RABIES UPDATE

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

A rabid raccoon bit Samantha

Sorochinski, age 2, on May 5 in West Milford,

New York, prompting New York, New Jersey,

and Connecticut authorities to remind the public that

the mid-Atlantic raccoon rabies pandemic, which

crested three to four years ago, has not gone away.

Peruvian Health Ministry staff on May

8 began a 40-day drive to poison an estimated

90,000 stray dogs in Lima, the national capitol, to

reduce the risk of rabies.

LAB SHORTS

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

Using pigs to grow spare parts

for humans came closer to reality with

the late April announcements that a team

at the Lahey Hitchcock Clinic in

Burlington, Massachusetts, had trans-

planted pig tissue into the brain of a 59-

year-old man in hopes of reversing

Parkinson’s disease, while a team at Duke

University created genetically engineered

pigs whose bodies include two human pro-

teins that prevent hyperacute tissue rejec-

tion. “In societies where animals are

killed in the tens of millions for food,”

wrote Dr. John Favre of the London

University Institute of Child Health, in a

Nature Medicine editorial accompanying

publication of the Duke data, “it would be

difficult to argue on ethical grounds for a

proscription on the killing of a tiny num-

ber of pigs to save the lives and restore the

health of sick and dying patients.”

Fund tries to save bison, mountain goats

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

As ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press, the Fund

for Animals was scrambling to prevent the shooting of

from 80 to 150 bison who had wandered from Yellowstone

National Park into the Gallatin National Forest, north of

West Yellowstone, Montana. Montana state veterinarian

Clarence Siroky said state wardens would try to chase the

bison back into Yellowstone with helicopters, but would

shoot them to prevent the spread of brucellosis, a disease

causing stillbirths in cattle, if that tactic failed. Although

there is no evidence that bison can transmit brucellosis to

other species of cattle under natural conditions, and only a

small portion of the Yellowstone herd is believed to be

infected, Montana officials shot 420 bison who left the

park during the winter.

Agriculture

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

Twelve activists were arrested and

two hurt at Brightlingsea, England, on

April 18, as they failed to halt the export of

1,200 sheep to Belgium, following an April 12

ruling by the High Court that local authorities

had no right to ban live animal exports. The

ruling undid export bans won through a winter

of protest at all major British cattle ports.

Australia’s effort to resume sheep

sales to Saudi Arabia after a four-year hiatus

hit a snag on May 8 when Saudi inspectors

diverted the first cargo of 75,000 sheep to

Jordan because they didn’t think the sheep

were healthy enough to be unloaded at Jeddah.

A second ship carrying 30,000 sheep changed

destinations voluntarily. Australia sold up to

3.5 million sheep a year to Saudi Arabia before

1991, when the frequent arrival of diseased

sheep caused the Saudis to cut off the trade.

WARRANTS TIE PROVIMI VEAL, LAMB TO ILLEGAL DRUGS

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

MILWAUKEE––Newly unsealed

search warrants executed in September 1994

by U.S. Customs Service special agent Steve

Sutherland allege the closest links yet

between the Provimi Veal Corporation, of

Waukesha, Wisconsin, the largest distribu-

tor of milk-fed veal and lamb in the U.S.,

and the illegal use of clenbuterol, a banned

steroid. The drug speeds the growth of calves

and lambs––but humans who eat clenbuterol-

tainted meat may suffer an accelerated heart

rate, muscle tremors, headaches, dizziness,

nausea, fever, and chills.

According to the warrants, copies

of which were obtained by Humane Farming

Association investigator Gail Eisenitz, the

clenbuterol traffic directly involved Aat

Groenvelt, who founded Provimi in 1962,

introduced the use of the veal crate to North

America, and was also instrumental in pro-

moting the popularity of “milk-fed spring

lamb,” essentially the meat of lambs raised

like veal calves.

Ebola virus hits Zaire

June 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 1995:

KINSHASA, Zaire––An outbreak of an Ebola-type

virus generated global panic after becoming known to media in

mid-May, two months after it started. The disease is believed to

have spread to humans from green vervet monkeys, as in previ-

ous outbreaks, but where, when, and how is unknown.

As of midnight on May 15, there were 76 confirmed

cases with 64 dead, said Kinshasa University professor Jean-

Jacques Muyembe, the leading Zairean authority on the disease.

Most of the deaths came in Kikwit, a town of 500,000, about 300

miles from Kinshasa, the national capital. Three other towns

were affected, including Kenge, less than 125 miles from

Kinshasa, which has five million people but limited medical and

sanitation facilities. Kinshasa governor Bernadin Mungul Diaka,

desperately rotated troops in an attempt to thwart bribery that

undercut his attempt to impose a prophylactic quarantine.

There seemed little chance that people fleeing the out-

break would run the opposite way, as that would put them into

head-on collision with more than a million refugees from the

ongoing ethnic fighting in Rwanda and Burundi.

REVIEWS: The Wellman Procedure: A Surgical Technique for the Complete Gonadectomy in the Dog and Cat

May 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1995:

The Wellman Procedure: A Surgical Technique for the Complete

Gonadectomy in the Dog and Cat, promoted by William K. Wellman,

DVM, c/o All Creatures Veterinary Surgery (70234 Phoenix, South Haven, MI

49090; 616-637-3929).

According to William K. Wellman,

who advances “The Wellman Procedure” with

mailers, a videotape, and online postings,

“This revolutionary approach to spaying and

neutering cats and dogs promotes less inva-

sive surgery, far less time in surgery, much

shorter recovery time, outpatient surgery for

the pet, increased safety as result of the

above, lowered costs for pet owners, and

higher productivity for veterinarians.” Thus,

Wellman argues, widespread adoption of his

procedure could mean, “The possibility of

millions less unwanted animals, the possibili-

ty of greater affordability, and greater reduc-

tion in the mounting costs of animal control.”

Animal control & rescue

May 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1995:

Trouble

The Chicago Animal Rights

Coalition on April 13 resumed a campaign

against the use of a captive bolt gun to dis-

patch dogs and cats and the practice of killing

them in front of others at the Animal Control

Department shelter in Rock Falls, Illinois.

Neither the American Veterinary Medical

Association nor any national humane organiza-

tion recommends the use of captive bolts for

euthanizing small animals; all oppose killing

animals within sight or sound of others. Rock

Falls promised to change euthanasia proce-

dures a year ago, but broke the promise,

according to CHARC founder Steve Hindi.

Letters on shelter letterhead urging compliance

with accepted humane standards may be sent

to Rock Falls mayor Glen Kuhlemier at 603

W. 10th St., Rock Falls, IL 61071.

Hold the fish and eat your veggies!

May 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 1995:

BOSTON––Contrary to common belief, eating fish does not contribute

to avoiding heart disease, Dr. Alberto Ascherio of the Harvard School of Public

Health reported in the April 12 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Ascherio traced the diets and health records of 44,895 male health care profession-

als, ages 40-70, for six years.

Ascherio’s study appeared the same day that the Journal of the American

Medical Association published a study of 832 men whose health was tracked for at

least 18 years by the Harvard Community Health Plan. “We observed an intense

association between fruit and vegetable intake and the development of stroke,” the

authors stated. “For each increment of three servings (of fruit and vegetables) per

day, there was a 22% decrease in the risk of stroke.”

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