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 # 11/09/03
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 ~ LoraKim's Lore by Rev. LoraKim Joyner
2 ~ All For Show
3 ~ Gentle Thanksgiving Site Launched
4 ~ ACT Radio, Animal Concerns of Texas
5 ~ Job Opportunities
6 ~ CU's Laudenslager Discontinues Experiments
7 ~ Senate Okays Ban On Downed Animals
8 ~ I Know Why by Diana Morton
9 ~ Memorable Quote
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~1~
LoraKim's Lore
by Rev. LoraKim Joyner, DVM, UFETA
President
amoloros@juno.com
-Reprinted with permission from the newssletter of the Unitarian Universalists
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals-
A major concern about supporting nonhuman animal justice
issues that I often hear expressed is that human problems merit more attention
than nonhuman problems. Maybe you have faced this in your own congregation when
people ask - "Why should I worry about chickens when war is about to break
out in Iraq?"
Indeed it is difficult to decide to spend time and resources on nonhuman
animals when humans are suffering so. In fact, this dilemma was part of the
reason why I discontinued practicing veterinary medicine. I was an avian (bird)
wildlife veterinarian for many years and worked in countries where there was
rapid and imminent threat of the demise of bird populations and species.
The birds of these countries not only were threatened, but so were the people -
war torn Guatemala was brutal. Often the birds I treated received better
medical attention and better food than the people who were hired for $2.50 a
day to take care of the birds. I soon learned that the birds didn't stand a
chance if the people didn't have some hope for flourishing, because if humans
are suffering, it is very difficult for them to share resources with other
beings.
So I went into the Unitarian Universalist ministry, trying to find a way to
continue my healing profession, but now with people as well as birds. You see,
not only do I think that the birds can't make it without us, but I also think
that we can't make it without the birds, and without the biodiversity that
supports our ecology and nourishes our souls. I feel then that all my work with
people is also helping other beings and all my work with nonhumans is helping
out humans.
There is a sense of what ethicists call competing claims - we must make
decisions that will help out one species more than another. But in the long run
if we work with compassion for justice issues, regardless of the species or the
circumstance, we are advancing all causes. In this way we are inextricably
bound to one another in care and in hope.
So go help those chickens if that is where your gifts and passions intersect
with the world's great needs, or go work for peace. For no matter what you do,
the interdependent web will benefit, as will you, and this is of great merit.
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~2~
All for Show
Ringling Brothers Circus Claims to Promote Conservation
By Mia MacDonald
E Magazine - November/December 2003
On a cool, rainy afternoon, inside Philadelphia's Wachovia
Center, children and parents crowd the cavernous hall trying to get a closer
look at Asia, the elephant who paints with her trunk. Asia is a star of the
"three-ring adventure" in the 133rd edition of the Ringling
Brothers/Barnum & Bailey circus, the largest and oldest in the U.S. As
families mill about they see posters describing Ringlings efforts to protect
endangered Asian elephants. The tagline reads: "Endangered species? Not if
we can help it."
Two hours later, the show wraps up, having featured elephants (including
"five parallel pachyderms" that raise their hind legs on stools),
tigers, zebras, horses, llamas, dogs and a few goats. The ringmaster thanks
people for coming and "helping to support the world's endangered
species." It may sound like an unusual pairing, protecting endangered
species by putting them in the circus, but Ringling has become an actor in this
new arena. In 1995, Feld Entertainment, Ringling's corporate parent (which also
owns the Disney on Ice and Siegfried & Roy shows), established the Center
for Elephant Conservation (CEC), a $5 million, 200-acre Asian elephant breeding
and research facility in Polk City, Florida. Since 1992, when Ringling began a
breeding program, 15 elephants have been born, more than anywhere else in North
America, including zoos. While not all of these elephants will become circus
performers, all will remain captive and have their performance potential
vetted. Ringling now controls 61 Asian elephants, including the 21 traveling in
the circus' two touring units. "We are really leading the world,"
says Barbara Pflughaupt, Ringling's national press representative, with the
"largest gene pool outside of Southeast Asia." Ringling states that a
portion, it won't say how much, of all its ticket and concession sales goes to
conservation efforts through the CEC.
