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ANIMAL MEDIA ALERTS
BOSTON GLOBE FRONT PAGE ON GORILLA ESCAPE -- 9/30/03 There is a sad story on the front page of the Tuesday, September 30, Boston Globe. On Sunday, an eleven year old gorilla, Little Joe, escaped from the Franklin Park Zoo. Today's story, by Raja Mishra and Farah Stockman, is headed, "Zoo boosts security; 4 probes begin." The story opens: "With recaptured gorilla Little Joe safely locked away in a holding pen, police yesterday demanded that Franklin Park Zoo officials quickly upgrade security at the popular gorilla exhibit and refused to rule out putting the restless primate to death in order to protect the public. "Four separate investigations were launched into zoo security and management following the startling escape of the 300-pound ape, who bolted out of the gorilla pavilion Sunday, attacked two people, ambled off the zoo grounds, and shocked residents by showing up at a bus stop on nearby Seaver Street." Little Joe and the other gorillas who share his habitat will remain locked up until security is tightened. Zoo New England CEO John Linehan is quoted: "He had a history of being a wonderful animal. He's not a criminal of any sort. He's a gorilla." Yet he lives with no freedom. During the escape, "a zoo employee who was thrown, bitten, and dragged several feet by Little Joe...The gorilla also struck and jumped on 2-year-old Nia Scott, who yesterday was discharged from Boston Medical Center with six stitches and several bruises." The 18 year old zoo employee, Courtney Roberson, has said, "They need to let me shoot him." Though not ruled out, it is unlikely that Little Joe will be killed as he is a member of an endangered species. But since this is his second escape, he may be moved: "Zoo officials were already contemplating shipping the adolescent gorilla out of Boston. They said they were considering moving him in about three years, to prevent him from mating with the zoo's females, who are related to him. Inbred offspring with genetic problems could result." The separation of family members of another species so very close to our own brings a reminder of a shameful time in our nation's history. Not so long ago those of the same species, but not the ruling race, were separated and shipped at the masters' will with no consideration given to their emotional attachments either. We learn about Little Joe's personality: "He was born in captivity in 1993 at the Bronx Zoo. Zoo keepers call him 'The Scientist' as well as 'Don Juan,' and he is considered among the most intelligent of the animals at Franklin Park. "The gorilla has delicately taken apart cameras accidentally dropped into the habitat, curiously arranging the tiny pieces before him. But he has also shown a fondness for blonde women, often blowing kisses or fluttering his eyes at blond female visitors and blond zoo volunteers. "He has shown particular tenderness with the youngest gorilla at the zoo, 4-year-old Kira, often holding and cuddling the smaller primate; he was specially trained by zoo keepers to handle infants. Zoo volunteers said he has never acted overly belligerent; when several other gorillas were given anti-depressant medication several years ago, well-adjusted Little Joe was exempt. Often, he could be found contentedly watching his favorite videos: footage of himself or the children's show 'Teletubbies.'" About two months ago, Little Joe, reaching puberty, started to become much more assertive. The final paragraph tells us what life has in store for Little Joe: "Zoo officials say they may never allow him to breed: 37 of his family members live at US zoos, and gorilla experts, in their effort to maintain genetic diversity among the gorilla population, consider the family line too widespread. Zoo officials said Little Joe could therefore be sent to live out his days in a male-dominated colony or even isolated from other families." The story had been in the Boston Globe every days since Sunday, as well as the Boston Herald, and many papers throughout the country. It is in the Tuesday, September 30, New York Times, Daily News and Newsday, and in the September 29 Los Angeles Times. All of the coverage focuses on the attack and the lax security. The sadness of Little Joe's life, and that of our other close relatives, and those of less closely related species, living behind bars, is never broached. Please, with letters to the editor, make sure that it is. Question the ethics of treating those of other species like things for display, as if their freedom, family attachments, and emotional lives are of no importance. You can read the full front page Globe story on line at: An article from page A16 of the same paper, in which the employee describes the attack, is at: The Boston Globe takes letters at: letter@globe.com A good source of information on the plight of animals in zoos is: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/zoocheck/zoo10.htm That organization works on improving zoos but its slogan is: "Wildlife Belongs in the Wild." Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. 53,000 SHEEP STRANDED PUT SPOTLIGHT ON AUSTRALIA'S LIVE ANIMAL EXPORTS 9/26/03 The vast majority of my subscribers are American, but I wanted to make sure all animal advocates know of a controversy making front page news in Australia and being covered by numerous papers internationally, though not in the US. Australia exports live animals to countries with religious slaughter laws that preclude slaughter in Australia before export. Therefore approximately seven million animals bred in Australia are killed each year via methods banned in Australia on grounds of cruelty. Further, the animals, packed into sweltering ships, suffer terribly on the journey to their deaths. The controversy has been brought to a head as a shipload of 53,000 sheep (4,000 already having died), rejected by Saudi Arabia as disease ridden, has remained at sea since August 5th. The front page of Melbourne's The Age, on Saturday, September 26, explains: "The passengers on the ship adrift in the Gulf, the Cormo Express, were always going to be lambs to the slaughter. But their fate became uncertain and protracted when authorities at their destination in Saudi Arabia refused to accept the shipment, saying too many sheep were diseased (a claim the ship's owners and vets deny). More importantly for Australia, the confusion about the fate of the ship's 53,000 survivors, whose slaughter might now take place in an Iraqi abattoir, has lifted the lid on a reality that many Australians have found distasteful: that the prosperity of many farms and the rural communities behind them ultimately relies on a practice that is banned in Australia on the grounds of cruelty. "More than six million sheep and nearly a million cattle are exported from Australia each year. About 99 per cent of them go to Muslim countries whose interpretation of religious law means the animals will be killed by having their throats cut to allow them to bleed to death. It means they remain almost fully conscious for between 10 and 30 seconds, before losing consciousness and ultimately dying." That front page story, headed "Lambs to the Slaughter" can be read on the web at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/26/1064083191426.html The Sunday, September 28 paper carries a wonderful op-ed by Terry Lane headed, "This live trade must stop." Lane comes down hard on religious beliefs that lead to animal cruelty: "We do not bend our rules against cruelty to animals to accommodate the superstitions of others. Religion has a lot to answer for, and the suffering of animals is just one more item in its catalogue of cruelties. But ours is a secular nation and we must live by reason and compassion and be indifferent to special pleadings of the true believers." His final lines, after a brief look at history, are a delight: "Even at times when the darkest deeds were being committed there was always someone who knew better. If it were not so the whole wobbly process of civilisation would grind to a halt. We depend utterly on the few who know better to keep us moving forward. "This week the few who know better are the Portland animal rights protesters and the RSPCA. They are the John Browns of our times." You can read that piece on line at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/27/1064083233867.html Here are links to other recent coverage in The Age: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/26/1064083190609.