Diet & Health

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Medical evidence is growing

that iron-rich red meat contributes at

much to heart disease as cholesterol.

“Avoiding meat may be prudent,”

Newsweek medical reporters Geoffrey

Cowley and Mary Hager concluded after

reviewing recent studies on the topic in the

September 21 issue.

Trans-fatty acids that increase

the harmful effects of cholesterol com-

monly result from cooking with solid or

semi-solid margarines and shortenings,

suggests a new USDA study whose pre-

liminary findings were made public

October 7. Avoiding cholesterol is still a

good idea, but so is avoiding partially

hydrogenated vegetable oils if you are in a

high-risk bracket for heart disease. Use

whole oils instead––”The softer, the bet-

ter,” as Marian Burros puts it.

SPOCK SPEAKS ABOUT MILK: A COUP FOR PCRM? WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Child-care expert Dr. Benjamin Spock advised par-

ents at a September 29 news conference in Boston that babies

under the age of one year should not be given cow’s milk, and

that, “breast-feeding is the best milk feeding for babies.”

Spock, who gave up eating dairy products himself last

year, at age 88, went on to explain that cow’s milk causes some

babies to suffer intestinal blood loss, allergies, and indigestion,

as well as contributing to “some cases of childhood diabetes.”

Spock spoke as part of a panel including Johns

Hopkins University director of pediatrics Frank Oski, who

wrote a book in 1977 titled Don’t Drink Your Milk, and Neal

Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible

Medicine. Early wire service and TV stories about the presen-

tation indicated Spock had directly supported Barnard in recom-

mending against giving children any cow’s milk. The early sto-

ries carried vituperative reaction from an anonymous American

Medical Association spokesperson, directed at Barnard but

tending to heighten the impression that Spock too had seriously

challenged mainstream medical opinion.

Agriculture

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

The Range Rider, a publication of

the USDA Cooperative Extension Service at

Colorado State University, is urging sheep

farmers to rally in opposition to the

Endangered Species Act, now up for renewal.

ANIMAL PEOPLE had not actually received

a copy by deadline, but from a description

provided by James Cherry of the AmNet com-

puter network, it would appear to violate fed-

eral guidelines regarding impartiality.

Horse notes…

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

In the first two years since

California began requiring necropsies of

all race horses who die while under Calif.

Horse Racing Board jurisdiction, on or off

a track, 538 horses have been exam-

ined––271 in 1990-1991, and 267 in 1991-

1992. The examinations are revealing a

much greater amount of stress damage

from training than experts previously sus-

pected.

ANIMAL CONTROL & RESCUE

November 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1992:

Citing fear of liability if they

should inadvertantly euthanize a pet, under

a new state law directed at pet thieves, the

Oregon Humane Society and Multnomah

County Animal Control now refuse to

accept cats brought to them by private citi-

zens and independent groups who trap ferals

and strays. The Portland-based group

Committed to Animal Protection,

Education, and Rescue charges, however,

that fundraising tactics are involved.

CAPER cites a letter from OHS staffer

Sharon Harmon, who wrote, “Despite the

services provided by OHS (to cats brought

in by independent rescuers), we received no

cash donations for their care. If we had

made contact with the owner or finder at the

time of surrender, by modest estimation, we

could have potentially realized $18,000 in

donations.”

Vivisection

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

* George Bush signed the Animal Enterprise Protection

Act of 1992 into law on August 26, making vandalism of

farms and laboratories a federal offense. The law broadens the

jurisdiction of the FBI in such cases, but probably will not help

federal grand juries probing laboratory break-ins in Oregon,

Washington, Michigan, and Massachusetts to reach indict-

ments, since the alleged offenses took place long before the

law was passed.

* The Bush administration on August 23 proposed redi-

recting federally funded biomedical research into economically

productive areas, a move that might decrease the number of

animals used in so-called basic research, but increase the num-

ber used in product safety testing.

Zoos & Aquariums

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

Two of the four beluga whales caught in

August for the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago died

September 22, apparently as result of overdoses of

roundworm medication. The capture of the whales was

fought every step of the way by marine mammal protec-

tion groups, including Lifeforce and the International

Wildlife Coalition.

The National Zoo in Washington D.C. is test-

ing a deer contraceptive this fall on 30 does. “We’re try-

ing to develop a technology for the humane population

control of deer where hunting is not wise, legal, or

safe,” said Montana wildlife fertility researcher Jay

Kirkpatrick, who developed the contraceptive.

Diet & Health

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

* The USDA school lunch subsidy pro-

gram is functioning as a dump for choles-

terol-laden meat and dairy products, the con-

sumer group Public Voice for Food and

Health Policy charged September 16.

Approximately 20% of each of the 4.1 billion

school lunches served in 1991 consisted of

free food supplied by the USDA—but cheese

and butter made up a third of the $10.2 billion

total, almost all of the potatoes had fat added,

and only 3.4% of the fruit and vegetables

were fresh. The Public Voice report was

endorsed by American School Food Service

Association spokesman Kevin Dando, who

agreed, “There’s entirely too much butter

available, and schools would like to have

more fresh fruits and vegetables.” From 1979

through 1991, the USDA spent $7.2 billion to

supply schools with meat and dairy products,

but spent just $2 billion on fruits, vegetables,

and grains.

Animal Health

October 1, 1992 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1992:

* Over a year and a half after the mid-

Atlantic raccoon rabies pandemic hit south-

eastern Connecticut and was expected to

spread throughout New England, confirmed

outbreaks have yet to hit Massachusetts,

Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. All

four states have had only the usual handful of

rabies cases, mostly involving bats and foxes.

Bat rabies has been endemic in parts of New

England for decades, while outbreaks of fox

rabies have been sporadic along the Canadian

border at least since the 1950s. While some

rabid raccoons have been found in northern

New England during the past year, they are

not known to have carried the mid-Atlantic

strain of the disease, and there is no evidence

that the forms they appeared to have are wide-

ly distributed in the raccoon population.

« 1 … 52 53 54 55 »