Tag Archives: Illinois

PETA Activists Arrested in Peoria, IL

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In August, two People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals activists were arrested in Peoria, Illinois, after they stripped to their underwear and stepped in to over-sized displays designed to look like a supermarket meat package. A sign on the package read, \”Only cannibals eat animals. Go vegetarian.\”

Eric Deardorff, 24, and Melissa Sehgal, 28, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct outside the headquarters of Caterpillar Inc.

PETA campaign coordinator Chris Link was also ticketed for obstructing the public right of way. Link told the Peoria Journal Star that the arrests came as a shock,

This was quite surprising. The officers didn\’t give us any warning or say we were doing anything wrong. They just started throwing blankets [over the protesters].

Another PETA protester was arrested in 2001 in almost the same spot after disrobing to protest cruelty. Charges in that case were eventually dropped.

Peoria police Sgt. Henry Minton told the Peoria Star Journal,

They will be charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing the public right of way and maybe protesting without a permit.[Protesters will be arrested] if they come here and take their clothes off, obstruct the sidewalk when they disrobe in the city of Peoria.

Source:

Two anti-meat activists arrested. Elaine Hopkins, Peoria Journal Star, August 25, 2005.

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Illinois Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Have Legalized Snares

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Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich recently vetoed Illinois House Bill 1486 which would have legalized the use of snares in wildlife trapping.

The bill passed overwhelmingly in both the Illinois House of Representatives (87-27) and Senate (49-2). But Balgojevich transmitted the following message of veto,

August 12, 2005

To the Honorable Members of the
Illinois House of Representatives
94th General Assembly

Pursuant to Article IV, Section 9(b) of the Illinois Constitution of 1970, I hereby veto
House Bill 1486, entitled \”AN ACT concerning wildlife.\” House Bill 1486 allows hunters to use snares to trap animals such as raccoons, foxes and beavers on land. These traps have been banned in Illinois for over 50 years because the trapÂ’s wire hoop strangles the animal. Twenty-one states in the nation do not allow the use of snares.

Snares are inhumane and indiscriminate. Not only do they cruelly kill wild animals for their fur, they may also kill domestic pets and even endangered species. Even though the bill requires a mechanism on the snare to reduce the chance of strangulation, the safety provisions are still inadequate and animals would suffer unnecessarily. While I support the hunters and trappers of Illinois, I refuse to support this particularly gruesome hunting method thatÂ’s been banned in the state for years.

For this reason, I hereby veto and return House Bill 1486.

Sincerely,

ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH
Governor

There is no word yet on whether the House and Senate will try to override the governor\’s veto.

Animal rights groups commended the governor\’s veto. In a press release, Camilla Fox of the Animal Protection Institute said,

We commend Governor Rod Blagojevich for saying \’No\’ to the fur industry\’s attempts to further legalize a device that is known to cause immense pain and suffering to animals. With this action, the Governor has made a clear statement that snares have no place in a humane and civilized world.

The full text of the vetoed legislation can be read here.

Source:

Animal advocates commend Governor Blagojevich\’s veto of bill that would expand use of cruel snares in Illinois. Press Release, Animal Protection Institute and Illinois Humane, August 16, 2005.

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Illinois Senate Passes Foie Gras Ban

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In April, the Illinois Senate passed a bill banning the force feeding of ducks and geese to produce foie gras in the state. The bill passed 53-0, with 1 Senator voting present.

According to the text of the bill,

A person may not force feed a bird for the purpose of enlarging the bird\’s liver beyond normal size or hire another person to do so.

Anyone violating this proposed law could be fined $1,000 per day that the offense occurs.

When originally offered, the bill would have also banned the sale of foie gras produced outside of Illinois, but that provision was ultimately struck from the bill passed by the Senate.

The bill will now be taken up by the Illinois state House of Representatives.

The full text of Illinois\’ proposed ban on foie gras production can be read here.