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/26/1064083191618.html http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/26/1064083191615.html The Weekend Australian, Saturday, September 27 also has the story: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,7384921%255E2702,00.html And you'll find lots of information on the Live Animal Trade at the Animal Liberation NSW website: http://www.animal-lib.org.au/docs/appeal_winter2003.shtml You can read eye-witness accounts on the Animals Australia website at: http://www.animalsaustralia.org The front page story and wonderful op-ed in Melbourne's The Age call for appreciative letters to the editor. I hope all Aussie activists will write. Letters from representatives of animal rights and humane organizations in other countries would also be great. The Age takes letters at: letters@theage.com.au You may also want to respond to the national paper, The Weekend Australian. The paper takes letters at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/files/aus_letters.htm Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. MORE FOIE GRAS IN THE NEW YORK TIMES AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE 9/27/03 Foie Gras, currently one of the hot animal rights media issues, is featured in the Saturday, September 27, New York Times editorial section and in the San Francisco Chronicle. "Honk if You Hate Foie Gras" is the title of a New York Times op-ed (page A15) by Bob Tarte. The piece describes the impact that an African brown goose named Liza had on the author. You'll find it at: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/27/opinion/27TART.html The San Francisco Chronicle article (page A14): is headed, "Plagued by activists, foie gras chef changes tune." The chef's tune had previously been that there is no suffering involved in foie gras production and that conditions at the nearby foie gras farm are fine. Reporter Kim Severson opens the article with: "A prominent Bay Area chef and his partners, staggering under attacks by animal-rights activists, say they will improve conditions at their farm near Stockton where they force-feed ducks to make a French delicacy called foie gras. The men also have decided that duck products won't be such a key part of the menu at a Sonoma specialty-foods shop they plan to open next month." The article reviews last month's ALF action against Manrique: "The attackers broke into the historic adobe building on the Sonoma Plaza and poured cement into drains, spray-painted anti-foie-gras graffiti on virtually every new appliance and flooded the building, forcing a neighboring business to close for weeks. "Manrique's Mill Valley house also was targeted. Vandals spray-painted messages such as 'murderer' and poured acid on his car, and they left a threatening videotape of Manrique's family filmed through the window of his home, warning that he was being watched. "Police have estimated the damage from all the attacks at more than $60,000." The article also describes some of the egregious cruelty behind foie gras: "Ducks and geese naturally gorge themselves to make their livers fatty enough to sustain them through migration, but to make foie gras, the birds are force-fed during the last weeks of their lives to fatten their livers. At the two foie gras operations in the United States and several in France, metal tubes are inserted down their throats, and grain is pneumatically shot into their bellies. "In the weeks after the August attacks, animal-rights groups sent The Chronicle and other media video and print images purported to be from the Sonoma Foie Gras farm near Stockton. The images, supposedly shot by undercover activists, show injured ducks with blood on their feathers, ducks being attacked by rats and listless birds in cages, their beaks stuffed with regurgitated corn." Both the New York Times op-ed and the San Francisco Chronicle article provide opportunities for letters to the editor against the consumption of foie gras and in favor of vegetarian diets. A great source of information on foie gras is: http://www.GourmetCruelty.com The New York Times takes letters at: letters@nytimes.com The San Francisco Chronicle takes letter at: letters@sfchronicle.com Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. ANOTHER BOMB BLAST MAKES THE FRONT PAGE 9/27/03 The front page of the San Francisco Chronicle, and the front page of the Los Angeles Times Metro Section on Saturday, September 27, tell us of another bomb blast in California that investigators are saying could be the work of animal rights activists. However, no activist group has taken responsibility. Since the company hit, Shaklee Corp, prides itself on its green image and does not test on animals, an animal rights hit might seem unlikely. But Shaklee's parent company, Yamanouchi Pharmaceuticals, is a SHAC target as it gives contract work to Huntingdon Life Sciences. Therefore the search for animal rights connection to the blast, in the light of the blasts at Chiron last month claimed by the Animal Liberation Brigade, is not unrealistic. Once again, there was some property damage, but nobody was hurt. The explosion occurred at 3:20 am. The front page San Francisco Chronicle story by Stacy Finz and Kevin Fagan is headed: "Bomb hits Pleasanton's Shaklee; Police unsure whether animal rights activists planted explosive." You'll find it on the web at: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/09/27/MN307733.DTL The Part 2, Page 1, Los Angeles Times story by Carol Pogash is headed: "Animal Rights Link Probed in Explosion; No group has claimed responsibility for blast at a company known for its 'green' products." It is on the web at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-explode27sep27,1,4581763.story The Chronicle article provided some information about Huntingdon Life Sciences: "In 1997, a busload of PETA protesters, including actress Kim Basinger, demanded the release of 40 beagles that were to have had their legs broken at Huntingdon to test a new osteoporosis drug developed by Yamanouchi. Huntingdon eventually turned the dogs over to the protesters." You can find out more about the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences at: http://www.shac.net/ The site has a link to SHAC videos online where you can see distressing video from HLS, including footage of a beagle being punched for refusing to cooperate with a vivisector. This front page story reflects and promotes the image of the animal rights movement as increasingly extremist and violent. It also brings the issue of animal testing to the attention of millions of Americans, making it clear that this violent issue is one that some people think worthy of a response that could turn violent (when explosives are used, people can get hurt.) I wish the issue of animal testing had made front pages of major papers without the bomb blasts. I know most people in our movement oppose violence, but want to help the animals. No matter how you feel about the escalating, perhaps violent tactics, I hope you will consider a letter to the editor where you can condone or condemn the tactics, but most importantly, address the issue of animal testing. With regard to the media, we need to act on whatever we are given. The San Francisco Chronicle takes letters at: letters@sfchronicle.com The Chronicle notes, "Please limit your letters to 200 or fewer words ... shorter letters have a better chance of being selected for publication." The Los Angeles Times takes letters at: letters@latimes.com Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. FRONT PAGE STORY ON CIRCUS ABUSING ANIMALS 9/25/03 The Thursday, September 25, Orlando Sentinel has a front page story headed, "Activists accuse circus of abuse; A new report repeats allegations that Ringling Bros mistreats elephants." The story, slightly edited, also appears in the Thursday Sun-Sentinel (page 12A) under the heading "Circus Abusing Animals; Report Says Ringling Hurts it Elephants." The Orlando Sentinel story, by Rich Mckay and Sean Mussenden opens with: "Kenny the elephant, too weak to stand or eat, died in Jacksonville, bleeding from an infection after performing his third Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey show of the day, according to a report released Wednesday by three animal-protection groups. "The ASPCA, The Fund for Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute report also alleges that another elephant, Benjamin, was abused by a trainer with a 'bull-hook' and drowned in a fit of fear while swimming in a Houston pond. "The two deaths -- Kenny's in 1998 and Benjamin's one year later -- are evidence the 133-year-old circus systematically abuses and neglects its elephants, according to the groups hoping to breathe new life into a federal lawsuit against the institution dubbed 'The Greatest Show on Earth.'" Ringling Brothers has denied the allegations. However, we read: "The report released by the groups discloses hundreds of pages of documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act as part of the long-running suit filed in July 2000." You'll find the whole article on the web at: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-asecelephants25092503sep25,0,927705.story The shortened Sun-Sentinel version is at: And you'll find much more information on the situation at the Fund for Animals website, at: http://www.fund.org/library/documentViewer.asp?ID=1129&table=documents The 241 page report is available there. This front page story presents a superb opportunity for letters to the editor thanking the papers for the story and arguing against the use and abuse of members of other species for human entertainment. The Orlando Sentinel takes letters at: insight@orlandosentinel.com The Sun-Sentinel takes letters at: letters@sun-sentinel.com Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.