The CEC is host to elephant trainers, veterinarians and researchers (including
one now studying elephants sense of smell, potentially to reduce elephant/human
conflicts in the wild.) Ringling suggests that sperm from its male elephants
could be used to regenerate the animals population in Asia, when technology
allows. Conservation biologist Tom Dillon, director of the Species Conservation
Program at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), dismisses this. He says the
likelihood of needing sperm from CEC elephants is close to zero, given
diversity in the wild Asian elephant gene pool and the large number of captive
elephants still in Asia. What Ringling defines as its commitment to
conservation isn't confined to the CEC. In 1998, it helped found the
International Elephant Foundation (IEF), which works in Asia and Africa to
improve management, training and health of captive elephant populations. It
also advises captive breeding programs and, in a few cases, supports
field-based management or research
on wild elephants.
John Kirtland, Ringling's executive director of animal stewardship and an
animal behaviorist by training, says the CECs and IEFs efforts are still a
"work in progress," although the commitment is there. The work
includes assistance to a hospital for injured elephants (some the victims of
land mines).
Ringling's influence is also felt at global meetings on endangered species and
within the U.S. Congress. In 1997, it joined efforts to pass the Asian Elephant
Conservation Act, which has over the past few years provided more than $3
million for habitat protection, community-based conservation education, and
anti-poaching patrols. WWFs Dillon calls this "essential money." By
some accounts, Ringling's participation helped secure support for the Act from
Congressional Republicans, many of whom look more favorably on Ringling than on
conservation groups.
For years, animal rights and welfare groups have been protesting Ringling's use
of animals, particularly endangered species such as elephants and tigers. They
complain of cruel training, transport and living conditions, and urge the
public to avoid circuses that include animal acts. Last July, the U.S. District
Court in Washington, D.C. handed animal advocates, including the Fund for
Animals and the ASPCA, a legal victory in their efforts to hold Ringling accountable.
The groups lawsuit, now moving forward, charges Ringling with violating the
Endangered Species Act by abusing elephants through routine circus practices
(using bullhooks, chaining them for long periods, and weaning baby elephants
too young).
A growing number of cities are banning circuses with animal acts, and activists
are not convinced that Ringling has changed. The lives of elephants born at the
CEC "will be filled with chains and bullhooks," charges Debbie Leahy,
director of captive and exotic animals for People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals (PETA). "The fact that wild populations are still dwindling is
proof enough that what they're doing isn't doing a darn bit of good."
Some animal behaviorists and conservation professionals are also skeptical
about Ringling's conservation work. "They're not making a substantial
contribution," says Marc Bekoff, a professor of biology at the University
of Colorado-Boulder and frequent collaborator with Jane Goodall. "Its a
captive breeding program in Florida."
Conservationists and animal welfare groups agree that the greatest threat to
Asian elephants is loss of habitat, as burgeoning human populations and
extractive industries push into wilderness. Other threats include poaching for
ivory (in contravention of a global trade ban imposed in 1989) and capture for
domestic uses. Since the 1960s, the elephants historic range has declined by 70
percent. Only about 35,000 Asian elephants still live in the wild.
According to Ringling, running the CEC costs at minimum $1 million a year.
Asked why Ringling doesn't redirect its efforts from breeding elephants to
habitat conservation, Pflughaupt replies: "Habitat is another thing. We're
not a conservation organization. We're a circus responsible for the care of our
animals."
Pflughaupt contends that the elephants are better off with Ringling.
"They're safer with us," she says. "Better off in the wild is an
ivory tower position." But is Ringling practicing "conservation"
as it is commonly understood, or seeking to ensure an available captive
elephant population along with a public that continues to approve of and demand
animal acts in circuses?
On another cold and dreary spring day, about 25 animal activists gather in
front of New York's Madison Square Garden, where the Ringling Bros. Circus is
performing. A poster with a photo of a chained elephants leg reads: "The
slave trade is alive and kicking - elephants in circuses you choose, they
cant."
Activists charge that Ringling has supported a loosening of the ban on elephant
ivory sales at meetings of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES). Pflughaupt denies that the company takes a position on the
ivory issue. But in 2002, CITES delegates (with Bush administration support)
voted to allow some trade in African ivory, a move opposed by most conservation
and animal welfare and rights groups. "This is ivory from animals that
have already died," says Pflughaupt, "and my understanding is that
the money would go to conservation."
Even a partial reopening of the ivory trade will have a devastating effect on
wild elephants, argues PeTA's Leahy. Another action that raises activists ire
is Felds recent $7,000 campaign contribution to U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA),
chair of the House Resources Committee, who supports trophy hunting and
"sustainable use" (selective culling, including for trophies) of wild
populations, including elephants.
