A n i m a l
W r i t e s © sm
The official ANIMAL
RIGHTS ONLINE newsletter
Publisher ~ EnglandGal@aol.com
Issue # 01/05/03
Editor ~ JJswans@aol.com
Journalists ~ ParkStRanger@aol.com
~ MichelleRivera1@aol.com
~ sbest1@elp.rr.com
THE ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE ARE:
1 ~ Animals Give An End Of The Year Cheer
2 ~ Rusty By Kimberly Locke
3 ~ Bush Administration Betrays Dolphins
4 ~ Ear Infections and Dairy By Robert Cohen
5 ~ Frist Asked To Atone For Killing Cats
6 ~ Animalennium
7 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
Animals Give an End of the Year
Cheer
Press release from: Fund for Animals
www.fund.org
Published on CSR Wire - Dec 31, 2002
(CSRwire)
SILVER SPRING, MD - The Fund for Animals is celebrating a banner year for
animal protection and looking back on some of the year's biggest achievements.
"We have made great strides this year to improve the lives of animals
across the country," said Michael Markarian, President of The Fund for
Animals. "We hope to continue that success through 2003 and beyond."
Some of The Fund's accomplishments this year include:
Crackdown on Cockfighting: The Fund worked with The Humane Society of
the United States and other groups to pass a voter initiative making Oklahoma
the 48th state to ban cockfighting, state legislation to strengthen cockfighting
penalties in Kansas, and an amendment to the federal Farm Bill prohibiting the
export and interstate transport of birds for cockfighting.
Ending Cruel Confinement of Farm Animals: In Florida, The Fund worked
with The Humane Society of the United States, Farm Sanctuary, and the Animal
Rights Foundation of Florida to pass the nation's first voter initiative to ban
the cruel confinement of pregnant pigs in two-foot-wide metal crates.
A Day of Rest for Wildlife: Hunters were dealt a double blow in their
efforts to open hunting on Sundays across the country, when Governor Parris
Glendening vetoed a bill that would have overturned Maryland's 300-year-old
prohibition on Sunday hunting, and when West Virginia citizens overwhelmingly
voted to reject Sunday hunting in 41 of 41 counties voting on the measure.
Black Beauty Ranch: The Fund purchased an additional 140 acres of land
for its Black Beauty Ranch animal sanctuary in Texas, and provided homes for
new animals rescued from abuse and abandonment throughout the year, including
horses, burros, swans, a tapir, a zebra, and a camel.
The Kindest Cut of All: The Fund's Have-A-Heart Spay and Neuter Clinic
in New York City provided subsidized services for more than 5,000 dogs and
cats.
Pigeon Shoot Shot Down: The Fund's investigators provided undercover
video footage of a live pigeon shooting contest in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, and
town officials promptly ordered the gun club to shut down the cruel and illegal
event.
New Cyber Tools: The Fund launched its new Web Action Center
(www.action.fund.org) to provide an easy way for citizens to respond to
critical animal protection issues, and its new fundraising guide
(www.animalfunding.org) to assist animal shelters, rescue groups, and
grassroots organizations with funding.
Save the Whales: The Fund won a U.S. Court of Appeals decision stopping
the hunting of gray whales by the Makah tribe in the Pacific Northwest.
Public Education: The Fund provided new PSAs to television stations
nationwide, featuring Julia Barr of "All My Children" on the
importance of spaying and neutering dogs and cats, and actor Judd Hirsch on
tips for driving safely and avoiding car accidents with deer and other
wildlife.
Fur Crying Out Loud: The Fund launched a new radio ad campaign in New
York City and Washington, D.C., featuring Wendie Malick of "Just Shoot
Me," telling consumers that compassion is the new fashion and urging them
not to purchase cruel and unnecessary fur coats or fur-trimmed clothing.
Binny the Binturong: The Fund helped to rescue a rare Asian binturong
from the exotic animal trade and place him in a permanent home at the Austin
Zoo.
The Fund for Animals was founded in 1967 by famed author and humanitarian
Cleveland Amory.
Copyright Notice: Distributed in accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107.
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~2~
Rusty
By Kimberly Locke - KMBWolf@aol.com
My
name is Rusty, or at least that’s what they call me. I’ve been through an awful
lot, considering I’m just under a year old.
It all started back at the mill. I can still remember my poor mother. Her coat
was dirty and matted, but when I nuzzled with her, I felt so safe and warm.
She loved all five of us, and it broke her heart when one of my brothers died.
I heard the humans say he had “distemper.” I don’t know why, he was never angry
or upset. He was too young to know what anger was.
