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Anti-Fishing Activist Attacks Breast Cancer Survivor in Op-Ed

The thing about the animal rights movement is that routinely they make bizarre, absurd pronouncements that lead one to think, “Okay, they’ve finally hit bottom — surely they could never get more offensive.” And then, of course, they do.

A reader sent me an e-mail pointing to an unbelievable column written by Don Hendershot in the Smoky Mountain News (North Carolina). The column concerned a group called Casting for Recovery — a group for breast cancer survivors that,

Provide[s] an opportunity for women whose lives have been profoundly affected by the disease to gather in a beautiful, natural setting and learn fly-fishing. Our weekend retreats focus on wellness and incorporate counseling, educational services and the sport of fly-fishing to promote mental and physical healing.

For Hendershot, this is, as he puts it, “macabre.” Hendershot writes,

Now, I can see the healing connection of a flowing river and the peace and serenity gained from spending time out of doors. I highly recommend it.

But when the connection to that environment is the painful, life-or-death struggle at the other end of a fly rod, of a creature that, an instant before, was simply going about its everyday concerns, the connection gets tenuous.

And when I look at this particular case ? the idea that it?s great therapy to have people who have recently or who are presently experiencing pain, fear and suffering, inflicting pain, fear and suffering on unsuspecting creatures ? there is, in fact, a glaring disconnect.

In fact, for Hendershot the pain a woman experiences learning she has breast cancer is equivalent to the pain that fish feel when they are caught,

You feel OK; you’ve just gotten that promotion; you’re packing your bags for a well-deserved vacation and the diagnosis comes ? cancer. It?s a jolt; maybe like a hook setting in your jaw. There?s pain, there?s fear and then there?s struggle.

I am not trying to trivialize cancer. And I’m not trying to elevate fish to the status of human beings. I’m trying to point out that fear, pain and suffering are universal and that often we have a choice about the degree of our involvement. Of course, when we are the victim, we don’t necessarily have that choice. But when we are the ones inflicting or inducing fear, pain and/or suffering, we do have that choice.

Well at least he’s right about one thing — he’s not trying to elevate fish to the status of human beings, he’s simply doing it.

And, of course, what is any good essay like this without hints of an insidious plot by the fly fishing “industry” to hook poor, frightened breast cancer survivors on fishing,

. . . I wouldn’t think twice about a fisherman or woman diagnosed with cancer wanting to get back to his or her hobby. But I doubt that someone who had never fished and was suddenly faced with cancer would, out of the blue, think, ?Wow, I sure would like to learn how to fly-fish.?

And for an organization funded, in part, and supported, in part, by groups who have a vested interest in promoting the fishing industry to seek out cancer patients with the idea that catching and/or killing fish will certainly make them feel better is, to me, macabre.

The odd thing is that occasionally Hendershot himself has dismissed efforts to alleviate suffering experienced by animals. For example, in 2001 he wrote a column critical of the trap, neuter and release approach to controlling feral cat populations. Hendershot wrote,

Alley Cat Allies, an organization that supports TNR projects across the country, states in its literature that the impact free roaming cats have on bird populations is insignificant. But research findings they publish note that birds make up 20 percent of the diet of free-roaming cats. Twenty percent of the kill of upwards of 80 million (feral and free roaming pets) cats is a substantial number.

. . .

TNR needs to be studied in controlled situations to determine its effectiveness. If it is found to be the solution its advocates believe, I am sure it would be embraced by biologists as well as animal advocates.

But to implement it nationwide simply because it alleviates some of the suffering (don’t forget that these animals are left out there to dodge cars, larger predators, diseases, etc.) of one particular species may solicit support and donations from “cat people,” but it is poor science.

Henderson should apply that same standard to understanding the difference between nociception and experiencing pain (fish almost certainly do the former, not the latter), and leave the breast cancer survivors alone.

Source:

The Naturalist’s Corner. Don Hendershot, Smoky Mountain News (North Carolina), May 21, 2003.

The Naturalist’s Corner. Don Hendershot, Smoky Mountain News (North Carolina), February 21, 2001.

Oh the Horrors of Rabies Control

Toronto Sun columnist John Kerr had an amusing take down of The Animal Alliance of Canada over that organization’s targeting of Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources Jerry Ouellette.