Meanwhile, habitat protection efforts are woefully underfunded. "They're
exploiting the Asian elephant for profit and you'd think they could support its
continued existence in the wild," Dillon says of Ringling. "Its nice
they've put money into Thailand's captive elephant program, but putting the
money into conservation of wild elephants would be a better use of the funds."
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~3~
Gentle Thanksgiving Site Launched
From FARM -
farm.usa@verizon.net
Please visit our thoroughly refurbished Gentle Thanksgiving
website at www.gentlethanksgiving.org.
Browse at your leisure through reasons for enjoying a cruelty-free feast,
guidelines for organizing an educational event, an opportunity to register your
event, delightful recipes, and fascinating stories and fact sheets for the
media.
Gentle Thanksgiving is another project of FARM. We thank VegSource for hosting
the site.
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~4~
ACT Radio, Animal Concerns of Texas
By Greg Lawson - ParkStranger@aol.com
Be sure to listen to ACT Radio tonight at 9:30pm EST (7:30pm,
mountain time) with cohosts Greg Lawson, Steve Best and Elizabeth Walsh. KTEP
can be heard over the web with Real Radio, which is a free download.
Tonight we have a conversation with Reverend LoraKim Joyner, minister of the
Unitarian Universalist Community of El Paso. LoraKim is a former avian
veterinarian who became a minister for all species. She is also the president
of UFETA, Unitarian Universalists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
El Paso NPR - KTEP 88.5
: National Public Radio for the Southwest
http://www.ktep.org/program_detail.ssd?id=103
Instructions for downloading Real Radio here...
ACT Radio
http://utminers.utep.edu/vsep/actradio
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~5~
Job Opportunities
TWO EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT THE FUND FOR ANIMALS:
MAJOR GIFTS OFFICER
Responsibilities:
* Developing major gifts program by identifying, cultivating, and soliciting
major donors.
* Overseeing planned giving and charitable gift annuities program.
* Researching foundations; writing and submitting grant proposals and reports.
* Meeting with major donors, foundation officers, and gift annuitants.
* Representing The Fund for Animals and playing an integral part in the
organization's development effort.
* Overseeing activities of the Development Coordinator.
Qualifications:
* Advanced degree in law or finance preferred.
* Prior experience in major gifts cultivation and knowledge of planned giving.
* Three-plus years in a development or membership management position.
* Comfort in strategic planning and budgeting.
* Commitment to animal protection philosophy.
* Excellent oral and written communication and editing skills; ability to work
as part of a team.
* Excellent research skills; ability to meet deadlines.
* Must be willing to relocate; job is in The Fund's national campaign office,
currently in Silver Spring, Maryland; moving to Capitol Hill area of
Washington, D.C. in 2004-2005.
Reports To: President and National Director
Compensation: Open, D.O.E.; excellent health benefits and 403(b) opportunity.
DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Responsibilities:
* Entry-level position assisting with various aspects of the organization's
development effort.
* Overseeing workplace giving (Combined Federal Campaign, United Way, state
campaigns).
* Overseeing vehicle donation program.
* Overseeing affinity programs.
* Soliciting donations of auction items and maintaining auction web site.
* Seeking and developing new opportunities for fundraising.
Qualifications:
* Strong organizational skills with a focus on detail.
* Familiarity with Word, Excel, Access, and ability to work with data.
* Basic knowledge of HTML, photo editing, and comfort with Internet
applications.
* Commitment to animal protection philosophy.
* Ability to work as part of a team.
* Ability to meet deadlines.
* Must be willing to relocate; job is in The Fund's national campaign office,
currently in Silver Spring, Maryland; moving to Capitol Hill area of
Washington, D.C. in 2004-2005.
Reports To: Major Gifts Officer
Compensation: Open, D.O.E.; excellent health benefits and 403(b) opportunity.
To apply for either of these positions, please send cover letter, resume, and
writing sample to: Tashee Meadows, Assistant to the President and National
Director The Fund for Animals 8121 Georgia Avenue, Suite 301 Silver Spring, MD
20910 FAX: (301) 585-3269 Email: tmeadows@fund.org
The Fund for Animals is a national animal protection nonprofit organization
founded in 1967 by author and humanitarian Cleveland Amory. The Fund advocates
for the protection of wildlife and domestic animals from cruelty and
exploitation through education, legislation, litigation, investigations,
advocacy campaigns, public awareness, and hands-on care. The Fund has a
full-time paid staff of 50 and an annual budget of $7 million. Besides its
advocacy work, The Fund also operates the 1,620-acre Black Beauty Ranch in
Murchison, Texas; a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Ramona, California; a
Rabbit Sanctuary in Simpsonville, South Carolina; and a Spay and Neuter Clinic
for dogs and cats in New York City. More information on The Fund is available
at www.fund.org.
