Month: September 2003

Vegetarian Admits Joy Over BSE

Vegetarian Rani Sheen opens an op-ed for Eye Weekly about the BSE/vCJD scare thusly,

As a lifelong vegetarian, I can’t help but feel perversely jovial about the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or Mad Cow disease) crisis in the Canadian beef industry.

. . .

The mechanics and demands of meat industries are selfish, without concern for animal or human suffering, and ultimately unsustainable. If the threat of BSE can give people a scare, and a chance to reflect on the many problems inherent in consuming the products of meat farming, then bring it on. And now I feel too vegetarian for words, so I will go quietly back to my (disease-free) salad, where I belong.

I cannot imagine many other people admitting to feeling even perverse joy over the deaths of more than 100 people. It must take a special sort of person to maintain such high standards.

Source:

The bright side of Mad Cow. Rani Sheen, Eye Weekly, August 21, 2003.

Israeli Supreme Court Bans Force Feeding of Foie Gras

Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled on August 11 that the force feeding of geese and ducks in the production of foie gras violates that country’s Animal Welfare Law.

A group called Concern for Helping Animals in Israel filed a lawsuit in 2001 against foie gras producers in Israel claiming that the force feeding of approximately 800,000 animals each year violated the Animal Welfare Law.

Israel is the world’s third largest producer of foie gras, and the industry employs about 600 people. There are about 100 farms producing foie gras, with about 45 percent of those using force feeding.

Those currently using force feeding will have until at least March 2005 to develop alternatives.

Sources:

Israel court cans foie gras farms. BBC, August 13, 2003.

High Court rules against force-feeding geese. Stuart Winer, The Jerusalem Post, August 13, 2003.

Court bans fattening of geese for foie gras. National Post (Canada), August 12, 2003.

Animal Rights Foundation of Florida Protests Against Hermit Crab Sales

The Boca Raton News reports that on August 15 activist with the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida showed up at the Town Center Mall to protest against a kiosk there selling hermit crabs.

Animal Rights Foundation of Florida outreach director Fred Ellis told the Boca Raton News that,

It [selling hermit crabs] sends the message to kids that animals are here for us to use and abuse on a whim and they’re not. They belong in the wild, not locked in a plastic box.

ARFF communications assistant Loretta Murray added that,

They[hermit crabs] don’t reproduce in captivity so every crab in Crab Buddies kiosk was ripped away from his or her home and family.

Hermit crabs are apparently a recent fad in the area, and sell at kiosks for $20-$50 apiece.

Source:

Protestors get crabby at Town Center Mall. Kelli Kennedy, Boca Raton News, August 16, 2003.

Michigan House Bill No. 5029 (Dove Hunting)

HOUSE
BILL No. 5029

August 13, 2003, Introduced by Rep. Tabor and referred
to the Committee on Conservation and Outdoor Recreation.

A bill to amend 1994 PA 451,
entitled

“Natural resources and
environmental protection act,”

by amending section 40103 (MCL
324.40103), as amended by 2000 PA

191; and to repeal acts and
parts of acts.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE
OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

1 Sec. 40103. (1) “Game”
means any of the following animals

2 but does not include privately
owned cervidae species located on

3 a registered cervidae livestock
facility as that term is defined

4 in the privately owned cervidae
producers marketing act:

5 (a) Badger.

6 (b) Bear.

7 (c) Beaver.

8 (d) Bobcat.

9 (e) Brant.

10 (f) Coot.

 

1 (g) Coyote.

2 (h) Crow.

3 (i) Deer.

4 (j) Duck.

5 (k) Elk.

6 (l) Fisher.

7 (m) Florida gallinule.

8 (n) Fox.

9 (o) Geese.

10 (p) Hare.

11 (q) Hungarian partridge.

12 (r) Marten.

13 (s) Mink.

14 (t) Moose.

15 (u) Mourning dove.

16 (v) (u)
Muskrat.

17 (w) (v)
Opossum.

18 (x) (w)
Otter.

19 (y) (x)
Pheasant.

20 (z) (y)
Quail.

21 (aa) (z)
Rabbit.

22 (bb) (aa)
Raccoon.

23 (cc) (bb)
Ruffed grouse.

24 (dd) (cc)
Sharptailed grouse.

25 (ee) (dd)
Skunk.

26 (ff) (ee)
Snipe.

27 (gg) (ff)
Sora rail.



1 (hh) (gg)
Squirrel.

2 (ii) (hh)
Weasel.

3 (jj) (ii)
Wild turkey.

4 (kk) (jj)
Woodchuck.

5 (ll) (kk)
 Woodcock.

6 (mm) (ll) Virginia
rail.

