|
|
Your article on the
“animal rights” controversy in Ingham County was largely accurate. (“Grebner has
one word for animal activists: ‘Fanatics’”, 4/16). I’m writing because Daniel
Sturm included material that makes me look even more idiotic than I really
am.
According to the story, I claimed that the deluge of spam e-mail
generated by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) “crashed the
computer system,” (in your writer’s words). That would be ridiculous — our
county government has a large and sophisticated computer network of which
Commissioner e-mail is only a tiny part. I don’t believe that’s what I
said.
I may not have made myself clear, but I was actually talking about
the impact of animal-rights-spam had on routine e-mail among members of the
Board of Commissioners. Each member of the Board of Commissioners has received
at least 1,000 e-mails, almost all of the cut-and-paste variety sent in response
to PETA’s hysterical accusations. Trying to cope with the flood, of which less
than 2 percent appears even to originate in Michigan, some members simply
stopped reading their e-mail. Others deleted everything from their inbox without
reading it. Some found their inbox full so no additional e-mails could be
received. A few weeks ago, during a period of very heavy e-mail from the animal
rights crowd, all e-mails received over a two-day period were discarded by the
system without being delivered. I don’t have proof this last failure was a
direct result of the animal rights crowd — I suppose it could have been a
coincidence.
The result — which was probably intended — was to interfere
with the routine business of county government: scheduling meetings, setting
agendas, exchanging proposed amendments. For the past two months, “I never got
that” has become a regular refrain.
If Sturm really felt that I had
exaggerated the impact, and that it was important to his story, he really should
have asked a followup question to make sure that he understood me.
On a
second point I’m willing to concede that Sturm was correct — I confabulated two
unrelated events on the MSU campus: the Earth Liberation Front firebombing of
Agriculture Hall in 1999, and the Animal Liberation Front firebombing of Anthony
Hall in 1992. Sturm goes on to quote a local activist as saying that her
organization wasn’t involved in either of these incidents — which is of course
true. Neither the ELF nor the ALF has any publicly identified members, since the
whole reason for their existence is to serve as a mask for the unknown
individuals who commit violence. The violence has generally been committed by a
handful of people who travel across the country, relying on local supporters
only for information and incidental assistance.
I don’t think my
confusing ALF with ELF caused much damage. In conducting research for this
letter, I discovered that the although the two groups acted separately at MSU,
they have actually claimed joint credit for sabotage committed elsewhere in the
United States. Both ELF and ALF were at the top of the FBI’s list of terrorist
organizations, until the events of the past two years pushed them onto the
second page.
I was wrong in saying PETA had been linked to the ELF’s 1999
bombing. In fact they were deeply involved (according to the federal
prosecutor’s sentencing report) in ALF’s 1992 bombing. In that bombing, PETA — a
tax-exempt charity — provided funds for ALF both before and after the bombing,
and their founders talked by phone to the bomber in the days both before and
after he set fire to Anthony Hall. They eventually paid at least $20,000 for his
legal defense, from funds raised from people who thought they were promoting the
welfare of animals. The prosecutor reported to the sentencing judge that no one
at PETA had cooperated in any way, even after the bomber had been indicted and
was a fugitive from justice. Of course, the 1999 bombing remains
unsolved.
I will continue referring to animal rights activists as
“fanatics” until they renounce violence. In the unfortunate case of the Friends
of the Ingham County Animal Shelter, which is an Ingham County nonprofit
corporation, I think the Board of Commissioners would like to hear that the
officers regret the fraudulent activities to which they have been linked. In all
the hundreds of communications we received asking that FICAS be allowed to
resume working at our facility, there hasn’t been a single expression of remorse
for their actions or the violation of our trust.
Mark Grebner is an Ingham County commissioner.
Care to respond? Send letters to letters@lansingcitypulse.com. View our Letters policy.
Source: http://www.city-pulse.org/030423/guest/
While our daily headlines provide an in-depth look at the week's biggest stories related to anti-consumer food and beverage activism, there are dozens more that we simply can't get to. Here's a sampling of what's been on our plate this week.
Federal agents raid SHAC headquarters in two states
The latest enviro-whine over California wine
113-year-old American dies -- favorite foods were KFC and Twinkies
Doctor of Animal-Rights-ology Neal Barnard can't resist parting shots at a dead Dr. Atkins
Organic food industry faces a monster of its own making
Ruckus Society protest will cost San Ramon, California $100,000 in police overtime
Far-out California legislature makes the state "an animal-rights activist's dream"
Earth Liberation Front leader says "burning buildings" is "excellent"
Dennis biotech-food-will-kill-ya Kucinich (D-Cuckoo's Nest): "I'm used to fighting for lost causes."