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~6~
CU's Laudenslager Discontinues Experiments
Separating Infant Monkeys From Their Mothers
Contact: Rita Anderson - 303.618.3227
Barbara Millman - 303.274.4889
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center researcher Mark
Laudenslager -- featured on national animal rights websites for his maternal
separation experiments -- has ended his 17-year study, the Committee for
Research Accountability recently learned.
The mission of the Colorado-based Committee for Research Accountability (CRA)
is to end taxpayer-funded research on animals that is unnecessary and inhumane.
Directed by Rita Anderson and Barbara Millman, CRA is a project of In Defense
of Animals, a 20-year old animal rights group headquartered in Mill Valley,
California.
In maternal deprivation experiments, started in the 1940s, researchers
permanently separate infant monkeys from their mothers in order to analyze
their psychological and physiological responses. By studying monkey infants'
suffering, they believe they can predict how human children respond to inadequate
parenting. However, it is already well documented that human infants fail to
thrive without proper nurturing.
Since 1986 Laudenslager has conducted experiments in maternal separation with
millions of dollars funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (In
maternal separation, unlike maternal deprivation, the young are returned to
their mothers after a specified period of time.) Laudenslager claimed his most
recent study, Behavioral and Physiological Consequences of Loss, would
show if inadequate parenting had an effect on the progression of AIDS symptoms
in HIV positive children.
In his experiments, Laudenslager sent two groups of three to four year-old
monkeys -- one of which had been separated at an early age from their mothers
-- to the University of Washington Regioonal Primate Research Center. Once
there, both groups were injected with the Simian version of the HIV virus
(SIV). After that, the monkeys were isolated in individual cages where they
were monitored for the progression of symptoms of the Simian version of AIDS
(SAIDS).
Dr. Pat Haight, IDA's Southwest Region Coordinator and an experimental
psychologist, said, "In my opinion, questions regarding the relationship
between parenting factors and the course of pediatric AIDS should be studied in
the children and their families. The clinical literature itself says this is
needed."
IDA president and veterinarian Elliot Katz said, "If a vote was taken for
which 'research' project needed to end because of its animal cruelty and waste
of tax dollars, Mark Laudenslager's mother separation experiments would win
hands down."
"I'm thrilled that Professor Laudenslager has decided to end this project
which subjected so many innocent monkeys to lives of fear, hopelessness and
despair," said CRA's Rita Anderson. "We are hopeful that our
organization can begin to work with CU officials to explore the many non-animal
research options available.
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~7~
Senate Okays Ban On Downed Animals
From Animal Concerns -
info@animalconcerns.org
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Wednesday moved to ban the
human consumption of "downed" animals, which are livestock too sick
to stand or walk unassisted. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who offered the
amendment to an agriculture spending bill, said many of these animals are dying
from infectious diseases and present a significant pathway for the spread of
disease. "My amendment prevents downed animals from being approved for
consumption at our dinner tables," he said. The Senate approved the
measure by a voice vote.
The House, in passing its version of the spending bill for the 2004 budget
year, defeated a similar amendment on a 202-199 vote. The two chambers must
negotiate a common stance on the issue when they meet to come up with a final
bill. full story: http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/7192265.htm
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I Know Why
By Diana Morton - morton_diana@hotmail.com
october 2003
i know why caged bird sings
imprisoned with broken wings
I know why a piglet cries
as Mother prematurely dies
i know why veal calves moans
wrenched from Mama, all alone
i know why chimpanzees scream
souls laid waste of jungle dream
yes, i know why a baby lamb ba's
longing for their long lost Ma's
Death be nimble, death by quick
arsenic plates, poison chopsticks
i know why dairy cows low
spent of milk, to butcher go
Humans mean, people cruel
love to make sweet animals pule
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Memorable Quote
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the
weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of
these." ~ George Washington Carver_
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Susan Roghair - EnglandGal@aol.com
Animal Rights Online
P O Box 7053
Tampa, Fl 33673-7053
http://www.oocities.org/RainForest/1395/
-=Animal
Rights Online=-
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