Quarterlysummer 2000 Volume 49 Number 3
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AWI QuarterlySummer 2000 Volume 49 Number 3 ABOUT THE COVER Katy Payne, who initiated the study of infrasound elephant communication, AWI Animal Welfare Institute QuarterlySpring 2000 photographed this mother and infant elephant. Katy is profoundly committed to the Volume 49 Number 2 protection of elephants as individuals, and she suffers with them when they are culled QUARTERLY or poached for their ivory. She is conducting her studies now in the Central African Summer 2000 Volume 49 Number 3 Republic. Her book, “Silent Thunder—In the Presence of Elephants,” which was reviewed in the Spring 2000 AWI Quarterly, concludes sorrowfully. After Katy and five colleagues returned to the U.S., a cull by the Zimbabwe Parks Department killed many of the elephants whose voices she had recorded and grown to know. TABLE OF CONTENTS CITES Political “Spin” and Wildlife Conservation, by Adam M. Roberts.......10-13 China’s Torture Chambers, by Jonathan Owen ...................................13 Wildlife Conservation Heroes, by Adam M. Roberts ............................14-15 In Remembrance of Nick Carter, by Rosalind Reeve ..........................15 Judge Strikes Down Phony “Dolphin-Safe” Label “Report: Japan is Top Importer of Endangered Species” ..........7 , Aperture, New York, 1999 n April 11, 2000, Judge Thelton Henderson of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled Marine Mammals against the blatant defrauding of consumers by the U.S. government. The judge struck down Judge Strikes Down Phony “Dolphin-Safe” Label .......................2 the new “dolphin-safe” label for canned tuna fish—a label that is distinctly dolphin unsafe. Brutal Kinship O U.S. Navy Kills Whales In The Bahamas, by Ben White ....................6 Judge Henderson questioned the diligence of the Department of Commerce in adequately studying the reason for the lack of recovery of several species of dolphins, hard hit for decades in the Elephant Seals Hot Iron Branded...................................................7 eastern tropical Pacific. Michael Nichols, Wildlife and Environmental destruction Despite the death of over seven million dolphins The Environment Comes Second ......................................... 7 who were chased, exhausted and netted to catch Chimpanzees in laboratories can never the tuna schools beneath them, Secretary of Com- be returned to the wild to live free as the A Fur Promotion Frenzy ...................................................... 7 infant pictured here. Dr. Jane Goodall tes- By Ben White merce William Daley made a preliminary finding last tified before Congress on a bill to enable “The Voice of the Turtle is Heard in Our Land,” ..... 8 year that there was no proof that this technique of retirement for chimpanzees in laborato- World Bank vs. Tigers in India, by Bittu Sahgal and Daphne Wysham......9 fishing caused “significant adverse impact.” His find- ries: “...free from cages they can live in a way that will allow them to socialize, feel Mexican Ecological Group Blockades Logging Road ing triggered the release of a new, official Depart- the breeze in their faces, climb trees, and to Save Forest.................................................................. 17 ment of Commerce “dolphin-safe” label for canned groom with their friends. That is surely the least we can do for them in return for Animals in Laboratories tuna fish. The new label would have been used on their sacrifice.” See story page 5. cans of tuna caught by harassing dolphins. Judge A Power Struggle on Capitol Hill Henderson essentially voided this fraud and sent Over Chimpanzees’ Future, by Adam M. Roberts ....................... 5 the government back to the drawing board. His ruling came in the nick of time, with Mexico poised Animal Dealers to flood the U.S. with tons of dolphin-deadly tuna. Animal Dealers Arrested and Convicted............................... 4 Psarakos/Earthtrust Thanks to especially vocal consumers, all canned Canadian Bear Parts Traders Jailed ...................................... 4 Spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) are one of the tuna now sold in the United States is caught without two species most heavily impacted by being chased Another Dealer is Exposed for Illegally netting dolphins. All three major American tuna and encircled by tuna nets in the Eastern Tropical Acquiring Dogs for Experimentation................................ 4 importers have vowed to continue the present defini- Pacific ocean. $10,000 Reward for Stolen Labrador Retriever .................... 4 tion of dolphin-safe and reject the phony label. Farm Animals The Farm Bureau Prediction on China .................................. 