Chevy Chase is not a crop scientist. He doesn't even play one on TV.
Global support grows for "Drink Responsibly. Drive Responsibly." campaign
Former Animal Liberation Front "spokesperson" still selling bomb-making manuals on the Internet
College activists foist "fair-trade coffee" scam on university administrators
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's anti-alcohol mercenary taken down a peg
British animal-rights thugs break into farm, steal over 1,000 chickens
Florida high schoolers outsmart soda bans every time ...
Public-health "Meatless Monday" program aims to force a change in America's food culture
 FUR COMMISSION USA PRESS RELEASE, APRIL 24, 2003
ALFies Release Their 2002 Crime Report During March of 2003, David Barbarash, the officially "retired" spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front Press Office, put out a press release selling (for $10 a pop) the "ALF 2002 Direct Action Report", an analysis of crimes for which the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and/or the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and other criminals claimed guilt. We didn't send in our $10 to buy the report, but Barbarash did a good job giving us the highlights in his press release. Our biggest criticism? It's too organized. Barbarash breaks it down too much, creating too many subcategories, separating out the ALF and ELF crimes, making it very difficult to see the bigger picture. First the good news. The ALFie 2002 Direct Action Report declares that there were 100 crimes committed in North America by eco-terrorists, a whopping 30% decrease over 2001. A thank you to law enforcement, prosecutors and judges who have gotten tougher on these criminals. One or two in jail certainly helps reduce the crime spree.................... <snip> |
Feds target activists for animal rights
Terror task force agents raid leader's home in Somerset County
Friday, April 25, 2003
BY BRIAN DONOHUE
Federal agents from the Joint Terrorism Task Force raided a Somerset County house this week that served as the headquarters for an animal rights organization, authorities said yesterday. The raid on Wednesday was part of a nationwide investigation into possible criminal activities by the group, authorities said yesterday.
Investigators executed a search warrant on the home in Franklin Township, whose occupant is a leader of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, or SHAC, said Special Agent Steve Kodak, a spokesman for the FBI's Newark division.
The group has conducted a years-long campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences, a company whose laboratory in Franklin Township uses animals for research purposes.
Bill Strazza, an attorney for SHAC, said the house, on Home Street not far from Rutgers University, serves as the organization's headquarters and was rented by Kevin Kjonaas, who is considered the main force behind the group.
Kjonaas, who is in his mid-20s and also goes by the name Kevin Jonas, had packed his belongings and was in the process of moving when agents arrived at the 1 1/2-story, red brick single-family home on Wednesday morning. Investigators carted off "just about anything that wasn't nailed down" including notebooks, private journals and computers, Strazza said.
Kjonaas, who was not arrested, served briefly as spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front, a loose organization of radical animal rights activists, which the FBI says is responsible for more than 600 cases of ecoterrorism nationwide. Those cases range from spray-painting buildings and breaking windows to firebombing fur farms and research centers, according to the FBI.
Strazza, however, vehemently denied that Kjonaas or other SHAC members are involved in criminal activity. The group engages only in lawful campaigns and protests, he said.
"I have never come across a group of people, let alone a group of activists, who are more peacefully interested in the human condition, and the animal condition, than these people," Straza said yesterday. "They are pacifists and peace activists."
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark confirmed that the raid occurred, but declined to comment on the investigation. Kodak, the FBI spokesman, also declined comment on specifics of the investigation.
Strazza, however, said the raid was part of an ongoing investigation by a federal grand jury that has so far issued subpoenas in California, Texas and Chicago. The FBI has placed SHAC on a list of terrorist organizations, he said.
"I think we are unfortunately in a political environment where criminalizing dissent is becoming popular again," he said.
In another development Wednesday, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, comprised of both state and federal agents, raided a home in Seattle, Wash., as part of the same investigation, according to The Seattle Times newspaper, which cited a search warrant on file in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
According to the Seattle warrant, agents are investigating suspected arson, violations of federal interstate commerce statutes and "animal enterprise terrorism" -- terrorism against companies involved in animal enterprises -- by radical animal rights groups.
The occupants of the Seattle home have been linked to animal rights organizations, though it was unclear whether SHAC is among them.
Lawrence Lincoln, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle, declined to comment.
SHAC has targeted Huntingdon Life Sciences, its insurers and its financial backers in its efforts to end the company's use of animals in scientific research. Founded in the United Kingdom, Huntingdon tests pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals, mostly on animals. It has long been targeted by animal rights activists seeking to shut it down.