NEW YORK TIMES ON FOIE GRAS CONTROVERSY 9/24/03 The Dining Section of the Wednesday, September 24, New York Times has a huge article headed "Foie Gras Fracas: Haute Cuisine Meets the Duck Liberators." For years the dining section has carried articles on the deliciousness of foie gras. How wonderful to see a piece focused on the controversy. The article, by Patricia Leigh Brown, opens with the attack last month on a Sonoma restaurant soon to open and specialize in foie gras. She explains the conflict: "Connoisseurs consider foie gras the epitome of culinary civilization. But animal rights activists who claimed responsibility for the destruction — and for an earlier attack on the homes of the cafe's chef and his partner — call foie gras the 'delicacy of despair', born of cruelty to animals. "Here in the zone of good feeling, where eating and drinking well is considered high art, the foie gras brouhaha has become a flashpoint in the political battles over food. And as the provenance of what is placed on a plate becomes a greater concern nationally, so, too, does the method of raising the fowl, pigs and calves that reach the table." Brown was permitted to watch the force feeding at Sonoma Foie Gras. She describes what happens for two weeks before the ducks are slaughtered: "During that time they are force-fed twice a day by a feeder, who uses an 8- to 10-inch steel pipe attached by a long hose to a hydraulic machine that resembles a vacuum cleaner in reverse, drawing from a vat of corn meal mush. The feeder, Jorge Vargas, inserted the metal tube down a duck's esophagus, electronically administering the 10- to 12-ounce dose, about two-thirds of a tall soda-fountain glass, in four seconds. The mixture had the consistency of a milkshake. "There were no visible signs of distress. These were newcomers to managed feeding. The ducks who had been force-fed twice a day for two weeks, their livers swelling from one-third of a pound to one and a half pounds, were so fat they moved little and panted. The birds gain an average of seven pounds in two weeks. The mortality rate among the 2,100 ducks raised for foie gras here hovers around 1 to 2 percent, he said. Weak or injured ducks have their necks broken. 'We need to improve euthanasia,' he said." Along with the article, you'll find a picture of a duck being force fed at: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/24/dining/24DUCK.html I have heard foie gras proponents trying to convince the public that the animals are lining up to be force fed, so I was interested to see the duck's pen mates cramming themselves into a corner as far away from the action as possible. The article addresses food cruelty issues other than foie gras. Brown has interviewed Paul Waldau, a clinical assistant professor at the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University. Brown and Times readers learn from him that in the United States, farm animals are exempt from most anticruelty laws, even as laws against cruelty to pets have become more stringent. He compares the US situation to that in Europe where many common farming practices have been prohibited because of cruelty. There is a great quote from New York State Assemblyman Jack McEneny, Democrat of Albany, who has introduced an amendment to state anticruelty laws that would make the force-feeding of a bird for foie gras illegal: "The only justification of this practice is tradition. But society progresses. Tradition doesn't make something right." The large and prominent article presents a great opportunity for appreciative letters to the New York Times. We can address the cruelty of foie gras or of any mass produced animal product, and note the pleasures of a vegetarian diet. A great source of information on foie gras is: http://www.gourmetcruelty.com/ You'll find loads of information on other farming cruelty at: http://www.factoryfarming.com The New York Times takes letters at: letters@nytimes.com Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. ALF -- ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT ON CBS EVENING NEWS 9/23/03 Tonight's (Tuesday, September 23) CBS Evening News with Dan Rather aired a story on Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front activity. Correspondent Bill Whitaker said that "In all, these extremists claim more than $100 million of destruction across the country." On ALF activity: "Animal rights activists bombed a Bay Area genetics lab and released 10,000 mink in Washington." and "San Francisco chef Laurent Manrique felt his family threatened when animal rights radicals defaced his shop and sent video of his wife and infant with the words, 'we're watching' -- all because he serves goose liver." There were some strong quotes from former ELF spokesperson Craig Rosebraugh. He said, "The organization has never harmed a single person." And, "Driving a hummer, a $50,000 GM tool for the rich, getting 10 miles to the gallon -- that is violence. Going in and torching those and getting rid of those is an act of liberation and should be applauded." The web version of the story is very similar to the version that aired on TV. You'll find it at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/23/eveningnews/main574803.shtml Unfortunately, this is one of those times when the activism rather than the animals was definitely the story. I urge people to write quick, very polite notes to CBS asking that the station give coverage to the issues being protested rather than this particular method of protest. I urge politeness in order to counter the image of animal rights activists that is being presented in the piece. You'll
find a link for 'Feedback" at the very bottom of the page cited
above, or go straight to: http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/feedback/fb_news_form.shtml
and choose CBS Evening News from the pull-down menu. TIME MAGAZINE ON FOIE GRAS OPEN RESCUE -- 9/29/03 edition The latest edition of Time Magazine, September 29, page 20, has a terrific short article on the recent open rescue at a foie gras duck farm in California. The story, by Terry McCarthy, is headed "Ducks Of The World, Unite!" You'll find it on line at: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101030929-488814,00.html However it is short enough for me to share the whole article: "Under cover of darkness, a band of environmental activists last week went straight for the gourmet table. They raided a foie gras farm near Stockton, Calif., and "rescued" four ducks whose livers were headed for posh restaurants. The operation was not a total success; one duck died during the raid. But the effort, the fourth attack against the foie gras business in California since July, represents the latest campaign by animal-rights activists. The expensive delicacy is produced in the U.S. only in California and in New York's Hudson Valley. "The technique is to force-feed ducks with cornmeal through a tube put down their throats several times a day, causing their livers to enlarge. Guillermo Gonzalez, owner of the Stockton foie gras farm, says the procedure doesn't harm the birds, whose livers are enlarged naturally in the wild before they migrate. Counters Sarahjane Blum, a spokeswoman for http://www.GourmetCruelty.com : 'If this were being done to dogs or cats, the producers would without a doubt be in prison for animal cruelty.' Anyone for caviar?" It is a shame the piece ends with another reference to animal cruelty -- it is hard to know if the irony was intended by the reporter, but it will surely be missed by most Time Magazine readers who are unlikely to consider the suffering of fish. The caviar reference, however, is clearly meant to suggest that a change in diet might be called for in the face of egregious animal cruelty. And it is wonderful that the article provides the link to "Gourmet Cruelty," a website I hope everybody will check out. Please send Time Magazine an appreciative letter for this article. You might want to focus on foie gras cruelty or note the cruelty in almost every animal based food and make a pitch for veggie diets. Time Magazine takes letters at: letters@time.com Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED ON FACTORY FARMING 9/20/03 The Saturday, September 20, New York Times (pg. A13) carried a terrific op-ed piece by Robert F Kennedy Jr. and Eric Schaeffer headed "An Ill Wind From Factory Farms." We read "These farms emit an enormous amount of pollutants that taint air, land and water. Their noxious gases, studies suggest, contribute to respiratory problems, gastrointestinal diseases, eye infections, depression and other ailments. " Kennedy and Schaeffer give details of the current administration's support for factory farmers: "Under the Clinton administration, the E.P.A. began ordering farms to measure emissions and apply for Clean Air Act permits just as factories do....But the Bush administration ordered such enforcement investigations stopped two years ago....Now the E.P.A. is considering a request from the pig and poultry conglomerates to be shielded from Clean Air Act enforcement for a few more years while industry begins to measure its own emissions. The amnesty agreement would not require a corporate farm to clean up air pollution even if the agency found that pollution was at dangerously high levels." The op-ed is strong and informative with regard to the environmental concerns about factory farming. But it ignores animal cruelty. We can take up that issue and make sure it gets addressed in the Times with letters to the editor discussing the cruelty. You'll find the op-ed on line at: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/20/opinion/20KENN.html?ex=1065075507&ei=1&en=99555b62cbe5bd33 A great source of information on the cruelty of factory farming is (including a distressing photo gallery) is: http://www.factoryfarming.com/ The New York Times takes letters to the editor at: letters@nytimes.com Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. FOIE GRAS OPEN RESCUE IN LOS ANGELES TIMES -- 9/18/03 There is a beautiful story of an open rescue on the front page of the Metro Section of the Thursday, September 18, Los Angeles Times ( part 2, page 1.) For those unfamiliar with the term "Open Rescue," an open rescue is different from an ALF raid as the activists do not wear masks to hide their identity, and they try to do as little property damage as possible. The focus is on saving some animals and getting good footage or photos for the press. Open rescues tend to get more sympathetic press than ALF raids and they often succeed. I use the word "sympathetic" rather than "positive" since I think it is fair to say that the recent anti foie gras activity in San Francisco got much press which was, at first, not particularly sympathetic to our cause but seems to have had a very positive effect. Today's LA Times article, by Marcelo Rodriguez, is headed "Activists Take Ducks From Foie Gras Shed; Birds were destined to be killed to provide a culinary delicacy. Business owner is outraged." The article provides information on the cruelty of foie gras production: "To the four activists, animal cruelty is intrinsic to the production of foie gras, which requires ducks to be pneumatically force-fed large amounts of a corn-based meal in order to enlarge their livers. The controversial feeding practice takes place twice a day over the four-week period before a duck is slaughtered." The activists are portrayed as brave and compassionate. Rodriguez writes about one activist whispering to the ducks as they struggle in their transport containers, "We're almost there, little ones." The death of one of the ducks, at the vets office, and the sadness of the activists is portrayed in a touching manner. There is no implication, in this article, that animal rights activists are the terrorists that the FBI suggests. It gives highly sympathetic coverage to our cause and even to the illegal activity some engage in to pursue it. You can read the whole article on line at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-foiegras18sep18,1,7982772.story It provides a nice opportunity for appreciative, pro veggies letters to the Los Angeles Times. The Times letters at: Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.
