HSUS and the Making of a Conflict
Industrialist
PeTA and the Making of a Conflict Industrialist
ETSU event canceled due
to confrontation
By John
Thompson
Press Staff Writer
What was expected to be an emotional lecture at East Tennessee State University on Friday afternoon never happened. The event was canceled after an emotional outburst that broke out before it got started.
Gary Yourofsky, the founder of ADAPTT (Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow), was scheduled to speak in Brown Hall. Yourofsky is a nationally known activist opposed to the use of animals in scientific and medical research
Because of his views, the scheduling of the event in Brown Hall, the location of the science department, raised the eyebrows of some faculty members, who sought a way to present their side of the story to those attending the lecture.
Dr. Brunhilde Toper-Meyer, a veterinarian who is director of the university’s Division of Laboratory Animal Resources, placed a stack of pamphlets in support of animal research on a cart in the hallway outside the classroom where the lecture would take place. She placed an 8-inch-by-11-inch placard on the cart that said “Opposing Arguments.” No attempt was made to hand the pamphlets to those attending.
“I did not want to interfere, I was planning to sit quietly in the back and listen to the lecture,” Toper-Meyer said.
Witnesses said Yourofsky became angry when he saw the pamphlets, which included “Animals and Science” by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Frequently Asked Questions About Animal Research,” by the Foundation for Biomedical Research, and “21 Things You May Not Know about the Animal Rights Movement,” by the Americans For Medical Progress Education Foundation.
Shannon Miller, a biology instructor and the organizer of the lecture, said Yourofsky became abusive toward her, even using an analogy comparing her to the Ku Klux Klan.
Miller said she was particularly annoyed by the analogy, since she had been part of a group that protested a KKK rally in Greeneville just a week ago.
She said as the argument became more heated, Yourofsky grabbed the cart and slung it, causing the pamphlets to scatter across the floor of the hall.
ETSU public safety officers attempted to keep things from getting out of hand, but the lecture was soon canceled and Yourofsky left the building. He was not available for comment.
Miller said she was sorry that Yourofsky did not speak, saying he is a powerful orator and the subject of the afternoon’s lecture — vegetarianism — was not supposed to be controversial.
She said the Martha Street Culp Auditorium in the university center had been the planned site of the lecture, but it was unavailable. As a second choice, she decided to use her large classroom in the science building.
Miller said she was not upset with Tober-Meyer, whose literature display ignited the outburst. “She is an excellent animal control director,” Miller said.
Despite her opposition, Tober-Meyer complimented Yourofsky and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, his sponsor for the lecture, for making a significant improvement in the way lab animals are treated.
(Contact John Thompson at jthompson@johnsoncitypress.com).
Source: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/ArticleDetail.asp?Cat=LOCALNEWS&ID=21782
I am working on a book about cockfighting, dogfighting, fox hunting and some of our other "sports." I would be interested in the laws regarding these activities in other countries and the opinions of anyone about them, either pro or con. You can e-mail me at fagerlun@unm.edu.
Richard Fagerlund, a board-certified entomologist at the University of New
Mexico, is the author of "Ask the Bugman" (UNM Press, 2002). He can be reached
by e-mail at fagerlun@unm.edu and has a
Web site at www.askthebugman.com.
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/04/05/HO45970.DTL
By Steve Larese, Globe Correspondent, 4/6/2003
Between fights, children play under the bleachers and adults order hamburgers and nachos from the concession stand. The talk is of the war in Iraq, and the fight the cockers recently won in the state Legislature to protect what they say is part of their way of life.
''People think we're peasants, that we don't know anything,'' Luisa Lopez said. ''But we're good, normal people who pay taxes. We're not criminals, and we don't bother anyone.''
Cockfighting is illegal in every state but New Mexico and Louisiana. Massachusetts was the first state to ban cockfighting in 1836, Oklahoma the most recent in 2002.
A bill that would have made participation in cockfighting a felony in New Mexico passed the state House, but was killed in the Senate on March 28. It was the farthest a bill to ban cockfighting had ever traveled in the New Mexico Legislature.
''This is a war against our culture,'' Luisa's son, Felix Lopez, told legislators at a public hearing last month. ''They're trying to turn our traditions into a crime. But what about falconry, rodeos, and fishing? Why are we singled out?''
