trim trade and the cruelty
that is inherent in each and every collar and cuff.
Danielle Bays is Wildlife Issues Associate for The Humane Society of the
United States; Lydia Nichols is Executive Director of the Coalition to Abolish
the Fur Trade.
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~2~
Volunteer Job Opportunity
Web Assistant - PT Volunteer Positions
In Defense of Animals (IDA) is seeking volunteers to assist with the
maintenance of IDA's web sites. Positions are part-time and unpaid.
Volunteer may work out of the IDA office in Mill Valley, CA, or via remote
locations.
Responsibilities could include:
*Maintaining and expanding several mailing lists
*Preparing images for web presentation, including scanning and manipulating
*Collecting email updates from staff and converting into a web-ready format
*Updating the IDA calendar
*Conversion of print documents to electronic format
*Using search engines and web registries to ensure prime placement of IDA's
sites in searches and portal listings
*Surfing the web for information relevant to animal rights and In Defense of
Animals
*Ensuring that IDA's sites are typographically and grammatically correct and
free of dead or broken links
*Various and sundry tasks relating to web site design, maintenance and
promotion
Persons interested in this volunteer position should have experience in one or
more of the following areas:
*Familiarity with file compression and encoding techniques and formats (MIME,
.zip, .sit, .hqx)
*Familiarity with FTP
*Experience with mailing list administration and moderation
*Experience with Adobe Acrobat, photo editing and web design software
*Understanding of current accepted web design standards
*Knowledge of considerations that must be made when designing for multiple
platforms, operating systems & browsers.
*Good writing/editing skills
Volunteer must have own computer and internet access -- not AOL, due to FTP
difficulties -- if working from home. A scanner is helpful but not required.
Please send resume to IDA, 131 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA 94941
or fax to 415.388.0388.
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~3~
Premarin Foals for Adoption
From United Animal Nations - info@uan.org
United
Pegasus Foundation in Southern California still has several dozen Premarin
foals from the 2001 rescue available for adoption. If you're interested in finding
out more about these foals, you can visit the website at
http://www.unitedpegasus.com/premmain.html
to view
photos and find out more about the adoption process. Cost of adopting the foals
ranges between $550 and $800. United Pegasus can be reached at unitedpegasus@yahoo.com.
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~4~
Pigs Can't Fly, But You Can
From MeganH@peta.org
This
January, come join me and other PETA staff and members from around the country who
will all gather in Miami Beach to help farm animals! In Florida, a
groundbreaking effort is now underway to outlaw the extreme confinement of pigs
on intensive "factory farms." We need to gather 650,000 signatures to
place this measure on the November 2002 ballot to ban "gestation
crates" - barren metal enclosures where pregnant breeding sows are kept
for the vast majority of their lives. These crates are just 2 feet wide, and
the animals cannot take even two steps, lie down comfortably, or turn around-ever!
If passed, the Ban Cruel Farms Initiative will be the first initiative to
prohibit a particular cruel factory farming practice. It would help us lobby in
Congress for further reductions in cruelty to farm animals and could lead to
similar humane campaigns in other states. Television ads explaining how cruel
these crates are will run in the weeks leading up to the election. Millions of
people will have to consider how their dietary choices contribute to animal
cruelty.
Won't you help make history by taking part in this extraordinary and monumental
effort for farm animals?
Take a break from the cold and come to sunny Miami this January 18-25.
Come for the weekend or the entire week. Volunteers will stay at one hotel,
convene for a party on Saturday night, and gather signatures during the days to
help Florida's pigs. For more information or to sign up, contact Amy at
Floridians for Humane Farms at 954-946-1691, or e-mail amalia4@ix.netcom.com.
THE PIGS CAN'T FLY, BUT YOU CAN!
For the animals,
Bruce Friedrich
Vegan Campaign Coordinator
<><><><><>
FROM HSUS:
In Florida, animal advocates are tackling the cruelty of "gestation
crates," tiny (2' x 7') stalls in which pregnant pigs are kept, row after
row, on factory farms. Because these crates are so restrictive, the pigs are
virtually locked in place, unable to turn around or even comfortably lie down
for months at a time. Hoping to banish this cruel practice, Floridians for
Humane Farms (FHF) is collecting citizens' signatures to place a measure on the
November 2002 ballot making gestation crates illegal in Florida.