FAIRNESS STUDY ON MONKEYS -- USA Today and New York Times 8/18/03 A study of brown capuchin monkeys at the Emory Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta has shown that they notice when they are treated unfairly. The story has captured the press. It is in at least twenty papers, both in and out of the United States, including the Thursday, September 18, edition of the national newspaper USA Today (page 2a), and The New York Times (pg A 27). It is on the front pages of the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Sydney Morning Herald. Tim Friend, in USA Today, describes the experiment: "When pairs of females were both given cucumbers in exchange for their tokens everything was fine. But when one capuchin saw the other receive a grape while it received only a cucumber, the seeds of unrest were sown. "In some cases, the monkey that was being short-changed would pay its token but refuse to accept the cucumber. Sometimes it would refuse to pay and would stop participating in the experiment. Refusing a food item of any type is very rare behavior in a capuchin, Brosnan says. "In more extreme cases, when one capuchin saw the other receive a grape for free -- without having to pay the token -- the unfairly treated capuchin would throw away its cucumber although it had paid for it. "Brosnan and de Waal say the behavior strongly suggests that the sense of fairness is an evolved trait that predates humans and may be widespread in social primates. Such a trait would be needed to foster the cooperation essential for survival, including gathering food and defending against predators. The scientists are conducting similar experiments in chimpanzees. "Brosnan says they have not looked at other species, but she suspects the trait could be present in any social species that displays cooperative behavior, from guppies to whales to lions to wild dogs." They haven't looked at other species, but no doubt similar vital experiments will be conducted on other species. The study shows that other primates have a sense of justice similar to ours -- not so surprising. What should be surprising is that those so similar to us are not allowed to be free, but instead are captured or bred and kept imprisoned for painful biomedical experiments or for experiments such as this. The extensively covered story presents an opportunity for letters to the editor, of many papers, questioning animal captivity and testing. Below, I will provide links to the story in national papers or those papers where it was displayed most prominently, as well as links for letters to the editor. If you need help finding the story, or an email address for a letter to the editor, in your local paper, please feel free to ask for my assistance. USA TODAY: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-09-17-monkey-usat_x.htm Letters: editor@usatoday.com NEW YORK TIMES: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/18/science/18MONK.html Letters: letters@nytimes.com ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION (front page): http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/0903/18fairness.html Letters: letters@ajc.com SYDNEY MORNING HERALD (front page, Sept 18): http://www.smh.com.au/frontpage/2003/09/18/frontpage.pdf Letters: letters@smh.fairfax.com.au Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.
CANCER SOCIETY SPONSORS CATTLE BARON'S BALL -- AJC ARTICLE 9/17/03 The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine tells us, "Despite overwhelming evidence that meat consumption dramatically increases cancer risk, the American Cancer Society (ACS) raises countless dollars each year by sponsoring beef promotions called 'Cattle Barons’ Balls' in more than 50 cities nationwide." "One such event is scheduled for October 11 in Atlanta, the headquarters for the American Cancer Society." The Wednesday, September 17, Atlanta Journal Constitution has an article covering the controversy (pg 2E). Richard Elredge writes, "The American Cancer Society is trying to sidestep a potential cowpie in the path of the nonprofit organization's first-ever Atlanta Cattle Barons' Ball fund-raiser set for Oct. 11. "The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is calling for the cancer society to cancel its inaugural Cattle Barons' Ball here and in the 50 other U.S. cities where the fund-raiser has been held annually since the 1970s." There is a great quote from PCRM president Dr Neal Barnard, "It's no different than if the ACS held smoking marathons to raise money for lung cancer research." You can read the full article on line at: http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/0903/17ball.html It provides a nice opening for pro-veggie letters to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The paper takes letters at: Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. PCRM
has posted an alert about the issue on its website. PCRM asks us to write
to the president of the American Cancer Society urging that the event be
cancelled. You'll find more information on the subject, and contact
information for The American Cancer Society, at: http://www.pcrm.org/news/alert030909.html FOIE_GRAS CRUELTY INVESTIGATIVE TV STORY FOLLOWS ALF ATTACKS -- 9/16/03 In August, Animal Liberation Front vandals did about $60,000 worth of damage to a store restaurant soon to open in the San Francisco area, specializing in foie gras. The chef/owner's car was also damaged, and he was sent a threatening letter, with video-tape of his family at home. This is the sort of action that the mainstream of our movement finds very disturbing as it can make animal oppressors appear to be the victims in the eyes of the media and the public. At the time of the attacks I noted that the story made the San Francisco Chronicle front page, included a few lines on animal suffering, and therefore generated some discussion about foie gras, an issue generally ignored except in articles noting how delicious it is. The front page article was followed, a few days later (8/22) by a Chronicle story headed, "Chefs in stew over foie gras; Some rethink menu after violence over controversial fare." It noted that some chefs were pulling foie gras off their menus. You can read it on line at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/08/22/BA266523.DTL As I typed this alert, a San Francisco Activist (she is with a mainstream group so, shush shush, I mustn't reveal her identity) called to tell me that a store down the block used to have prominently displayed signs advertising foie gras which have just been taken down. Last night, Tuesday, September 16, ABC-7 in San Francisco carried an "I-Team" investigative report on the foie gras industry. You will find the web version on line at: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/091603_iteam_foie_gras.html The reporter makes no attempt to hide that the vandalism inspired the story. The opening lines include: "But few people have seen how foie gras is made, and that's the motive behind this recent spree of vandalism. A word of warning: some of the images are disturbing, but we feel it's important to see the truth for yourself. " We learn, "At least three times a day, a worker grabs each duck, shoves a long, thick metal tube down its throat and an air pump shoots up to a pound of corn into the duck. " The foie gras chef, Manrique, is shown giving out misinformation about the process. The reporter, Dan Noyes, says, "The impression you gave me just a moment before though was a little better than that, I mean, you said they basically put it into the mouth not very far. That thing's going well down into their throat, all the way to their crop." He continues: "The tube sometimes perforates the side of the duck's throat, causing scarring and other damage. And, the large amount of food has an impact." And later, "The activists found barrels of ducks that died before their livers could be harvested, others still barely alive. They also watched ducks too weak or overweight to defend themselves against the rats at Sonoma Foie Gras. Rats were eating these two ducks alive and you can see evidence of similar battles on several other ducks." There is more -- including photos! Check out the story at: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/091603_iteam_foie_gras.html And please thank the I-Team. Positive feedback will inspire similar coverage and follow-ups. The
