CLENBUTEROL: Wisconsin moves to bust Vitek; Monfort will buy no show cattle

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

Acting on the findings of an

18-month federal investigation, the

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture,

Trade, and Consumer Protection on

July 31 sued to dissolve the Vitek

Supply Corp., a subsidiary of the

Dutch veterinary pharmaceutical firm

Pricor. Pricor vice president Aat

Groenvelt founded the Provimi Veal

empire in 1962 and brought the prac-

tice of crating veal calves and milk-

fed lambs to North America.

The FDA received evidence

in 1989 implicating Vitek, Provimi,

and Pricor in smuggling and selling

the banned growth stimulant clen-

buterol, a synthetic steroid, but the

probe didn’t start until February 1994,

when U.S. Customs intercepted clen-

buterol and other illegal drugs e n

route to Vitek and alerted the USDA.

Hog slurry isn’t the only stench in North Carolina

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

RALEIGH, N.C.––”Boss Hog,” a

two-section expose of the political influence

and environmental consequences of the pork

industry, published on March 19 by the

Raleigh News & Observer, became a hot item

after a manure storage lagoon broke on June 21

at Oceanview Farms in Onslow, North

Carolina, spilling more than 25 million gallons

of slurry into nearby fields and streams.

By contrast, Henry Spira of the

Coalition for Nonviolent Food pointed out, the

Exxon Valdez spill involved “only” 11 million

gallons of crude oil.

The same day, a similar spill

occurred in Sampson, N.C., and less than two

weeks later, a lagoon in Duplin County, N.C.,

dumped 8.6 million gallons of poultry slurry

into tributaries of the Cape Fear River.

Agriculture

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

The National Cattlemen’s

Association, National Live Stock and

Meat Board, parts of the Beef Board, and

the U.S. Meat Export Federation a r e

reportedly uniting under one umbrella as the

Beef Industry Organization. Member groups

claim to have already trained 1,600 volun-

teers to help promote beef.

Pork King of Illinois on July 25

applied for a permit to reopen the defunct

Kenosha Beef slaughterhouse in Hebron,

Illinois––and nine days later withdrew the

application amid a storm of opposition from

residents, who said they no longer want a

slaughterhouse in their community.

Woofs & growls

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

People

The American Humane Assoc-

iation on July 19 announced the appointment

of Ed Sayres as head of the AHA Animal

Protection Division, and Patricia Olson,

DVM, to direct a new subdivision,

Veterinary Medical Affairs and Studies.

Sayres formerly was president of S t .

Hubert’s Giralda, a shelter based in

Madison, New Jersey, which he joined as

director of humane education in 1974. He is

also on the board of the Delta Society a n d

Society of Animal Welfare Administrators.

Olson is on the faculty of the University of

Minnesota School of Veterinary Medicine.

* William W. Howard, CEO since 1989,

has been named interim president of the

National Wildlife Federation, succeeding

Jay D. Hair, who resigned his $257,000-a-

year post in July amid a dispute with the

board over deficits totaling about $800,000

over the past two years. The NWF is a

national umbrella for 49 state hunting associa-

tions. * Longtime World Society for the

Protection of Animals representative W i m

de Kok quit at the end of July, declining to

state a reason or mention future plans.

TRIPLE TROUBLE FOR HUMANE SOCIETY OF US

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

WASHINGTON D.C.––August 10 dawned bright

for the Humane Society of the U.S., as newspapers across the

country carried a photo of HSUS director of legislative affairs

Wayne Pacelle and Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) decrying

puppy mills at a press conference held the day before to

announce that Santorum and 14 other Senators had jointly

signed a letter to Agriculture Secretary Daniel Glickman,

seeking stiffer enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act.

Then someone noticed that the letter Santorum sent

was markedly different from the letter sent by 110 House

members and three Senators in the same cause––and the

effect of Santorum’s letter was to undercut the House letter,

whose signers were rallied by Rep. Glenn Poshard (D-Ill.)

