ANIMALNET AUGUST 31, 1998

Patients too eager for antibiotics; Minnesota is not immune to threat of
mutating bacteria
Holy cow! bacteria affects state's cattle shipment status
Animal protection again emerges as a major theme on state ballots across
the country
Nature vs. nurture: can dog's personality be cloned?
The horns of a dilemma
Research focuses on sockeye having same diversity as historic population
Castrating calves early is least stressful
Butterflies as entertainment troubles some experts
Plague has a modern face
Matter of opinion:  chickens and pigs and cows, oh my
Argentina's just right for rare whales; once-endangered species flourishes
Why don't we eat our own kind? They'd bite back cannibals risk deadly
germs
Greece faces EU ban over wildlife trade
Dog cloning
National residue survey 1997 results: comments on meat program results


AnimalNet is produced by researchers at the Agri-Food Risk Management and
Communication Project at the University of Guelph, is edited by Douglas
Powell (dpowell@uoguelph.ca) and Amanda Whitfield  (awhitfie@uoguelph.ca),
and is supported by the Ontario Cattlemen's
Association, the U.S. National Pork Producers, U.S. National Food
Processors Association, Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited (Canada), the U.S.
National Cattlemens Beef Association, Canadian Animal Health Institute,
The Rutgers University Food Safety Extension Program, National Cattlemans
Beef Association, and the Agricultural Adaptation Council (CanAdapt
Program).

archived at:
http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/courses/ansc481/animal_net.html

PATIENTS TOO EAGER FOR ANTIBIOTICS; MINNESOTA IS NOT IMMUNE TO THREAT OF
MUTATING BACTERIA
Aug. 31/98
Minneapolis/St. Paul City Business
John Rosengren Contributing Writer
A feature focusing on the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in
Minnesota, focusing largely on the human contribution, but which adds that
meat, milk and eggs from animals that have been
pumped with antibiotics to prevent the spread of disease are also
considered a potential source of the transmission. The story says that
state epidemiologist Michael Osterholm has written
an article due out soon in the New England Journal of Medicine about the
presence of campylobacter in poultry, which is the most important cause of
bacterial diarrhea in the country.
Antibacterial agents found in many household products, such as soaps,
lotions and toothpaste, might also contribute to the spread of
drug-resistant bacteria, according to an article published this month in
Nature magazine. Osterholm considers them largely unnecessary, products
that simply appeal to the American desire to have some gimmick that will
meet every need. He, along with the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta
and everyone interviewed for this article, advocated thorough hand-washing
as the best method to prevent the spread of disease. Osterholm recommends
washing hands with regular soap while singing a verse of "Yankee Doodle
Dandy," which should be thorough enough to kill any bacteria on the skin..

HOLY COW! BACTERIA AFFECTS STATE'S CATTLE SHIPMENT
STATUS
Aug. 31/98
Orlando Business Journal
David R. Corder Tampa Bay Business Journal
TAMPA -- Florida cattle producers are, according to this story, expecting
an increase in out-of-state shipping costs because of isolated bacteria
problems on two farms in DeSoto and Clay counties.
The presence of the brucellosis bacteria on the two farms has cost the
state the "class-free" status it received in March from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. Class-free status loosens regulations on cattle
shipped between states.
To regain the status, the state's cattle industry now must go 12
consecutive months without a single reported case of brucellosis out of an
estimated 20,000 herds.
That means ranchers will be adding the cost of testing to their overhead.
The average cost to test and vaccinate an animal is estimated at $4 a
head, according to the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service.