I-Team takes comments at: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/news/iteam/email_iteam.html FORT WORTH STAR TELEGRAM ON DOG THEFT -- 9/16/03 The Tuesday, September 16, Fort Worth Star Telegram carried a prominent article on dog theft. The article, by Alex Branch, is headed "Dog thefts victimize pets, owners; Thieves often sell pit bulls to people who watch them fight, but other types of dogs are sometimes sold to research firms." It appeared on the front page of the Metro Section (Page 1B.) The title really says it all. However we learn some more details thanks to an interview with Chris De Rose, head of Last Chance for Animals, a Los Angeles based organization that focuses on this issue (and many others). You can learn more about LCA at: http://www.LCAnimal.org De Rose says that about 2 million companion animals are stolen annually. He says that pedigree dogs can end up in puppy mills or research labs. There are some good quotes from him: "I'd say it's a big problem, but unfortunately, most people don't realize it until they become a victim of it....All it takes these people are a few seconds. If they see an opportunity, they take it. They'll reach into your backyard." You can read the whole article on line at: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/6783817.htm You may want to thank the reporter for covering this issue -- appreciative feedback can lead to more animal friendly stories: alexbranch@star-telegram.com The
article opens the door for animal friendly letters to the editor. The
mention of dogs being sold to mass breeding facilities can be used as an
opener for letters on spay-neuter. Sales to pitbull fighting rings point
to the need for better law enforcement in that field of horrendous
cruelty. And the sale to vivisection labs can lead to questions regarding
the ethics of animal experimentation. Do beloved pets suffer more than any
other dogs in vivisection labs? If you wouldn't want it happening to your
dog, should it be happening to any dog? RESULTS OF ECSTASY STUDY THAT KILLED BABOON RETRACTED -- Baltimore Sun 9/6/03 Last September I sent out a DawnWatch alert about a Johns Hopkins University study on the drug Ecstasy. Two baboons, out of ten primates tested, had died during the experiment. I know the American public mistakenly tends to view animal testing as a necessary evil that is used almost exclusively to find cures for life threatening diseases. I wondered if the public might question how necessary and how evil, when other primates were being killed in tests on illegal drugs. This month, experimenter George Ricaurte had to retract the results because, oops, he had used a mislabeled bottle and given the baboons methamphetamine instead of ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine). The mistake was discovered when the scientific team failed, despite numerous attempts, to repeat the experimental results and kill more primates. The story was on the front page of the Baltimore Sun on Saturday, September 6. Unfortunately I missed it at the time, and missed, for a while, about 40 stories on the issue that have appeared in various publications. Why? Because though I have dozens of search terms in various search engines every day, they all have something to do with animal rights, or animal welfare or animal cruelty. But though I now see the story has been widely discussed in the press, I cannot find a single reporter who has been led by the event to examine the ethical issues around some of the heavily funded animal experiments taking place in this country's prestigious institutions. A further article on the subject, by Jonathon Bor, appeared in The Friday, September 13 Baltimore Sun (pg 3A) and (the same article) in yesterday's Los Angeles Times (Monday, September 15, part 6, page 6.) Bor informs us that a second study has been retracted due to the labeling mix-up. You can read the story on line at: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-ecstasy15sep15,1,6080075.story or http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.ecstasy12sep12,0,4334859.story?coll=bal-news-nation or this TINY URL might work better: http://tinyurl.com/nkwf Jon Carroll, a San Francisco Chronicle columnist also did a piece on the subject in yesterday's paper (Sept 15, page D8.) In response to the scientist's comment that they receive hundreds of drugs and it is not customary to check them, he writes, "OK, slow down. Read that again. We get hundreds of chemicals in here, in this scientific laboratory where we analyze the effect of chemicals on primate subjects, and we do not bother to check the chemicals. Nope, we just read the labels, get out the syringes, and hello monkey want some whatever-this-is? "Doesn't that give you faith in science?" A good question regarding protocol -- but still, no comment on the ethics of doing such tests in the first place, let alone trying to replicate the results. You can read Carroll's column at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/09/15/DD179310.DTL The Observer published a piece by Jo Revill on September 7, (pg 3), and edited version of which appeared in Australia's The Age on(September 13). Revill notes, "In academic circles, the mistake is a severe embarrassment to Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland, which attracts millions of dollars of research funding." You'll find the story at: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1037007,00.html or http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/12/1063341768941.html The Observer followed up with a brief article on by Rick Weiss on September 11 (pg 28) headed, "Agony over ecstasy blunder." The current economist (Sept 13-19, pg 73-74) has a major story in its Science and Technology section headed "Withdrawal symptoms." The article gives us an interesting detail on the experiment: the two baboons killed by the methamphetamine, thought to be ecstasy, weren't the only experimental subjects to die -- they all did: "Although, like the vials, the monkeys used in the original experiments were long gone, some of their brains had been frozen for further research. When these were analysed, they were found to contain methamphetamine, not Ecstasy." You can read that article on line at: http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2051669 The New Scientist has the story on line at: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994139 And you can read the original experimental report on line at: http://mdma.net/toxicity/ricaurte.html I will provide contact information below for the various publications cited above. WITH LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT THE QUESTIONABLE ETHICS OF KILLING PRIMATES DURING TESTS ON ILLEGAL RECREATIONAL DRUGS ARE NOT IGNORED. The Los Angeles Times takes letters at: letters@latimes.com The Baltimore Sun takes letters at: letters@baltsun.com The San Francisco Chronicle takes letters at: letters@sfchronicle.com The Observer takes letters at: letters@observer.co.uk The Age takes letters at: letters@theage.com.au The Economist takes letters at: letters@economist.com The New Scientist takes letters at: letters@newscientist.com Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. MIAMI SEAQUARIUM -- MIAMI HERALD FRONT PAGE -- 9/13/03 The Miami Seaquarium is "home" to Lolita, the last surviving Orca from a group captured 33 years ago in Puget sound. The battle for her release is documented in a wonderful, multi award winning film, "Lolita: Slave to Entertainment." The Seaquarium has been in the news for the last few days, making the front page of the Miami Herald on Saturday, September 13. The front page story, by Andrew Viglucci, tells us, "Miami-Dade County building officials closed sections of the venerable Miami Seaquarium on Friday and threatened to shut down the entire attraction after surprise inspections uncovered scores of safety violations in its public areas." Venerable? It continues, "The violations include exposed electrical wiring, crumbling concrete and loose, corroded guardrails on stairways and viewing decks -- including the bridge over the shark moat." We learn that the stands surrounding the park's "star attraction, Lolita the Killer Whale" were shut down for a day due to corroded guardrails and deteriorated canopy support beams. County building chief Charles Danger threatened to close the park down completely if other electrical violations were not repaired by today, Monday. Currently, the top story on the Miami Herald website, also appearing on the Sun-Sentinel website, is an Associated Press update on the situation. We learn that several violations have been fixed and the park has remained open. The story includes a comment on Lolita: "Various animal activist groups have protested at the park for several years, mostly regarding the killer whale Lolita, one of the park's performers." The Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram website has a shorter version, without the Lolita reference, and the Washington Times website has a different article on the situation. Since papers like to publish letters commenting on current news stories, the Miami Seaquarium's safety violations and concern for human visitors can be used as a good opportunity to remind readers of Lolita's plight. Check out http://www.miamiseaprison.com to find out what the Seaquarium would rather you didn't know about the facility. The link to the Lolita documentary, on the left side of the page, will lead you to a terrific trailer which might inspire you to order the film. The film is superb. You can read the AP story