A n i m a l W r i t e s ©
sm
The official ANIMAL
RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Established
1997
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Issue # 03/14/04
Publisher ~ Susan
Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Journalists ~ Greg Lawson -
ParkStRanger@aol.com
~ Michelle Rivera - MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ Dr. Steve Best -
sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Meatout In Cattle Country by
Greg Lawson
2 ~ They Have No Hope But Us: The Tsunami of Suffering of Animals in Labs
by
Michael Budkie
3 ~ Anti-Hunting Op-Ed
4 ~ Animal Rescue
5 ~ Great New Newsletter
6 ~ ACT Radio
7 ~ Flesh and Blood
8 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
Meatout in Cattle Country
By Greg Lawson - ParkStRanger@aol.com
Last Tuesday, the Vegetarian Society of El Paso had a food
giveaway to celebrate the upcoming Great American Meatout. The event took place
in a small park on the campus of the University of Texas, El Paso. Since Steve
Best, our society's vice president, is a professor of philosophy there, he
arranged the permit and the electricity.
We had two six foot tables, one to heat and serve the barbecue and one for the
literature. Steve and I stirred and served the BBQ. Bertha, our society's
newsletter editor, kept passing us buns on paper plates. Joan, our society's
secretary, talked with the people and gave out literature as did Yvone, our
society's webmaster.
In two hours we gave out two hundred vegan sloppy joes and lots of literature
and advice. We had FARM Meatout flyers, "Why Vegan" in English and
Spanish, and lots of other literature our society maintains for tabling events.
Long ago the Veg Society of El Paso developed a relationship with the best
health food grocery store in town, Sun Harvest. They gave us two hundred buns,
a dozen bags of organic corn chips, organic tomato sauce, peppers and onions.
The society paid for the textured vegetable protein and BBQ sauce. Bertha was
able to secure a donation of 15 cases of lemon lime soda from Sam's Club.
On Monday I reconstituted pounds of TVP. On Tuesday morning from 6am to 10am, I
cooked the peppers and onions and added the sauce and the tvp. Next year I must
get help with the cooking portion of this event, it took me about five hours to
make 10 gallons of tvp bbq.
Finally, I donned my "Pork, the Other Dead Animal" t-shirt, packed my
car and went in search of a parking space on campus. Luckily I found one close
to the site, because carrying a cooler full of tvp makes for a good morning
workout.
Shortly after we had set up and taped our up our Meatout and VSEP posters, laid
out our literature and had a couple of electric fry pans simmering the bbq, the
break between the classes happened. A long line formed. Steve and I started a
free form chant back and forth between us....
Free Food, Animal Free, Cruelty Free, Pesticide Free, Hormone Free, Guilt Free,
No Cholesterol, No Saturated Fat, No E. Coli, No Salmonella, No Mad Cow, No
Charge.
Most people took our literature, about 60 signed the Meatout Pledge to go
without meat on March 20th. Many learned the incredible idea that you can live
for years without animal products, perhaps many years longer. A few vegetarians
stopped by. One brought a couple of friends and as they ate he told them how
you can rise to a higher spiritual level by not putting dead animals into your
body. It was nice to hear him say what I sometimes hesitate to say to
meateaters, that there is a spiritual side to veganism.
Yo Soy Vegetariano. I have always found it interesting that the Spanish word
"Soy" means "I am". I am, I am. If you are what you eat, Yo
Soy.
It's not to late to plan a Meatout event this week for The Great American
Meatout on March 20....
visit
meatout.org Meatout
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~2~
They Have No Hope But Us:
The Tsunami of
Suffering of Animals in Labs
By Michael Budkie - saen@saenonline.org
Founder, SAEN - Stop Animal Exploitation
Now!
Most people never see the inside of an animal laboratory. We are not allowed to
view the reality of death and misery that is the lot of many animals. Whether
they be monkeys, dogs, rabbits, or sheep we will never know what happens to most
of them. We will not see how they live. We will not know the endless monotony
of life in cages made of wire mesh and concrete. We will never know what it is
like to live out an existence totally alone - day after day without so much as
the touch of a familiar hand. We will never understand the suffering of their
deaths.