ANIMAL PROTECTION AGAIN EMERGES AS A MAJOR THEME
ON STATE BALLOTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Aug. 31/98
from a press release
WASHINGTON -- With election day just two months away, voters will soon
decide a variety of statewide ballot measures affecting animals, including
commercial trapping, cockfighting, mourning dove hunting and the selling
of horses for human consumption. Voters in seven states will consider
eight animal protection measures, matching the number of measures that
appeared on state ballots in 1996. In 1996 the eight animal-related
measures all dealt with cruel and inhumane hunting and trapping practices,
such as bear baiting, hound hunting, and commercial and recreational
trapping. Animal protection advocates won six of those eight measures in
1996, handing stinging defeats to the hunting lobby, which spent more than
$4 million on the measures.
"Voters are deeply concerned about protecting animals from cruel and
inhumane practicesparticularly those conducted for human amusement or
profit," said Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president for communications and
government affairs for The Humane Society of the United States, which has
spearheaded or played a leading role in writing and qualifying most of the
measures. "A string of major victories for animal protection advocates
against wealthy hunting groups during the 1990's demonstrates widespread
public support for protecting animals from needless cruelty and abuse. We
expect those sentiments to be reflected again in major victories for
animals through the ballot." Animal advocates have won 10 of 13 initiative
fights since 1990.
Voters will decide six pro-animal initiative and two anti-animal referenda
in November. For the first time ever, anti-cockfighting measures will
appear on statewide ballots. Other practices targeted in the pro-animal
measures include mourning dove hunting, trapping and poisoning of
wildlife, and the human consumption of horses. Legislators in two states
have referred measures to the ballot to secure hunting rights and to deny
citizens future opportunities to challenge cruel and abusive hunting
practices through the established legislative and regulatory mechanisms.
"Recognizing that social attitudes are shifting in favor of animal
protectionists, extremist hunting groups are seeking to amend state
constitutions in order to deny citizens the right to make any future
judgements about cruel hunting and trapping practices," continued Pacelle.
While past initiatives have focused on protecting wildlife, three measures
will address protecting other animals. Voters in two states, Arizona and
Missouri, will have an opportunity to ban organized animal fighting
activities, such as cockfighting. In these fightswhich are still legal in
five statesroosters are drugged and outfitted with razor sharp implements,
known as gaffs or slashers, and are forced to fight to the death for the
benefit of gambling spectators. In these states, it is legal for children
to witness these events. Missouri's Proposition A also bans "baiting,"
fighting tethered animals against a pack of dogs, and bear wrestling. A
California measure, Proposition 6, seeks to ban the slaughter of horsed
for human consumption. The measures to protect domestic animalswhich are
all expected to passmark a significant shift in the subject content for
animal protection initiatives.
 NOVEMBER INITIATIVES AND REFERENDUMS ON ANIMAL PROTECTION
ALASKA - Proposition 3 bans the cruel and indiscriminate practice of wolf
snaring, conducted principally for predator control and fur sales.. HSUS
position: Vote YES on Proposition 3.
ARIZONA - Proposition 201 bans the gruesome "sport" of cockfighting,
currently legal in only five states. HSUS position: Vote YES on
Proposition 201.
CALIFORNIA - Proposition 4 bans the use of cruel and indiscriminate traps
and poisons. HSUS position: Vote YES on Proposition 4.
CALIFORNIA - Proposition 6 bans the sale of California horses for human
consumption. HSUS position: Vote YES on Proposition 6.
MINNESOTA - Question II is a constitutional amendment that recognizes
hunting and trapping as a "valued part" of the state heritage "that shall
be forever preserved." HSUS position: Vote NO on Question II.
MISSOURI - Proposition A reinstates the 1873-1985 ban on the cruel and
gruesome bloodsport of cockfighting. HSUS position: Vote YES on
Proposition A.
OHIO - States Issue I restores long-standing protection for doves and bans
the target shooting of these gentle backyard birds. HSUS position: Vote
YES on Issue I.
UTAH - Proposition 5 is a constitutional amendment that required two-
thirds majority of voters to approve any wildlife protection initiatives,
thus all but eliminating the opportunity for voters to decide wildlife
issues. HSUS position: Vote NO on Proposition 5.

NATURE VS. NURTURE: CAN DOG'S PERSONALITY BE CLONED?
 Aug. 31/98
Austin American-Statesman
Dick Stanley
An attempt by Texas A&M University scientists to make the first clone of a
dog will, according to this story, test one of the oldest arguments of
science and philosophy: What plays the dominant role, nature or nurture,
genes or upbringing?
The Aggie veterinary specialists expect it to take only a year or two to
figure out how to clone Missy, the beloved but spayed border collie mix of
wealthy owners who, the university announced last week, have anonymously
paid $2.3 million for the effort.
But experts say it's questionable whether the thing Missy's owners
apparently love so much -- her winning personality -- would be duplicated
in a clone.
Mark Westhusin, a Texas A&M professor of veterinary medicine who is
leading what has been dubbed the Missyplicity Project, was quoted as
saying, "I don't think anyone knows if we can clone the personality. But
enough studies in other species have shown that at least a portion of the
personality is
genetic."

