AnimalNet Oct. 8/07
INDONESIA
woman dies of bird flu; Toll up to 87
VIETNAM: Risk
of a bird flu outbreak remains on high alert
WASHINGTON:
Cattle tracking system still languishing four years later
EU: Grass-fed
beef poised for comeback
AUSTRALIA:
National battle to save abalone from virus
NEW JERSEY:
Slaves and slaughterhouses
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INDONESIA
woman dies of bird flu; Toll up to 87
07.oct.07
New York Times
Reuters
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-birdflu-indonesia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Jakarta -- A 44-year-old Indonesian woman has died of bird
flu, taking the country's total death total from the disease
to 87, a health ministry official said on Monday.
The woman, from Pekan Baru city on Sumatra island, fell sick
after she bought chicken in a market last month, Azizman
Saad, head of bird flu management at the hospital where she
was treated, told Reuters.
VIETNAM: Risk
of a bird flu outbreak remains on high alert
07.oct.07
VietNamNet
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/social/2007/10/748067/
VietNamNet Bridge--Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)
is, according to this story, temporarily under control in
Viet Nam, however the risk of a bird flu outbreak is still
on high alert.
This was announced by the Director of the Preventive Health
Department, Nguyen Huy Nga at a conference yesterday in
Hanoi.
The focus of this conference was the modification and
supplementation of plans made to protect humans from avian
influenza. Those in attendance included the Ministry of
Health and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
The story goes on to say that to halt the spread of bird flu
to humans, the Government needs to put in place the
structural framework and provide education about bird flu
transmission and prevention to all farms and households.
The ministry will also establish 15 influenza management
offices in the North and South. These offices will collect
and study samples for monitoring purposes, as well as
provide guidance and quarantine control to bird flu affected
areas.
WASHINGTON:
Cattle tracking system still languishing four years later
07.oct.07
The Clarion Ledger (Mississippi)
Philip Brasher
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071007/BIZ/710070334/1005
WASHINGTON--Days after the United States recorded its first
case of mad cow disease, then-Agriculture Secretary Ann
Veneman promised, according to this story, to speed
development of a system for tracking the nation's livestock.
The idea was to enable investigators to trace the
whereabouts and history of any animal within 48 hours of a
disease outbreak.
Nearly four years later, that system is still on paper.
And the revised plan the Bush administration is due to
release soon seems to bear less resemblance to the system
about which Veneman was talking.
The chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Collin
Peterson, D-Minn., was cited as saying he has given up on
the program until a new administration is sworn into power
in 2009, adding, "We have our head in the sand if we think
we can get by without having one."
QUESTIONING AG DEPT.
Chris Waldrop, who follows food safety issues for the
Consumer Federation of America, was quoted as saying the ID
program "doesn't seem salvageable." He added that the
Agriculture Department has "mishandled it and Congress is
fed up with them, producers are fed up with them and
consumers are fed up with them."
USDA wavered between making the program mandatory or
voluntary - talk of requiring producers to participate no
longer exists - and was too slow to put down rumors such as
the ID system would allow the government to spy on
producers, Waldrop says.
The story goes on to say that Bruce Knight, the USDA
undersecretary who's in charge of the animal ID project,
will soon release a new plan for the project that is likely
to scale back the program's original scope, which was to
enable investigators to track every movement of an animal
from birth to slaughter.
Knight was cited as saying he's moving to a "bookend
approach" that will focus on tracking the animals at the
most critical points, such as the farm of birth, import and
export facilities, and packing plants.
USDA also is looking at incorporating into the system the ID
numbers assigned to cattle through existing disease
eradication programs.
Many cattle producers were never enthusiastic about the
program for a variety of reasons, including the cost of ear
tags and a fear of being sued for tainted meat.
EU: Grass-fed
beef poised for comeback
08.oct.07
From a press release
http://www.politics.co.uk/press-releases/opinion-former-index/environment-and-rural-affairs/nfu-grass-fed-beef-poised-comeback-$479606.htm
Slow-growing grass-fed beef could soon be back on menus and
dinner tables across the country, after the EU’s food safety
committee agreed this week to lift costly processing
requirements on beef from older animals.
At present, the spinal columns of animals aged over 24
months must be removed under strict protocols either at
abattoir or in butchers’ shops. This adds significantly to
the processing cost, and means that prime beef animals aged
over 24 months are subject to a price penalty of up to
25p/kg/deadweight, which can work out at as much as £100 per
bullock.
However, after several years of lobbying by the NFU, the EU
Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (Scofcah)
agreed at its meeting this week to raise the age threshold
for spinal column removal from 24 to 30 months. The change
will not come into effect for probably three months, but
when it does it will mean that the economics of producing
older, more mature, better flavoured beef cattle will be
given a significant boost.
NFU Livestock Board chairman Thomas Binns hailed the
decision as being good news for beef lovers, as well as for
beef producers.
“Traditional slow-grown, grass-fed beef is a wonderful
product, and rearing it is wonderfully good for the
environment of our hills, uplands and other grassland
areas”, said Mr Binns.
