****Cross Post Widely****

Almost time to.... "Take Back the Woods"

NJ Bear Hunt Begins December 5, 2005

Before the sun comes up on Monday, December 5th, "hunters" will be traveling in the darkness of night to take their hidden positions in the woodlands of New Jersey. New Jersey's black bears have been protected for many years, with the exception of 2003, when at least 328 bears were killed in the only NJ state sanctioned slaughter of bears in 35 years.

We should call these people what they really are. They are not hunters, they are assassins. They are not fierce warriors, they are cowards.....hiding and waiting for an unsuspecting bear to happen along for the bait that they have been setting out most likely for weeks now. The cold hard reality is that most of these bears will be shot in the back from tree stands while they munch on jelly donuts and BBQ grease that has been left in the woods in order to create an easy target for these murderous scum. There is nothing sportsmanlike about bear hunting.

It is time for us to say the same thing to this state sanctioned slaughter as we did to the fur ghouls who inhabit and pollute the fashionable runways and streets of New York City. We at WAR once again say: "ENOUGH" It's time for us to assert our rights and take back our woods. The large majority of our population does not hunt. Hunting is truly a "dying sport". If we really believe that our brothers and sisters that dwell in the forests have rights, it is time that we rise up in their defense.

For useful information of where to go and what to do when you get there, visit the WAR bulletin board, Operation: Take Back the Woods '05. So, do some reading and research and then make yourself some PB&J or marinated tofu sandwiches, fill your thermos with soy latte and pack up your knapsack........let's head to the woods. Don't waste time thinking about it, just do it. There is still time to make a difference for the NJ bears and the others that live in the woods.

Don't forget to dress appropriately and anyone planning on entering the woods must be wearing blaze orange for safety.

http://war.arforum.org/

If you would like to join us for an early morning hike in the woods on Monday, December 5th, we will be posting meetup times and details on Sunday, December 4th. Once again, the WAR bulletin boards will have the most up to date information.

If you are not able to be there, then consider making phone calls and sending e-mails to those NJ officials that have the authority to call a halt to this insane slaughter. For more information, we urge you to check out: http://www.nj-ara.org/bears.html

Win Animal Rights

For more information contact: Win Animal Rights/W.A.R. at: centcom@war-online.org or check out the WAR website at:
http://war-online.org

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REPORTS POURING IN FROM UNDISCLOSED FIELD LOCATIONS.... BEAR DEFENDERS: HARD AT WORK

NEWS BULLETIN: Snow is falling in northwestern New Jersey and anonymous reports are pouring in from Bear Defenders, who are hard at work preparing for opening of the government sanctioned assassination of black bears. While hunters prepare for the hunt, animal liberation warriors have taken to the field in defense of native forest dwellers.

Numerous tree stands that have been previously sighted are no longer visible...something appears to have happened to them during the night. Donut laced bait stations were sighted but reports indicate that they may have been compromised by mysterious ammonia like substances. Flourescent trail markers seem to have been repositioned. We sure hope Elmer has a compass as he may become "vewy, vewy confused". Bear tracks and scat have been obliterated and are now covered by the falling snow. Blaze orange markers appear to have been randomly scattered throughout the woods adding to the confusion.

Reports indicate that there have been numerous bear sightings and that the bears are gentle and docile and not the least bit aggressive. It is our fervent hope that the snow will continue and drive them to den and that the presence of active bear defenders will alert them to the coming danger.

More as breaking news develops..........

For more information about what you can do to defend NJ Bears, please check out the WAR Bulletin Board "Operation: Take Back the Woods '05" at: http://war.arforum.org/

Later today we will be sending out details about a meet up in NJ on Monday, December 5, 2005 for anyone who wishes to participate in "Operation: Take Back the Woods". We are arranging carpools from New York City. Anyone who can drive or who wishes a ride, please contact us immediately.

For more info contact: Win Animal Rights/W.A.R. at: centcom@war-online.org or check out the WAR website at:
http://war-online.org



****Cross Post Widely****

CALLING BEAR DEFENDERS ITS TIME: TAKE BACK THE WOODS

In just a few short hours at sunrise, the sounds of gun shots will be echoing through the still air of the New Jersey woods. You can still make a difference for the defenseless bears that are only hours from being shot from behind, by cowards hiding in tree stands, as they haplessly munch on jelly donuts and bagels.

Reports continue to come in from field locations. More tree stands appear to have been turned into firewood and numerous fluorescent trail markers appears to have been reconfigured into smiley faces. :-P

As someone who was in the woods of NJ in 2003, I would like to share some of my recollections with you. I recall hearing the first rifle shots and flinching at the thought that the first bear in 33 years might be dying at the hands of a scumbag hunter. I remember seeing the first bear come into the Waywayanda weigh station and seeing the poor thing hoisted up, her blood puddling on the snow covered ground.