THE HORNS OF A DILEMMA
Aug. 31/98
The Globe and Mail
A2
ERIC SMITH
Montreal
This column explains that like the cheese lover who never tried roquefort
because eating mold seemed distasteful, the author is a hispanophile who's
never seen a bullfight because, well, he is squeamish. So the promise of a
Portugese-style bloodless corrida in Montreal had him roaring, "Ole !"
The first bullfight in Montreal since 1973 (when 30,000 people thronged a
similar event) was, according to this story, to crown the marquee of next
weekend's feria , a festival of Iberian and Latin American cultures
otherwise featuring the usual outdoor dance shows, music and gastronomic
buffets. In this vaunted "city of festivals," the corrida would have been
a singularly dramatic coup de grace to a resoundingly successful summer.
The corrida is not to be. The feria will go on, however diminished. But
matador Oscar San Roman (stopping in on his way to California) will have
nothing to do but sip porto. Here, animal-rights activists have finally
won a victory.
The author says he hopes the celebrations around the miso-soup tureen were
subdued, though, because the animal-rights lobby won this round due to
cultural prejudice. Their triumph is a hollow one.  Their point was simple
and, as far as it went, accurate: Once the show was over, the bulls
imported for it from Mexico would die. Agriculture Canada rules do not
permit foreign animals to mingle with our native herds. The bulls would
have to leave Canada or face execution.
Corrida organizers made, according to this story, the activists two
counter-proposals. First they lined up a slaughterhouse and some
Montreal-area food banks and promised to produce and distribute 5 1/2
tonnes of food out of the bulls. No good, said the activists to this
generous inspiration. The animals will still be dead. Okay, organizers
pledged, then we'll pick up the tab for the bulls' return to Mexico. But
they had to concede that the performers' fates would be no brighter south
of the Rio Grande. A bull may fight only once, so again they would all be
killed. Never mind that if the bulls stayed in Mexico in the first place,
they would be marched into the ring for contests that are
anything but bloodless. The activists would not brook Canadian involvement
in the carnage. Period.
The author continued to note that it wasn't just the tragic destiny of a
meaty, dumb beast that raised their ire. What did organizers propose to do
about the psychological hardship the velcro-clad cattle would endure,
pushed into a crowded arena to face a gaudily festooned picador? Such
cavils barred our doors to one of the world's most popular mass
entertainments.
I'm not saying animal-rights activists are racists. Far from it. So
enamoured are they with principles of fairness and equality that they mean
to extend them, absurdly, to every cow and lab rat, every chicken and
seal. So they tell us we may not eat that ris de veau , use that shampoo
or take that HIV drug cocktail.  For the most part, we pay them no mind,
not if it means sacrificing our health. Not even if we must forego
favourite dishes or our hair's bounce and volume. So why did we listen
this time? Why did we say, "We will take that medication, we will enjoy
that veal dish, we will pamper our hair. But we draw the line at bloodless
bullfighting?"
Actually, we, according to this story, never said anything. The Molson
Centre said it for us. Not openly  they referred to an unspecified
contractual snag, though they acknowledged the deluge of outraged
lettersbut their dilemma was clear enough: What if a few hundred
well-meaning anthropomorphists resolved not to wash down their seitan pies
with the customary bottle of Ex? Better to face the lawsuits that
bullfight promoters are already setting in motion.  Collectively, we did
not take on the zealots over the corrida , the way we do for veal and
pills and shampoo. It isn't just that it's easier to do
our furtive shopping than to defend a public event. From St-Tite to
Calgary, the rodeos will survive, no matter what indignities are suffered
by the cows subjected to their rituals of bondage.
But the rodeo is a home-grown spectacle. The corrida is an immigrant.
Besides, the story continues, being a unique display of a venerable art,
the bullfight would have reminded Montrealers that Spanish-speakers now
make up the city's fastest-growing language group.
This expansion is welcome news for all but a few malcontents. Obviously,
it's good news for those who value Montreal as a cosmopolitan and
welcoming city. But it's also good news for those who erect the ramparts
to defend Quebec's French-speaking soul. Not to mention the majority who,
like me, want both and damn the contradictions.  Why? Because for most
immigrants, moving to a place where English is not the dominant language
isn't much of a step in the right direction. They're coming to North
America, and they expect to learn the dominant tongue, with all its
attending benefits.
Not so for Spanish-speakers. Ministers in Quebec City, always, according
to this story, trigger-happy with their bureaucratic neologisms, have
proferred the term "francotrope" for the hispanic position. It describes a
person who is
neither English- nor French-speaking on immigration, but is more likely to
become a francophone due to a pre-existing cultural affinity with the
"Latin temperament." Somebody like a feria -goer or a bullfight fan.
Would that we, Quebec's hispanotropes, had seized this chance to return
the favour.

GENETIC RESEARCH FOCUSES ON SOCKEYE;  SURVIVAL RESTS ON SALMON HAVING SAME
DIVERSITY AS HISTORIC POPULATION
Aug. 30/98
The Spokesman Review
Peter Harriman - Correspondent
By early September, Matt Powell, a research scientist with the University
of Idaho at the Fish Culture Experiment Station in Hagerman, Idaho may,
according to this story, know if Idaho's endangered sockeye salmon are
genetically diverse enough to survive. And in the process the Smithsonian
Institution natural history collection may become a vastly more valuable
tool for genetic research. Powell collected tissue samples at the
Smithsonian in July from sockeye and kokanee, the non-migratory form of
sockeye that lived in Sawtooth Mountain lakes more than a century ago. The
fish were collected during scientific expeditions in the 1870s and 1890s,
and their remains are preserved at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The
National Science Foundation and Northwest Power Planning Council are
paying for the work.
Powell will try to extract DNA from the samples. The immediate goal is to
determine how closely the genetic stock in Redfish LakeQthe foundation of
recovery effortsQresembles the historical fish.
Powell was quoted as saying, ``One of the important aspects of the program
is not only to examine what is in the lake at the present but to try to
get some sort of idea what has been in the lake before and get an idea of
what has changed. When Sunbeam Dam went in at the turn of the century, it
eliminated that historical sockeye population. The present population we
are conserving is a recolonization of that lake. We know the kokanee in
Redfish Lake now are a mixture of several kokanee stocks. We have a couple
of genetic types in that kokanee population that I can't figure out where
they came from. They are not closely related to the planters. It's not a
case of looking for kinship. The samples from the Smithsonian are not the
great-grandparents of the fish that are in there now. But are they of the
same genetic type? Do they have the same variety? If it turns out they are
the same fish that were in there 120 years ago, great. If not, it's a
different story, but it is still significant.''
The Smithsonian is anxious to see if Powell can isolate DNA from its
preserved fish. He is trying to find the genetic code material within a
membrane in a cell nucleus. Using historical fish to understand changes
populations have, according to this story, undergone is valuable for the
recovery of endangered and potentially threatened species besides sockeye.