As part of the signature-gathering effort, FHF will be hosting a "Fly-In
for the Pigs" event over Martin Luther King Weekend -- January 19-21.
Activists from all over the country will be meeting at a Miami Beach hotel for
a weekend of signature-gathering and socializing. If you would like to be a
part of FHF's "Fly In for the Pigs" to help ban cruel farming
practices, please contact FHF at: (954) 946-1691 or info@bancruelfarms.org
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~5~
NotMilk
By Robert Cohen - i4crob@earthlink.net
This
column is dedicated to a special dairy farmer, a woman who sees truth in almost
every aspect of life, save one.
I've been to this dairywoman's farm. I've had dinner with her family. I know
that she purchases milk in cartons from stores for her own personal
consumption.
Talk about bringing coal to Newcastle, or having all the tea in China and
drinking the massed produced broken orange blossom supermarket brand. Her
personal choice becomes fodder for a future psychological commentary. Why will
she not drink the body fluids from her own animals like most dairymen do?
Although I am aware of how very much she loves her cows, she has successfully
closed her mind to the pain and suffering that ends the lives of each gentle
creature who resides on her farm.
There will come a point in today's column when she will be unable to read any
more. I love this woman because she cares about so many things, and possesses
the vision to see. She is indeed a rarity among men (and women).
On one hand, she calls to many of her animals by name. One the other hand, she
considers each of her creatures agricultural units, rather than sentient beings
who each have the ability to experience pain, feel emotions and form
attachments to their offspring, and experience the terror of death by being
taken from the only life they knew, being stuffed into trucks, going to death
camps (slaughterhouses) and receiving stunning blows to their heads and knives
to their throats.
She injects many of her cows with the genetically engineered bovine growth
hormone, despite knowing the pain these animals must endure as a result of
rbGH-treatment.
She will read today's column, and realize that I am right, and continue to
close her mind to the truth which will one day haunt her.
<><><><>
WARNING TO ALL: You do not want to read this column if your superego cannot
handle animal abuse.
Imagine your internal organs exploding from within. If you continue to enjoy
dairy products, the picture I am about to paint for you will be hazardous to
your psyche.
During the approval process for rbGH, Monsanto's genetically engineered bovine
growth hormone (now in America's cheese, ice cream, and milk), the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) determined that growth hormone treatment was
perfectly safe and painless for dairy cows.
Both Monsanto and FDA claimed that rbGH injections were safe for dairy cows.
Stolen internal confidential documents (published by the dairy industry
newsletter MILKWEED) prove otherwise.
Imagine an 1800 pound cow losing more than six percent of her body weight (over
100 pounds) during one year of milking.
During that weight loss, what would you guess would be the effect on her body
organs? Would the organs also shrink or remain the same size?
Imagine that same new miracle diet for women, approved by FDA. All you have to
do is receive an injection of growth hormones every two weeks as dairy cows do.
You weigh 150 pounds at the beginning of your diet, and after one year weigh
just 141 pounds. What do imagine would happen to your liver and heart? How
about your adrenal gland or thyroid?
How about a woman's ovaries? Would they remain the same size or shrink
proportionally to her overall body mass?
SHOCKING RESULTS
While stressed dairy cows lost weight, their body organs grew enormously!
Adrenal glands squirt adrenaline into a mammal's system during stressful
events. This powerful chemical is responsible for the "fight or
flight" response.
Cows treated with low doses of rbGH lost an average of 90 pounds, but their
adrenal glands grew by a factor of 21% over the control group (cows not treated
with rbGH). The medium dose group experienced increases of 46%, while the high
dosed group had adrenal growth of 51%.
The thyroid gland is responsible for regulating metabolism. The low dose group
experienced 7% growth increases. The medium dose group experienced a 17%
increase, while the high dose group experienced a 61% increase over controls.
