A n i m
a l W r i t e s © sm
The
official ANIMAL RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 04/28/02
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ Park StRanger@aol.com
~
MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE NINE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Kerron Ramnath - A Quick Study in Activism
2 ~ Last Chance For Lab Animals
3 ~ FARM Sabina Fund Application Deadline
4 ~ Ethoxyquin
5 ~ ARO Tip
6 ~ Educating Ourselves to Speak Against Animal Tests
7 ~ Prayer Of A Stray
8 ~ Correction
9 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
Kerron Ramnath
A Quick Study in Activism
By Paul Kinzie
From The Animals' Agenda - March/April 2002
Around
May 2000, Kerron Ramnath became vegetarian. He did so because he
"simply did not like killing things" and because he believes eating
meat is "a violent way to live, and it did not need to be
done." Kerron is a 20-year-old student at Huntingdon College in
Montgomery, Alabama. It did not take long for his commitment to deepen,
or to have larger effects.
About six months later, Kerron accidentally logged on to
www.factoryfarming.com, where he saw how meat, milk, and eggs are
produced. He learned that, in the United States alone, about 200 million
chicks -- the unwanted males of the egg industry -- are killed each year.
They are, as Kerron describes, "thrown onto trash heaps to suffocate under
their brothers, or ground up alive." He went to "the People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals web site (www.peta-online.org) to confirm the
story of factory farming. Satisfied that factory farming is a morally
grave practice, Kerron became a vegan.
He also became an activist. He does "a lot of stuff at school";
for example, he is trying to get Huntingdon College to end a rat lab that it
runs in conjunction with a course in behavioral psychology. Kerron notes
that there is no ethics committee with authority over the lab, although an
exploratory committee has been formed to study the issue in response to his
actions. He also points out that there currently are no rules governing the
treatment of rats under the Animal Welfare Act. Kerron has asked
Huntingdon College for material relating to the lab but was refused.
In addition, Kerron participated in last year's PETA campaign against Burger
King, and did a three-week internship at PETA in the summer. He attended
the Animal Rights 2001 conference outside Washington, D.C., and plans to work
with the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. The college
student also took part in Farm Sanctuary's "Say No to Veal" campaign,
which aims to get restaurants and stores to renounce the sale of veal and to
educate consumers about the cruelty of keeping calves crated and anemic.
While attending summer school at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Kerron
was shocked by the number of places in the city that sell veal. He spoke
with Jerry Gordon, owner of Eddie's Market, a grocery store near the Hopkins
campus. Eddie's sold one veal item: a Swanson's Traditional Favorites
Veal Parmagiana frozen dinner. Gordon agreed to remove the veal if Kerron
would petition in front of the store for five days, eight hours a day.
Kerron and a colleague did so, collecting 601 signatures on a petition urging
Eddie's not to sell veal. Gordon signed a pledge renouncing the sale of
veal, and the offending dinners were removed.
Although it was just a small step, the Baltimore success offers several
lessons. One is that reasoned, cooperative approaches, in which definite
objectives are set, can succeed. Another is that many people do deplore
the suffering of animals, and are willing to express this to businesses they
patronize. And lastly, one doesn't always need to have been schooled for
years in activism in order to score a victory; rather, a creative approach to
problem solving and persistence are sometimes all that is needed to make a
difference.
Paul Kinzie is formerly the AWI Collection Coordinator for the Animal Rights
Network Inc.
"Reprinted with permission from The Animals' Agenda, P.O. Box 25881,
Baltimore, MD 21224; (410) 675-4566; www.animalsagenda.org."
Email: office@animalsagenda.org.
For more articles like this one, please consider subscribing to The Animals'
Agenda and help support animal rights news and information.
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~2~
Last Chance For Lab Animals
By Mary Max - mrsmax@earthlink.net
With
PETA's undercover videotape of egregious acts of animal abuse by lab
technicians at the University of North Carolina's research lab being delivered
to members of the Farm Bill Conference committee last Friday, we might just
have another real chance to exclude Sen. Jesse Helms Amendment! Please
read the below and then make a few calls!!
As many of you know, the US Senate and the House of Representatives have
each passed their own versions of the Farm Bill. Conferees from the Senate and
House Agriculture Committees are meeting now to iron out differences between
the two bills before it is signed by the President.