In 1997, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) lodged a complaint against Huntingdon after the group conducted an undercover investigation, which found that 36 beagles were to have their legs broken in order to test an osteoporosis drug.
The experiment was called off and the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined Huntingdon $50,000 for violating the Animal Welfare Act.
In April 2001, 14 beagles that were being used in tests were stolen during a break-in at the Huntingdon's lab in Franklin, hailed as a "liberation" by animal rights groups. In protests the next day, four animal rights activists were arrested on various charges, including resisting arrest, obstruction of justice and disorderly conduct.
Two months later, a judge ordered SHAC to stop holding protests of more than 50 people in front of the company's Franklin Park building, restricting larger demonstrations to a park several hundred feet away.
In a February interview with The Star-Ledger, Sidney Caspersen, director of the state Office of Counter Terrorism, said his office had assigned investigators to monitor hate groups and animal rights groups in New Jersey and elsewhere for alliances with foreign nationals.
Staff writers Matthew Reilly and Matthew J. Dowling contributed to this report.
Copyright 2003 The
Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.
Source: http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-3/105125237710870.xml
----- Original Message -----From: "ProMED-mail" <promed@promed.isid.harvard.edu>Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 4:56 PMSubject: PRO/AH> Newcastle disease, poultry - USA (TX): OIE (02)
NEWCASTLE DISEASE, POULTRY - USA (TEXAS): OIE (2)
*************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
[1]
Date: 25 April 2003
From: Tom Walton, DVM, PhD <Thomas.E.Walton@aphis.usda.gov>
There are 2 significant inaccuracies in the recent OIE report [see
ProMED-mail report: Newcastle disease, poultry - USA (TX): OIE
20030423.0987] on exotic Newcastle disease (END) in the state of Texas
(TX), USA, that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Veterinary Services would
appreciate being clarified.
1. As a member of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the United
States is obliged to report outbreaks of List A diseases to the OIE within
24 hours of disease confirmation. A Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostician
had visited the affected Texas premises on 4 April when clinical signs
compatible with END were reported by the flock owner to TX animal health
authorities. Clinical samples were received at the National Veterinary
Services Laboratories (NVSL) on 5 April.
On 9 April 2003, NVSL confirmed the isolation of END virus from backyard
fowl in El Paso, Texas, USA, and OIE was notified on 10 April 2003. The
posting from the OIE stated: "The report refers to an animal health
incident first detected on 26 Sep 2002 in El Paso County, Texas (western
part of the state). The estimated date of first infection is 19 Sep 2002.
One outbreak of Newcastle disease has been confirmed (clinical and
laboratory diagnosis) in backyard birds (164 birds) in El Paso County,
Texas, which is outside the current quarantine area."
These dates reported in this posting are not correct dates for the Texas
outbreak. In fact, the September 2002, dates in the aforementioned OIE
report referred to the dates when END first was reported by the USA for the
initial outbreak in California (CA). At the time of the April 10 report, it
was believed that the Texas outbreak was an extension of disease from the
CA-Arizona (AZ)-Nevada (NV) activity. The Texas outbreak, therefore, was
reported to OIE as a 10 April addendum to the initial CA report submitted
in September 2002, as the USDA similarly had reported in addenda for NV and AZ.
2. Subsequent to the April 10 report, DNA sequence analysis has confirmed
that the TX END outbreak was caused by a separate introduction of a
related, but distinctly different, END virus strain, not by the movement of
END virus from the affected areas in CA-NV-AZ. This information
demonstrates several relevant and important factors:
1) END virus has been contained effectively in the existing quarantine
areas in southern CA, western AZ, and southern NV; and
2) the State-Federal educational and awareness programs and surveillance
efforts are having a positive impact, even outside of the quarantine areas.
The following information in the report is not current: [see 2nd OIE report
below. - Mod.PC] "The causal agent (paramyxovirus type-1) was identified at
the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, Ames, Iowa, using virus
isolation. The virus was found to have multiple basic amino acids at the
fusion (F) protein cleavage activation site: arg. arg. glu. lys. arg* phe,
a sequence compatible with that of mesogenic/velogenic pathotypes. The
sequence of the Texas APMV-1 is compatible with its classification as
exotic Newcastle disease virus (ENDV). The sequence at the cleavage site of
the fusion protein gene is RRQKR/F, which is identical with that found in
the CA, NV, and AZ isolates of ENDV. The nucleotide sequence of the 180-bp
segment flanking the cleavage site is identical with the CA, NV\, and AZ
isolates of exotic Newcastle disease virus."
