Monthly Archives: February 2003

Edmonton Rejects Ban on Circus Animals

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Earlier this month the Edmonton City Council rejected a proposed ban on circus animals by a vote of 8-4.

The proposed ban had threatened the 55th annual Shrine circus scheduled for Edmonton from March 7-9. Bruce Hogle, a spokesman for the Al Shamal Shriners, told The Edmonton Journal,

We are ecstatic about this. We\’ll continue to entertain thousands of children from Edmonton, central and northern Alberta. The animals are well taken care of. We\’ve never been charged by the Edmonton or Alberta SPCA. We\’ve never been warned by any organization.

Tove Reece of Voice of Animals, one of the groups supporting the proposed ban, told The Edmonton Journal that the vote was a \”huge loss for animals\” and urged people not to go to the circus.

Edmonton City Councillor Ron Hayter attacked the proposal and accused the activists of engaging in \”misleading propaganda.\” The Edmonton Journal reported that Hayter said,

It\’s [the proposed ban] an attempt of the few to impose their idea of what is right on the many. I don\’t like their tactics, their efforts to confuse and mislead. In my 25 years on council, I have learned to ignore the shrill voices of fanatics.

Source:

Councillor claws animal rights activists: Circus animals won\’t be banned. Bob Gilmour, The Edmonton Journal, February 12, 2003.

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Animal Activist\’s Defamation Lawsuit Thrown Out Again

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A judge this month dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by Wisconsin-based animal rights group Animal Lobby Inc. against radio talk show host Charlie Sykes.

Animal Lobby Inc.\’s Schultz sued Sykes and others in January 1998 after newspapers and radio coverage named her as a suspect in a dognapping case and also linked her to a sting operation at a Wisconsin farm. Schultz was charged in the dognapping case, but all charges were later dropped.

Schultz\’s defamation case was dismissed after Circuit Judge Francis Wasielewski ruled that Schultz had suborned perjury from another witness. Schultz had asked a friend to lie on her behalf, and coached the friend on how to testify in court. Schultz denied that she had suborned perjury, but the friend produced a typewritten script that Schultz admitted writing that detailed how the friend should answer questions she might be asked at the trial.

Animal Lobby Inc. then filed suit against Sykes arguing that it as an organization had been defamed. A state appeals court reinstated one charge related to the sting operation at the Wisconsin farm which Sykes falsely reported Schultz was involved in.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Dugan dismissed that claim earlier this month, finding that when Schultz was acting as an agent of Animal Lobby Inc. when she attempted to suborn perjury. He also fined Animal Lobby Inc. $100.

Schultz told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that she plans to appeal the ruling.

Source:

Activist\’s complaint dismissed. Tom Held, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, February 6, 2003.

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ELF Terrorist Sentenced to Prison

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Earth Liberation Front terrorist Jacob Sherman was sentenced to more than three years in prison this month after he plead guilty to the 2001 firebombing of logging trucks and logging equipment in Oregon.

Those fires did $50,000 in damage at Ray A. Schopper Logging and $210,000 in damage at Ross Island Sand & Gravel.

Although the maximum possible sentence was 40 years, the judge in the case was apparently lenient due to Sherman\’s cooperation with authorities after his arrest. According to court documents, Sherman began cooperating immediately with authorities and identified Michael Scarpitti aka Tre Arrow as being the ringleader of the group responsible for the arsons.

Scarpitti is currently a fugitive.

Sources:

Fire bombing eco-terrorist sentenced. Associated Press, February 20, 2003.

Eco-terrorist convicted for more than three years in prison. KATU News, February 20, 2003.

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Canadian Voice for Animals\’ Anti-Leno Petition

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Animal rights activist Earle Bingley, who lists himself as the president of Canadian Voice for Animals, posted an amusing petition calling for a boycott of the Tonight Show because of host Jay Leno\’s insistence at garnering laughs \”at the expense of animals.\”

According to Bingley\’s petition,

On February 10th, Leno made fun of the state of Colorado that passed an ordinance that would recognize dogs and cats as companion animals. Leno?s punch line was, and this may not be word perfect: ?Yeah, and the companion animals of Korea are now appetizers.?

On February 11th, Leno had a skit of a game show that he called: NAME THAT SOUND?One of the fake contestants was the president of North Korea?The sound was that of a barking dog. The correct answer was: ?That?s the sound of my dinner.?