There are four animal protection amendments that animal exploiters are working
hard to have removed: the Animal Fighting Amendment, the Puppy Protection Act,
the Bear Protection Act, and The Downed Animal Provision.
There is one amendment the animal exploiters hope to keep - the amendment
introduced by Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) which would bar the USDA from
including mice, rats and birds under the Animal Welfare Act.
In the April 19 Washington Post article, "PETA Says Tape Shows Rat
Research Violations," reporter Rick Weiss gives us some background on that
amendment,
"The Animal Welfare Act, which since 1971 has been the keystone statute
regarding the use and care of lab animals, requires the Department of
Agriculture to promulgate rules for the handling of all warm-blooded research
animals. But the USDA has never done so for rodents or birds, saying such
regulation would be burdensome and expensive and could stymie important
biomedical research. More than 20 million of the animals are used annually in
U.S. labs, accounting for 95 percent of all research animals.
"Facing a lawsuit by activists that the agency was widely predicted to
lose, the USDA in October 2000 agreed to start a rulemaking process covering
rodents and birds. But the agency has yet to release draft wording. None will
be needed if Helm's amendment, which would permanently exempt those animals
from the AWA, survives conference discussions now underway."
The Post article focuses on an undercover video taken by a PETA spy who
infiltrated a University of North Carolina animal research facility with a
hidden camera. The video has been delivered to House and Senate
conferees. Weiss writes,
"Helms and others have claimed that rodents and birds are adequately
protected by other federal and institutional rules. The video seeks to undercut
that assurance. In one scene, a researcher cuts open the skulls of squirming
baby rats to remove their brains without first numbing the animals in a bucket
of ice -- a shortcut that the researcher concedes on tape is a violation of the
experimental protocol. 'I don't put them to sleep,' he tells the undercover
technician. 'Maybe it's illegal, but it's easier.'"
The article also describes other disturbing footage. You can read it on line
at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13173-2002Apr19.html
I hope the footage described in the Washington Post article will motivate you
to spend just a few minutes making an effort to help defeat Senator Helm's
amendment.
I urge everyone to make a quick and polite call to the following offices saying
that you are calling to ask the Representative or Senator to OPPOSE the Helms
amendment to the Farm Bill which would exclude birds, rats, and mice from the
Animal Welfare Act. (Some receptionists may ask if you have input on other
issues in which case please mention you would like them to SUPPORT the four
animal protection amendments mentioned at the top of this alert.)
Here are the numbers of the Conference Committee heads:
1. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA): ph: (202) 224-2035 / Fax: (202) 224-9287
2. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN): ph: (202) 224-2035 (same number as
Harkin's) / Fax: (202) 224-1725
3. Representative Larry Combest (R-TX): ph: (202) 225-2171 / Fax: (202)
225-0917
4. Representative Charles Stenholm (D-TX): ph: (202) 225-0317/ Fax: (202)
225-8510
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~3~
FARM Sabina Fund Application
Deadline
From FARM - farm@farmusa.org
The
deadline for the next round of Sabina Fund applications is May 15.
The Fund provides small grants to grassroots organizations for promotion of
plant-based eating and for exposing the devastating impacts of animal
agriculture. Last year, grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 were awarded to 45
US and foreign groups.
Application guidelines are at http://www.farmusa.org/sabina.htm. Please do not
wait till the last minute and waste animal money on express mail.
E-mailed entries are acceptable.
The Fund honors FARM President Alex Hershaft's mother Sabina who died in
1996.
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~4~
Ethoxyquin
From http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/mp30/ethoxyquin.html
When our story went to air (1990)....
Over the past several years, dog food companies have
developed premium dog foods for purebreds. Some of the foods — developed to
improve the health of these dogs — contain a chemical preservative many
breeders believe may be causing serious disorders in purebreds.
It's called ethoxyquin. Some say it can make dogs very sick. In the 10 years
before our story aired, there was an increase in immune system disorders in
some dogs — everything from minor skin irritations to deformed litters. Some
people are blaming ethoxyquin for their dogs' ailments.
Ethoxyquin was originally developed as a rubber stabilizer. The Monsanto
corporation later refined it for use as a preservative in animal feeds. Most
dog foods contained very little of the chemical. But in the late 1980s, many
companies that were making high performance foods began adding extra
ethoxyquin. The foods contain more fat than regular dog foods, and the
companies found the chemical to be a cheaper, more effective way to extend the
shelf-life of their product. Not long after, some breeders were finding
their dogs were developing unusual disorders.