7 rBGH Reconsidered, by Chris Bedford ..................................................18 Angela King – United Kingdom Diane Halverson, Two AWI Missions to Central Europe, by Tom Garrett ......................19 DIRECTORS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Lang Elliot Marjorie Cooke Marjorie Anchel, Ph.D. Simon Muchiru – Kenya Farm Animal Advisor Join the Fight to End Abuse of Laying Hens ......................... 20 David O. Hill Gerard Bertrand, Ph.D. Godofredo Stutzin – Chile Chris Heyde, Research Associate The Yellow Warbler, one of many birds Fredrick Hutchison F. Barbara Orlans, Ph.D. Agnes Van Volkenburgh – Poland Lynne Hutchison, Executive Secretary Lang Elliot portrays in his book, Music Cathy Liss Roger Payne, Ph.D. Alexey Yablokov, Ph.D. – Russia Cathy Liss, Executive Director of the Birds, A Celebration of Bird Song. BioMusic Nell Naughton, Mail Order Secretary Christine Stevens Samuel Peacock, M.D. “The birds pour forth their souls in notes BioMusic: The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music ........16 Cynthia Wilson John Walsh, M.D. STAFF AND Greta Nilsson, Wildlife Consultant Of rapture from a thousand throats,” CONSULTANTS Viktor Reinhardt, D.M.V., Ph.D., William Wordsworth. See review page 17. Music of the Birds, A Celebration of Bird Song..........................17 OFFICERS INTERNATIONAL Ava Armendariz, Laboratory Animal Advisor Christine Stevens, President COMMITTEE Publications Coordinator Jennifer Rinick, Research Assistant Cynthia Wilson, Vice President Aline de Aluja, D.M.V. – Mexico Amy Conklin, Adam M. Roberts, Fredrick Hutchison, Treasurer T.G. Antikas, D.M.V. – Greece Administrative Assistant Senior Research Associate P.O. Box 3650, Washington, D.C. 20007, Phone: (202) 337-2332, Facsimile: (202) 338-9478 Ambassador Tabarak Husain – John Gleiber, Assistant to the Officers Wendy Swann, Research Associate Email: [email protected] or visit AWI’s website at: http://www.animalwelfare.com Bangladesh Ben White, International Coordinator Printed with soy ink on recycled paper Another Dealer is Exposed for Illegally A Power Struggle on Capitol Hill for these chimpanzees and “operate and Acquiring Dogs for Experimentation maintain a chimpanzee facility located Over Chimpanzees’ Future at the Holloman Air Force base in Alamogordo, New Mexico” – part of TCF’s s many as 1,000 former racing greyhounds may have been By Adam M. Roberts Aacquired fraudulently by a USDA-licensed Class B, random operation. A mandatory qualification is that source, dealer and sold for experimental purposes. The owners On May 18, 2000, Dr. Jane Goodall brought 40 years of primatological knowl- the bidders “have previously demonstrated of the dogs were led to believe the animals would be adopted edge to Congress, strenuously advocating passage of legislation to enable retire- the ability to provide high quality care for to homes; instead the dealer, Daniel Shonka, sold them to laborato- ment for chimpanzees formerly utilized in biomedical research, the “Chimpanzee chimpanzees.” Despite FDA investigations ries for $300-400 each. Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection Act” (H.R. 3514). In Dr. Good- revealing over 270 violations of Good Labo- Allegedly most of the dogs were sold to Guidant Corporation, ratory Practice regulations and despite all a cardiac research facility and manufacturer of implantable pace- all’s words: “This legislation is the only humane hope for chimpanzees that will the chimpanzee deaths, USDA investiga- makers and defibrillators. The dogs were used for experimental never be used in research again.” purposes at the company’s site in St. Paul, Minnesota. Research tions and citations against Coulston, the sci- Pennsylvania Congressman Jim Green- at The Coulston Foundation (TCF), the entific journalNature reported on May 18, Cathy Acherman facilities that want to ensure they do not get stolen or fraudu- lently acquired dogs and cats should not use Class B random wood’s bill, pending before the House Com- world’s largest and most disgraceful 2000, that Coulston “is still in the running Note the fresh surgical scars on Biscuit and Saucy, source dealers. merce Committee, would appropriate up to captive chimpanzee colony. Quoted in to bid for contracts to care for the animals.” who were among the first greyhounds released by Most of the dogs Shonka sold for experimentation have been $30 million to create a national chimpanzee The Washington Post, Strandberg blames Guidant Research Laboratory. Having survived the The Nature article notes that TCF killed, but approximately 100 may still be alive at Guidant. The sanctuary system. When researchers decide “Coulston’s troubles on bad public rela- ordeal, they are now together in a loving home. “…lost two such contracts last year after laboratory is reversing the experimental procedures it conducted that any of the approximately 1,500 cap- tions.” He told the reporter, “If you look