CASTRATING CALVES EARLY IS LEAST STRESSFUL
August 31, 1998
USDA Agricultural Research Service,
Sooner is better when it comes to castrating beef calves. Scientists at
the
Agricultural Research Service found that calves castrated at birth
suffered
less stress and recovered faster than those castrated at weaning time 9
months later.
Castration is done to reduce aggressive behavior in male animals. It may
also improve the taste and texture of beef. Meat from uncastrated cattle
can
be tougher and may carry an unpleasant odor.
Julie Morrow-Tesch and colleagues at ARS' Livestock Behavior Research Unit
in West Lafayette, Ind., studied castration to gauge the stress level in
beef calves that undergo it. The research aims at reducing livestock
stress
through a better understanding of how castration as well as other
management practices affect animal behavior.
The researchers used two different castration methodsQsurgical and
"banding." In banding, a tight rubber band placed around the animal's
scrotum cuts off blood flow to the testicles. After several days, the
scrotum withers and sloughs off. Cattle producers prefer this method
because
it's cheaper and easier than surgically removing the testicles.
The scientists compared stress levels of groups of animals castrated by
either technique at birth, 33 weeks of age (about 3 weeks before weaning)
or
36 weeks. All were compared against a control group of calves that were
not
castrated.
The researchers measured stress levels by checking the calves' blood
levels
of haptaglobin, a protein the liver makes when an animal is injured. In
castrated calves, haptaglobin was lowest in those castrated at birth and
highest in those castrated at weaning. In addition, banded calves
generally
showed lower levels of haptaglobin, meaning this method was less stressful
than surgical castration.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/aug98/stres0898.htm

BUTTERFLIES AS ENTERTAINMENT TROUBLES SOME EXPERTS
Aug.30/98
Chicago Sun-Times
MARY HOULIHAN-SKILTON
Across the country, people are discovering a new wave of butterfly
breeders willing to sell their crop, for as high as $85 a dozen, for just
about any event, including weddings, birthdays and funerals.
Tom Clay, who, along with his wife, Pat, raises monarch butterflies in
Reamstown, Pa. was quoted as saying, ``This year we haven't been able to
keep up with the demand.''
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has enforced regulations and butterfly
conservation groups have sent up red flags since the butterfly trend has
intensified.
Some companies are virtual butterfly farms. The Clays', however, is more
of a mom-and-pop business. From May to September, the retired couple tend
to their butterflies in a light- and climate-controlled room in their
home.
The butterflies are boxed and shipped overnight. The Clays estimate that
they have raised 2,500 to 3,000 butterflies this season.
Clay was quoted as saying, ``Being packaged doesn't seem to bother them.
They seem to go dormant. Heat is their only enemy; they must be stored in
a cool place.'' There have been casualties, admitted.
Bob Flanders, USDA senior entomologist, was cited as saying that although
breeders say that butterflies are a natural resource available for
anyone's use, scientists view the commercialization of butterflies as an
ecological disaster waiting to happen. Because of the potential for
disease, the USDA has approved for sale only 10 butterfly species native
to this country.

PLAGUE HAS A MODERN FACE
AUg. 30/98
AP
DEBORAH BAKER
SANTA FE, N.M. -- Despite its medieval auraQthe Black Death (the pneumonic
form of the plague) wiped out one-quarter of Europe's population in the
14th centuryQplague has, according to this story, a decidedly modern face.
There are still sporadic outbreaks around the world. In the United States,
an average of 10 to 15 cases are reported in humans each year, mostly in
the West.
Kenneth Gage, chief of the plague section of the Division of Vector-Borne
Infectious Diseases with the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention was quoted as saying, "We treat it very seriously because of
the risk of human-to-human spread and the high fatality rate. The closer
you get to the Rocky Mountains and on west, the more plague you're going
to find," adding it doesn't require unsanitary conditions or urban
squalor. A roaming cat can bring plague back to a suburban living room.
Plague is, according to this story, a bacterial disease of rodents that
generally is transmitted through flea bites. The culprits are most likely
to be rock squirrels, ground squirrels, prairie dogs or pack rats living
roughly in the western half of the United States. Paul Ettestad, public
health veterinarian with the state Department of Health was quoted as
saying, "It's a disease that can be fatal if not recognized and treated
early enough." He added that prompt treatment with antibiotics can cure
it, plague kills about 16 percent of its human victims, according to the
CDC.  There were 394 human plague cases in the nation from 1949 through
1997, 63 of them fatal, the CDC said. New Mexico logged 218 of those,
including 30 fatalities.
Bubonic plague, which, according to this story, accounts for 80 percent of
cases, is marked by swollen lymph glands, called buboes. It's harder to
diagnose septicemic plague, which circulates in the bloodstream, and
pneumonic plague, which infects the lungs and is particularly dangerous
because it can be transmitted through coughing. Generally, those in
contact with a pneumonic plague victim are also treated with antibiotics.
CDC's Gage was quoted as saying, "In the United States, we actually
haven't had person-to-person transmission since the 1920sQnot that it
couldn't occur."
Ettestad was cited as saying that most people become sick two to seven
days after infection. Other symptoms are fever, chills, headache, muscle
pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.  The incidence of plague appears to
be cyclical, apparently linked to the high-moisture, milder winters
typical of El Nino years that cause rodents to thrive. This year, the
rodent population in New Mexico is estimated at 10 to 20 times higher than
last year, when no one in the state caught plague.
Ways to reduce plague risk:
 --Avoid sick or dead animals.
 --Teach children to avoid dead animals and rodent nests or burrows.
 --Don't use tents or sleeping bags near rodent nests or burrows.
 --Use insect repellent on skin and clothes.
 --Don't allow cats and dogs to roam free.
 --Treat cats and dogs with a product that kills fleas on contact.
 --Have sick outdoor pets examined promptly by a veterinarian.
 --Hunters, trappers should wear gloves when handling dead animals.
Human plague at a glance:
 --A bacterial disease of rodents generally transmitted through flea
bites.
 --May be transmitted by direct contact with infected rodents, wildlife or
pets.
 --Most people become ill two to seven days after infection.
 --Symptoms may include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes in groin,
armpit or neck, headache, muscle pain, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea.
 --Can be cured by prompt treatment with appropriate antibiotics.
 --Can be fatal.

