Rats, mice, birds, dogs and bears all lose in weakened U.S. Farm Bill

June 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2002:

WASHINGTON D.C.–U.S. President George W. Bush on May 13
signed a Farm Bill that The New York Times editorially called “a
regrettable reversion to some of the worst polices of the past.”
The New York Times referred in specific to “a $50 billion
increase in subsidies to big producers of row crops such as feed corn
over the next 10 years–a 50% jump over present levels and a complete
reversal of promising attempts to wean farmers off all subsidies.”
The chief effect of the higher row crop subsidies will be to continue
artificially suppressing the cost of feeding poultry, hogs, and
cattle in intensive confinement.

Fewer hunters, more brain disease

June 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2002:

ANNAPOLIS, DENVER, HARRISBURG, MADISON, WASHINGTON
D.C.–Maryland Governor Parris Glendening on May 15 vetoed a bill
which would have increased the state deer hunting season from 13 days
to at least 21 days, including the first Sunday of the season.
Vetoing a bill overwhelmingly favored by the hunting lobby
was political suicide not long ago, especially in a southern state,
and even in the name of keeping the sanctity of the Sabbath.

German “animal rights” proposal

June 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, June 2002:

Associated Press erroneously reported on May 17 that “Germany
has become the first European Union country to guarantee animal
rights in its constitution–a move that could curtail experimentation
by the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.”
The inaccurate report was amplified by other media and hailed
by animal advocates, as pollsters and talk show hosts asked, “Has
Germany gone too far?”
Actually, only the lower house of the German legislature
approved a constitutional amendment which would add the words “and
animals” to a phrase which would then read, “The state takes
responsibility for protecting the natural foundations of life and
animals in the interest of future generations.”

Anti-terror bill targets Yellowstone bison, elk herds

May 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2002:

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK–The bison management wars along
the northern border of Yellowstone National Park may intensify with
the anticipated passage of the 2002 Farm Bill, if the joint
committee working to reconcile the different versions passed by the
U.S. Senate and House of Representatives accepts the inclusion of the
Animal Health Protection Act, added as a late amendment to the
Senate version by Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).
The amendment purportedly was written to speed the USDA
response to epidemics in livestock, such as the hoof-and-mouth
outbreak that devastated the rural British economy in 2001, and also
to better enable the USDA to deal with bioterrorism.

Rats, mice, birds amendment, Jesse Helms & Johns Hopkins

May 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2002:

CHAPEL HILL, NC.; baltimore, Md.–With a joint U.S.
Senate/House of Representatives conference committee expected to
decide any day on whether or not to include in the final reconciled
version of the 2002 Farm Bill a late amendment by Senator Jesse Helms
(R-North Carolina) to permanently exclude rats, mice, and birds
from protection under the Animal Welfare Act, PETA on April 18
disclosed dramatic and gruesome undercover video of technicians at
the laboratories of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
allegedly handling and killing rats and mice in an inhumane manner.
The video footage was obtained by PETA investigator Kate
Turlington, 24, a North Carolina State University graduate who
worked for six months as a technician in the Thurston Bowles animal
research building, near the University of North Carolina Hospitals
complex.

New animal-related legislation passed and signed in seven states

May 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2002:

Florida Governor Jeb Bush on April 19 signed into law a bill
requiring anyone convicted of intentionally torturing or killing an
animal to attend an anger management counseling workshop.

Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating on April 14 signed into law a
bill prohibiting the construction of new poultry barns within
100-year flood plains, within 300 feet of any state-owned waterways;
and within a mile and a half of any designated scenic river area,
public drinking water well, or water body designated as Outstanding
Resource Waters by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. The new law
also adds restrictions on poultry manure distribution as fertilizer.

State legislative roundup

April 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2002:

Anti-cruelty bills

INDIANAPOLIS–Indiana Governor Frank O’Bannon in mid-March
signed into law bills enabling felony cruelty prosecutions and
criminalizing possession of animal fighting paraphernalia, annonced
American SPCA Midwest representative for government affairs Ledy Van
Kavage.
Bills to introduce felony cruelty penalties were still alive
in Alaska and Kentucky as ANIMAL PEOPLE went to press, while law
enforcement officers joined humane advocates in Fort Smith,
Arkansas, on February 25 to announce a petition drive by Citizens
for a Humane Arkansas to put a proposed felony cruelty bill on the
2002 state ballot. Citizens for a Humane Arkansas must gather 75,000
voter signatures in favor of the bill by June 30.

Would the Guest Choice Network defend dog-and-cat-eating?

April 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2002:

WASHINGTON D.C.–Is Rick Berman preparing to become the U.S.
voice of dog-and-cat-meat restauranteurs?
Berman did not answer ANIMAL PEOPLE when on March 1 we asked
him, but his political history and recent activities seem to lean in
that direction.
“A Washington lawyer and lobbyist who has represented the
hospitality industry for more than 25 years,” Berman, 58, “is
executive director of the Guest Choice Network, a D.C.-based
coalition of 30,000 restaurateurs, tavern operators and restaurant
suppliers who want to preserve guilt-free enjoyment,” profiled
Washington Post staff writer Carole Sugarman in November 1999.

What is

April 1, 2002 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, April 2002:

WASHINGTON D.C.–The web site address, <www.alecwatch.org>,
calls to mind “smart-alec,” a synonym for “wiseguy.” In the current
political climate, that in turn suggests “wise-use wiseguys”–but
far-right strategist Paul Weyrich formed ALEC, short for the
American Legislative Exchange Council, in 1973, before going on to
form the Moral Majority for evangelist Jerry Falwell, a decade
before the term “wise-use” emerged.
Jointly prepared and posted on February 28, 2002 by
Defenders of Wildlife and the National Resources Defense Council,
<www.alecwatch.org> is a comprehensive report on how the corporate
members of ALEC, paying annual dues of just $5,000 apiece, are
purchasing unprecedented political influence in state legislatures.

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