The unrelenting, mind-numbing monotony of isolation is relieved only by
intermittent periods of unremitting horror. The psychological torture of
isolation is interrupted only by the trauma of human handling, and the
experience of becoming an unwilling victim in an experiment. The loneliness of
the cage is replaced by the confinement of a restraint chair. The concrete of
the cage floor is replaced by the cold steel of the operating table. This is
the life, and the death, of animals whose existence is played out within our
nation's labs.
This is the picture we are not allowed to see. We are not supposed to know that
research facilities are places of intense suffering. We are not supposed to
know that these places are not what they appear to be. Prestigious universities
should not be places of suffering. Major corporations should not be tied to
instances of negligence & abuse. The same companies that produce our drugs,
the universities that educate our children - these should not be halls of
horror.
But they are.
Millions of animals die in laboratories every year in the U.S. - too many
deaths to count. We are incapable of conceptualizing the mortality of millions
of animals in any meaningful way. But we can look at individuals. We can find
single victims to fill out the picture. They are found across our nation.
Sometimes they have names; often they are known only by numbers - denied even
the dignity of individuality.
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) researchers perform hundreds of experiments on
thousands of animals every year. Monkeys, dogs, cats, rats, mice, and rabbits
all suffer terribly at JHU.
During 1999 Riki, a rhesus monkey, died at JHU. This primate had received
treatment for ulcers in 1996. During 1999 Riki was found to be biting his/her
stifles, a form of self-mutilation. On 8/27/99 Riki was found lying on his/her
side at noon. Examinations showed that Riki was in shock. The only treatment
given was intravenous fluids. A government report states: "The primate was
allowed to suffer and die, instead of being immediately humanely euthanized
when the decision was made not to administer further treatment."
Primate 58L, a marmoset, had surgery on 7/11/00 to place a head implant. On the
day after surgery 58L was found shivering on a heating pad that had been turned
off.
The University of Pennsylvania (PENN) is another large laboratory which kills
tens of thousands of animals every year. During 2003 three cats labeled only
F256, L372, and M036 died at PENN. Cats at PENN have suffered through
stereotaxic procedures that placed electrodes into their brains. However,
according to government documents the "researchers" at PENN cannot
even keep accurate and complete records regarding the cats that they kill.
Two pigs at PENN were found without adequate water. The water bowl in one run
was empty and turned upside down, the water for the other pig was brown. The
animal caretakers were leaving the building at the time.
Primates at PENN are confined in restraint chairs or left in barren cages
without even a perch for them to sit on. Baboons are isolated and not given
anything to occupy their inquisitive minds.
PENN is also cited for many instances of unalleviated suffering in primates,
sheep, and pigs. These animals had experienced surgical or experimental
procedures without receiving pain relievers.
The University of Pittsburgh (PITT) also has a record of substantially abusing
animals. One experiment at this facility deliberately deprives primates of
water. While this is not illegal (though it is obviously inhumane), regulations
require it to be done carefully, and only when the animals are being monitored
closely. The officials at PITT were not monitoring the animals in any way to
ensure their safety.
Another experiment at PITT causes rabbits to suffer horribly. This project
keeps rabbits restrained continuously for 30 consecutive days, while the leg of
the rabbit is kept in motion for the entire period. The folks at PITT did not
even report this experiment as potentially causing pain or distress to the
rabbits.
There are many instances where primates are unnecessarily isolated at PITT, and
this isolation affects them mentally. At least one of the primates had begun to
engage in the type of stereotypical pacing that indicates mental pathology in
captive primates.
Duke University is another facility that substantially abuses animals in
experimentation. One incident involving the neglect of a dog occurred during
September of 2002. The dog was found hunched up in a cage, depressed and
coughing. Treatment records for this dog were sketchy, and it was unclear what
(if any) treatment the dog had received.
The majority of the primates at Duke were housed alone as of September 2002,
with substantial effects of depression showing up in at least one primate. This
Owl Monkey exhibited significant signs of distress including depression,
self-clasping, and poor hair coat. Duke was cited for inadequate environmental
enhancement for primates four times during 2001 and 2002.
During 2003 primates at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center
suffered terribly due to inadequate shelter. One documented incident revealed
that 60 primates were left outside without any shelter from the sun in 100
degree heat. The misters which were supposed to provide relief from the heat
had not been turned on, and the primates were locked outside.