One breeder in Massachusetts, who has bred dogs for 30 years, found that her
collies started developing problems. They developed skin lesions, allergies
they never had before, lack of pigmentation in their nose, runny eyes, poor
coat quality, listlessness.
She switched foods, but the problem worsened. Bitches were giving birth
to deformed and still-born litters. Her prized stud dog was bleeding from the
mouth. His throat looked like raw hamburger. He was leaving bloody paw prints
in the snow.
Test results concluded the dog had been exposed to a chemical.
The breeder switched her dogs to a food without ethoxyquin. The results were
dramatic. She wrote an article about what happened, and soon received dozens of
letters and phone calls from dog owners with similar experiences.
Another breeder lost 70 puppies and adult dogs before her vet suggested she
take her animals off food containing ethoxyquin. The health of her dogs
improved, but she was bitter. She and her husband began to do research on
ethoxyquin. Other breeders came forward with information.
An internationally recognized expert in blood disorders in animals, Dr. Jean
Dodds, said she noticed an increase in auto-immune disorders among dogs. She
traced the problems to a change in diet. The change was the addition of
ethoxyquin as the major preservative for most of the premium commercial pet
foods. She found when she took animals off food containing the chemical, their
problems cleared up. Her subsequent research found that ethoxyquin works as a
trigger in some animals that sets off auto-immune diseases. She says purebreds
are especially susceptible.
The only long-term study done on dogs was conducted by Monsanto, the company
that first refined ethoxyquin for use in animal feeds. The study was done in
the 1950s and 60s and, by today's standards, seems unsophisticated. When the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration began receiving calls from concerned dog
owners, it took another look at the study. The FDA decided not to
intervene. It concluded that since ethoxyquin had been in use for 30 years, the
complaints from dog owners carried no weight. Monsanto stood by its study.
Dr. Dodds says no study done in the 1950s is valid now because scientific and
medical requirements for conducting a study are different today. The absence of
any studies proving ethoxyquin causes disease, leads some members of the
veterinary community to not share concerns about the chemical. Some find
the anecdotal evidence not compelling, and see ethoxyquin as simply the cause
of the day. Dr. Dodds insists the increase in environmental challenges today
may have caused things that were safe 20 years ago, to be unsafe today.
There are no special regulations in Canada controlling pet food. So,
products sold here are the same as in the U.S. That means most dog food sold in
Canada contains extra ethoxyquin. Natural alternatives to the chemical
include Vitamins C and E, though products using them as preservatives have a
shorter shelf-life. Some experts fear eliminating ethoxyquin will only increase
the risk that food will go bad and people will end up feeding spoiled food to
their pets.
Many breeders want ethoxyquin tested again. In an attempt to calm the fears of
some dog breeders, Monsanto announced the launch of a new long-term dog study
run by a private laboratory. Although the FDA's official position on
ethoxyquin is that it's safe, it has recommended that another government agency
conduct new tests.
Labels on dog food aren't much help. Some dog foods do list ethoxyquin as an
ingredient. But a label that doesn't list it, is no guarantee that the product
is free of the chemical. Your best bet is to talk to the people at your local
pet food store.
Since our story (update)
In July 1997, after assessing the results of the latest study on ethoxyquin,
the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine asked that the maximum amount of the
preservative be voluntary reduced to 75 parts per million in complete dog
foods. The FDA says the earlier limit
of 150 ppm "may not provide an adequate margin of safety in lactating
female dogs and possibly puppies." But the study showed ethoxyquin levels
of 150 ppm had no adverse effects on reproduction.
Pet food still isn't regulated in Canada. The Canadian Veterinary Medical
Association has a voluntary certification program for pet food. It certifies
the food, and its seal goes on the bag to say the food meets nutritional
standards.
The CVMA says it has no position on ethoxyquin. The Pet Food Institute,
representing pet food manufacturers in the U.S., conducted a study designed to
show that ethoxyquin is effective at levels between 30 and 60 parts per
million.
The results of the study are currently being analyzed, but the Pet Food
Institute says there is no safety issue with ethoxyquin at the 75 ppm level. It
also says that all manufacturers complied with the FDA's request to limit
ethoxyquin to that amount.
[Editor's Note: We present this article as information about
Ethoxyquin. We do not support or promote further testing on this
chemical. Not only should there be enough data available from those who
have already used it, but no animal should have to suffer in order for product
manufacturers to increase shelf life of their product.]