One of the hardest moments was watching a hunter open the back of a station wagon. He carried, in his arms, a limp black body. At first I thought it was a dog....a black labrador retriever perhaps. It turned out to be the lifeless body of a black bear cub. He couldn't have been very old and he was no bigger than the family dog.

What I remember being horrified about while we watched the hunters return triumphantly with their "kill" in tow is that the majority of the bears that were slaughtered that first day were young females and cubs. And who will ever forget the story of the bear cub that was shot and staggered out onto the highway to die slowly, as the grizzly scene was witnessed by countless New Jersey commuters including children?

The horror of this hunt is it's inhumanity. These bears harm no one except maybe the greedy land developers who wish to continue to rape and pillage the bear's homes. They are not encroaching on our territory, we are encroaching on theirs. Instead of finding a peaceful solution, a way to cohabit the woods, we sell them out and deliver them into the hands of cowardly assassins, who lure them with treats and "bait" and then shoot them when their backs are turned. How despicable!

What I find most amazing is that the bears have harmed no one, still the state of NJ feels that safety dictates sending out killers to neutralize them. Every day I hear about hunting accidents, many of them resulting in death and some of them involving children and unsuspecting bystanders, yet the state isn't advocating the abolition or even the stricter regulation of hunting. Doesn't make any sense to me.

Please consider becoming a bear defender and when the
5 day season comes to a close, become a forest and wildlife defender. Its time we all said "ENOUGH". At WAR, we are dedicated to continuing the fight until the woods are safe and open for the enjoyment of all animals, human and non-human.

Until all are free,

Win Animal Rights

P.S. To meet up with other activists, contact us at:
646-267-9934 or check the WAR bulletin board at:
http://war.arforum.org/

All activities planned for December 5th are totally legal. If you plan on entering the woods, you must be wearing blaze orange for safety reasons.

For more info contact: Win Animal Rights/W.A.R. at: centcom@war-online.org or check out the WAR website at:
http://war-online.org

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NJ BEAR HUNT FIELD REPORT

Operation: Take Back the Woods '05 Update

Hunter tree stands and bait stations continue to be compromised during the state sanctioned black bear slaughter. Bear defenders were heavily concentrated in New Jersey's Waywayanda State Park. One of our teams was stationed in an area that was being heavily patrolled by both Bear Defenders and Wounded Bear Rescue Teams. Patrols spotted many bears, but heard very few gun shots. Bears seemed passive and not at all dangerous.

Breaking News: four bear defenders were arrested as a result of a sting operation In Waywayanda State Park, this morning. Following is a statement issued by NJARA and the BEAR Group:

"This morning, four bear activists fell victim to a sting operation orchestrated by two hunters they had encountered in the woods yesterday, as well as park rangers and Division of Fish and Wildlife staff. These peaceful, nonviolent people were only trying to rescue wounded bears while documenting the hunt on videotape. Yesterday, these same two hunters shot a bear within close proximity to these activists. The rescuers followed the blood trail, but the bear was dead.

The hunters cut the bear open, discarded her entrails, and hauled her body out of the woods. They left behind the bear's heart, clearly visible against the white snow. These activists discovered the bloody entrails of one of their bear neighbors.

Today, the bear rescuers were engaged by those same two hunters, along with an additional hunter who was wearing a ski mask. They said they were from South Jersey and were hunting practically in the backyard of one of the activists, who they called by name and obviously recognized.

The hunters were taunting the activists, using racial slurs, but at no point did the activists restrict the movement of these hunters or interfere with their ability to hunt. In fact, the activists were walking away from the hunters when they heard someone shout out, "Clear the area!" They were frightened for their lives because they had no idea that the police, park rangers, and Division of Fish and Wildlife staff were there. Once they realized they were officers, the activists were calmly escorted out of the woods.

Later, they discovered the hunter wearing the ski mask was a park ranger."

Check out the WAR website for daily reports coming in from the field and for pictures both of gentle NJ bears and before and after shots of hunter tree stands, submitted to us anonymously by bear defenders. In view of what happened at Waywayanda this morning, it is now more important than ever to get bear defenders out into the field. If having activists out there wasn't effective, they never would have attempted that sting operation. So, lets head for the NJ woods Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

If anyone is willing to drive from New York City, please contact us immediately at: 646-267-9934 or e-mail: centcom@war-online.org

For more information about what you can do to defend NJ Bears, please check out the WAR Bulletin Board "Operation: Take Back the Woods '05" at: http://war.arforum.org/

For more info contact: Win Animal Rights/W.A.R. at:
centcom@war-online.org or check out the WAR website at:
http://war-online.org


Informant: Ima Vegan

Recently, I was shocked to discover that thousands of horses are slaughtered every year in the U.S. to satisfy an overseas market for horsemeat!