Of course they’re unhappy Ouellette is an angler and a hunter. But AAC’s Liz White and Stephen Best, director the AAC’s lobbying branch Environment Voters, also attacked Ouellette in a fund raising letter as “vindictive” and Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers as “goons” and “thugs” for the 2002 shut down of the Ottawa Carlton Wildlife Centre. A total of 34 raccoons and one skunk was seized from the Wildlife Centre.

But according to Kerr,

Although in the heart of racoon-rabies country, the centre’s proprietors had refused to get rid of the animals, as required by law.

This part of eastern Ontario is a high-risk area for raccoon rabies and under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act raccoons and skunks can’t be kept without authorization.

. . .

Indeed, the centre’s seized animals were kept over winter in a ministry quarantine facility, vaccinated against rabies, and released “healthy” into the wild this spring, the ministry stated.

. . .

“Our biggest priority was ensuring these animals didn’t compromise the health and safety of the public, their pets, and other wildlife in the region,” said Dr. Chris Davies, manager of the MNR’s Wildlife Research and Development section.

How dare this Ouellette yahoo give rabies control a high priority. What sort of animal abuser would go to such lengths to stop the spread of a deadly disease? And imagine how much better life would be in Ontario if animal rights activists like White and Best had their way and such disease control was relegated to the dustbin of history where it belongs.

Source:

Animal activists target Ouellette. John Kerr, Toronto Sun, May 22, 2003.

Rodney Coronado on the Need for More Animal Rights/Environmental Terrorism

Animal rights terrorist Rodney Coronado recently gave a long, rambling interview to an EarthFirst! magazine. Much of the interview focuses on Coronado pretending he was some sort of latter day Cochise when he committed arson at Michigan State University, for which he served 4 years in jail.

In the interview, Coronado talks about how he thinks the Animal Liberation Front/Earth Liberation Front will be viewed 100 years from now as well as calls for more violence by these extremists,

[Coronado:] The ALF or ELF will never be hailed as heroes in our time. Their roles will be seen more clearly in 100 years when the ecological shortsightedness of our present government is realized. Some people say that in a ?post-September 11? world there?s less room for direct action. But that?s exactly what the Consumer Freedom whores want us to believe. They?re exploiting September 11 to push their own agenda, while hoping it will force us to compromise ours.

Personally, I don?t know why someone hasn?t tried to burn down Pacific Lumber or the Horse Butte Capture Facility. How many more rivers and salmon runs have to be destroyed and buffalo slaughtered before we realize these corporations are killing us and our only home? I don?t care what the political climate is, it?s never not a good time to take direct action to rescue victims from suffering and cease the destruction.

EF!J: Unfortunately, it seems like more folks are getting caught. Are there any words of wisdom or lessons that you want to convey to potential elves to keep them safe?

RC: Hopefully, it seems that way because there are just more people fed up and taking action. Words of wisdom to all ELF and ALF warriors out there: Stay away from your old friends and familiar above ground political scenes; don?t use computers or telephones for anything; don?t put any faith in techy gadgets; keep it simple; never use your own vehicle or those of other activists; physical exercise (think of the embarrassment of being run down by a cop); and don?t pinch pennies, your freedom is worth the few extra bucks it costs to increase your security. Pray to the powers of Earth for guidance?stealth of Cougar, night sight of Owl, like lightning, the power to strike your enemies suddenly and return home safely. I love you all, and I?m praying for you to make it count. Maximum destruction! Not minimum damage.

Okay, what do I have to do to get Coronado to throw a little love my way and refer to those AnimalRights.Net whores the next time he goes on like this? I’m praying to the powers of Earth for that.

I don’t know what people will think of Coronado 100 years from now, but lets hope they remember that he was so serious about his principles that while on the run from the Feds after the MSU arson, Coronado abandoned his vegeterianism, only to miraculously find his way back to the True Path(TM) again. Coronado’s strongly held beliefs led him to firebomb a research laboratory, but apparently didn’t keep him from the joys of nicely cooked animal flesh.

Source:

LIVING THE TRUTH – An Interview with Rod Coronado. EarthFirst!, 2003.

Environmental Extremists Target Homes Under Construction in Michigan

Environmental extremists with teh Earth Liberation Front have been torching homes in Michigan, claiming as many as six homes under construction that burned down under suspicious circumstances from August 2002 through March 2003.

When police and fire officials arrived at the scene of a March 21 fire, they found the words “E.L.F., no sprawl” spray painted onto a garage next to one of the burned houses. The ELF took credit for that fire through a communique posted on the ELF web site.