MATTER OF OPINION:  CHICKENS AND PIGS AND COWS, OH MY
Aug.. 28/98
Environmental News Network
Hillary Mayell
I'm frequently asked if I'm a vegetarianQit may be the 90s version of
boomerspeak: We've gone from astrologic signs to career choice to eating
habits as conversational gambits. To get my answer down pat, I was going
to write a column about my position on the food chain and how I felt about
it. I was going to start out by saying I am a vegetarian, which would be
the Clinton approach to truth telling, because the fact is I'm a total
sucker for Italian Subs, and I'm afraid there's an excellent possibility
I've never turned one down.
So I'm not a vegetarian, and I actually think it's great that I'm at the
top of the land-based food chain. But other than the occasional subQand I
live in a pretty white bread kind of community, so constant temptation is
not a problemQI eat very little meat.
Health and lifestyle issues don't have much to do with my meat-eating
habitsQthere are a lot of other lifestyle issues I could clean up first. I
was trying to figure out how I could explain a non-moral, non-health
stance toward meat when the Sierra Club sent me their pig map.
Now, the move from family farms to industrial farming is well documented.
Over the last 25 years, family farms have been slowly being bought up and
lots of our food is being produced by corporations. This had always
worried me in terms of resource use, amounts of pesticides and all that.
And I could throw around the "one acre of land can yield 250 pounds of
beef or 40,000 pounds of potatoes, 15 vegetarians can be fed on the same
amount of land needed to feed one person on a meat-based diet" and "it can
take up to 2,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of meat" kind
of statistics.
What the pig map did was inform me that in addition to inefficient
resource use, livestock produces a lot of ... we'll call it waste ... 2.7
trillion pounds a year. That's a lot of manure, and a whole lot of it
winds up in our water.
In addition, one of the causes of the greenhouse effect is methane,
naturally occurring colorless, odorless gas produced in part from
decomposition of organic matter. Each year around the world, ruminant
livestock release some 80 million tons of methane in belches and
flatulence, while animal wastes at feedlots and factory-style farms emit
another 35 million tons. These account for 15 to 20 percent of global
methane emissions.
Cows, which have doubled in population in the last 40 years to the current
1.3 billion worldwide, produce one pound of methane for every two pounds
of meat they yield. Each cow releases about 60 quarts of methane a day.
In other words, they're really stinkin' up the place.
California's Central Valley has 1,600 dairies, which together generate
more waste than the entire population of Texas. In Chino, the community
had to build desalination plants to treat their groundwater, contaminated
by the waste from cows.
In southwest Utah, 50,000 acres have been set aside for a swine operation
with an annual production of 2.5 million hogs. The waste, which will
exceed that for all of Los Angeles, will be stored in open-air lagoons.
According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, daily leakage from
animal waste lagoons in the state averages 500 gallons per acre.
The toxic microbe Pfiesteria attacked four tributaries of Chesapeake
Bay in 1997, killing 30,000 fish. Pfiesteria outbreaks are believed to
result from factory-farm pollution.
The Dead Zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River has grown every
year since 1993, and is now the size of New Jersey. Scientists
studying the area, which is unable to sustain life, blame the phenomenon
on runoff pollution, including animal manure.
Now, the thing that's supposed to distinguish us, the top predators, from
the rest of the animals on the planet is the fact that we can
(theoretically) look ahead, assess the consequences of various actions and
act accordingly.
Since I have a teenager, I know that this is not an innate skill and that
it develops in some later than others, but it is our separating
characteristic. And that's why I eat very little meat.