Growing up my aunt had five horses and I can still remember the sense of awe I had watching them gallop across the field manes and tails flying. Such beautiful, spirited, and sensitive creatures deserve a more dignified end than being slaughtered and served as dinner.

Please Act Now!
http://go.care2.com/e/Ho_/DJ/n5lW

The thought of horses being slaughtered is horrifying enough, but to make matters worse the process is often brutal and inhumane. The transport of horses to slaughterhouses is often extremely cruel. Many horses are injured before even reaching the slaughter plant due to overcrowded conditions during transport. Some are shipped for more than 24 hours at a time without food, water, or rest.

In addition, the methods used to slaughter these horses once they arrive at the plant can be exceptionally inhumane. The horses are often forced to endure repeated stuns or blows and often times remain conscious during their slaughter.

The Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (S. 1915) would put an end to this cruel and inhumane practice by permanently prohibiting horse slaughter for human consumption in the U.S.

Urge your senators to support and cosponsor S. 1915!
http://go.care2.com/e/Ho_/DJ/n5lW

Jenny McKinley
Care2 & ThePetitionSite Team

Please go to the below link and watch carnage not thought by normal human beings. AND REMEMBER...this is also sponsered by WAL-MART.

http://www.jcruel.com/?c=post1116

Thanks, Lowell


Janet Potter wrote:
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:55:56 -0500
Subject: Boycott J Crew - Animal Cruelty and Cheap Imports

If you buy animal products (clothing) from China, you may well be supporting the torture and butchery of dogs and cats. Boycott J Crew. See why - http://www.jcruel.com/?c=posts1116

In Laboratorien: "2.265.489 Versuchstiere zu Forschungszwecken verbraucht" (16.11.05)

Der Deutsche Tierschutzbund beklagt, dass auch 2004 die Versuchstierzahlen in Deutschland weiter angestiegen seien. Dies belege die Bilanz der Versuchstierstatistik des Bundesministeriums für Verbraucherschutz, Ernährung und Landwirtschaft. Nach dieser seien 2.265.489 Tiere zu Forschungszwecken und somit 153.000 mehr als im Vorjahr "verbraucht" worden. Die Gentechnologie sei offenbar auch bei Tierversuchen "eine neue Spielwiese für die Wissenschaft". Eine Expertengruppe des Verbraucherschutzministeriums versucht weiterhin, Alternativmethoden zu den Tierversuchen "ausfindig zu machen".

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=12301

Urgent:

Culling elephants in Kruger National Park lacks scientific justification. There are more humane options.

Thousands of elephants in South Africa’s Kruger National Park need your help.

The largest land mammal on earth, elephants are extremely intelligent, social and grieve tremendously for the loss of family members. Can you imagine these majestic creatures being herded into family groups by helicopters, and then shot in the head by marksmen?

This population control measure by lethal means (called a cull) is exactly what is being proposed by South Africa National Parks (SANParks) in order to protect the vegetation of the park from a perceived overpopulation of elephants. But culling is a cruel, unethical and scientifically unsound practice that does not consider the welfare implications to elephant society as a whole, which is why it has been banned in South Africa since an international outcry halted the practice in 1994.

Speak out against the mass killings of elephants now
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M712347919936594321133665

Culling has been heavily criticised by many independent scientists, some of whom are considered to be the most reputable scientists working on elephant biology and population dynamics in Southern Africa. Very little is actually known about the impacts that elephants are having on biodiversity in the Park. Published ‘evidence’ of the destruction caused by elephants comes from non-scientists and is based largely on observation.

There is a better way. A way that relies on nature itself to manage elephant populations and reduce any impact large elephant herds could potentially have on vegetation in national parks.

By allowing a greater migration of elephant groups between parks and countries in southern Africa, i.e. the creation of a network of connected protected areas or ‘megaparks,’ elephant populations can be managed by natural forces such as drought. In fact, Kruger is already part of a trans-boundary initiative linking it to national parks in Mozambique and eventually Zimbabwe.

We have squeezed elephants into small reserves in which, in many cases, the natural factors controlling elephant populations can no longer operate. A series of conservation networks that include differing landscapes and conditions — some ideal and some non-ideal for elephants — can restore conditions that give rise to natural mortalities. Elephants would benefit, people would benefit and so would the revenues raised by tourists wanting to view the magnificent sight of herds of roaming elephants.