Many primates at the University of California, San Francisco are routinely
victimized in experiments that deprive them of water. One primate suffered so
terribly during this experimentation that he/she lost 15% of his/her body
weight during an eight-month period.
Two bottlenose dolphins imprisoned at the University of Hawaii were subjected
to severely bacterially contaminated water from August 25th through October
23rd of 2003.
Emory University is the home of the Yerkes Primate Research Center. This
facility performs abusive experiments on thousands of primates every year. One
of these primates was named only 3566. Internal documents from Emory have
revealed the circumstances surrounding the death of this primate. MPTP is a
drug that is administered to induce a state in primates that is similar to
Parkinson's disease. In the week preceding March 16th of 2002 primate 3566 had
received systemic treatments with MPTP. On March 16th, 2002 primate 3566 was
found to be very lethargic. An antagonist to MPTP was administered on the 16th.
3566 seemed to have improved by the following day and was eating. By March 31,
2002 primate 3566 was again in a state of extreme lethargy. The MPTP antagonist
was administered again. Since this was apparently a problem especially on
weekends, arrangements were made for a lab tech to be available on weekends to
deal with the situation. On April 14th, 2002 primate 3566 was again lethargic
(on a weekend). The researcher who was responsible for 3566 was unavailable. A
message was left for the lab tech regarding a further administration of the
MPTP antagonist. On April 15th 2002 primate 3566 was found recumbent and stiff.
3566 was revived with CPR, but was extremely hypothermic (temperature was less
than 90 degrees). The lab tech who was supposed to be responsible on weekends
admitted that he did not check the animal on the previous day and that he
hadn't come into work or checked his messages. Primate 3566 was found dead on
April 16th, 2002.
Primate #14007 was housed alone at the State University of New York at
Brooklyn. This primate had been kept in a room where it can neither see nor
hear other primates. #14007 was kept in solitary confinement in this way for
over two years. The experiment in which this animal was used did not require
isolation. This psychological torture was totally unrelated to a specific
experiment.
Universities are not the only labs that abuse animals. Private corporations
often use animals in experimentation, and many of them suffer horribly. In some
instances the suffering is not even due to experimentation, but rather due to
simple negligence.
The Pfizer Corporation produces pharmaceuticals for both humans and animals. In
laboratories cages are often run through washing systems that sterilize the
cages, often using very high temperatures to sterilize the enclosures. On
September 17, 2003 a horrible incident took place at the Kalamazoo Pfizer facility.
A cage was run through the washing system which contained a living dog. The dog
died horribly while in the cage washer.
These incidents of abuse occurred at ten facilities across the U.S. These
abuses are common, far too common. Individual animals are suffering,
constantly. These specific animals are often lost in the tidal wave in abuse.
It is easy to loose track of individual animals when millions of animals suffer
and die each year.
And it is far too easy to turn away. It is less painful to simply ignore the
truth. But we cannot, we must not turn away from these victims. They have no
hope but us. Their jailers will not turn them loose. Their prisons will not be
eliminated. Their sentences will not be commuted.
They are more wretched than humans can ever be, for they don't even have the
ability to understand their fate. They cannot say that it is punishment for a
crime. There is no justice in their confinement, only unmitigated suffering.
There is no end to the litany of abuse. Their only release is in death.
As long as people like us do nothing this barrage of neglect, abuse and cruelty
will continue unceasingly. The horror which is called animal experimentation -
vivisection - will never end if we choose to turn away to protect our own
feelings. The truth is unpleasant, the pictures are shocking, and the details
of the animals' suffering are almost too much to bear. Information of the
specific facilities listed above is the result of analyzing hundreds of pages
from government reports regarding dozens of laboratories. The continuous litany
of abuse is too much to bear.
What are we to do about this insanity? How will we have an impact on this
tsunami of suffering?
We must stand as a symbol of opposition to the inherent immorality of turning
sentient beings into scientific apparatus. Our society must learn that
intelligent animals are not equivalent to test tubes. It is up to us to teach
this lesson.
How are we to undertake this task? How will we show the world the truth of the
laboratory?
