Dog meat diplomacy wins Nobel

December 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

OSLO, Norway––An August 31
dog meat dinner for South Korean diplomats
hosted in the North Korean capital city of
Pyongyang by North Korean dictator Kim
Jong-il helped win the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize
for South Korean president Kim Dae Jung.
Kim Dae Jung, 74, won the
$908,300 Nobel Peace Prize for taking the initiative
since 1997 in opening diplomatic relations
with North Korea. Kim Jong-il won a rare
honorable mention from Nobel Committee
chair Gunnar Berge for responding positively.
On June 13, 2000, following three
years of cautious overtures, Kim Dae Jung
flew to Pyongyang to negotiate directly with
Kim Jong-il.
The two leaders traded pairs of hunting
dogs, of breeds unique to their respective
sides of the boundary between the Koreas.

Rats, mice, birds, Bush and Gore

December 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2000:

WASHINGTON D.C.––Rats, mice, and birds were
not a U.S. federal election issue, yet the fate of millions may
hang on the outcome of the lawsuits and ballot recounts underway
in Florida.
If U.S. Vice President Albert Gore gains the lead in
electoral votes to go with the popular vote lead that he won on
November 7, Gore will succeed President Bill Clinton in January.
Senator Joseph Lieberman would become Vice President.
Gore led the White House defense of the Endangered
Species Act after wise-use Republicans gained majorities in both
the House of Representatives and the Senate in 1994.
Lieberman, who as Vice President would break tie
votes in the Senate, could be depended upon to vigorously protect
both the ESA and the Animal Welfare Act. According to the legislative
scorecards kept by the Fund for Animals, Friends of
Animals, and Humane Society of the U.S., Lieberman in two
terms as U.S. Senator from Connecticut had one of the best
records on animal issues of any member of Congress.

Japanese whaling gives Clinton/Gore a chance to boost credentials

November 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 2000:

WASHINGTON D.C., TOKYO––
Aware that support of Norwegian and Native
American whaling is the one environmental
albatross around U.S. Vice President Albert
Gore’s neck in his Presidential bid, outgoing
President Bill Clinton gave anti-whaling sanctions
against Japan a high profile as the campaign
hit the home stretch.
The piece-de-resistance was a
September 13 announcement delivered by
White House Chief of Staff John Podesta that,
“The President is directing the Secretary of
State to inform the Japanese government that it
will be denied future access to fishing rights in
U.S. waters.”

North Korean dictator hosts dog meat dinner for diplomats

October 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2000:

SEOUL, Korea––Hosting South Korean diplomats at the Pyongyang Tongogi dog meat restaurant on August 31, North Korean head of state Kim Jong-il on August 31 dashed any hope that his June trade of purebred hunting dogs with South Korean president Kim Dae-jung might elevate the status of ordinary dogs in the street.

Currently, two to three million Korean dogs per year are elevated by slow hanging, are flogged as they strangle, and are dehaired by blowtorch while still alive, to insure that their flesh is suffused with adrenalin before consumption.

Joe Lieberman brings a pro-animal record to the U.S. Presidential race

October 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2000:

WASHINGTON, D. C.––If animal
advocates ever tip the balance in a U.S. Presidential
election, November 2000 could be it.
In a race in which the candidates previously
were distinguished mostly by the
weight of their negatives, the Democratic nomination
of Senator Joseph Lieberman of
Connecticut as Vice Presidential running mate
to Presidential candidate Albert Gore placed on
the ballot the holder one of the best pro-animal
voting records in the present Congress––among
the best ever.
During Lieberman’s current term of
office he has favored 22 of the 25 animal protection
bills that came to a vote, or 88%, and
did not take a position on two of the other three.
Lieberman conflicted with the animal protection
community only in opposing a 1995
amendment to an appropriation bill which
would have axed two space shuttle missions
that included animal research.

George W. Bush blew up frogs

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

MIDLAND, Texas––An alert for American
voters and humane educators everywhere
appeared on May 21 in the 61st through 64th paragraphs
of a 76-paragraph New York Times feature on
the childhood of Republican candidate for U.S. president
George W. Bush––if anyone noticed.
“One of the local rituals for children,”
reported Nicholas D. Kristof of life in Midland,
Texas, when George W. was a boy, “were meetings
with cookies and milk at the home of a nice old lady
who represented the SPCA. The cookies were
digested more thoroughly than the teachings.

A Knapp on the job in L.A.

July 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2000:

LOS ANGELES––Los Angeles
Animal Services Department general manager
Dan Knapp on June 2 apologized to Los
Angeles mayor Richard Riordan for reportedly
telling news media one week earlier
that the Los Angeles shelters would start
killing more dogs, sooner, to ease crowding
while escalating stray pickups before and
during the Democratic National Convention.
“Currently, animal control officials
put up for adoption about 200 dogs
every day at each of the city’s six kennels,”
wrote Jason Kandel of the Los Angeles Daily
N e w s. “Under the new plan, which could
begin the second week of July, workers will
hold for adoption only about 61 dogs a day
at each shelter, Knapp said. ‘Point A, and
the catalyst for this change, is the
Democratic National Convention. Point B is
the city council, emphasizing getting stray
dogs off the streets.’”

DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE PETITIONS FOR PROBE OF THE FARM BUREAU

May 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2000:

WASHINGTON D.C. – – Defenders of Wildlife and 179 other organizations on April 10 petitioned Congress for an “investigation into charges that the American Farm Bureau Federation national leadership has harmed the American farmer and their own members by posing as an organization representing farmer interests.”

The petitioners suggested that the Farm Bureau has a conflict of interest in operating “businesses that sell to the farmer and buy from the farmer.” They also sought “an investigation into charges that the Farm Bureau misrepresents its motivations to Congress and the American taxpayer, exploiting the farmer image to win nonprofit privileges that shield them from $61.75 million annually in federal income tax.”

Defenders circulated the petition by e-mail for a month preceding an April 9 expose of the Farm Bureau broadcast by CBS 60 Minutes. The expose paralleled a series of critical reports published in the Defenders membership magazine since 1998, as Defenders and the Farm Bureau clashed over the 1995 wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone National Park and Idaho. In December 1997 the Farm Bureau won a lower court ruling, since reversed, which would have required that all the wolves and their descendants be removed from the wild.

Would Charles rather go naked than quit hunting?

May 1, 2000 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2000:

LONDON––Prince Charles of Britain has reportedly contributed a recipe for artichoke mousse to a cookbook to be published by the Beaufort Hunt.

“The book, called In The Buff, will also contain pictures of hunt members in a state of undress,” said The Daily Telegraph.

The display of support for fox hunting was disclosed on April 8, one day after the death in Parliament of private member Ken Livingstone’s bill to ban fox hunting meant that yet another year will pass before Prime Minister Tony Blair moves––if he ever does––to fulfill a 1996 pledge to implement such a ban.

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