I remember how it felt to look into her eyes. She seemed so sad, but when she
looked at us, her precious pups, her eyes seemed to spark slightly. I can see
why she was so sad, what with being in such a small cage with that awful wire
bottom that tore up our pads. And the smell of waste and vomit was sickening.
We were her only comfort.
I remember the day we were taken from our mother. She barked and whined
frantically. We all cried out for her until our throats ached and our voices
became hoarse.
We were all put into another cage together. Here we spent our days in utter
boredom and loneliness, with no protection from the cold or the weather.
One day, we were piled into crates and loaded onto a truck. The noise of all
the other puppies barking was deafening, but being as scared as I was, I found
myself barking, too. When the doors of the truck were closed, we found
ourselves in complete darkness. I’d never seen such blackness before-not even
when I shut my eyes real tight. Soon we were bumping around in this loud, dark
truck. I was far too afraid to sleep that night.
I ended up at a pet store not far from here. I had been separated from my
brothers and sisters, never to see them again. I was put in a cage all by
myself. I’d never been alone before, and not being able to see any other dogs
scared me. Yet I could hear the other puppies bark and whine around me in their
own separate cages. I looked out at the humans behind the glass that stared and
pointed at us. I wanted to hide, but couldn’t. I got more food than I did at
the mill, but I would still find myself hungry sometimes. Those bowls were so
easy to knock over, and the food would just fall down through the wire floor,
where my waste and urine were. So I just cowered in a corner with my back to
the glass, and ignored everything outside.
The days passed like any other, until one day an employee took me out to a
couple of humans. I looked up at them wide eyed as they handled me. I tried to
nip their hands so they would put me back, but they just laughed and said how
cute I was. I just wanted to go back to my solitude.
I didn’t particularly like humans at the time. Not with all the pain the humans
at the mill had put me and my family through. But the couple didn’t take the
hint, and gave the employee money for me anyways.
They took me to their house and put me in their basement. I got to sleep in a
cardboard box with a blanket for the first time! And the floor wasn’t made of
wire! That’s when my feelings towards humans started to change.
One morning, the humans woke me up really early. I was so groggy, I
didn’t even squirm when they tied a bow around my neck. I was brought
upstairs for the first time, and all my senses started to go a mile a minute. I
could smell all kinds of food, and heard pretty music about “sleigh bells,” and
saw boxes with ribbons and bows. But
what amazed me most was the tree. It was just like the ones that were at the
mill, except that this one had so many shiny balls and sparkly rope. I couldn’t
wait to sniff it!
That’s when I heard a loud squeal. I found myself being grabbed from the humans
by this strange small human. I cried and wriggled to get free from this thing.
Since when did humans come in this size?
“Merry Christmas, Ben!” the humans exclaimed.
“OH! A puppy! Just what I wanted! Thank you Mommy! Thank you Daddy!” this small
human shouted--right in my ear, I might add.
I was squeezed and throttled by what I now know was a “child.” My hind legs
dangled, and as I felt myself slipping from the child’s grasp, his hold on me
became tighter. I was so relieved when the parents of this child gave him some
colored boxes to open, distracting the youngster. I looked around the
room, and one word, brought from the depths of instinct, entered my furry
little mind. PLAY!
I ran to the tree! Then I ran to some boxes! Then I ran to a chair! There was
so much for me to play with, I didn’t know where to start!
While the humans opened boxes, I played tug of war with a blanket. I
accidentally knocked something over. The humans must have thought I did it on
purpose, because one of them came over and hit me on the nose. I ran away whimpering
until I found another blanket to hide under.
I stayed there until the humans started putting on boots and coats. There was
mention of a “grandma’s house” (whatever that is) and everyone seemed to be in
a hurry.
I ran around their ankles and yipped to remind them that I needed food, but no
one would listen to me. They left the house, with me sitting staring at the
front door in shock.
After a few hours, my hunger and boredom got the best of me, and I decided to
investigate. I chewed on some pillows, ate some scraps from a rubbish bucket I
knocked over, and shredded some papers. I was quite happy and content, when the
humans came home.
Boy, did they yell at me! That was the first of many times they called me “bad
dog.” I don’t know why, I didn’t do anything wrong.
As the days and months went by, things seemed to get worse. The child liked to
play rough with me, and when I defended myself by nipping, I was hit and called
“bad dog.” When I relieved myself, I was called “bad dog.” After all the times I
spent urinating and defecating where I stood at the mill and at the store, I
thought that’s what humans wanted. When my teeth hurt as I grew and I would
chew on shoes or papers, I was hit and called “bad dog.” I was called Bad Dog
more that Rusty. But I always forgave them, and licked their tears away, and
nuzzled them when they needed it, and played with them when they were happy.
