Zoos

December 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 1994:

The Buenos Aires City Zoo

announced October 28 that it intends to sue

the pregnant mother of a two-year-old, who

claimed a loose monkey scratched and bit the

boy, attacking from behind as zookeepers

fled. The zoo says the boy was hurt after get-

ting past security barriers. Reuters described

the 104-year-old zoo as “poorly maintained.”

Friends of Animals is investigating

a lawsuit to save 30 deer who share natural

habitat at the Mohegan Park Zoo in Norwich,

Connecticut. Norwich public works director

Paul Wadja has proposed killing the deer to

save the cost of complying with federal fenc-

ing and tuberculosis testing requirements.

Research

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

The National Institutes of Health Human

Embryo Research Panel, after eight months of

study, on September 29 endorsed federal funding for

biomedical research on human embryos outside the

womb during the first 14 days after conception. The

panel recommended against the creation of embryos

specifically for research, however, except to research

matters directly pertaining to fertilization.

The Environmental Protection Agency

and the National Institutes of Environmental

Health Sciences on September 22 hosted a gathering

of 60 scientists to discuss protocols for reducing the

number of animals used in testing the cancer-causing

potential of chemicals. The goal is to identify car-

cinogenicity from use of one sex and one species,

instead of the present minimum of two to achieve rec-

ognized findings.

Birds

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Three years after spotted owl protection took

effect, Oregon is not economically wrecked but booming,

with its lowest unemployment rate in 30 years. The loss of

15,000 forest products jobs has been offset by the creation of

20,000 jobs in high technology. Of the displaced wood work-

ers who have been retrained at Lane Community College in

Springfield, 90% have new jobs, at an average hourly wage of

$9.02––only $1.00 less per hour than their old average, and

sure to rise as they gain seniority.

Oxford University zoologist Marion Petrie reported

on October 13 that a study of peafowl at the Whipsnade animal

park, north of London, found that the peacocks with the

largest fantails produced the biggest young––which may be

why the peahens are most attracted to those peacocks.

ANIMAL HEALTH

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

British link veal and brain damage

Rejected by most veterinary authorities, the hypothesis

advanced by Cornell veterinary student Michael Greger via Farm

Sanctuary that there may be a link between bovine spongiform

encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease gained slightly

more weight on October 7 when the United Kingdom CJD

Surveillance Unit reported that, “A study of the eating habits of

people with CJD showed some statistical associations with the eat-

ing of various meat products, particularly veal.” Veal calves are

fed milk replacers which contain processed slaughterhouse offal,

and therefore could sometimes contain the remains of animals who

had either BSE or scrapie, a similar disease found in sheep. CJD

appears some years after infection, and like BSE, leads to paraly-

sis, blindness, dementia, and death. An ongoing BSE epidemic,

now waning, has hit more than 130,000 cattle in Britain since

1986. CJD is comparatively rare, killing 40-50 Britons a year.

Diet & Health

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Proponents of a vegetarian diet

are concerned that the public will be misled

by recent reports that 38 residents of

Limone, Italy, have a unique genetic resis-

tance to cholesterol buildup that medical

science hopes to eventually synthesize as a

treatment for clogged arteries. The treat-

ment, if and when perfected, will not be

cheap ––and as with other diseases, med-

ical authorities agree that an ounce of pre-

vention is still worth a pound of cure.

Dr. Harvey Risch of Yale

University reported in the September 21

issue of the Journal of the National Cancer

Institute that eating 10 grams of saturated

fat per day increases a woman’s risk of

ovarian cancer by 20%; eating two servings

of vegetables a day lowers the risk by an

equal factor. Ovarian cancer hits 20,000

American women per year, killing 12,500

of them.

AGRICULTURE

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Agriculture secretary Mike Espy

resigned on October 4, effective December 31,

amid allegations that while moving to more closely

regulate red meat sanitation, he improperly

accepted gifts and favors from Tyson Foods, of

Arkansas, the biggest U.S. poultry producer.

Grazing on public lands, reports the

National Wildlife Federation, has contributed to

the decline of at least 346 species of fish, birds,

and mammals that are either officially endangered

or have been nominated for endangered status.

USDA researcher Robert Wall predicts

that a way to make cows’ milk simulate the health

benefits of breastfeeding will be developed soon by

inserting human genes into cows. The first obsta-

cle will be finding a way to create a transgenic cow

for less than the present cost of $300,000 per head.

MARINE LIFE

November 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November 1994:

Russian prime minister Victor

Chernomyrdin on October 7 signed approval

of the International Whaling Commission

agreement, reached last May, to establish a

Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary including

most waters below the 40th parallel south lati-

tude. Just amonth earlier his administration

formally objected to the sanctuary––the cre-

ation of which Russia supported at the IWC

meeting, against heavy pressure from Japan

and Norway. Because Russia objected in 1982

to the IWC-established international moratori-

um on commercial whaling, the objection to

the sanctuary meant that under IWC rules

Russia would have been uniquely entitled to

kill whales in Antarctic waters, exempt from

retaliatory trade sanctions. The turnabout came

two days after the Russian coastguard sank a

Japanese trawler near the disputed island of

Shikotan, and six days before a Russian mili-

tary airplane fired on a Norwegian trawler

which allegedly intruded upon a military exer-

cise in Arctic waters.

Research

October 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1994:

World-renowned primatologist

Dr. Jan Moor-Jankowski quit the New

York University Medical School’s Animal

Care and Use Committee on August 16, in

protest of how the committee has handled

allegations of animal abuse involved with

addiction experiments on monkeys done by

fellow faculty member Dr. Ronald Wood.

Wood’s work was temporarily suspended

last spring, former NYU head veterinarian

Dr. Wendell Niemann resigned, and some

staff who purport to have been whistle-

blowers were dismissed, but the full cir-

cumstances have not been disclosed.

Dean Smith of the American

Anti-Vivisection Society has produced a

paragraph-by-paragraph critique of the

American Medical Association’s recent

white paper on Use of Animals in

Biomedical Research, available for $3.00

each from the AAVS at 801 Old York Rd,

Suite 204, Jenkintown, PA 19046-1685.

Get the AMA white paper from the AMA,

Dept. of Science & Medical Education,

515 N. State St., Chicago, IL 60610.

Diet & Health

October 1, 1994 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 1994:

“Jack Sprat is the only per-

son in the English lexicon to promote

vegetarianism,” claim Jeff and Dana

Dorson, who recently opened the first

of a projected chain of vegan fast food

restaurants called Jack Sprat’s

Vegetarian Grill in the French Quarter

of New Orleans. “We’re going to make

Sprat into a character in costume, have

him go around in public places, pass

out vegetables, and teach people how to

eat healthy,” the Dorsons continue.

“We hope to stage a national debate

with Ronald McDonald.” The Dorsons

have shown their ability to build a

strong organization via Legislation In

Support of Animals, now six years old,

with 1,200 members (profiled in the

January 1994 issue of ANIMAL PEO-

PLE). Their menu already gets raves

from New Orleans restaurant critics.

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