As with all such acts of terrorism, the goal is to intimidate and people in the area are living in fear of the next arson. Superior Township Fire Marshal Wayne Dickinson told The Detroit Free Press,

All of the builders are on pins and needles. They are getting security dogs and hiring people to sit in their houses because of what’s going on.

Some builders have gone as far as to hire a security guard to watch the homes under construction during the night.

The FBI, the Bureau of Alchohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Michigan State Fire Marshal are all involved in investigating the string of fires, which the FBI is treating as an act of domestic terrorism. They are also looking at a possible link between these fires and an arson at Michigan State University in 2000 that targeted a researcher working on genetically modified crops.

For me, this was an interesting firsthand look at the effects that such terrorism has. I live in Michigan and I have relatives who personally know some of the folks who were targeted in this attack. What is interesting is that most people in the area had never heard of environmental terrorism before this and such acts do not win people over to those arguments to say the least. In fact, as the Detroit Free Press noted, many of these homes were built in an area where a lot of effort has been expended to maintain the rural nature of the area. These fires, if anything, threaten to undermine such efforts and, ironically, bring about exactly what the arsonists nominally oppose.

Source:

Militants linked to torched houses. Maryanne George, Detroit Free Press, May 27, 2003.

Is Milking a Cow Just Like Rape?

The Washington Post ran an interesting article this month about animal rights protests at universities that target animal agriculture departments.

The Post focuses on 19-year-old biology major Liz Noppinger who enrolled in a class at the University of Maryland’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources that involved raising lamb. Noppinger, who is a vegetarian, grew so attached to the lamb that she paid $70 to buy it and sent it to a friend’s farm. As Noppinger told University of Maryland student newspaper The Diamondback,

The person in charge didn’t tell us that they could be slaughtered. Some of the stuff is kind of gross … It’s painful to [the sheep]

Noppinger is among 1,100 students, faculty and staff who have signed a petitioned circulated by campus group Coalition for Animal rights calling for an end to the course and the university’s sheep raising. The activists consider the tail docking and castration of the lambs to be mutilation. Coalition for Animal Rights chapter President Kaya Hansen told The Diamondback,

By mutilating and slaughtering lambs for a class, the university is clearly going against the moral judgment and simple common sense of students.

But the anecdote that really jumps out from the pages of the Post is a one-paragraph summary of a protest that took place at a California university,

Protesters at the University of California-Davis targeted the display of livestock at the agriculture college’s annual “Picnic Day,” some decrying the milking of cows as a form of rape, school officials recall.

Anyone who has anymore information about that protest, please e-mail me at [email protected]
Sources:

Castration of lambs sparks campus outcry. Katy Devlin, The Diamondback (University of Maryland), April 24, 2003.

Students protest livestock breeding. Amy Argetsinger, Washington Post, June 1, 2003.

UCLA Researchers Terrorized at Home by Animal Rights Extremists

Neurobiology researchers John Schlag and Madeleine Schlag-Rey filed a police report in late April reporting that their home had been vandalized by animal rights activists while they were at home. Schlag and Schlag-Rey study the visual systems of monkeys and human beings.

The actions of the animal rights extremists took place at the same time that a University of Calfornia-Los Angeles campus group was holding protests and demonstrations for World Week for Animals in Laboratories.

According to the couple, at about 10:15 p.m. on April 28, 2003 they heard loud banging and kicking noises directed at their door. “The way it proceeded,” Schlag-Rey told the Daily Bruin, “. . . we felt that the door was going to be kicked in.”

The vandals broke a street lamp, a door window, and broke a screen in front of their house with a large rock that had been thrown from the street. “We could have been killed (by the rock),” Schlag-Rey told the Daily Bruin.

Erica Sutherland of UCLA’s Students for Animal Liberation told The Daily Bruin that her group only participated in peaceful protests and she had no idea who might have terrorized the couple.

Sutherland justified protesting outside of people’s houses saying,

I think it’s incredibly important that neighbors know that they are living near animal abusers.

Schlag-Rey told The Daily Bruin, however, that the entire point of the home protests is to intimidate researchers. But she added, “We as researchers are not intimidated — we are not hiding.”

Source:

Researchers’ Home Vandalized. Jennie Herriot, The Daily Bruin, April 30, 2003.