at: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/6777194.htm or The shorter version on the Dallas Fort Worth Star Telegram website is at: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/6779936.htm The Washington Times article is at: http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20030914-082243-6362r.htm Please send letters to the Miami Herald at: HeraldEd@herald.com The Sun-Sentinel at: letters@sun-sentinel.com The Star-Telegram at: letters@star-telegram.com or The Washington Times at: letters@washtimes.com Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. DENVER DINING COLUMNIST PLUGS MEET YOUR MEAT 9/11/03 To avoid swamping my subscribers with email, I would usually send out a column in a local weekly only to people in the area. But there is a column in the current Denver Westword, published September 11, that I thought everybody would want to see. A story of an awakening, rather than one written by the committed can be so inspiring. Jason Sheehan writes a dining column called "Bite Me." The current one includes a discussion of PETA's "Meet Your Meat" video: "When the Alec Baldwin-narrated Meet Your Meat, a DVD from PETA, arrived in my mailbox the other day, it looked like money in the bank -- an easy couple of column inches poking fun at the Hollywood star and lefty mouthpiece, then closing with a brief screed on how much I hate it when celebrities try to tell me how to live my life. Of course, being a good little journalist, I figured I'd better actually watch the thing first. You know, just in case Alec actually had something to say. "What followed was probably the most uncomfortable thirteen minutes of my life. Worse than getting my first look at hard-core porn at far too young an age. Worse than when one of my psychopathic friends talked me into watching one of those Faces of Death videos. Worse than an all-night marathon of Suzanne Somers Thighmaster infomercials. It was everything you might expect from a PETA -produced effort -- full of jerky, poorly lit footage of people doing the most horrible shit to animals that you can imagine. Yeah, it was biased. It worked hard to make viewers believe that every cow bound for our tables is a tortured, broken-leg cripple covered with pus-filled tumors; that every pig meets its end screaming and still half-alive in the boiling water of the hair-removal vats; and that the only mercy a veal calf ever gets is one behind the ear from the barrel of a pneumatic bolt gun. "But it wasn't the bias that bothered me. Or the lies of omission and the exaggeration. All of that I expected. What sickened me was that much of it was true. Every horror PETA showed was an actual one -- rare (at least I hope to God as rare as I think it is), but real. This is the price we pay for having 99-cents-a-pound ground chuck in the grocery store; for a plentiful supply of cheap milk, cheap eggs, fat steaks and nice, gleaming piles of hormone-loaded chicken breasts. "And even though this was a piece made explicitly to shock and disgust meat-eaters like me -- using only worst-case examples to shame us into thinking twice about picking up that warm, greasy bag of double cheeseburgers on the way home -- I can't entirely fault the PETA folks for their fervor. They may have chosen only the worst, only the most graphic and most disgusting images they could find, but there's truth in them. Ugly and vile as the film is, I think everyone should see it. I think third-graders should be made to watch it before lunch. I think it should be run on a continuous-loop tape for auditoriums full of people with their eyelids peeled back, Clockwork Orange style, just to remind us how far removed we've become from the chain of breeding and killing that puts food on our tables every night. Sheehan is not vegetarian (yet) or recommending that everyone should be. He goes on to discuss the somber mood of the kitchen he used to work in when rabbits were killed. He notes that he has ordered beef and was therefore telling the meat guy "to go and assassinate me an animal." He writes, "I am as much a murderer as any of the sadists captured in that DVD. All carnivores are." He doesn't recommend "throwing up your hands and going veggie." He says you should "Make your meals count. Don't waste them. Don't disrespect what died for you by eating crap, and don't make the sacrifice vain by wasting anything you're given." I think most people reading this DawnWatch alert would prefer that Sheehan did recommend that his readers went veggie. But given where he started from, ready to poke fun at Baldwin and PETA, the column is a milestone. Sheehan, a long-term "carnivore," is obviously a potential friend to the animals. Thank heavens he decided to "be a good little journalist" and watch the video. If he gets his wish, and Meet Your Meat is played in every school, the world might well go veggie fast. You can read his column at: http://www.westword.com/issues/2003-09-11/bite.html/1/index.html And you too can watch Meet Your Meat at: http://www.meetyourmeat.com/ You may want to forward that link to some of your friends. I got the link with a note from PETA's vegan campaign coordinator assuring me that everything on Meet Your Meat is perfectly legal and standard, not out-of-the-ordinary occurrences. Please take a moment to send a letter to the editor commending Sheehan's column and perhaps suggesting that throwing up your hands and going veggie might be a great idea. The Westword takes letters at: http://www.westword.com/feedback/index_html?author_email=feedback@westword.com FANTASTIC FARMED ANIMAL ADVOCACY COVERAGE IN WASHINGTON POST 9/8/03 The DC animal rights group, Compassion Over Killing, is featured in a lead article on the front page of the 'Style' section of the Monday, September 8, Washington Post. Risking his wrath, I can't resist sharing the comment I got from Vegan Outreach's Matt Ball (http://www.veganoutreach.org ) when I sent him the link to the piece. He summed it up beautifully: "Unf--kingbelievable." Who would have thought farmed animal protection would ever be deemed stylish enough to be the lead story in the Washington Post 'Style' section? The Post has the story available on line at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40372-2003Sep7.html I am pleased that COK has scanned the front page of the style section onto its website so that those of us not in DC can get a better idea of the look and likely impact of the story: http://www.cok.net/feat/article-wp-cover.php That is just the front page! COK's founder, Paul Shapiro, tells me there are actually six full-color photos in the print edition, including this one: http://www.isecruelty.com/cgi-bin/photos.cgi?novercrowd2.jpg When you take a look at the photos, I hope those unfamiliar with COK's work will also take a detour to look around the rest of the COK sites to become more familiar with the group. COK's work is exemplary. I will briefly summarize the Post piece for those who don't make it to the newspaper's website: It appears on page CO1, is written by Washington Post staff writer David Montgomery, and is headed, "Animal Pragmatism; Compassion Over Killing Wants to Make the Anti-Meat Message a Little More Palatable." It opens with a description of what passers-by see when they come across a COK FaunaVision presentation on Thursday or Friday evenings outside a DC metro station: "They see sows living in crates so narrow they can't turn around. "Chickens caged for life so tightly they can't flap their wings. "Baby chicks getting part of their beaks burned off. "Pigs and cows dangling from chains on the slaughterhouse line, twitching." Montgomery contrasts the images with the "sunny style" of the COK activists working the crowd. He writes "They're like missionaries for a vegan God who is not angry. She'll forgive you for sinning with that Egg McMuffin, so long as you are sincerely working toward a better breakfast. Hell exists -- it's there on the FaunaVision video -- but salvation is as close as the vegetarian starter kits, recipe books and restaurant guides that the group hands out while FaunaVision rolls. "They're that particularly Washington breed of true believer: more pragmatic than absolutist." He describes COK style activism -- persuading restaurants and delis to add vegan dishes, and "filing complaints with the FDA, USDA and FTC alleging that the egg industry is misleading consumers about hen welfare." As a testimony to the group's effectiveness he points to a headline in an egg industry newsletter: "Compassion Over Killing: Demonstrating that you do not need to be big to have an impact." Montgomery notes that COK decided to focus it efforts on farmed animal suffering since, "Something like 99 percent of animals killed by humans become meals." He writes, "COK decided the most efficient way to reduce animal suffering is to get more people to stop eating them, and advocate better treatment of creatures raised for slaughter. The tiniest bit of progress there would do the most good for the most animals." There