FOOD FIGHTS

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

British activists David
Morris and Helen Steel on July 27
appealed the “McLibel” verdict won
against them by McDonald’s
Restaurants in June 1997, at huge public
relations cost, especially after the
trial judge ruled that even though Morris
and Steel made some inaccurate charges
about other McDonald’s practices, the
firm does pay low wages and is “culpably
responsible” for causing animal suffering
by purchasing meat and eggs from
animals raised in close confinement.
Buckeye Egg Farm Inc., formerly
known as AgriGeneral, in early
July quietly dropped a lawsuit it filed last
year against the Ohio Public Interest
Research Group under a so-called
“food libel” statute, but did not explain
why. The “food libel” case was brought
after Ohio PIRG sued Buckeye for
allegedly selling old eggs as fresh.

MURDER & MURDERING MOST FOWL

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

“Kids need to be careful that they don’t
shoot anything but a starling, pigeon, or English
sparrow,” U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent
Doug Goessman recently told the Billings Gazette.
Goessman was asked to comment on the
July arrest of Terry McMinn, 25, of Bozeman,
Montana, who allegedly shot a federally protected
magpie with a BB gun in a Pizza Hut parking lot.
“People need to be aware that they can be
fined for this,” added Bozeman animal control
officer Kathy Ham.
If either Goessman or Ham mentioned
that the apparent gratuitious cruelty of the shooting
might be the most serious aspect of it, the observation
wasn’t reported––although Ham was considering
filing cruelty charges.

ALF & fur

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

British junior agriculture minister
Elliot Morley told the House of
Commons in July that he intended to introduce
legislation to close the 15 remaining
mink farms in Britain, but remembering the
Labor government’s failure to promptly pass
a ban on fox hunting, promised during the
1997 election campaign, Animal Liberation
Front members released as many as 6,000
mink from the Crow Hill Fur Farm i n
Hampshire on August 8, touching off mayhem.
About 500 were soon caught, still on
the premises, and others reportedly returned
within a few days, seeking food, but others
invaded the nearby New Forest Preserve,
devastating native wildlife and also killing a
caged owl and kestrel at the New Forest Owl
Sanctuary. Another 2,000 mink were shot or
trapped by a 20-member Ministry of
Agriculture hit squad during the next few
days, but as of August 13 at least 2,000 more

Could Steve Hindi be Zorro?

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

CHICAGO––Chicago Animal
Rights Coalition founder Steve Hindi, 43,
“pioneers a new brand of brass-knuckled
activism,” Jonathan Eig warned hunters and
fishers in the August edition of Outside magazine.
Under the headline “Put that Bunny
Down, or I’ll Kick Your Butt,” Eig described
Hindi’s recent public challenge to Mexican
matadors to meet him in the ring for a Zorrostyle
sword-and-cape fight with someone
who’ll fight back with a chance of success.
While awaiting a response (and not
holding his breath in expectation of getting
one), Hindi called a boycott of Pepsi Cola
over Pepsi subsidies to bullfighting via prominent
advertising in Mexican bull rings.
Replied Pepsi group manager for
customer relations Christine Jones, “Although
some arenas in Mexico may carry Pepsi signage
because our soft drinks are sold there,
this should not be construed as an endorsement
of bullfighting. We do not contribute funding
nor do we sponsor bullfighting events.” The
Pepsi banners appearing in the background of
many of Hindi’s photos and videos of bullfights,
Jones said, “remain in place for all
activities held at these venues.”

ENFORCEMENT FOR THE BIRDS

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

CARROLLTON, Texas;
HENDERSON HARBOR, N.Y.––
Responding to citizen complaints
about noise, stench, and filth, city
officials in Carrollton, Texas said,
they revved up a bulldozer before
dawn on July 23 and flattened an
egret rookery in mid-nesting season.
Neighbors wakened by the
machinery and falling trees discovered
the damage was mostly done.
Hundreds and perhaps thousands of
cattle egret chicks were crushed,
along with mothers who didn’t leave
their nests. Rescuers saved an estimated
300 chicks.
Egrets are protected undernder
the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty
Act. Carrollton was supposed to
have a permit from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service before touching the
site. It did not. Neither did
“Operation Remove Excrement,” as
Carrollton officials called it, make
the neighborhood more sanitary.
Instead, warned Dallas County
Health and Humane Services
Department medical director Karine
Lancaster, the bulldozers might
have spread the fungal spores that
cause histoplasmosis.