No proof means NO CULL

Sound science should be informing the management of the Kruger National Park. By dealing with elephants in short-term isolation, SANParks is not considering a holistic approach to the management of the Park’s resources. A cull will also tarnish South Africa’s image as a reputable wildlife destination.

The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is due to make a final decision on elephant culling by the end of the year. That’s why we need you to send South Africa a message urging the government to reject culling elephants in Kruger National Park right now.

http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M712347929936594321133665

It is said that elephants never forget. Let’s make sure South Africa doesn’t forget why it banned the culling of elephants in the first place.

Thanks for all you do,

Fred O’Regan President and CEO

P.S. Culling elephants in Kruger National Park is a quick-fix solution for reducing elephant populations that lacks scientific justification. There are more humane options, such as contraception and larger migratory boundaries, yet to be fully explored. Please speak out now to stop the mass slaughter of these highly intelligent and emotional creatures.

http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?ID=M712347939936594321133665

IFAW © 2005

The European Union has issued a one month import ban and effectively stopped the constant flow of parrots and other pet birds from Africa, Asia and South-America, which are caught in the wild under mostly illegal or dreadful conditions. The pseudo-legal regulations at the market countries often only cover the the illegal and cruel practices at the countries of origin. Of late 1.76 million wild birds imported live per year used to supply the demanding and uneducated European consumer market, whereby it is estimated that at least a similar number already died in the trade-pipelines. The global ecosystems can no longer afford to loose nearly 5 million birds from the wild every year just to satisfy sick consumer demands.

This import ban for all EU countries has to become permanent now !

Please go to http://www.worldparrottrust.org to get all the background information and kindly sign the petition at: http://www.worldparrottrust.org/trade/tradegerman.htm !

But such must not apply for Europe only, though it counts for around 87% of the global trade in wild birds, but the treatment of wild birds as mere trading goods has to stop everywhere.

ECOTERRA Intl. therefore asks all environmental and health organisations to get similar import-stops in place worldwide and to initiate a crack-down on the illegal trade !

The deadly spiral of purely opportunistic and money-oriented trade of wild species, which bears in addition serious health-risks and gives opportunities only to further criminal medical scams must be broken - now, because already drug-resistant strains of the deadly H5N1 virus exist.


ECOTERRA Intl.

P.S.: And use this issue to check the credibility of your newspaper - if they just followed the mainstream scaremongering, financed by Big Pharma: Give them the boot ! The conning has to stop too!

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Tamiflu-resistant bird flu found in Vietnam Burning culled chickens in Vietnam Catherine Brahic
17 October 2005 Source: SciDev.Net

Researchers have found a strain of bird flu that can resist Tamiflu, the drug that governments and the World Health Organization are stockpiling in preparation for a widely predicted flu pandemic.

The scientists say health authorities should consider stocking up on more than one anti-flu drug.

The Vietnamese and Japanese researchers, led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Tokyo, will publish their findings in Nature on Thursday (20 October).

They isolated the drug-resistant H5N1 virus from a 14-year-old Vietnamese girl.

Most of the virus strains found in her blood were resistant to oseltamivir, the flu drug sold commercially as Tamiflu. This resistance was the result of a single genetic mutation in one of the virus's eight proteins.

"We've been watching for this change [in the virus]," Kawaoka says. "This is the first, but we will see others. There's no question about it."

The researchers acknowledge that their findings are based on a single patient, but say the results suggest, "it might be useful to stockpile zanamivir as well as oseltamivir in the event of an H5N1 influenza pandemic".

It is not the first time flu experts have advised governments to stockpile zanamivir, whose trade name is Relenza (see 'Bird flu: in favour of contingency plans').

In August, Kenneth Tsang and colleagues suggested in The Lancet that H5N1, which has killed 60 people in Asia, would be less likely to become resistant to zanamivir than to oseltamivir.

Kawaoka calls oseltamivir the "first line of defence. It is the drug many countries are stockpiling, and the plan is to rely heavily on it."

It is widely accepted that the global flu pandemic experts have been predicting for more than a year could ensue if H5N1 became able to spread from person to person (see Time to prepare for bird flu pandemic 'running out').

Kawaoka and colleagues say that, as far as they could tell, the Vietnamese patient had no direct contact with poultry. She had, however, taken care of her 21-year-old brother while he was infected with H5N1.

So far, the World Health Organization has not confirmed a single case of H5N1 being transmitted between people.

Last year, researchers suggested that a Thai woman might have been infected with the virus while caring for her infected daughter (see Bird flu deaths raise fears of human spread).