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Illinois SB 413 – Ban on Force Feeding of Ducks and Geese

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SB0413 Engrossed

 		    AN ACT concerning animals.

 		    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 		represented in the General Assembly:

 		    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Force
 		Fed Birds Act.

 		    Section 5. Prohibition; penalties.
 		    (a) In this Section:
 		         (1) A \"bird\" includes, but is not limited to, a duck
 		    or goose.
 		        (2) \"Force feeding a bird\" means a process that causes
 		    the bird to consume more food than a typical bird of the
 		    same species would consume voluntarily. Force feeding
 		    methods include, but are not limited to, delivering feed
 		    through a tube or other device inserted into the bird\'s
 		    esophagus.
 		    (b) A person may not force feed a bird for the purpose of
 		enlarging the bird\'s liver beyond normal size or hire another
 		person to do so.
 		    (c) A person who knowingly violates this Section is guilty
 		of a petty offense and shall be fined $1,000. Each day that a
 		violation occurs is a separate offense.
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Bob Barker Donates $1 Million to Northwestern School of Law

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In March, Bob Barker announced he was donating $1 million to Northwestern University\’s School of Law to endow a course devoted to animal rights law.

In the past, I have been accused by individuals from universities that Barker has donated money for implying that what Barker is buying is nothing more than indoctrination of their students in animal rights ideologies. I don\’t believe that, and don\’t think what I\’ve written sustains such a view, but Bob Barker explicitly does believe that this is what he\’s accomplishing with his donations. Barker explained to Chicago\’s WABC,

Animals need all the protection we can give them. We intend to train a growing number of law students in this area of law in the hope that they will ultimately lead a national effort to make it illegal to brutalize and exploit these helpless creatures.\”

And by brutalize and exploit, Barker means things like animal research. Barker had to do a bit of defending of his donation to Northwestern in light of ongoing federal investigations into alleged mistreatment of research animals at the university. Barker said he was unaware of the allegations or the specifics, but told the Chicago Sun Times that in general,

I\’m well aware of the cruelties and the mistreatment of animals in animal research. But many good things will come of this [donation].

Over the past few years, Barker has donated $6 million to establish or enhance animal rights law curriculum at law schools at Northwestern, Yale, Columbia, Duke, Stanford, and the University of California Los Angeles.

Sources:

Bob Barker donates money to university. WABC, March 22, 2005.

Barker has to bite his lip before giving NU $1 million. Chicago Sun-Times, March 23, 2005.

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Start \’Em Young

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No word on whether or not People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has appeared at the school the young girl mentioned in the item below from Decatur Daily columnist Ken Retherford,

Although only 9, a Decatur girl is well on her way toward becoming an animal-rights activist.

While leaving a restaurant with her family, the child saw a lady with a rabbit-fur stole on her shoulders. The girl glared at the woman.

Outside she grumbled, \”Dad, if I become president, I am going to make it a law that animals can wear stoles made out of people.\”

Well, she\’s learning about animal rights compassion young (assuming the anecdote is true).

Source:

You Don\’t Say. Ken Retherford, The Decatur Daily, February 2, 2005.

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A Bit Background on Rejection of Horse Slaughter Ban

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A couple weeks ago this site noted the Illinois House of Representatives\’ rejection of a bill that would have banned the slaughter of horses for food in that state. But part of the story got left out of that brief updated.

Specifically, in rejecting the horse slaughter ban, the House members apparently ignored much-publicized testimony by noted California horse expert Bo Derek. Derek testified before a Senate committee, but her appearance was publicized enough that House members should have been aware of it.

Derek proved to be a brilliant, cogent witness who offered well-considered explanations such as this as to why Illinois should ban the slaughter of horses for food,

It\’s [horse slaughter] not humane and you wouldn\’t choose it for anyone or your family over chemical euthanasia.

Well that\’s certainly a perspective the politicians hadn\’t considered. Hard to believe that didn\’t win anyone over to her side.