One day, the father brought me here to this shelter. He told the human that
took my leash that I was too hard to deal with.
My heart broke. I had given them so much love, and considered them my family,
and they just dump me like a broken toy? The father never even said goodbye to
me, despite my pleading barks to him.
So that’s my story. I’ve been here at the shelter for a few weeks now, and even
though I am only nine months old, they say that my time is up. Tomorrow I will
be “euthanized” (whatever that means). I sure hope better than everything else
I have had to endure.
Maybe euthanized means that I will finally have a home. I’ll just have to wait
and find out.
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~3~
Bush Administration Betrays
Dolphins
From HUMANElines - www.hsus.org
On
Tuesday (12/31) the Bush Administration announced that it would weaken the
requirements for tuna sold under the “dolphin-safe” label. The dolphin-safe
label was originally created to let consumers know whether tuna being sold was
caught using methods that endanger or kill dolphins. However, the newly-accepted
rules will allow the label to be used on tuna that was caught by dropping giant
purse-seine nets over schools of dolphins. The decision flies in the face of a
recently-published government study linking the practice of targeting dolphins
by tuna fisheries to a drastic decline in dolphin numbers. The National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report shows, among other things, a clear
decline in Pacific dolphin populations to less than half their original numbers
since the practice began in the 1950’s. According to HSUS’ Kitty Block,
“This fishing method would allow harming and even killing thousands of dolphins
each year in tuna nets . . . For the first time in over a decade,
dolphin-deadly tuna will be sold in the United States – and what makes this so
unconscionable is that this tuna will be misleadingly labeled ‘dolphin safe’.”
In response to the decision, The HSUS and several other environmental and
animal protection groups have filed a lawsuit against the Bush Administration
and Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans. The HSUS is also planning a massive
public education campaign about the misleading nature of the “dolphin safe”
tuna label.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Let Secretary Evans know that his decision to weaken the dolphin-safe tuna
label is both cruel and hinges on consumer fraud. Ask him to take action to
rescind the dolphin-deadly decision at once.
Secretary Donald L. Evans
Office of the Secretary
Room 5516
U.S. Department of Commerce
14th & Constitution Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20230
Ph: 202-482-2000
Email:devans@doc.gov.
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~4~
Ear Infections and Dairy
By Robert Cohen - notmilk@earthlink.net
http://www.notmilk.com
Dear
Moms,
Dr. Benjamin Spock sold 75 million copies of his book on raising children. His
advice was to never give your child a cow's milk product. Here's what he
wrote about ear infections in the 7th Edition of Child Care:
"Cow's milk has become a point of controversy among doctors and
nutritionists. There was a time when it was considered very desirable, but
research has forced us to rethink this recommendation... dairy products
contribute to a surprising number of health problems (including) chronic ear
problems..."
Benjamin Spock, M.D.,
Dr. Julian Whitaker, author of the largest read monthly alternative newsletter,
wrote in the October, 1998 issue of "Health & Healing," (Volume
8, No. 10):
"Milk allergies are very common in children... They are the leading cause
of the chronic ear infections that plague up to 40% of all children under the
age of six."
Two great doctors. One great bit of medical advice: Notmilk! A third opinion:
"If a bottlefed baby has an ear infection, eliminate milk and dairy
products from the child's diet for thirty days to see if any benefits
result...a cause of frequent ear infections in children is food
allergies."
James Balch, MD, "Prescription for Nutritional Healing"
And a fourth:
"Concerning ear infections, you just don't see this painful condition among
infants and children who aren't getting cow's milk into their systems."
William Northrup, M.D., "Natural Health," July, 94
Four great physicians with similar advice. Eliminate the painful suffering of
ear aches and ear infections by sharing this advice with a friend or relative.
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~5~
Frist Asked to Atone for
Killing Cats
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021231-071056-3546r
By
Dee Ann Divis
Science and Technology Editor - From the Science & Technology Desk
WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) --
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is being asked by an animal
advocacy group to support legislation for better animal treatment to make up
for fraudulently adopting cats from animal shelters then experimenting on and
killing them while he was a medical student. A Dec. 31 letter from the People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked Frist to make amends by pressing for
reforms that would replace old-style tests where animals are subjected to
painful and sometimes deadly procedures with newer, more humane approaches.
They also requested that he help fund research to find non-animal alternatives.
Frist acknowledged in a 1989 book that he routinely killed cats while an
ambitious medical student at Harvard Medical School in the 1970s. His office
said it had no record on how many cats died. Frist disclosed that he went to
animal shelters and pretended to adopt the cats, telling shelter personnel he
intended to keep them as pets. Instead he used them to sharpen his surgical
skills, killing them in the process. The newly elected leader of the Senate
Republicans revealed the practice in his book "Transplant: A Heart
Surgeon's Account of the Life-and-Death Dramas of the New Medicine."