is a terrific quote from Paul Shapiro: "We've come to realize that we often persuade more people by being friendly than by being hostile. This isn't a matter of stopping these 'sadists' from harming animals, because most of the time they aren't sadists. Instead of telling people you are causing animal abuse, I try to turn it around and make the proposition that you can end animal abuse. Invite them to join this movement of compassionate people who want to do what we can do to reduce the amount of violence in the world." Describing Shapiro's "uninflected voice" as he imparts gruesome information, the article itself shares that information with readers: "These cows are one day old. They've been stolen from their mother. Some of them have their umbilical cords still attached to their bodies. . . . Right now they're castrating this pig with no painkiller." And Montgomery has also chosen to simply impart information on the type of suffering that COK works to alleviate: "Most laying hens live in group cages and are allotted significantly less room to stand on than a sheet of typing paper. They never touch the ground, run, flap their wings, see the sun. As chicks, the top halves of their beaks are trimmed with a hot knife. When the hens have reached the end of their natural laying cycle, rather than immediately being slaughtered, they may be denied food for days, causing them to lose as much as 30 percent of their weight and inducing their bodies to molt and lay more eggs." There is an important discussion on the issue of space for egg-laying hens. Industry, attempting to appease animal advocates and consumers who are becoming increasingly aware of the cruelty of the egg industry, convened a panel of university scientists who specialize in poultry production and welfare. We read, "The panel said the industry's average amount of space for each caged hen -- 48 square inches -- was insufficient. The scientists said hens should have at least 67 square inches." We learn that the industry has set guidelines and launched a marketing program based on the panel's work, and that "egg cartons of producers that an outside team has declared to be in compliance with the guidelines can carry an 'Animal Care Certified' logo with a check mark." Yet we also learn from the article, "A sheet of typing paper is 93.5 square inches" and that "hens need 65 to 83 square inches merely for 'standing comfortably and resting,' 144 square inches to stretch their wings and 303 square inches to flap their wings." That should make readers question the 67 square inches sufficient for the Animal Care Certified logo. Compassion Over Killing runs a website, http://www.EggScam.com , devoted to letting consumers know how misleading the logo is. It includes shocking photos from an Animal Care Certified facility. In the last few weeks, much media coverage of animal rights issues has focused on Animal Liberation Front activity. I have been pleased to see the press since it brought a line or two on animal suffering to the front pages of major newspapers and national news networks. But the focus of those stories was generally not on the suffering of the animals, it was on the attacks, the illegal activity. This story, portraying those who help animals (often breaking the law to get footage and rescue some animals) in a positive light, and also making sure readers learn about the cruelty of the egg industry, is ideal. I smile as I think of the likely reaction of those in the egg industry. Please send the Washington Post appreciative letters to the editor. I know many reading this alert care about animal suffering but still eat animal products; if the story moves you towards rethinking your eating habits, I hope you will let the Post know. Those already vegan might spread the word on the pleasures of a cruelty free diet. The Washington Post takes letters at: letters@washpost.com Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE ANIMAL RIGHTS (FRONT PAGE) AND HUMANE HANDLING 9/6 -9/7/03 Over the weekend, animal rights was back on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle. A Saturday, September 6, front page story was headed, "Activists see more violence from extreme protesters." Then a story on Sunday (pg 4) was headed, "Humane handling taking hold on animal farms." According to the reporter who wrote Sunday's story, they are linked. Stacy Finz, who also penned the August 28 front page story on the Chiron Corp bombings, opened the Saturday article with: "The two pipe bomb explosions at an Emeryville biotechnology firm last week were part of a surge of extremism by animal rights and environmental militants that activists predict will increase as fringes of the movement grow more frustrated with peaceful protest." She notes that the FBI is taking the threat seriously. Since I last sent out a piece on the Chiron story, a group calling itself Revolutionary Cells has taken responsibility for the blasts. There are those in our movement who suspect the blasts were actually the work of agent provocateurs hoping to give animal rights activists bad press and to encourage an FBI crackdown on SHAC, which has targeted Chiron. Rod Coronado's stance, discussed later in the article, makes that proposition seem unlikely. (If you are not familiar with SHAC -- Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty -- check out: http://www.shacamerica.net ) Finz refers to various actions by environmental groups, then comments, "Some of the more strident environmentalists and animal rights advocates complain that it has become difficult to conduct peaceful demonstrations in the post-Sept. 11 era. When they demonstrate peacefully, they say, they're pelted with rubber bullets, doused with pepper spray, videotaped and generally harassed by police. Furthermore, they're tired of not getting results." She notes that SHAC is "dedicated to putting Huntingdon Life Sciences, a New Jersey research firm that experiments on animals and is accused by activists of being particularly cruel, out of business." And she quotes SHAC's Kevin Jonas, quoting John F. Kennedy: "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." Finz also includes quotes from Rod Coronado, the "unofficial spokesman for both the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)." She notes, on the possible use of explosives more often, "Coronado and other activists say it's likely. Although ELF and ALF are against hurting people, Coronado says there is a new crop of environmentalist radicals who think the groups' methods are too lightweight and want to kick it up a notch." The article ends with, "Coronado said he just hopes they take precautions not to hurt people." You can read the full article on line at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2003/09/06/MN258847.DTL The Sunday, September story on "humane handling" of farmed animals comes from reporter Kim Severson, who wrote the August 19 front page story on the foie gras restaurant vandalism, and an August 22 story headed, "Chefs in stew over foie gras. Some rethink menu after violence over controversial fare" (You can read the August 22 story at: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/08/22/BA266523.DTL .) Perhaps that writing connection helps explain credit given to the recent improvement in conditions for farmed animals: "And, like it or not, some of the credit goes to controversial animal-rights activists, including violent extremists in the Bay Area who set bombs outside an Emeryville biotechnology firm and recently vandalized a chef's home and business in the North Bay." Severson suggests that recent and upcoming changes in the treatment of farmed animals "could be the most significant since the federal slaughtering law of 1958 -- which required animals to be stunned before slaughtering -- and public opinion is the driving force." The article mentions an upcoming "certified humane raised and handled" label. However, Diane Halverson, farm animal adviser for the Animal Welfare Institute notes that the industry standards are really still supporting a bad system -- factory farming. She is quoted: "These are not animal-welfare standards, they are standards of cruelty." Severson writes: "Millions of hens live in tight cages, even though hens producing for McDonald's now have almost twice as much cage space -- 72 square inches. That's smaller than a 9 x 11-inch cake pan, but it means the chicken can sit down -- important for health. "On the other hand, most of the 9 billion broiler hens raised in the United States each year still live packed into large houses holding up to 70,000 birds, where air quality is poor, space is at a minimum, beaks are trimmed and the growth rate is so quick that many suffer from severe cardiovascular and leg problems. The new poultry industry guidelines are intended to solve some of these problems. "But is there any other way to provide enough meat at a price most Americans will pay without large-scale production? Large, comfy farms with lots of