The phylogenetic (DNA) analysis of the TX El Paso END virus isolate has
been completed. Although the nucleotide sequence flanking the cleavage site
of the fusion protein gene was identical with that of the CA, NV, and AZ
virus isolates, overall there was only 97 per cent nucleotide similarity in
other regions of the fusion and matrix genes. The DNA analysis data along
with other laboratory data support the conclusion that the TX END outbreak
was caused by a separate introduction of END virus and not by movement of
END virus from affected areas in CA, NV, or AZ.
In addition, please note that the correct amino acid sequence at the fusion
protein cleavage activation site noted in the first of the two paragraphs
above should be: arg, arg, gln, lys, arg* phe.
--
Thomas E. Walton, DVM, PhD, ScD
USDA, APHIS, Veterinary Services
Centers for Epidemiology & Animal Health
Thomas.E.Walton@aphis.usda.gov
******
[2]
Date: 25 April 2003
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Office International des Epizooties (OIE) Disease Information 2003;
16 (17) 25 April [edited]
<http://www.oie.int/eng/info/hebdo/AIS_22.HTM#Sec0>
Newcastle disease in the USA in the state of Texas (follow-up report No. 1)
--------------------------------------------------
See also: 18 April 2003, 7 February 2003, 24 January 2003, 17 January 2003,
10 January 2003, 3 January 2003, 29 November 2002, 22 November 2002, 8
November 2002, 1 November 2002, 25 October 2002, 18 October 2002, 4 October
2002
Information received on 18 and 24 April 2003 from Dr Peter Fernandez,
associate administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, DC:
End of previous report period: 10 April 2003 (see Disease Information 2003;
16 [16]: 93, dated 18 April).
End of this report period: 24 April 2003.
Outbreaks (updated data): location El Paso County, in the south-western
part of Texas
No. of outbreaks 1 (38 quarantined backyard flocks only; USDA is defining
this event as a single point source outbreak affecting multiple premises)
(infected and/or dangerous contacts).
Total number of animals in the Texas outbreak:
species / susceptible / cases /deaths / destroyed / slaughtered
avi / ... / ... / ... / about 1924 / 0
Diagnosis/Epidemiology:
In the emergency report on Newcastle disease in the State of Texas it was
mentioned that the virus isolate was believed to be the same as those
isolates associated with the outbreak* in southern California (see Disease
Information 2003; 16 [16]: 94, dated 18 April). Further DNA sequencing
analysis, however, has confirmed that the cases detected in El Paso county,
Texas, were caused by a separate introduction of virus and not by the
movement of virus from the affected areas in California, Nevada, or
Arizona. The phylogenetic analysis shows that the viruses are different
enough to indicate that the incident in El Paso county was the result of a
separate introduction, and is thus a separate outbreak*.
This information demonstrates several relevant and important factors:
1) we continue to effectively contain the initial virus to the existing
quarantine area in southern California, western Arizona, and southern
Nevada; and
2) our education and awareness programs and surveillance efforts are having
a positive impact, even outside the quarantine areas.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[We are very pleased to get this clarification so quickly and appreciate
the efforts to ensure an accurate record. - Mod.PC]
[see also:
Newcastle disease, poultry - USA (TX): OIE 20030423.0987
Newcastle disease, game fowl, plty - USA (west) (12) 20030423.0988
Newcastle disease, game fowl, plty - USA (west) (11) 20030415.0920
Newcastle disease, game fowl, plty - USA (west) (10) 20030411.0877
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (TX) (02): confirmed 20030410.0870
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (Texas): suspect 20030407.0848
2002
---
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (07) 20021125.5893
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (06) 20021112.5780
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (05) 20021101.5689
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (04) 20021026.5646
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (03) 20021019.5603
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA) (02) 20021012.5533
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (TX): warning 20021006.5482
Newcastle disease, game birds - USA (CA): OIE 20021004.5468]
..........pc/sh
*##########################################################*
ProMED-mail makes every effort to verify the reports that
are posted, but the accuracy and completeness of the
information, and of any statements or opinions based
thereon, are not guaranteed. The reader assumes all risks in
using information posted or archived by ProMED-mail. ISID
and its associated service providers shall not be held
responsible for errors or omissions or held liable for any
damages incurred as a result of use or reliance upon posted
or archived material.
************************************************************
Visit ProMED-mail's web site at <http://www.promedmail.org>.
Send all items for posting to: promed@promedmail.org
(NOT to an individual moderator). If you do not give your
full name and affiliation, it may not be posted. Send
commands to subscribe/unsubscribe, get archives, help,
etc. to: majordomo@promedmail.org. For assistance from a
human being send mail to: owner-majordomo@promedmail.org.