"It was a heinous and dishonest thing to do," Frist wrote, in a
passage quoted by The Boston Globe. On Tuesday, Frist's press aide, Nick Smith,
told United Press International that "Senator Frist denounces the
activities that he did while he was in medical school -- as he has done before.
"It is not clear if Frist's actions were illegal. Many states ban shelters
from knowingly letting their animals be taken for such purposes.
Massachusetts put such a ban in place in 1983. Frist was a student in the
Boston area from 1974 to 1978. A total of 14 states have passed such laws. Four
states -- Iowa, Minnesota, Utah and Oklahoma -- still have laws that allow labs
to demand the release of animals for experimental use.
But such regulations, called pound seizure laws, only govern the actions of the
shelters.
"The pound seizure law probably would not apply there because the
shelter did not intentionally sell the animal to him for this purpose,"
said Debora Bresch, a lawyer and a lobbyist for the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "They thought they were adopting the
animal out to him," said Bresch. "What he did was fraudulent and
probably was illegal." "It would probably would be considered cruel
back even then," added Stephen Musso, senior vice president and chief of
operations of ASPCA. Though Musso said he personally had not heard about the
Frist incident, he told UPI, "We wouldn't want to see anybody taking an
animal out of an animal shelter and doing anything with it -- first of all that
would be harmful; second of all, different than the intentions that they gave
to the people at that shelter or humane organization.
"Attitudes toward animal experimentation have shifted, said Gary Patronek,
director of the Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy in North Grafton,
Mass. "The fact that laws have passed prohibiting the practice of pound
seizure in 14 states is evidence of the fact that society's attitudes have
changed," Patronek told UPI. "The laws reflect the attitudes. If
there isn't a broad social consensus about something, then typically the laws
don't change.
"The demographics have changed also. By the end of 2000, a total of 34
percent of American households had at least one cat -- a sharp rise of 8
percent in only two years. The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association
also said in their 2001-2002 National Pet Owner Survey that 39 percent of all
U.S. households owned at least one dog in 2000, about the same percentage as in
1998. Though Frist's practice has been known for 11 years, the matter appears
to be gathering new attention since his election as Senate majority leader.
E-mail with copies of news articles mentioning the incident are bouncing around
the Internet, said Bresch.
One Frist supporter said the senator's opponents are fueling the interest in
the issue. What is happening here is that people are doing profiles of
the senator, and they are desperate to find something wrong with him and to
come up with something bad in his past," he pointed out.
Whether Frist will come to the aid of animal legislative causes remains to be
seen. His spokesman said they had not seen the PETA letter and therefore would
not comment on it. PETA, normally more combative and high-profile, took a
somewhat restrained tone in its letter. There was no mistaking PETA's opinion,
however, as the organization asked Frist to make an effort on the animals' behalf.
"There could be no better way of making some small amends to those animals
whose trust you betrayed when you took them from shelters," the letter
said.
(With reporting by Nicholas M. Horrock in Washington)
Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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~6~
Animalennium
By Maraya - ©January 1, 2000
http://www.vegweb.com/poetry/13.shtml
Hoppy new year to rabbits and
roos
Hippy new year to 'potamus crews
Heppy new year to all the cats
Hemey new year to vampire bats
Hayey new year to horses and mules
Neapy new year to fishes in schools
Harty new year to stags and their does
Scrappy new year to gulls and to crows
Peepy new year to singing canaries
Humpy new year to dromedaries
(and double that to other camels)
Flippy new year to dolphin mammals
Howly new year to wolves and coyotes
Bleaty new year to sheepies and goaties
Whoopy new year to 'dangered cranes
Hopey new year to elephants in chains
Arfy new year to all breeds of dogs
Sloppy new year to piglets and hogs
Flappy new year to geese, swans and ducks
Choppy new year to beavers and 'chucks
Sleepy new year to bears in their dens
Scratchy new year to roosters and hens
Horny new year to rhinoceros herds
Mourny new year for the dodo birds
Hidey new year to the cattle I see
Harpy new year to the angels they'll be
Happy New Year to all - jungle, forest and farm
Crappy new year to those who would do them harm
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~7~
Memorable Quote
"The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one's opponent."
~ Gandhi
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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
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-=Animal Rights Online=-
&
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not-for-profit publisher of The Animals' Agenda Magazine
http://www.animalsagenda.org/
The
Animals' Agenda Magazine: WebEdition
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