7 (2) “Interim order of
the department” means an order of the

8 department issued under section
40108.

9 (3) “Kind” means
an animal’s sex, age, or physical

10 characteristics.

11 (4) “Normal agricultural
practices” means generally accepted

12 agricultural and management
practices as defined by the

13 commission of agriculture.

14 (5) “Open season”
means the dates during which game may be

15 legally taken.

16 (6) “Parts” means
any or all portions of an animal, including

17 the skin, plumage, hide,
fur, entire body, or egg of an animal.

18 (7) “Protected”
or “protected animal” means an animal or kind

19 of animal that is designated
by the department as an animal that

20 shall not be taken.

21 (8) “Residence”
means a permanent building serving as a

22 temporary or permanent home.
Residence may include a cottage,

23 cabin, or mobile home, but
does not include a structure designed

24 primarily for taking game,
a tree blind, a tent, a recreational

25 or other vehicle, or a camper.

26 Enacting section 1. Section
40110 of the natural resources

27 and environmental protection
act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.40110, is

1 repealed.

Steve Hindi Admonishes Activists for Not Sufficiently Supporting His Pet Project

Showing Animals Respect and Kindness’ Steve Hindi sent out a letter to supporters of his group chiding activists and groups for not sufficiently supporting his pet project, SHARK’s Tiger video truck,

Over the last two and a half years that it has crisscrossed the United States, SHARK’s Tiger video truck has proven itself to be the most effective weapon of compassionate and nonviolent direct action in the animal protection movement. The Tiger has graphically exposed a long and still growing list of animal abuses, including but not limited to rodeos, bullfighting, slaughterhouses, the fur industry, Korean dog torture/slaughter, dolphin slaughter, circuses and most recently, shoemaker Adidas’ support of the mass-murder of kangaroos in Australia.

. . .

It is a mystery to me why the animal protection movement has not jumped on the effort to bring the message of compassion out to the uninformed masses. Only one other truck close to the scale of the Tiger has been built, and interestingly it was again by a small organization run by lawyer Lori Peterson in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Although SHARK applauds the use of smaller vans as display vehicles by smaller organizations, the movement needs the “heavy weaponry” represented by a large Tiger-type vehicle.

I find the lack of forward momentum in this area to be indicative of a lack of leadership, dedication and commitment. Hundreds of millions of dollars come into this movement every year. Yet, a tiny fraction of that money at best goes to bring our message from the animal rights conferences and meetings, out to the masses. This is unacceptable. There should be no higher priority than getting the issues and images of animal abuse out to the public.

SHARK can wait no longer for others to pick up the ball. Therefore, I am proud and excited to announce SHARK’s intent to build two more Tiger trucks, with completion expected before the end of the year. We also intend to upgrade the original Tiger to an even more effective and invincible weapon of nonviolence.

I suspect that Hindi here is vastly over-estimating the effect that the Tiger truck and similar efforts have at promoting animal rights, especially since it targets people who are likely not ideal recipients for the animal rights message — is targeting the animal rights message at people attending a rodeo, for example, really an efficient way to push Hindi’s agenda? Color me skeptical. There has not, after all, been any sudden massive grass roots movement against rodeos in America.

Source:

E-mail communication. Steve Hindi, August 2003.

SHAC Activist Receives Suspended Sentence in Japan

Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty activist Dawn Hurst was sentenced to a three-year prison sentence that the judge in the case then suspended for five years.

Hurst, 31, is a British citizen who was convicted of stealing a dog and dozens of videotapes from research laboratories in Japan between 2001 and 2002.

Unfortunately, Judge Satoshi Shibayama apparently fell hook, line and sinker for Hurst’s repentance routine, explaining he suspended her sentence because she had sincerely repented of her crimes.

Hurst, of course, was only arrested because she travelled to Japan in April with other SHAC activists to protest at a pharmaceutical trade show being held there.

It’s amazing that they were able to convict Hurst at all since, according to statements at the time of her arrest by SHAC spokeswoman Heather James, Hurst never actually committed any crime,

Hundreds of animals are poisoned to death every day at Huntingdon Life Sciences on behalf of their Japanese customers. Dawn’s only alleged ‘crime’ is to expose this animal abuse while the real criminals such as Daiichi, CBC, Yamanouchi and Sumitomo continue to profit from the torture of animals at HLS. We demand her immediate release.

Sources:

UK shock tactics repel animal-rights activists in Japan. DAVID CYRANOSKI, Nature, 424, 119, July 10, 2003.

UK animal rights activist sentenced in Japan. China Daily, August 25, 2003.

Cops doggedly pursue animal activist. June 30, 2003.

SHAC Campaigner Arrested In Japan! Press Release, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, April 17, 2003.