The World Health Organization, however, never confirmed this, or other suspected cases of human-to-human transmission.

Reference: Nature 437, 1108 (2005)

Related SciDev.Net articles: Asian nations to stockpile flu drugs against pandemic Bird flu virus 'could be mutating in Vietnam'

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Oh no! Say it aint so. Rummy's old company makes money on flu alerts?

TAMIFLU GILEAD CHAIR WAS ... RUMMY http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=1443 Friday, October 21, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.com

NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Readers can be helpful, and one just wrote in to inform us of a link that we had never imagined - Donald Rumsfeld, until he resigned and joined the Bush Administration, was the chairman of something called Gilead which just happened to make something called Tamiflu.

Now anyone who hasn't been on Mars for the last month or two, knows that there were only two things that were going to stop the human version of bird flu. One was a bird flu vaccine (which probably would work better if you were a bird) and the other was something called Tamiflu. Yes, that Tamiflu. In such short supply that the hundreds of millions of orders that have been pouring into Gilead probably won't be filled for another 12 months or so. But everyone has got to have it because somehow or other it became established that Tamiflu really worked.

This was the party line, anyway, for about a week, until word began trickling back in that maybe Tamiflu didn't work. In fact, the word on Tamiflu has always been positive at first and then eventually negative. It's a kind of pattern. We even find corroboration of it here on the Democrats.com, in what appears to be either a chat room or news roundup as follows, "Rummy was CEO of Gilead Sciences until named to the Bush cabinet and, like Cheney, still has ties that bind to the 'old company.' Now isn't it an 'amazing coincidence' that the drug Tamiflu patented by Gilead Sciences is being pushed by the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases as the NUMBER ONE choice for flu, which, wonder of wonders, is sweeping through in one epidemic after another."

The post from January '04 adds, "Tamiflu is now also being recommended to fight avian flu ... Scroll through this NIAID page and you will find Tamiflu listed as ahead of all other recommended drugs for both prevention and treatment of flu. Trouble is, Gilead has been accused of rigging the trials of Tamiflu as a preventive treatment. Meanwhile Gilead is making a killing."

The post then gives the following link:
http://12.31.13.115/HealthNews/reuters/NewsStory0106200324.htm)

We bet Gilead is still making a killing as is Big Pharma. Please notice now that the orders are in, the hysteria has died down a bit. Perhaps everybody is too busy counting the money. Or perhaps it was never about anything BUT the money. We weren't entirely sure, but we knew that none of it passed the old "smell test." In fact, in serial articles we claimed that bird flu probably wasn't going to turn into human flu anytime soon, that even if it did, it didn't mean that the world was in for a dose of 1918 influenza all over again. We just couldn't believe that the people bringing us Spanish Influenza Redux - with all the hype and horror - were remotely qualified to bring us even the opening of an envelope.

We questioned everything, even whether 1918 was all just the fault of a flu virus. Didn't seem likely to us then and doesn't now - especially since we've come to understand what hygiene was like for the soldiers coming back from the war, how vaccine providers apparently unloaded their stock after the war, lowering immunities, etc. and, finally how the new miracle drug, aspirin, was all the rage, prescribed by medical parishioners everywhere. Aspirin lowers fevers and allows flu to build until it bursts out all over the body with renewed and potentially mortal violence.

And that brings us to today. Bird flu still rages and, yes, it may mutate into human flu at some point and cause death, many deaths, or fewer deaths, no one knows. It may indeed sweep around the world. But of more worry immediately were moves of civil authorities to float trial balloons about mandatory vaccination and to start sending vials of superflu bugs around the world in the name of science. We demanded that our viewers call the Capitol Hill and get out the word that the government was to cease testing new vaccines, cease ordering TamiFlu and bird flu vaccine, neither of which work or will work against whatever it is that bird flu will turn into. Which at least some in government would love because then they could turn the President's apparent yen for martial law into reality. And Bush could use some martial law about now. Hell, he could use anything, maybe even a good book.