room for animals that are allowed to grow naturally are expensive, both in labor and in land, Mench said." (That is Joy Mench, director of the Center for Animal Welfare at UC Davis.) Unfortunately, giving up animal products is not mentioned as an option in the article. That's why we are glad the paper takes letters to the editor! The "Humane Handling" story can be found on the web at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/09/07/MN165897.DTL Either of those weekend stories can be used as launching points for letters commenting on the way our species treats others, and the alternatives available to us, such as vegetarianism, and cruelty free products. The San Francisco Chronicle takes letters at: letters@sfchronicle.com and notes "Please limit your letters to 200 or fewer words ... shorter letters have a better chance of being selected for publication." CBS AFFILIATE IN INDIANA AIRS VIOLENT ELEPHANT TRAINING FOOTAGE 9/3/03 While many stations still do fluff pieces on the circus, Indiana's WTHI Channel 10, the CBS affiliate serving Western Indiana and Eastern Illinois, has covered the arrival of the Carson and Barnes circus as the controversial issue that it is. You can see the web version of their latest (Sept 3) story at: http://www.wthitv.com/newsdet.asp?id=3632 I have just a handful of subscribers in Indiana, and not a huge number in Illinois, so I urge each of you to please take a moment to thank the station -- even a handful of positive comments will send a good message to the station, making it clear that viewers appreciate getting a chance to see the dark side of the circus. And please forward this to other animal people in the area. The station takes feedback at: http://www.wthitv.com/feedback.asp The following web page has links to more information on Carson and Barnes including the distressing elephant training footage. http://www.circuses.com/takeaction.html
ALICIA SILVERSTONE VEGAN ACTIVIST ON THE COVER OF SELF -- September 2003 edition The September issue of Self magazine, focused on fitness, has Alicia Silverstone on the cover. Here's the photo caption: "Alicia Silverstone: happier and healthier than ever. Her secret, p.38." Many on this list already know her secret, but it is thrilling to see it as the main thrust of the cover story of Self magazine. The page 38 article is headed, "Alicia, ascendant. Actress Alicia Silverstone has found her voice as an artist and an activist." The line from the interview that the editors singled out and splashed boldly across the page is, "Being vegan helped me realize I can say and do what I believe is right. That's powerful." The article mentions the insults hurled at Silverstone when she put on some weight coming out of her teens. She was sent to a dietician and trainer but Erin Bried reports, "Coincidentally, at around that time she became increasingly involved in animal rights, and her newfound personal mission had a far greater impact on her body than any diet program. "In 1998, Silverstone decided to go vegan, eating no meat, dairy, eggs, or any food made with animal products." Silverstone is quoted saying she loved animals but loved meat. But finally, "I couldn't bear the idea of what went on (in the meat industry). Then I realized I was part of it. I am the cause." The interview takes place at Real Food Daily in West Hollywood. Bried writes, "This woman loves to eat, which makes her transformation from french fry fiend to picture of health all the more remarkable." Silverstone notes that her ethical convictions were what made it possible to stay with a vegan diet -- she would not originally have had the willpower for the sake of her heath. And she says that the diet has paid off as her skin now glows and she has no trouble staying slim and feeling wonderful about her ethical choice and her body. The article has more, and is worth taking a look at, though is unfortunately not available on line. What a relief that Self didn't choose one of the Atkins diet actresses for the cover of its fitness special edition. And how delightful that the discussion of Alicia's vegan diet, even in this fitness issue, focuses just as much on the ethics as the health and weight benefits of a vegan diet. Self Magazine deserves some praise. There is a "Notes to Self" section: "We want to know what you love about the magazine -- and what we can do even better.... Email us at letters@self.com . Please include your name, address and phone number with your comments." Please
send Self an appreciative comment.
NEWSWEEK ARTICLE ON CHANGE IN STATUS OF NON HUMAN ANIMALS -- 9/1/03 edition The September 1 issue of Newsweek has a piece in the Periscope section, (page 10) headed "Pets: Filing for Fido." The piece, by Barney Gimbel, focuses on a couple whose two dogs were shot when they wandered into a neighbor's yard, and an Oregon judge's groundbreaking ruling allowing the couple to sue not just for the market value of the dogs but also for "loss of companionship." Gimbel reports, "In 2000 Tennessee became the first to pass a civil statute giving a pet owner the right to suffering and punitive damages." There is a contradiction in that sentence, an irony. We in the animal protection world are turning away from phrases such as "pet owner" in favor of guardianship language; we discard the notion of owning another living being as we discount the idea that his or her worth has anything to do with market value. Whether one can sue for loss of companionship upon the death of a nonhuman companion is a small issue in terms of the numbers affected when compared to factory farming or vegetarian issues, or vivisection. I send out this article, however, because its inclusion in Newsweek signals the movement of animal rights issues into the mainstream. Also, as companion animals come to be viewed by the law as sentient beings rather than property, we can expect repercussions, eventually, with regard to society's view and treatment of all nonhuman animals. I think it is reasonable to hope the change reflects a paradigm shift and will be mirrored, in time, by a change in status even for those animals now almost entirely unprotected -- farmed animals and the majority of laboratory animals. You can read the entire (brief) piece on line at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/956036.asp It presents an opportunity for animal friendly letters to the editor of Newsweek. Newsweek takes letters at: letters@newsweek.com Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published. Also, simply be scrolling to the bottom of the story and clicking on "7" indicating that you would recommend the story highly, you can, in just seconds, send a message to Newsweek and MSNBC saying that animal friendly stories are worth running. Please take a moment to go to the site and click. TIME MAGAZINE ON SOY -- 9/1/03 edition The September 1 issue of Time Magazine has an article by Sora Song, headed "Going Soy Crazy." The article appears on page 9 of some but not all editions of Time Magazine. It looks at the various claims being made about the benefits of eating soy and finds the evidence, for most of the claims, to be inconclusive. The article includes a couple of lines that should make cows very happy: "It may be some time before scientists can figure out whether soy lives up to its magical claims, but nutrition experts fully support adding soy to the average American diet — especially if it replaces something less healthful. For instance, consumers would do well to replace regular milk with fortified soy milk." You'll find loads of information on why milk is referred to as "less healthful" and why the cows would be happy to see us dump dairy at: And you'll find the whole Going Soy Crazy article on line at: http://www.time.com/time/connections/article/0,9171,1101030901-477928,00.html This article gives us a nice opportunity for pro-veggie, (and thanks to those lines, pro-vegan) letters to the editor. Time Magazine takes letters at: letters@time.com Always
include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a
letter to the editor. Shorter letters are more likely to be published.
RIFKIN PRO ANIMAL RIGHTS ARTICLE IN LOS ANGELES TIMES -- 9/1/03 The animal friendly op-ed that appeared in the August 16 Guardian has been reprinted, almost unchanged, in the September 1 edition of the Los Angeles Times (Metro, Part 2, page 15). It is headed "A Change of Heart About Animals; They are more like us than we imagined, scientists are finding." I have summarized in the alert appearing below headed Guardian Commentary. That alert provides a link to the article on the Guardian Website. Click here for the version on the Los Angeles Time website, though you may need to register to read it there. Such an article presents a terrific opportunity for animal friendly letters to the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times takes letters at letters@latimes.com. Always include your full name, address, and telephone number when sending a letter to the editor. |