The Poshard letter, circulated to potential signers

on June 27 and delivered to Glickman on August 8, asked for

Glickman’s “strong support” in imposing ten specific new

standards for puppy and kitten breeding facilities: “Increase

basic cage size for companion animals permanently housed in

the facilities; improve flooring within the primary enclosures

by requiring plastic-coated wire of a specific width; increase

the size and material of the resting surface for each animal in

a primary enclosure; require constant access to potable water

for all animals housed in the facility; limit the number of

times/frequency breeding stock can be bred over a certain

time period; strengthen the sanitation requirements for the

primary enclosure; eliminate the ability to tether animals;

reexamine temperature guidelines; require more specific

daily exercise of animals at the facilities; exclude ‘another

dog’ as acceptable exercise.”

Hunting & trapping

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

Results of a major public

opinion survey commissioned by

the Colorado Division of Wildlife

“indicate that a substantial major-

ity of Coloradans would vote to

ban wildlife trapping,” human

dimensions coordinator Linda

Sikorowski advised the brass on

July 13. “A substantial proportion

of Colorado residents are positively

oriented toward wildlife rights and

wildlife welfare values,” she contin-

ued. “Trapping solely for the pur-

pose of recreation or for economic

gain is not adequate justification for

trapping to the Colorado public.”

The survey found that trapping

could best be sold as a means of

rabies prevention and wildlife popu-

lation control––but this might not be

for long, as the advent of oral rabies

vaccination of wildlife reinforces the

22-year-old position of the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention

that trapping is neither effective

against rabies nor in lastingly

depressing wildlife populations.

Humane education with Jane Goodall by Carol A. Connare

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

In moments, she went from sipping

coffee with patrolmen to getting a surprise

audience with the top 100 captains of the Los

Angeles Police Department. Adrenaline

pumping, Dr. Jane Goodall thought fast. “I

said to myself, ‘I’ve got to get their attention,

or they won’t hear a thing I say.’” Deputy

Chief Kroeker introduced Goodall to the men.

She stood up and said, “If I were a female

chimpanzee and I walked into a room of

high-ranking male chimpanzees, it would be

foolish if I didn’t greet them with a submis-

sive pant-grunt,” which she proceeded to do.

All eyes looked up, the men lis-

tened intently to her ten-minute talk, and

Chief Willie Williams agreed to endorse her

educational program––Roots and Shoots––

and help introduce it to inner city kids.

As humans, we take superiority for

granted. But Goodall feels strongly, based

on years in the bush, doing zoological

research, that we are not as different from

other animals as many of us think.

Momentum for ESA revision slows

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Congressional observers predict that proposed revisions

to the Endangered Species Act won’t be taken up in earnest by the House and Senate until

1996––and that could be favorable for species protection, since drastic actions are less like-

ly in an election year. With polls showing the Republican House majority winning an

approval rating of less than 35%, and continued strong public support for the ESA in prin-

ciple, a severely damaged ESA could cost many first-term Republicans their seats.

Showing awareness of the importance of good positioning on endangered species,

the Senate on August 9 crushed an amendment proposed by Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) to delete

funding for the red wolf recovery program in North Carolina and Tennessee. Helms

claimed there are 170 red wolves at large in his state, killing livestock and on one occasion

attacking a child—but was corrected by red wolf supporters, who reminded him that the

Fish and Wildlife Service puts the North Carolina wolf population at from 39 to 66; none

have ever attacked either livestock or a child; and a recent survey by North Carolina State

University found that the majority of North Carolinians favor the wolf recovery program.

LABORATORY ANIMALS

September 1, 1995 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 1995:

NYU sells LEMSIP chimps to Coulston

STERLING FOREST, N.Y.––The New York University

Medical Center on August 9 transferred ownership of the Laboratory

for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates to the Coulston

Foundation, headed by Frederick Coulston, 81.

A primate researcher since 1936, Coulston is accused of

multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act in pending cases,

which allegedly caused the deaths of five chimps from thirst and heat

stress in two separate incidents at other primate facilities he runs in

New Mexico. Coulston claims three of those deaths were due to

malfunctioning equipment inherited when he took over one of the

facilities from the University of New Mexico two months earlier.

Activist groups are meanwhile demanding reinvestigation of eight

other recent chimp deaths at Coulston facilities, which also may

have involved alleged negligence.

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