We hoped that this latest epidemic of hysteria would finally force the government to come clean about other remedies - super doses of Vitamin C and even the use of silver as an antidote. We're still waiting. Sigh.

staff&nbspreports - Free-Market News Network

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More Tamiflu on the way, says drug giant

Thai researchers testing samples for bird flu Catherine Brahic
18 October 2005 Source: SciDev.Net The company that makes Tamiflu, the drug health authorities are stockpiling in case of a flu pandemic, says it will consider letting governments and other companies produce the drug. Roche Pharmaceuticals also said it would expand its manufacturing capacity to meet the rapidly growing demand. Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, reduces flu symptoms. It might be able to cure and reduce the spread of infection between people if the bird flu virus H5N1, which has killed 60 people in Asia, sparks a human pandemic. Because it holds the patent for the drug, Roche is the only company allowed to make it, but cannot keep up with increased global demand. The company announced today (18 October) that the US Food and Drug Administration has given it permission to open an extra factory in the United States to make more of the drug. A Roche spokesperson told SciDev.Net that the company was unable to say how much this would boost supplies. William Burns, head of Roche's Pharma Division, said in today's statement that to supply the world with more Tamiflu the company was prepared to discuss "all available options" with any government or company. Burns said Roche would do this "provided such groups can realistically produce substantial amounts of the medicine for emergency pandemic use, in accordance with appropriate quality specifications, safety and regulatory guidelines". According to Reuters, the Indian drug company Cipla wants to start making oseltamivir but has yet to approach Roche. Reuters also reports that Thailand plans to bypass Roche's patent and make a much cheaper, generic version of the drug by October 2006. Roche told SciDev.Net that an Asian government — but not the Thai one — had approached it about a production agreement for the drug. Also today, GlaxoSmithKline announced it would to increase production of another flu drug called Relenza (zanamivir), which some researchers have urged governments to stockpile in addition to Tamiflu (see Tamiflu-resistant bird flu found in Vietnam).


Regional Gateways

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Waterbird culls and wetland drainage could worsen spread of Avian Influenza, BirdLife warns 20 October 2005 BirdLIfe International [1] today warned that hasty responses to Avian Influenza based on incomplete or unsound data could do great damage to birds and other biodiversity, while actually raising the risk to people and to the economically important poultry industry. BirdLife International’s Partners throughout Europe, such as the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK ), are working or preparing to work with their governments to monitor migratory wild bird populations and to provide scientific data and expert guidance. Recent outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza [2] in Europe have occurred along migratory flyways (including the Danube delta, a great gathering place for migratory waterbird) during the autumn migration. There is no concrete evidence that migratory birds have helped transmit the disease between countries or regions, but the possibility cannot be ruled out. The spread of H5N1 within and beyond South-east Asia appears attributable to movements of infected poultry [3, 4, 5]. The patterns of spread are not consistent with the timing and direction of movements of wild birds BirdLife International strongly opposes any suggestion that wild birds should be culled as a way of controlling the spread of the disease, on grounds of practicality and effectiveness, as well as conservation. Any such attempts could spread the virus more widely, as survivors disperse to new places, and healthy birds become stressed and more prone to infection. The World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation and OIE (the World Organisation for Animal Health) agree that control of avian influenza in wild birds by culling is not feasible, and should not be attempted.

Similarly, attempts to drain wetlands to keep waterbirds away are also likely to be counterproductive, as well as disastrous for the environment, the conservation of threatened species, and for vital ecosystem services such as flood control and water cleansing. Birds will seek alternative staging places and waterbirds forced to fly further and endure more crowded conditions along their migration route will be more prone to infection. Some Asian and Middle Eastern governments are reported to be already formulating proposals for draining wetlands. The most efficient control techniques involve improved biosecurity, to reduce the likelihood of contact between poultry and wild birds or infected water sources. Further measures include stricter controls or even bans on movements of domestic poultry, and on wild bird markets. Countries should also ban imports of wild-caught birds from infected areas. Such measures should be introduced worldwide. BirdLife International therefore welcomes the recommendations by the European Commission that surveillance and biosecurity measures at poultry farms in the European Union should be strengthened, and that the Member States and experts have been advised to increase resources and efforts to monitor migratory bird species. “We would like to offer our expertise in the Member States through our Partners and invite the EU state administrations to contact our Partners in country for help especially with the wild bird monitoring programmes,” said Dr Clairie Papazoglou, BirdLife International’s Head of EU Policy,. BirdLife International’s Director of Science, Dr Leon Bennun, stressed the importance of informed and balanced judgement in responses to the threat of avian influenza, and in the public dissemination of information about it. “It is important that discussions of the issues relating to avian influenza should differentiate between the real problems caused by the spread of the disease within bird populations, especially within the poultry industry, and the theoretical risks of a human pandemic.” ENDS Contacts For further information please contact: Ade Long, Communications, BirdLife International, tel: +44 1223 277812 mobile +44 (0)7779 7779018332 email: adrian.long@birdlife.org

Notes

[1] BirdLife International is a partnership of people working together for birds and the environment. It promotes sustainable living as a means of conserving birds and all other forms of biodiversity and is the leading authority on the status of birds and their habitats. Over 10 million people support the BirdLife Partnership of national non-governmental conservation organisations and local networks.