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~5~
ARO Tip
CHECK
IT OUT!
Please check out animal rights and vegetarian books from your local library
every now and then - even if you don't have time to read them. If these
books do not get checked out periodically, they will be removed from the
shelves.
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~6~
Educating Ourselves to Speak
Against Animal Tests
From Artemisd123@hotmail.com
Educating
Ourselves to Speak Against Animal Tests in Remembrance of World Week for
Animals in Laboratories. Refer to the alert and suggestions at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AnimalAdvocacy/message/2904
Please commit to learning one new argument, or reading one book against animal
tests this week. I highly recommend Ray Greek, M.D.'s book, "Sacred
Cows and Golden Geese, The Human Harm from Animal Experiments." It
is easy to understand and gives you an arsenal of powerful arguments to present
to those who still think animal tests are the salvation of the human
race. You can order this book at: http://www.curedisease.com/book.html
Another, perhaps more difficult to read, article by Ray Greek is found
at: http://www.curedisease.com/Science.html
This article, titled "The Science Behind Why Animal Experimentation Cannot
Help Humans," is a philosophical discussion of the flawed premises and
assumptions that are at the heart of animal tests, that "animals are not
furry humans with four feet." This article gives you the solid,
fundamental arguments for refuting what are essentially illogical and absurd
reasons for conducting animal tests.
Remember, if we don't learn these arguments and present them to others, WHO
WILL? Industry, researchers, EPA, FDA or other government agencies?
If we can "get it," with the power of the internet and rapid
communications, we can help many others "get it" too! I suggest
skimming the article first; then focusing on the sections you can best
understand, and thirdly reading the whole article slowly, to understand his
framework for arguing against the flawed "science" or
"psuedo-science" of animal tests.
When we struggle to understand this topic we become better able to simplify the
arguments and present them to others to help them understand too.
Together we can help advance science in the interests of all living beings!
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~7~
Prayer Of A Stray
Submitted by DTapkowski@aol.com
Dear God, Please Send Me Somebody Who'll Care!
I'm Tired of Running, I'm Sick With Despair.
My Body is Aching, It's So Racked With Pain.
And Dear God, I Pray As I Run in the Rain.
That Someone Will Love Me And Give Me A Home.
A Warm Cozy Bed And A Big Juicy Bone.
My Last Owner Tied Me All Day In The Yard
Sometimes With No Water And God That Was Hard!
So I Chewed My Leash God And I Ran Away
To Rummage In Garbage And Live As A Stray.
But Now God I'm Tired And Hungry And Cold.
And I'm So Afraid That I'll Never Grow Old.
They've Chased Me With Sticks and Hit Me With Stones
While I Run The Streets Just Looking For Bones!
I'm Not Really Bad God, Please Help If You Can,
For I Have Become Just A "Victim of Man"!
I'm Wormy Dear God And I'm Riddled With Fleas
And All That I Want Is An Owner To Please!
If You Find One For Me God, I'll Try To Be Good
And I Won't Chew Their Socks, But I'll Do As I Should.
I'll Love Them, Protect Them And Try To Obey
When They Tell Me To Sit, To Lie Down Or To Stay!
I Don't Think I'll Make It Too Long On My Own,
Cause I'm Getting So Weak And I'm So All Alone.
Each Night As I Sleep In The Bushes I Cry,
Cause I'm So Afraid God, That I'm Gonna Die!
And I've Got So Much Love And Devotion To Give,
That I Should Be Given A New Chance To Live.
So Dear God, Please Answer My Prayer And
Send Me Somebody Who Will Really Care …
That Is, Dear God, If You're Really There!
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~8~
Correction
Last weeks poem "A Poem to My Foster
Dog" was attributed to an anonymous author. We have since been
advised by Jim Willis (a great poem writer himself) that this poem was actually
written by a friend of his, Diane Morgan, dcrocodile@aol.com. She is the author
of several breed books including "The Basset Hound Owner's Survival
Guide," and active with Basset Rescue of Old Dominion (BROOD) in VA.
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~9~
Memorable Quote
"The
existence of organized cruelty - that is, cruelty practiced as a matter of
social principle or public policy, and presented to the community as a means of
a higher goal - is the most obscene and decadent phenomenon of any
civilization."
~~ Clare Booth Luce
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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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