We must take to the streets. We must coordinate protests and other public
events to draw attention to the growing tide of animal abuse. We must force the
public to see inside the labs to understand the shocking reality which we
understand only too well. We must bring the attention of the American public to
the doors of the labs, and we must show them the horrors inside. Then, and only
then, will we be on the way to ending animal experimentation.
World Laboratory Animal Liberation Week 2004 is April 17th through the 25th.
The laboratories in your city must feel the pressure of our presence. The
people who routinely abuse animals must know that we will be on their doorsteps
until the animals are free.
Please join the fight for animal liberation. Visit World Laboratory Animal
Liberation Week www.wlalw.org for events in your
area and for help with investigating laboratories and planning your events. Or,
contact us directly at saen@saenonline.org 513/575-5517.
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~3~
Anti-Hunting Op-Ed
From David Cantor - RPA4all@aol.com
The op-ed that appears below is in today's [3/8/04] Philadelphia Inquirer -- the Montgomery,
Bucks, and Chester County editions. As far as I know, it is not in the
Philadelphia and other editions.
If a fair number of letters are sent in response -- 200 words or less to inquirer.letters@phillynews.com
/ fax 215-854-4483 / P.O. Box 41705, Philadelphia, PA 19101 -- those that
are published can show additional Pennsylvania animal people are also confident
a vote will be heavily anti-bloodsports.
Letters from out of state can show these amendments neither put states that
implement them in a good light (so far, Alabama, California, Minnesota, North
Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, Florida, Georgia, and
Louisiana) nor do anything to promote hunting, fishing, and trapping -- instead
make "sportsmen" seem desperate. And they say Pennsylvania is
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between ….
Thanks, and good luck!
David Cantor
Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc.
P.O. Box 891
Glenside, PA 19038
215-886-RPA1
RPA4all@aol.com
www.RPAforAll.org
<><><><><>
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/opinion/local2/8132793.htm
Posted on Mon, Mar. 08, 2004
Animal activists finally get a say
A sportsmen's-rights referendum will let Pennsylvanians speak out against it.
By David Cantor
Some opportunities occur but once in a lifetime. In 15 years of advocating for
better treatment of animals, I have never yet had the chance to step into a
voting booth and register my opposition to blood sports - even though the
hunting-fishing-trapping system is extremely harmful and long out of date. But
suddenly the hunting lobby and the Pennsylvania General Assembly are smiling
upon me!
Pennsylvania does not have public ballot initiatives that in other states allow
citizens to put a proposed law on the ballot by obtaining enough signatures,
circumventing the legislature. So animal-related measures don't appear before
me when I enter the voting booth.
And the legislative process takes forever to bring about change, despite the
efforts of some fine lawmakers. So I usually seek the rewards of my profession
elsewhere.
But now look at this! The hook-and-bullet crowd wants a "right of the
people to hunt and fish" amendment to Pennsylvania's Constitution! I blink
my eyes and blink again. I don the reading glasses that years of documents and
computer screens have made my constant companion.
The article says an amendment can be enacted only if a majority of
Pennsylvanians vote for it - after it passes the House and Senate over two
sessions. The House has already passed the proposed amendment by a large
majority. The Senate will probably do the same. Both houses will repeat the
same motions next year, too.
Only about 6 percent of Pennsylvanians hunt, but the gun lobby and other
well-organized, well-funded, and well-connected special interests that profit
from hunting wield far more power in state capitals than do moral indignation
or indifference scattered among the populace. Nor do legislators who sympathize
with animals or people who care about them have to fear that the amendment, if
it passes, means more bullet, buckshot, arrow, or fishhook agony and death;
fish and wildlife regulations would not change.
But if it would not increase the body count, why do "sportsmen" want
an amendment? News articles quote some as saying that, with their hobby
becoming less popular, hunters would get a "psychological boost" from
an amendment honoring them. Isn't it a little embarrassing to use the
constitution to make people feel better? I see them sneering, our forefathers
whose "heritage" hunters contend they uphold. So would our forefathers
sneer at the high-tech guns and bows, the latest fashions in boots and jackets,
and the heated SUVs and pop-country music that today's rugged bring to the
woods.