Liver and heart weights increased by double-digit factors in the medium and
high dose groups. Ovary weights increased in excess of twenty percent in all
three groups.
If FDA learned of these adverse effects in a human medicine, they would
immediately remove that hazardous poison from the market place.
This is dangerous, folks. To cows and humans. We drink their body fluids.
We drink their hormones. Their adverse effects become ours.
No biological effects? Here are the actual data:
CONTROL LOW MEDIUM HIGH
GROUP DOSE DOSE
DOSE
TOTAL WEIGHT 1591 lbs 1501
1509 1487
THYROID 1.24 ozs
1.33 1.45 2.00
LIVER 23.9
lbs 23.9 27.0
26.8
HEART 7.5
lbs 7.5 9.0
9.0
ADRENAL 1.15 ozs
1.39 1.68 1.73
KIDNEY 3.7
lbs 4.1 5.1
5.3
OVARY 0.82 ozs
0.99 1.07
1.10
I cannot forgive the scientists who saw the truth and urged approval of a
treatment that allows the animals to live in pain for the sake of their company
profits.
I cannot forgive the government regulators who benefit by the revolving door
policy created by pharmaceutical companies who hire regulators with high paying
jobs that continues a rotten system. These regulators had to have seen the
scientific evidence. What turned them deaf, dumb, and blind to the truth?
I cannot forgive the dairy farmers who pretend to care for their animals, while
administering dose after dose of internal pain.
When man learns an evil truth, however painful that truth may be, he loses his
innocence and is no longer naive. There is just one single moment of truth when
that educated man steps over his threshold, separating all that is good from
all that is evil. Once over the line separating the ethical from the
non-ethical, there is no recapturing one's dignity.
The innocent animals continue to explode from within from man's biotechnically
induced torture treatments.
Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com
Follow-up column:
This morning, I dedicated my NOTMILK column to a dairywoman:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/744
I wrote:
"On one hand, she calls to many of her animals by name. One the other
hand, she considers each of her creatures agricultural units, rather than
sentient beings who each have the ability to experience pain…"
"If you continue to enjoy dairy products, the picture I am about to paint
for you will be hazardous to your psyche."
"Imagine an 1800 pound cow losing more than six percent of her body weight
(over 100 pounds) during one year of milking...stressed dairy cows lost weight,
their body organs grew enormously... The high dosed group had adrenal
growth of 51% while the high dose (thyroid gland) group experienced a 61% increase
over controls…Liver and heart weights increased by double-digit factors in the
medium and high dose groups...Ovary weights increased in excess of twenty
percent…"
"I cannot forgive the dairy farmers who pretend to care for their animals,
while administering dose after dose of internal pain."
THE DAIRYWOMAN'S RESPONSE:
"I do not see pain where you see pain. If you choose to judge me, that's
your prerogative."
"Serenity died one year ago, of old age and natural causes. She was 14
years old. She was a cow. My cow. I'm still in pain."
"You paint very unrealistic pictures. I can laugh at your paintings
because they are comic strips."
MY FINAL COMMENT:
She does not see pain where I see pain, but she is still in pain for one cow,
while ignoring the pain of thousands.
I respect her request not to name her, or list her EMAIL address.
Should you wish to send her a message, please do so by visiting the NOTMILK
guestbook.
To read or sign my guestbook:
http://www.notmilk.com/gbookmen.html
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~6~
Solar Flavors
By C. Mario A. Pita
Some prefer, for meal main courses,
Heaps of spiced and cooked corpses
For which they feel no remorses,
But I prefer instead the rays
Of sun that plants eat each day
Yet, since I cannot dine as they,
I eat of those that eat the light
Till rays are all I need to bite.
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~7~
Memorable Quote
"Ask
the experimenters why they experiment on animals, and the answer is: 'Because
the animals are like us.' Ask the experimenters why it is morally okay to
experiment on animals, and the answer is: 'Because the animals are not like
us.' Animal experimentation rests on a logical contradiction."
~ Professor Charles R. Magel
1920 -
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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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