[2] There are at least 144 strains of avian influenza, many of which circulate in wild birds at low levels. Most strains are mild and are designated ’Low Pathogenicity Avian Influenza‘ (LPAI). But a few ’subtypes’ can cause massive mortality in poultry and are designated ’High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza‘ (HPAI).

Wild birds can also be infected with, and killed by, HPAI viruses. They appear to acquire the virus through contact with infected poultry or with facilities used by them.

Subtype H5N1 evolved in poultry from Low Pathogenicity Avian Influenza viruses that were probably acquired from wild birds. Conditions in poultry flocks (such as crowding, and prolonged contact with faeces, saliva and other bodily secretions) keep the viruses circulating as they evolve [3] The current series of outbreaks began in 2003 in South-east Asia , where a dramatic increase in intensive poultry production is sometimes combined with poor hygiene and bio-security in small “backyard” enterprises. Domestic ducks are commonly turned out to feed in rice fields alongside waterbirds during the day, and confined with other poultry at night. Birds from different areas are brought together in networks of poultry markets, and often transported hundreds of miles.

[4] Within south-east Asia , movements of poultry and poultry products are known to have been involved in the virus’s spread among flocks and between countries. Outbreaks in China , Kazakhstan and southern Russia are connected by major road and rail routes. The “transmission routes” between outbreaks in Asia do not follow migratory flyways. Many of these outbreaks also occurred in summer, when birds are moulting and do not fly far.

[5] There are several ways through which H5N1 might be transmitted, including movements of poultry (and feathers), migrating birds, the trade in wild-caught birds, and the movement of soil/mud on wheels and feet. The relative importance of each of these factors in the transmission of H5N1 is unknown, but to date, all outbreaks that have been investigated have been traced back to poultry movements.

Ade Long Head of Communications BirdLife International Wellbrook Court, Girton Cambridge CB3 0NA, UK adrian.long@birdlife.org Tel: +44 (0)1223 279812 Fax: +44 (0)1223 277200
http://www.birdlife.org

----------------


Avian flu on the wing: are wild birds to blame?

21 October 2005 Source: The bird flu H5N1 virus is spreading fast, and the general view presented in the media is that migratory birds are to blame. Yet, writes Dennis Normile in Science, bird experts have been almost unanimously sceptical about this theory. They argue that sick or dying birds cannot fly very far, and that even if they were carrying the virus, H5N1 should already have arrived in places where it has not. Moreover, researchers in the US and China have been monitoring wild birds for several years, looking for healthy birds carrying H5N1. So far, both searches have found nothing. Rather, experts have been arguing that it is human movement of birds that is spreading the disease. Examples include poultry trade and, more unusually, a traveller caught smuggling birds of prey from Thailand to Belgium. Tests showed that these birds were carrying H5N1. But outbreaks among wildfowl in remote corners of China and Mongolia — where movements of domestic poultry have been ruled out as a cause — are forcing some to change their minds. A Chinese team, for instance, is speculating that mildly infected birds could be carrying the virus long distances. As researchers scramble to pinpoint the cause, surveillance remains patchy, and efforts to fight bird flu in Asia is failing to get adequate international funding. Link to full article in Science:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/310/5747/426?ijkey=t3pFaK.twYqc6&keytype=ref&siteid=sci


From ECOTERRA Intl.

We read it in the newspapers, we hear it on the radio every day, every hour, that hundreds of thousands, nay, millions of chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys are being pitilessly exterminated all over the world. We see them on television running for life, desperately flapping their wings, we hear their cries of terror as they are brutally grasped by men in masks and overalls, piled on top of each other in containers and either gassed or burned alive or thrown into pits and buried alive. And we accept it. There is no outcry, no protest, no scream of indignation. Even the World Federation for the Protection of Animals (WFPA) is keeping quiet. Nobody dares to accuse the administrations who are responsible for this and raise their voices to say out loud that this is not a way to treat sensitive, living beings, and that this is a crime and a heavy collective guilt for which we unfailingly will have to pay.

The price may be the loss of our migratory birds, along with the devastating and unimaginable consequences for the environment and for our own survival.

Migratory birds with their potential to spread avian flue have suddenly become the mortal enemies of man. “Killerenten” – killer ducks – is the name given by a popular Swiss newspaper to the innocent wild ducks and geese that are flying into our lands at this time, day after day, to pass the winter on our lakes. And in certain eastern European countries we can already see hoards of humans roaming about destroying birds nests in panic-stricken fear of some hypothetic virus. In blind and furious determination they are demolishing and burning down nesting areas and barricading all openings to cow sheds with netting and meshing to stop swallows from building their nests under the roofs and beams – a clear death sentence for that already heavily threatened species of birds.