ARGENTINA'S JUST RIGHT FOR RARE WHALES;
ONCE-ENDANGERED SPECIES FLOURISHES OFF PATAGONIA
Aug 31/98
The Washington Post
A15
Anthony Faiola
PENINSULA VALDES, Argentina -- Deep in wintertime Patagonia, the gulfs of
this ensconced peninsula are the breeding grounds of the right whale, the
rarest kind on Earth.Things here are finally going right for the
endangered right whaleQso dubbed, experts say, because early whalers
considered them the "right" whale to hunt. They are one of the few whales
that float, rather than sink, after being harpooned, making them the
easiest targets for whalers before more sophisticated techniques expanded
hunting to other species.
At the turn of the century, there were an estimated 60,000 right whales
worldwide, but since the animalsQwhich measure 55 feet or moreQwere prized
for having the thickest blubber of the big whales, they were targeted by
whalers. Even after right whale hunting was banned in 1937, they were
poached mercilessly. Russian and Ukrainian fleets illegally harvested at
least 2,000 off the coast of South America in the 1960s alone. The
killings brought both the northern and southern species of right whale to
near extinction; in the early 1970s there was an estimated world
population of only 4,000. Today, there are an estimated 7,000 whales.
Now, scientists are, according to this story, calling what's happening
here one of the most important recoveries of a whale species this century.
The number of southern right whales here has ballooned to about 2,500 from
360 in 1971, and they are reproducing at the extraordinary growth rate of
about 7 percent a year. The bays along the coast here now harbor almost
half of the whale's world population. Compare that with the currently
recorded number of 300 northern right whales, which range off the coast of
the United States from Maine to Florida. Their population, up from 250
about 10 years ago, is far more unstable and genetically weak, edging up
about 2 percent a year and enduring a far greater rate of infant
mortality, whale experts say.
Although scientists are still at a loss to define the vast difference in
growth rates, they are leaning toward the most obvious answer: Right
whales here are confronted with less man-made pollution and commerce than
their northern cousins.
More simply, if you leave them alone, they will thrive.
Roger Payne, a leading American whale expert who founded a field station
here in 1971 to study southern right whales was quoted as saying, "I think
you could call what's happening in Argentina a case study on how to bring
a species of whale back from the edge of extinction. Take the negative
human effect out of the equation and you've got great chances for
success."
Southern right whales live in seas far less traveled by commercial
shipping vessels than their northern cousins, who are of the same genus
but are a distinct species bearing slightly different markings. Almost 60
percent of northern right whales bear scarsQsome deep enough to eventually
kill themQfrom run-ins with large ships. No similar statistics are
available for southern right whales, but scientists say scarring is far
less prevalent in populations here because of less intensive commercial
shipping. Patagonia is sparsely populated, with seven people per square
mile, and has no large ports or population centers such as New York,
Boston or Washington-Baltimore. That also means less pressure from
pollution in the waters, which scientists believe is causing serious
problems for the northern whales, especially their young.
Despite mounting commercial fishing in the waters off Argentina's
continental shelf, the whales also have, according to this story, found a
friend in the Argentines. Argentines took a leading role in banning
commercial whaling in the 1980s, though poachersQin particular the
Japanese, Norwegians and RussiansQ continue to harvest dozens of whales.
The Argentines quickly learned that protection of whales was to their
mutual benefit. The advent of whale watching has helped make tourism the
biggest industry in the state of Chubut, outweighing aluminum mining and
textile production. To maintain the industryQand the whalesQthe Argentines
designated the Gulf of San JoseQone of the whales' most important breeding
grounds on Peninsula ValdesQa whale reserve, which is strictly monitored.
The waters here are ideal for breeding, scientists say. The whales are
attracted to the narrow inlets 15 to 30 feet deep, thought to be perfect
for nursing newborn calves.
The whales themselves are, according to this story, considered "living
national monuments," the highest level of protection afforded to animals
in Argentina. Strict population and zoning limits have been set on the
number of people allowed to live in towns here, and the number of
whale-watching boats and customers are limited by regulation. A master
plan being developed for the coastal region of Patagonia is considering
even stricter development rules. But there are signs that humans here,
too, are having a negative impact. Some nations, such as South Africa,
have put laws into effect that limit whale watching to boats without
engines. Argentina permits power boats, but some skippers don't always
obey regulations to cut their engines within 110 yards of the animals.
Victoria Rowntree, director of the Right Whale Program of the the Whale
Conservation Institute was quoted as saying, "The whales hate it. It's
obviousQwhen they're bitten, they turn around and dive to avoid the
gulls," which, "especially go after the babies. Sometimes, the gashes are
very deep."
The whales migrate to Patagonia to breed after spending months building up
their fat feeding in the colder waters near Antarctica. In the past, they
were noted only in September and October, but now they are abundant from
June through December. No one knows exactly whyQit could be that people
just notice them more, but others have postulated that higher water
temperatures from global warming have changed their mating habits.
Mariano Coscarella, a marine biologist with the National Patagonian
Center, was quoted as saying, "We'll continue trying to find the key. But
right now, I just want to enjoy it. I live across from the beach, and in
the mornings, I'm woken up by the sound of whales breathing in the gulf. .
. . What can I say? It is the most beautiful sound I've heard in my life."