For the past 50 plus years, I and countless others have worked tirelessly for the betterment of our four-legged relatives. When someone like Leno, who has a large audience, makes statements like this, it make me for one, sick to the stomach, and it countermines the advances we have made in animal welfare. If you agree with me, please sign this petition which will be sent to the president of NBC, letting him know that the general public will not tolerate this kind of abuse from late night talk shows.

Almost 500 people have shown up at PetitionOnline.Com to sign Bingley\’s petition — by now, The Tonight Show must be fearing the viewer backlash. Well, at least the endless train of pointless petitions does keep these folks occupied.

Source:

Boycott The Tonight Show on NBC; Watch Letterman. Earle Bingley, PetitionOnline.Com, Accessed Feb. 17, 2003.

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An Animal Rights Activist Against the War

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Anti-factory farm advocate and Global Hunger Alliance coordinator Pattrice Le-Muire Jones recently posted an article to an animal rights e-mail list offering reasons \”Why Animal Liberation Activists Must Join the Peace Movement\” and oppose any war against Iraq.

The article includes a top ten list of reasons why animal rights activists should join the peace movement which give a nice insight into the bizarre way that some animal rights activists see the world. Here are reasons 1 through 4 that Le-Muire Jones offers (emphasis added),

4. Because military attacks on urban spaces terrify, kill, injure, displace, and bereave companion animals.

3. Because military attacks on rural locations terrify, ill, and bereave farmed animals.

2. Because bombs and biological weapons destroy habitats and poison the environment upon which all animals depend for sustenance.

1. Because bullets, bombs, and biological weapons don\’t distinguish between human and non-human animals.

What Le-Muire Jones means by \”bereav[ing] animals\” is anybody\’s guess, but it is interesting that if there were a way for weapons to distinguish between human and non-human animals that Le-Muire Jones might have a different view of war.

It is telling that in a long list of \”Do\’s and Don\’ts\” for activists, Le-Muire Jones has to remind activist \”Don\’t forget to include humans when discussing the innocents who will be hurt in the course of warfare.\” Presumably Le-Muire Jones is a student of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals view of warfare in which a terrorist attack using a donkey as a bomb is reprehensible simply because a donkey is injured in the effort.

Source:

Why animal liberation activists must join the peace movement. Pattrice Le-Muire Jones, February 2003.

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U.S. Considers Additional Mad Cow Regulations

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According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Food and Drug Administration is considering additional regulations of animal feed to strengthen the country\’s protection from a breakout of mad cow disease.

The FDA is currently seeking comments on the difficulty and costs that would be imposed to remove the brains and spinal cords of animals before they are rendered. After the public comment period, the FDA will consider drafting a rule to require the removal of such organs from animals rendered for animal feed.

Existing regulations already ban the inclusion of rendered parts of ruminants and minks from begin included in feed given to other ruminants, but feed manufacturers are allowed to include chicken and pig parts in ruminant feed, and ruminants can be included in chicken and pig feed.

The new regulations would require the removal of brains and spinal cords from all rendered products.

Source:

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: U.S. may ban more animal parts from feed. Jeff Nesmith, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, January 12, 2003.

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PETA to Palestinians: Stop Using Donkey Bombs

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Ingrid Newkirk recently sent a letter to Yasser Arafat asking the Palestinians to not use animals in any future terrorist attacks against Israelis. This followed a Jan. 26 terrorist attack in which a donkey was rigged with explosives which were then detonated near the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion.

Here is the full text of the letter from Newkirk,

February 3, 2003

Yasser Arafat, President
Palestinian National Authority
Ramallah, West Bank
Palestinian Authority

1 page via facsimile: 972 7 282 2365

Your Excellency:

I am writing from an organization dedicated to fighting animal abuse around the world. We have received many calls and letters from people shocked at the bombing in Jerusalem on January 26 in which a donkey, laden with explosives, was intentionally blown up.

All nations behave abominably in many ways when they are fighting their enemies, and animals are always caught in the crossfire. The U.S. Army abandoned thousands of loyal service dogs in Vietnam. Al-Qaeda and the British government have both used animals in hideously cruel biological weaponry tests. We watched on television as stray cats in your own compound fled as best they could from the Israeli bulldozers.

Animals claim no nation. They are in perpetual involuntary servitude to all humankind, and although they pose no threat and own no weapons, human beings always win in the undeclared war against them. For animals, there is no Geneva Convention and no peace treaty — just our mercy.

If you have the opportunity, will you please add to your burdens my request that you appeal to all those who listen to you to leave the animals out of this conflict?

We send you sincere wishes of peace.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk
President, PETA

The obvious question is why Newkirk didn\’t simply ask Arafat to put an end to terrorist bombings altogether. As Newkirk told the Washington Post, however,

It\’s not my business to inject myself into human wars.