What in heaven’s name has yet to happen before we recognise in our unrestrained consumption of meat and our abject and highly dangerous methods of factory farming the very source of our misery? How much more hardship, suffering and catastrophes still need to occur before we understand that the vile and stupid maxim of “mankind before all else” is leading us to ruin?

October 2005 FRANZ WEBER FOUNDATION, Switzerland

Fondation Franz Weber
1820 Montreux Switzerland Tél. +41 (0) 21 964 42 84 Fax +41 (0) 21 964 57 36


From ECOTERRA Intl.

Oread Daily

A Chicago City Council committee yesterday voted to ban the sale of the liver "delicacy" known as foie gras in Chicago restaurants. If the proposal is approved by the full Council, Chicago will join the state of California and a host of countries that have already banned the pricey appetizer. They include the United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Luxembourg, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Israel.

Alderman Joe Moore, who proposed the Chicago ban, and has been ridiculed by some as a result, says passage of the measure would, "… mean that there will be fewer restaurants serving this product and, hence, fewer ducks and geese being tortured to create this product." The Alderman says the force-feeding of geese and ducks to procure the fatted liver delicacy is inhumane.

Earlier this year, Chicago Mayor Daley ridiculed the proposed foie gras ban as a Big Brother-style government intrusion.

Didier Durand, chef/owner of Cyrano's Bistrot, 546 N. Wells, spoke in opposition to the ban on behalf of the Illinois Restaurant Association. "To take it off our menu would be destroying a time- honored culinary tradition. Every restaurant has the right to serve what they want."

But to animal lovers across the world, the practice of force-feeding
30 million animals a year until their livers swell to up to ten times their normal size is a cruel practice which causes untold suffering. In recent years the movement to abolish force-feeding for foie gras production has gained momentum worldwide

In France, however, politicians have just approved a draft law that protects foie gras and declares it a part of the French national heritage.

Foie gras - translated literally as "fatty liver" - is big business in France, which produces 70 per cent of the 20,000 tons made worldwide each year and accounts for 85 percent of global consumption. The industry employs 30,000 people and the average French person eats the delicacy at least ten times a year.

"How on earth can you say that a barbaric custom, consisting of sticking a funnel or a pneumatic pump down the throat of a caged animal, is a tradition of high culture?" asked the Citizens Initiative for the Abolition of Force Feeding on its website.

The reactionary stance of France over foie gras flies in the face of EU directives dating from as far back as 1998, which warn that: "No animal shall be provided with food or liquid in a manner ... which may cause unnecessary suffering or injury".

Foie gras is made from the grotesquely enlarged livers of male ducks and geese. Birds have up to 2 pounds of food per day pumped into their stomachs through long metal pipes that are shoved down their throats. The cruel ordeal often causes severe injuries that make it painful or even impossible for birds to drink. Those who survive the feedings suffer from a painful illness that causes their livers to swell to eight to 10 times their normal size. Many birds become too sick to walk and are reduced to pushing themselves across their cages with their wings. When the birds are slaughtered, their livers are sold for foie gras.

The Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Welfare for the European Union found many examples of abuse as a result of force- feeding, including:

• Birds are routinely confined to small cages or crowded pens.

• Birds are force-fed tremendous amounts of feed via a 12- to 16- inch plastic or metal tube, which is shoved down their throats and attached to a pressurized pump.

• The force-feeding may be performed twice daily for up to two weeks for ducks and three to four times daily, for up to 28 days for geese.

• Force-feeding causes the liver to increase in size about 6-10 times compared to the normal size for a bird.

• Increased liver size forces the abdomen to expand, which makes moving difficult and painful. An enlarged abdomen increases the risk of damage to the stretched tissue of the lower part of the esophagus.

• Force-feeding results in accumulated scar tissue in the esophagus.

• The liver can be easily damaged by even minor trauma.

Force-fed birds have been found to have chronic heart disorders; ruptured liver cell membranes; cirrhosis; traumatic esophagitis; and lesions in their gizzards and intestines. Dead birds have been found by investigators with food filling their esophagi and spilling out of their nostrils.

Sources: Chicago Sun Times, NBC5 (Chicago), CBS2 (Chicago), Scotsman, Foie Gras: Delicacy of Despair, Human Society of the United States.

To see the NEW Oread Daily Blog: http://oreadaily.blogspot.com/


Informant: reg

http://www.peta.org/alert/Automation/AlertItem.asp?id=1570


Informant: Alexandra Yurkiw