WHY DON'T WE EAT OUR OWN KIND? THEY'D BITE BACK
CANNIBALS MAY RISK INGESTING DEADLY GERMS, STUDY FINDS
Aug. 31/98
The Washington Post
A03
Rick Weiss
According to this story, "It's a dog-eat-dog world," the saying goes, but
of course it is not. Dogs almost never eat other dogs, nor do other
species generally dine on their own kind.
The story says that a recent landmark study by University of North
Carolina biologist David Pfennig and his colleagues in a recent issue of
the journal Animal Behaviour, offers the first direct evidence of an
especially powerful disincentive: Animals that practice cannibalism are
far more likely to pick up lethal microbes in their prey than are animals
that eat other species.
The scientists conducted experiments involving the tadpole-like larvae of
Ambystoma tigrinum, the North American tiger salamander. Those larvae
develop into either cannibalistic or non-cannibalistic forms, depending in
part on how crowded they are while growing up. The researchers raised four
groups of cannibalistic A. tigrinum larvae and fed each group a different
diet: healthy larvae of another salamander species, called small-mouthed
salamanders; small-mouthed salamander larvae that had grown slightly ill
from swimming in bacterially contaminated water; healthy members of the
cannibals' own tiger salamander species; or tiger salamander larvae that
had grown slightly ill from swimming in the same dirty water.
Tiger salamanders that ate healthy larvae of either species, or ate sick
small-mouthed larvae, all survived and grew well. But those that ate sick
members of their own species grew significantly less, and nearly half of
them died before metamorphosing into adults.
Autopsies suggested the deaths were due to bacterial infections. It seems
the bacteria that had sickened the tiger salamander larvae were just the
right type to cause a deadly infection in the tiger salamanders that ate
them. By contrast, the strains of bacteria that had settled into the
small-mouthed larvae were apparently somewhat specialized for that
species, and so did not take a toll on the tiger salamanders that ate
them.

GREECE FACES EU BAN OVER WILDLIFE TRADE
Aug. 31/98
Electronic Telegraph
Britain and other EU countries are, according to this story, considering a
ban on trade with Greece covering up to 30,000 types of plants, animals
and furs as a result of the country's repeated failure to comply with an
international ban on trade in endangered species.
A spokesman for the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions
was cited as saying yesterday that a meeting of officials from 14 EU
member countries, including Greece, has been called for September 11.
Conservationists from Traffic, the wildlife trade monitoring arm of the
World Wide Fund for Nature, and the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature have reinforced the calls for a ban on Greece,
which has a history of being a notorious breaker of EU and international
wildlife legislation. Traffic's call for a ban follows a spot-check at 16
shops in Athens at which products from endangered species were found. They
included spotted cat furs, elephant ivory and hawksbill turtle shells.
Also found were live species, including scarlet macaw, Moluccan macaw and
military macaw. Steven Broad, international director of Traffic, was
quoted as saying, "The time has come for Greece to enact the necessary
wildlife legislation."

DOG CLONING
Aug. 31/98
The Los Angeles Times
Re "Couple Pay $2.3 Million for School to Clone Dog," Aug. 26: Donna
Grayson from Redondo Beachl, writes in this letter to the editor: This
couple may think they love their dog, but they are extremely selfish
individuals. When I think what our city animal shelters could do with that
$2.3 million, it saddens me to think of how they are selfishly misspending
their money. How many homeless animals are malnourished because they
wander the streets? How many are put to death because there is no money
available to care for them ?
My 9-year-old sheltie mix is slowly going blind, and the vet says there is
nothing that can be done. If this anonymous couple really loved their dog,
they would take their money and donate it to organizations that are trying
to cure the diseases of our animal companions. The $2.3 million could help
stop many dogs from suffering needlessly. This is a very sad story for
humans and animals. These people are not advancing science. They are just
being selfish.