Yeah, you really have to wonder where people get this idea that Newkirk and PETA care more about animals than human beings. It couldn\’t be from stunts like this, could it?

Sources:

Arafat gets asinine plea from PETA on intefadah. Kerry Dougherty, The Virginian-Pilot, February 6, 2003.

Anger over donkey bomb attack. Ananova.Com, Feb. 6, 2003.

Leave the animals in peace. Ingrid Newkirk, Letter, Feb. 3, 2003.

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League Against Cruel Sports Gets New President

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Annette Crosbie recently became the new president of the UK-based League Against Cruel Sports, which is actively engaged in campaigns against fox hunting, stag hunting, hare coursing and hunting, and mink hunting. Crosbie also runs Greyhounds UK which seeks tighter regulation of greyhound racing in the UK.

Crosbie summed up her philosophy by telling The Mirror\’s David Edwards,

When I think about it, I think humans are the nastiest species of animal on the planet . . .

Crosbie is a whole-hearted proponent of animal rights terrorism, including activists who break into labs and campaigns of harassment such as those carried out by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. Crosbie told The Mirror,

The campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences has been very clever — to frighten the banks into backing off is wonderful.

. . .

Apart from rescuing animals [during break-ins at laboratories] they [activists who commit such acts] focus people\’s attention on what\’s going on. You cannot get politicians to pay attention until you get out on the streets and do something.

Describing how she will go about directing the campaign against hunting, Crosbie said,

Of course as the new president, people will say I\’m just an ageing luvvie getting in on the act, but I won\’t be paying much attention to things like that and, goodness knows, I\’m not afraid of ruffling a few feathers.

But I\’m not worried about that. You see, I\’m impatient, intolerant, judgmental, tactless — I\’m not very nice, I\’m really not. And if you don\’t do it my way, by God you\’ll be sorry.

Well, at least there will be five things that animal rights activists and hunters will be able to agree about Crosbie.

Source:

I\’ll be victor in the fight for animal rights . . . and you\’d better believe it; Annette Crosbie on her most important role. David Edwards, The Mirror (UK), Jan. 10, 2003.

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Animal Rights Activist Forced to Resign as NDP Chief of Staff

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Less than two weeks after he was elected as the leader of Canada\’s socialist New Democrat Party, Jack Layton accepted the resignation of his chief of staff Rick Smith after a controversy arose over Smith\’s past work against the seal hunt.

Until leaving to accept the chief of staff position, Smith was director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare which has actively fought against the seal hunt off the coast of Newfoundland and parts of the Maritimes.

New Democratic Party officials in Newfoundland strongly protested Smith\’s selection. After a caucus meeting of the party this week, Layton announced that he and Smith and discussed the controversy and Layton had accepted Smith\’s resignation. Layton reiterated that he supports the seal hunt.

International Fund for Animal Welfare spokesperson Katy Heath-Eves was not pleased by this turn of events. \”It\’s so unfortunate that it\’s a card that\’s in the pocket of some politicians and they\’re playing this card,\” Heath-Eves said.

Source:

Layton\’s chief of staff resigns. The Globe and Mail, Feb. 5, 2003.

Ex-animal rights crusader quits as Layton aide. The Ottawa Citizen, Feb. 6, 2003.

Jack Layton\’s chief of staff resigns. Bill Curry, National Post, Feb. 6, 2003.

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Judge Will Rule Feb. 25 on Distribution of McDonald\’s Settlement

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About 35 people packed the courtroom of Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Siebel, who is handling the $10 million settlement that McDonald\’s agreed to in order to settle lawsuits related to claims that its french fries were not vegetarian as the company claimed.

Many of the people who originally brought the lawsuits are angry over the proposed distribution of the $10 million settlement. Cherie Traverse of Downers Grove, Ill., is one such plaintiff. She claims she was not told about the settlement until after plaintiffs attorneys had already reached an agreement with McDonald\’s. Those attorneys claim that Travis dropped them, while Travis claims the lawyers dropped her from the lawsuit.

The Chicago Sun-Times quoted EarthSave chairman Kevin Read as saying that, \”If this list [of individuals and groups to receive the settlement money] is approved, a gross injustice will have been done.\”

Judge Siebel said that he would rule on the list of groups that would receive money from the settlement agreement on Feb. 25.

Source:

Vegetarians sink their teeth into settlement. Sandra Guy, Chicago Sun-Times, January 28, 2003.

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