LIVE MARKET CRUELTY LEGAL, SAYS JUDGE; JUST DUCKY, SAY POLITICIANS

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

SAN FRANCISCO––In effect
endorsing cruelty to animals as perceived by
much of the rest of America, albeit not by
blind justice, the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors on August 3 adopted a series of
resolutions commending Chinatown live markets
for their July 20 courtroom victory over
the Coalition for Healthy and Humane
Business Practices, organized by attorney
Baron Miller.
Miller had sued Never Ending
Quails and 11 other live markets in an attempt
to oblige city and state agencies to enforce a
variety of anti-cruelty and public health
statutes, which he held should have forbidden
the methods the live markets commonly use to
keep and slaughter a variety of birds, reptiles,
and amphibians.
He argued that if the live markets
can’t meet humane standards, they should not
be allowed to operate at all.”

Dolphin racing? Don’t bet on it.

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

VANCOUVER, B.C.––A possible hint to the paranoid
of the depth of Japanese zeal to revive coastal whaling
lurked within a July 7 announcement by the Vancouver-based
Global Intertainment Corporation that “The first annual
International Dolphin Races, a dolphin racing and jumping
competition,” will “be held in the Caribbean next February.”
Promising that the event would “combine the spectacle
of Sea World, the betting adrenalin of Churchill Downs,
and the global reach of the Internet,” GIC added that “the contest
will be beamed into cyberspace via live feed technology
and will give viewers the opportunity to bet on their favorite
contestants from anywhere in the world.”
GIC said “The week-long event will feature animals
trained for use in dolphin shows and other entertainment
venues,” but didn’t say where they might come from.
Supposedly, “Each dolphin will pre-qualify with lap times and
jump measurements, and odds will be calculated based on
those trials. Two days will be devoted to the competitions, and
the remainder of the week will feature hourly non-competitive
shows similar to those seen at Sea World.”
With a nod to political correctness, GIC added that
“The event is designed to raise international awareness of dolphins.
A portion of the proceeds from the wagers and on-site
admission fees will be donated to the Dolphin Wildlife Fund
[and] Save the Dolphin Fund, in addition to a number of children’s
charities.”

FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE SAYS SNAKES THREATEN GARDEN OF EDEN

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

HONOLULU––Preparing to
reintroduce Guam rails to Guam in
October, a decade after the flightless bird
species was extinguished from its native
habitat by accidentally introduced brown
tree snakes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service warned at a late July symposium
in Honolulu that the snakes could likewise
devastate Hawaiian wildlife, if ever
allowed to establish themselves.
The symposium came 10 days
after Hawaii Department of Land and
Natural Resources chief Mike Wilson
announced bans on the transportation or
release of Jackson’s chameleons, apple
snails, red-eared slider turtles, and ringnecked
parakeets.

Excerpts from VEGANISM AS THE PATH TO ANIMAL LIBERATION: PERSONAL VIEWS

September 1, 1998 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1998:

Excerpts from VEGANISM AS THE PATH TO ANIMAL LIBERATION: PERSONAL VIEWS
by Matt Ball, Jack Norris, and Anne Green [selected by Henry Spira, founder, Coalition for Non-Violent Food.]

Two groups of people protest. The
largest group are those recently aware and just
getting involved. Most soon burn out. Their
protesting might have filled a temporary need
to make a public statement, or perhaps when
nothing changes after a few protests they
become disenchanted. The others are veteran
activists––extremely dedicated but few.
Unable to turn our backs on obvious
atrocities, our movement focuses on smallscale
and short-term successes: trying to save
high-profile animals, change business practices
of large corporations, and shame/intimidate
women wearing fur.
What has been gained? A miniscule
fraction of the total number of animals suffering
each year have been spared the most indefensible
deaths. This has not occurred because
of any understanding of the philosphy of animal
liberation, but rather because the companies
were concerned about their bottom line.

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