Though puzzled at my adversaries' strategy - is it just pro-hunting lawmakers
showing constituents they care? - I'm not complaining! If they need money to
get blood sports on the ballot more often, I'll send a donation! Unfortunately,
though, the legislators' actions mainly bolster 1930s policies that were meant
as stopgap measures to halt the unregulated destruction of wildlife and habitat
and have instead brought regulated destruction ever since.
The "right to hunt" amendment illustrates how those policies give
official sanction to animal abuse that is at odds with the state anticruelty
statute and most people's basic values. It's another substitute for the best we
can do as a society to protect wildlife and habitat and to restore healthy
ecosystems for animals and people alike. And that's what we animal-rights
wackos get to show people in the dialogue that will precede a vote on a
constitutional amendment.
Given complete and accurate information, most Pennsylvanians, like most other
Americans, will make the humane choice. Most people, seeing a mourning dove, a
rabbit, or a deer, do not see a target but a being struggling against the odds
to share a small patch of earth with one disruptive species that makes life
tougher for the rest. Most people realize that the least we can do, while we
strive to reduce the harm many of our choices inflict indirectly on animals and
the land and water they need, is not to harm animals intentionally.
I think that view will garner many votes.
So if I see any of our hunting-fishing-trapping friends holding signs and
handing out flyers at my neighborhood polling place on Election Day 2005, I'll
thank them for their gift to our no-ballot-initiative state: a statewide
referendum on shooting animals.
It's the least I can do in return for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
offered by their latest move!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Cantor is executive director of
Responsible Policies for Animals Inc. (www.RPAforAll.org), which is based in
Glenside.
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~4~
Animal Rescue
Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Animal Rescue Site is having
trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of
getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes
less than a minute to go to their site and click on "feed an animal in
need" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/
advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate
food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising. Here's the web
site! Pass it along to people you know.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
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~5~
Great New Newsletter
Vegan Spam! is the weekly email newsletter from Vegan Outreach that keeps you
informed about site updates, upcoming events, animal rights news, and more. A
recent edition included the essay “A Meaningful Life: Animal Advocacy, Human
Nature, & A Better World” (veganoutreach.org/meaningfullife.html). You can
read past issues and/or subscribe at veganoutreach.org/spam/
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~6~
ACT Radio
Be sure to listen to ACT, Animal Concerns of Texas with cohosts
Greg Lawson and Steve Best tonight, March 14, at 7:30pm Mountain time. We will
be talking with Brenda Davis, Cory Davis and Anthony Marr of CARE, Compassion
for Animals Road Expedition, which is touring the country with their message of
animal rights and vegan nutrition.
ACT can be heard on the web with Real Radio, which is a free download. Click
here to listen to Act. http://www.ktep.org/
El Paso NPR - KTEP 88.5 : National Public Radio for
the Southwest
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~7~
Flesh and Blood
By Citizen Fish
If animals are animals
and animals have brains
we are no more than cannibals
who refuse to feel the pain.
The meat you eat is wrapped up neat
you didn't see it bleed,
And what you kill does not fulfill
your dietary needs.
Take a look from this direction
you give yourself the indigestion
our guts are geared to vegetation
and it's healthier as well.
Open your eyes and face the facts
meat costs a lot, it gives you heart attacks
A lot of people think vegetation
Lacks in Vitamin B-12...
If you really think that's gonna make you ill
Then buy a bottle of vitamin pills!
You could be more healthy
maybe it doesn't really bother you
But can your conscience bear the strain
of all the pain that makes your food?
You could feed a lot of needy people
with the grain they feed to cows
But can you comprehend the end results
or can you not allow
yourself to break the old tradition?
False conception of nutrition
"well they eat meat on television!"
Except those little starving children
Would you ever eat the meat
from another human being?
Flesh and blood is animal, is you and me
animal is suffering.
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~8~
Memorable Quote
"For too long we have occupied ourselves with responding to the
consequences of cruelty and abuse and have neglected the important task of
building up an ethical system in which justice for animals is regarded as the
norm rather than the exception. Our only hope is to put our focus on the
education of the young."
~ John Hoyt
Lecture, Humane Society of the U.S.
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
http://www.oocities.org/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal
Rights Online=-
«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»
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