NATIONAL RESIDUE SURVEY 1997 RESULTS: COMMENTS ON MEAT PROGRAM RESULTS
AUG. 6/98
Bureau of Resource Science - Australia
http://www.brs.gov.au/residues/97res2.html
Hormones
No evidence of the illegal use of hormones for growth promotant purposes
was detected in any of the samples tested from cattle, sheep, pigs,
horses, poultry or ratites.
Trenbolone and zeranol are registered for use as growth promotants in
cattle. No residues of trenbolone were detected. Zeranol and zearalenone
residues were detected in 2 and 14 samples from cattle respectively.
Fusarium sp. are known to infest improved rye grass pastures and the
zearalenone mycotoxins they produce can be ingested by cattle and detected
in urine, faeces and liver. The zearalenone toxin can be metabolised in
the ruminant to zeranol, which is indistinguishable from zeranol
administered as a growth promotant.
Beta-agonists
Samples from cattle, sheep, horse, poultry and ratite were tested for the
beta-agonists lenbuterol, salbutamol or cimaterol. No residues were
detected.
Clenbuterol has restricted use and is registered as a tocolytic agent for
the facilitation and postponement of parturition in cattle and sheep and
as a bronchodilator and expectorant in horses.
Organochlorines
The persistent organochlorines (OCs) such as DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor,
BHC and HCB have not been available for use on livestock since the 1970s.
However, they are still present in soil where they were used for spot and
broadacre treatment to control pests in the environment and on crops.
Grazing livestock can ingest soil contaminated with these compounds. A
specific program (the National Organochlorine Residue Management Program)
is in place in Australia to manage and restrict access of livestock to OC
contaminated land. Endosulfan, a relatively non-persistent OC, is
registered for use on certain crops, but not for use on livestock. OC
residues were monitored in all meat species in the program. There was only
1 sample in 5,895 tested for OCs that was above the MRL. This was a
residue of dieldrin in a cattle sample. The high level of compliance with
MRLs for OC residue continues a trend that has developed over the past six
years.
Organophosphates
Organophosphates (OPs) are used to control external parasites such as
buffalo and blow fly, ticks and lice. OP residues were monitored in all
meat species in the program. As for OCs, there was only 1 detection above
the MRL in 5,895 samples tested. This was a residue of chlorpyrifos
detected in a sheep sample. Chlorpyrifos is not registered for use on
sheep, but is used to control insects on pasture, forage crops and
cereals.
Synthetic pyrethroids
Synthetic pyrethroids are also used as external parasiticides in
livestock. Residues were monitored in all species other than game animals.
In the 3,005 samples tested, only one had a residue above the MRL; for
permethrin in a horse fat sample.
Other insecticides
Monitoring was also undertaken for the benzoyl urea insect growth
regulators, chlorfluazuron and fluazuron in cattle and diflubenzuron and
triflumuron in sheep. Also monitored was amitraz in cattle and pigs. No
residues above an MRL were detected in any of the samples tested.
Antimicrobials
Antimicrobial residue testing comprises a number of analytical and
sampling regimes. The general antimicrobial screen is performed on kidney
and is able to detect beta-lactam, aminoglycoside, tetracycline and
macrolide antimicrobials and identifies the class of antimicrobial
compound present. Where the screen test identifies a class of compounds,
confirmation and quantitation is done by the specific HPLC or GC method
appropriate for the class of antimicrobial. In addition, specific testing
is done for sulfonamides in liver, nitrofurans in muscle and serum,
chloramphenicol in muscle and dimetridazole (pigs and poultry) in muscle.
Chloramphenicol is not registered for use in food animals and nitrofurans
are only available as a topical preparation for use in companion animals.
No residues of either of these compounds were detected. No residues of
dimetridazole were detected in pig and poultry samples. Sulfonamide
residues were monitored in cattle and pigs. No residues were detected in
613 cattle samples. In 594 pig liver samples analysed, 9 residues of
sulfadimidine (sulfamethazine) were detected, 4 of which were above the
MRL.
In the general screen for antimicrobials, of the 2,112 samples tested from
cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, deer, poultry and ratites, 36 had residues
above the MRL. Two of these were from cattle and the residues were of
oxytetracycline and dihydrostreptomycin.
The remaining 34 non-complying residues were from 721 pig samples tested
in the general screen. 19 were due to chlortetracycline, 14 due to
oxytetracycline and there was one non-compliance for neomycin. There has
been a significant change in the use pattern of the tetracycline
antimicrobials in the pig industry over the past five years with these
compounds now being used at therapeutic levels as an in-feed medication
for up to 6-8 weeks to treat and prevent pneumonia. An additional factor
in the high level of non-compliance is that the Australian MRLs in offal
(0.05 mg/kg for chlortetracycline and 0.25 mg/kg for oxytetracycline) are
significantly lower than those now recommended by Codex Alimentarius (0.60
mg/kg for both compounds) and our major trading partners. The registration
data, withholding periods and MRLs for these compounds are currently being
reviewed by the responsible bodies in Australia, namely the National
Registration Authority and the Australia New Zealand Food Authority.
Anthelmintics
Three classes of anthelmintics were monitored; macrocyclic lactones,
benzimidazoles and levamisole. Samples were taken from cattle, sheep, pigs
and ostriches. Two residues from 2,613 samples analysed had residues above
the MRL. These were for fenbendazole in a cattle sample and avermectin in
a sheep sample.
Metals
The screen test for metals in the meat program reports on residues of the
essential micronutrients copper, zinc and selenium as well as the toxic
metals arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury. In the 811 screen tests
performed, there were 59 residues detected above the MPC. As has been the
case in the past, most of these were due to copper in cattle, sheep and
pigs (28) zinc in cattle, pigs and camel (13) and cadmium (11) in sheep.
Copper is used as a feed and pasture supplement and levels can be elevated
in liver as a result of pathological changes in the liver caused by plant
toxins. There was only one over the MPC residue of lead (in a sheep) and
two of mercury ( a sheep and a pig).

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For more information about the AnimalNet research program, please contact:
Dr. Douglas Powell
dept. of plant agriculture
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ont.
N1G 2W1
tel: 519-824-4120 x2367
fax: 519-824-6631
dpowell@uoguelph.ca