Estrogen therapy fills horsemeat slaughterhouses

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

BRANDON, Manitoba––Two new reports from

the Canadian Farm Animal Care Trust affirm that the fast-

growing estrogen drug market is driving the equally fast

expanding Canadian horsemeat export trade––as ANIMAL

PEOPLE reported in April, based in part on earlier CAN-

FACT publications.

The Manitoba Animal Rights Coalition is asking

other animal protection groups to join it in an international

campaign to publicize the source of the increasingly popular

“natural” estrogen replacement drug Premarine: PMU, the

urine of catheterized pregnant mares, who are kept standing

in barns from September to April of each year. This is the

peak period for equine estrogen yield, coming in the fourth

through tenth months of the mares’ 11-month gestation

cycle. Draft breeds are preferred because of their placid

nature and greater capacity for producing urine.

Habitat

July 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 1993:

Eighty percent of the remaining old growth

forest in the Pacific Northwest would be protected from

logging under a plan to protect endangered spotted owls

and salmon runs unveiled July 2 by President Bill Clinton

in response to rulings by Federal District Judge William

Dwyer of Seattle that have restricted logging for nearly

three years. During the halt, the logging workforce has

declined from 145,000 to 125,000. The protected zones

would run along watersheds. Loggers would be allowed

to cut about 1.2 billion board feet of old growth per year

in less sensitive areas, down from five billion board feet

in the mid-1980s. While most of the plan does not

require Congressional approval, it must be ratified by

Dwyer before any old growth logging on the land covered

by his decisions can resume. Dwyer’s decision, based on

the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, is due in

mid-July. The Clinton plan, drafted with heavy input

from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, drew immediate

flak from House Speaker Thomas Foley, who indicated

he might cross party lines in an attempt to gut the ESA

when it comes up later this year for renewal.

FUR

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

Someone used rat poison in late

April to kill more than 17,000 mink at

the Sakhalin Fur Industrial Association fur

farm on Sakhalin Island in the former

Soviet Union. The fur farm claimed a loss

of $2.8 million, although at current world

pelt prices the actual loss was probably

closer to $400,000. Possible suspects

include rival fur entrepreneurs trying to

boost prices for their own pelts by creating

a shortage and simultaneously wiping out a

rival; someone in management attempting

to cash in on the limited insurance cover-

age; and/or disgruntled employees.

COURT CALENDAR

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

Dog Crimes

The Cuyahoga County, Ohio

grand jury on April 23 indicted Jeffrey

Mann, 36, for murder, alleging that he

ordered his pit bull terrier to fatally maul his

common-law wife, Angela Kaplan, 28, on

September 2, 1992. The indictment came

as result of an eight-month probe by

Cleveland homicide detective Michaelene

Taliano, and extensive observation of the

dog’s nature by animal behaviorist Karen

Arnoff. Taliano suspected the attack was a

murder, not an accident, because the dog

bit Kaplan more than 100 times, but never

around the neck and throat, the usual sites

of fatal bite wounds. Mann pleaded inno-

cent and was freed on $25,000 bail.

Diet & Health

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

The USDA on May 5 announced

that it will begin requiring labels on raw

meat and poultry to include cooking and

handling instructions, explaining how to

prevent health hazards such as the growth of

E:coli bacteria, which in January and

December killed four children who had just

eaten undercooked hamburgers. The label-

ing rules are to be formally proposed by

August 15. The new requirement comes in

settlement of a lawsuit brought by Beyond

Beef and the parents of one of the January

victims. U.S. trade representative Mickey

Kantor meanwhile denied in a series of press

releases and public statements that such

strengthened food labeling laws could be

overturned under that General Agreement on

Trade and Tariffs and/or the North American

Free Trade Agreement, as alleged obstacles

to international commerce. Last year, the

two agreements were invoked to overturn the

use of U.S. dolphin protection legislation to

exclude imports of tuna netted “on dolphin,”

at considerable cost in dolphin lives.

Agriculture

June 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1993:

The Food and Drug Admini-

stration held hearings May 6-7 on whether

to approve the sale of milk produced with

the aid of the genetically engineered hor-

mone bovine somatotropin (BST), and if

sale is approved, whether the milk should

be specially labeled. Four chemical

firms––Upjohn, Monsanto, American

Cyanamid, and Eli Lilly––have reportedly

spent $500 million to develop and introduce

BST, which boosts milk production per cow

by up to 20%. BST is opposed by con-

sumer groups concerned about the possible

effects of the drug on human health, which

may include altering the growth rate of

bone and liver cells; animal protection

groups worried that BST may increase the

stress on cows; and dairy farmers anxious

that many of them could be put out of busi-

ness, since BST enables fewer cows to pro-

duce more milk, which is already in over-

supply. The same debate is underway in

Canada, where a multi-department review

of the possible effects of BST is to be com-

pleted later this year.

Horses and Cattle

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-New York) have reintroduced the Downed Animal Protection Act, as S. 367 and H.R. 559, which would require stockyards to promptly euthanize sick and injured animals. Support for the measure may be addressed to Senators and Congressional Representatives.

The American Horse Protection Association’s sixth annual training seminar for equine cruelty investiga-

tors will be held May 20-21 at College Park, Maryland. Get details from Ellen Foysyth, 202-965-0500.

Norma Bearcroft, president of the Canadian Wild Horse Society, has asked members to approve a resolution to disband the struggling group by year’s end.

Diet & Health

May 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1993:

The Burger King franchise at

Watkins Glen, New York, in February qui-

etly introduced the spicy bean burger sold

by British Burger King outlets. Priced at

$2.29, the vegetarian burger is made from

kidney beans, carrots, onions, potato

flakes, and peppers, breaded and deep

fried, served on a bun with catsup, cheese

(optional), and tomato. Associated Press

quoted the manager as saying six weeks

later, “The demand is unbelievable. People

are coming from all over. There’s not a seat

in the restaurant. They say there are 12 mil-

lion vegetarians in the U.S. If we can kick

into that market, it’s well worth our while.”

According to AP, the spicy bean burger

will be introduced nationally if it remains

popular in Watkins Glen through the end of

the summer.

BOOKS: The Newfoundland Pony

April 1, 1993 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 1993:

The Newfoundland Pony, by

Andrew F. Fraser. Creative

Publishers (St. John’s, Newfoundland,

Canada), 1992. 213 pages. $14.95.

The Newfoundland pony is on the

cusp of extinction, no match for progress in

the form of tractors and snowmobiles.

Numbers of Newfoundland ponies have

dwindled from more than 10,000 in 1976 to

barely 400, as the greater part of its popu-

lation has been sacrified to the insatiable

Moloch of the slaughter trade––in particu-

lar, to the killing plants of Quebec, which

supply the French appetite for horseflesh.

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