New Mexico cockers, who are predominantly Hispanic, say their hobby is rooted in their culture, though they're quick to point out that people of all races attend fights.
They counter claims of cruelty by contending they care well for their gamecocks, which can cost as much as $1,000 depending on bloodlines and breeds. With thousands of dollars in investment and potential winnings at stake, cockers often lavish their roosters with amenities such as high-protein feed, delousing, and plenty of clean exercise space that is divided to prevent the roosters from fighting.
''People think it's all about gambling, but it's about testing our bloodlines, testing our little warriors,'' said John Rodriquez, president of the Southwest Game Club. ''We respect these birds and honor their nobility. Our gamecocks have a far better and longer life than the chicken you eat at KFC.''
But other New Mexicans say cockfighting is a barbaric blood sport that celebrates violence.
''I think it's a disgusting practice, and so do 77 percent of New Mexicans,'' said the state legislator who sponsored the ban, Representative Ron Godbey, who cited a 2001 poll by Research and Polling Inc. ''Cockfighting is not a sport. It's a knife fight between chickens.''
Cockfighting pits two gamecocks against each other until one is killed or too injured to continue. At the Lopezs' farm every other Saturday night from December to July, cockfighters pay a $200 entry fee to ''test,'' usually, five roosters at events called derbies. The gamecocks are weighed and assigned a number, and a computer program matches birds to fight one another. The entrant whose birds win the most matches claims the purse, or splits it in case of a tie. Spectators, many of whom are from other states, often make side bets, which are illegal in New Mexico.
Cockfighting pits are located throughout mainly rural southern New Mexico, including one near Jal near the Texas border. In July, a federal law will make it illegal to transport roosters across state lines for the purpose of cockfighting.
While gamecocks are naturally predisposed to fight one another for mates and territory using their spurs, in cockfights their spurs are filed off and a 3-inch blade is strapped to their feet.
The blood sport dates back 3,000 years to Asia and the Middle East. The Moors are believed to have introduced cockfighting to Spain, and today cockfighting is popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries.
In New Mexico, animal rights groups and scores of organizations, including the New Mexico District Attorneys Association and New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, lobbied to ban cockfighting. Several chambers of commerce from around the state also supported a ban, saying the image of cockfighting hurts tourism-dependent New Mexico.
''It's our culture to respect all life,'' Andrew Jaramillo, president of the New Mexico Animal Control Association, said. ''I'm an avid hunter, but I eat what I kill and don't make the animal suffer, and certainly not for my enjoyment. Dog fighting is illegal, cockfighting should be illegal, too.''
But cockfight supporters say their hobby is protected under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. When the United States won the territory that is New Mexico from Mexico in 1848, the treaty ending hostilities specified that the United States would honor land rights and customs of the former Mexican citizens and Native Americans living here.
Supporters contend that cockfighting is an established custom and is therefore protected, and point to the image of a gamecock that appears on an 1846 New Mexico territorial flag. This argument and the concern that banning cockfighting could set a precedent for affecting other Hispanic and Native American rights and sovereignty issues are some of the reasons why such bans die in the New Mexico Legislature. Some politicians also fear the backlash of being accused of not supporting Hispanic or rural culture, even if much of their constituency doesn't participate in cockfighting.
''Instead of trying to ban cockfighting, we should promote the fact we're only one of two states that allows it,'' said Representative Benjie Regensburg, who wore a Southwest Game Club armband during a hearing.
But many Hispanics have spoken out against cockfighting and said they resent the fact that cockfighting is being made a cultural and racial issue in the state. The Research and Polling Inc. survey indicated that 71 percent of registered Hispanic voters support making cockfighting illegal.
''This isn't a case of city people telling rural people what to do,'' said Mae Jeanne Rescineto de Garcia of Albuquerque. ''Cockfighting has always been wrong.''
As for legislator Godbey, he said he will sponsor the bill again in two years at the next regular session, if he's still in office. If not, he said, someone else will. ''We're still a little wild in the West, but we're working on it,'' he said.
This story ran on page A4 of the Boston Globe on 4/6/2003.
©
Copyright 2003
Globe Newspaper Company.
Source: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/096/nation/Cockfighting_spurs_battle_over_culture+.shtml