Source:

Bo Derek testifies in hearing on horse slaughter. ABC7Chicago.Com, May 20, 2004.

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Researcher Discovers Method that Could Improve Lives of Thousands of Premature Infants

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Infants born prematurely sometimes develop something called necrotizing enterocolitis — essentially part of the intestine becomes diseased and has to be removed. This is the single most common surgical emergency faced by premature infants, and accounts for 15 percent of deaths in premature infants weighing less than 1500 grams.

Many of those children who do survive have to be fed intravenously. After part of the intestine is removed, the remaining intestinal tissue will grow and become more functional, but there\’s a Catch-22 — in order for this to occur, the individual has to take food orally, but many of these patients cannot be fed orally.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researcher Kelly Tappenden has a possible solution that was recently published in the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition — adding butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid, to an intravenous nutrition solution might also cause the intestine to grow and become functional.

Tappenden demonstrated that the treatment works in newborn piglets, which are frequently used to model newborn human infants. Adding butyrate to the intravenous solution given to piglets who had parts of their intestine removed caused the intestinal tissue to grow and become functional.

Tappenden said in a statement announcing the publication of the research,

. . . not only was there more gut, the gut that was there was more functional. When we added butyrate, the villi in the intestine increased in size, and they were able to transport more nutrients.

. . .

[This approach should work in humans] But it will depend on the patient, how much intestine he has left, and where that intestine is. We may not be able to take some patients off intravenous nutrition completely, but if patients can eat and just have one supplemental IV feeding daily, it would reduce the number of complications a great deal and increase their quality of life so much.

Source:

Research gives hope to preemies and Crohn\’s patients. Press Release, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, June 2, 2004.

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Illinois Horse Slaughter Ban Amendment Rejected

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In May, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 61-50 to reject an amendment to a bill that would have banned the slaughtering of horses for food in that state.

The Illinois Senate had approved the amendment by a vote of 38-15, and there is still a small possibility that a conference committee to reconcile the different versions of the bill could yet reinstate the horse slaughter ban.

The ban is directed at Cavel International in DeKalb, Illinois, where horses are slaughtered and the meat packaged for export. The Illinois Leader reported Cavel International project manager James Tucker saying,

We\’re getting a very loud minority who\’s making a lot of noise about this. We shouldn\’t be defining for other cultures what they eat . . . horsemeat exportation is a multi-million dollar business and good for Illinois\’ economy.

Source:

Horse slaughter bill not done yet, senate sponsor says. Joyce Morrison, Illinois Leader, June 2, 2004.

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Researchers Find Gene that Causes Liver Cancer in Mice

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Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a gene that causes liver cancer in mice.

The gene, Foxm1b, plays an important role in allowing tissues to repair themselves in both mice and human being, but for some reason the gene is deactivated in humans as they age.

Dr. Robert Costa created a genetically modified mouse which had the Foxm1b gene deleted from the animals\’ liver cells. The modified mouse did not develop liver cancer tumors and, in fact, Costa discovered he was unable to induce liver cancer tumors using a standard laboratory technique to do so. Without the Foxm1b gene, the mice appeared incapable of developing liver cancer.

In a press release announcing the publication of his findings in Genes and Development, Costa said,

To my knowledge, this is the first time a gene has been directly linked to the growth of cancer cells in live animals.

. . .

Foxm1b is expressed in many different kinds of cancer cells which leads us to believe it plays a key role in promoting the growth of tumors other than liver cancer.

Costa and his team of researchers also developed a prototype compound that inhibits Foxm1b and reduced the growth of cancer cell colonies in a laboratory setting.

Costa said,

We\’re extremely excited about this finding because it suggests we might have a therapy for stemming the spread of liver cancer.

Source:

UIC researchers discover gene that causes liver cancer in animals. Press Release, University of Illinois at Chicago, April 1, 2004.

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