“But because it takes longer to produce, it is more costly
to the farmer. And with a hefty price penalty on top of
that, because of the EU rules on spinal column removal, it
just hasn’t stacked up as an economic proposition on most
farms.
“At current market prices, grass-fed beef still won’t be
profitable, but at least this decision will give producers a
fighting chance of earning a fair return for what is a
brilliant product.
“The challenge now is to lift the price of beef cattle
across the board, so that producers can operate at a profit
and supplies of British beef of all sorts can be guaranteed
to consumers.”
AUSTRALIA:
National battle to save abalone from virus
08.oct.07
ABC Rural (Australia)
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/2007/s2053680.htm
The Federal Government will, according to this story, set up
a national taskforce to fight the viral disease threatening
the abalone industry.
Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz was cited as saying that the
taskforce will work with the Aquatic Animal Health Committee
and state abalone industries, to fight the disease,
ganglioneurities.
The virus can result in a mortality rate of up to 90 per
cent, and is spreading around the Victorian coastline.
NEW JERSEY:
Slaves and slaughterhouses
08.oct.07
The Daily Princetonian
Alex Barnard, guest columnist
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/archives/2007/10/08/opinion/18882.shtml
If you attended the Princeton Animal Welfare Society's
(PAWS) screening of the film "Earthlings" last week, writes
Barnard, vice president of the Princeton Animal Welfare
Society, you are now aware that 28 billion animals are
tortured, exploited, abused and eventually slaughtered for
human consumption in the United States each year. But if
you're like most Princeton students, you didn't go to the
screening, and probably aren't aware of that fact, much less
forced to think about it.
As of this week, though, every Princeton student passing by
the Frist Campus Center's North Lawn will be forced to
consider these issues, thanks to a series of panels set up
by PAWS juxtaposing historical abuses of human beings with
ongoing abuses of animals and comparing the justifications
for each. That the average student has not been to one of
PAWS's more sobering events, yet will be forced to think
about animal welfare thanks to the Animal Liberation Project
display, in and of itself shows why the eye-catching,
controversial tactics employed by the demonstration are an
unfortunate necessity to draw attention to an otherwise
ignored issue.
With that said, PAWS respects the position of individuals
concerned about comparing the suffering of animals to the
suffering of human beings, particularly those panels that
show animal slavery alongside human slavery. That's why PAWS
reached out to a variety of campus groups before the
demonstration arrived, giving them an opportunity to engage
in dialogue with us about this exhibit. One of the most
common fears expressed to us was that PAWS is suggesting
that some groups are "no better than animals." This concern
is, of course, particularly acute for the African-American
community, who have experienced a legacy of discrimination
that included the claim that they are more similar to
animals than other human beings.
These concerned students are right about one thing — we are
comparing humans to animals — but wrong to say that in doing
so we are being racist or degrading. Sure, African-Americans
appear in the demonstration — as do Asians and whites, men
and women, children and adults. The point of this
demonstration is not to make any one race or group of human
beings seem more "animal-like" than the others, but instead
to say that we are all animals, insofar as we all want to
live lives of dignity, free from suffering. We are not
trying to degrade anyone — humans or animals — but instead
trying to raise all beings up to the level where their
rights and interests are respected.
Barnard goes on to say that he knows as well as you do that
child laborers, slaves, political prisoners and other groups
depicted in the exhibit are not the same as chickens and
pigs. We know, too, that all human beings differ from one
another. In the end, however, it should not be our
differences that matter, but our commonalities. What all
human beings share is a desire to avoid suffering and live a
life of our own choosing. Whether or not you accept it, the
truth is that we share this desire with nonhuman animals as
well.
Slave owners — just like animal-exploiting meat-eaters today
— justified their actions by seizing upon irrelevant
differences like skin color or gender to draw lines between
the exploited and the exploiter, the powerful and the
powerless. Today, few people accept that the lines that
divide us into categories of race, gender or sexual
orientation have anything to do with our right to live
unfettered lives and our obligation to treat others with
respect and dignity.
This demonstration is about tearing down one more barrier
that has been used to justify discrimination — species. When
we challenge the justifications for speciesism, we
simultaneously combat racism, sexism, heterosexism and other
noxious forms of discrimination by attacking the ideology
that underlies them all. This ought to be a cause that all
of us, especially students from disadvantaged or minority
groups, should be able to get behind.
It is easy to understand why so many people — even those
genuinely committed to living an unprejudiced lifestyle —
have such a hard time with this exhibit. The demonstration
demands that we do so by pointing out that meat eaters can
justify their behavior only with the same delusional
thinking that led to centuries of human abuse. Such a strong
demand for change is bound to be a little disconcerting.
Individual change, however, is the only way that prejudice
can truly be overcome. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Be the
change you wish to see in the world." If you want to see
change, if you want to see an end to prejudice, then don't
non-discriminate in your life. You can take a step to reject
the ideology behind speciesism, racism and sexism, all at
once: stop consuming animals. Becoming a vegetarian is a
change for the better for both humans and animals, embodied
in three meals a day.
Alex Barnard is the. He can be reached at
abarnard@princeton.edu.
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