Kansas City conference notes
Kansas City Symposium
Hosted by People for Animal Rights
10/14/00
This was the second annual animal rights conference held in Kansas City. It brought together activists from surrounding states as well as national animal rights advocates. The focus was on what we can do to make a difference now. (The logo on the T-shirts read "DON'T WAIT UNTIL PIGS FLY".) It was energizing to be around so many individuals who share a concern for non-human animals. (The Hilton served an awesome vegan lunch, too!) Below are some notes from the conference:
Michael Mountain, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary
Best Friends is home to 1,800 cats, dogs and other domestic animals (including about 700 dogs in Dog Town). Currently 200,000 people get the Best Friends magazine. The organization began in the 70's, when a group of friends started visiting the Prescott Humane Society Shelter once a month. They would go before "E Day", and would take home the most unadoptable animals. They would then rehabilitate and try to find homes for their charges. Those animals who were not able to find homes became the first residents at Best Friends Sanctuary. Needing a larger facility to house this growing menagerie, the founders purchased some land in Angel Canyon. We have all heard the grim statistics regarding our homeless animals. However, the good news is that we are now killing fewer animals than we did in the 70's and 80's. In 1987, 17,000,000 dogs and cats were killed every year in United States shelters and pounds. Today that number is closer to 5,000,000. Part of this is due to the no kill movement that got underway some ten years ago. As part of that initiative, Best Friends spays and neuters all animals before they are adopted out. Many other shelters are now doing the same. The issue of FIV cats (feline AIDS - which is not as deadly in cats as it is in humans) was discussed and there was some debate about the need to euthanize feral (wild) FIV positive cats. Mr. Mountain's view was that every animal is entitled to a life. If the cat is asymptomatic, there is no need to kill it just because it tests positive for FIV. Michael brought up another point. For most people, saving the rainforest or oceans is an intellectual pursuit. We all think it is a good idea - but it is not tangible. Yet the dogs and cats in our lives are right in front of us. It is through our companion animals that we can come to develop compassion toward all animals. A lot of what we take for normal in the United States is simply not accepted in other societies. Until recently, it was illegal in Germany to kill a homeless pet. In Sweden, people would not even think of giving up their companion animals. In this country, there is a mindset that killing animals is a necessary evil. It is not. Animals have a way of bringing people together. They are the peacemakers. Even in war-torn countries, caring individuals will come together to save the animals (Croats and Serbs, Arabs and Israelis). There is no easy answer as to what to feed your pets. Best Friends uses commercial food, as a vegan diet for the animals would require additional monitoring and expenses that they are unable to afford. Michael does refer donors looking for vegan sanctuaries to an operation in Kentucky - Home at Last. Michael also mentioned a fund in California.Maggie's Fund in San Francisco was developed (with a 200 million dollar contribution form a software engineer) to move the country to "no kill" policies. Michael then told some stories: When tabling at an upscale store, a lady approached Francis, who is one of the founders of Best Friends and said, "You have to take my dog". Francis asked, "What is the matter." The lady said, "Nothing is wrong. I have had him for seven years. He doesn't have any problems. He is very well behaved. But, I am getting married, and my fiancée doesn't like dogs." Francis took the dog in and found a home for him and never said what he wanted to say to the lady. But, if he had, it would have been something like this: "You are about to enter into a sacred relationship. It may be the most important commitment you will make in your life. You will have to make many compromises and work very hard if this relationship is to succeed. And, if you do everything in your power to make it work, according to the statistics, you have about a 50% chance of success. On the other hand, you have a relationship right now that requires no compromises and little effort. If you come home four hours later than usual, your dog will only be happier to see you. If you are a slob, and leave clothes all over the floor, he will be delighted to make them into his bed. If you ignore him, he will only try harder to please you. Your only commitment is to love him and care for him. If, you are willing to throw this wonderful relationship away at the first sign of a problem, just what chance do you think you have that your new relationship will succeed? Fossi, a long-haired cat, lost the tip of his tongue. He could no longer feed or groom himself. He had to be brushed by the Best Friends staff and volunteers twice a day. He finally found a loving home, and better, still, the cat in his new home became his best friend and took over the daily grooming.
Jo Ann Farb - Author of Compassionate Souls
Jo Ann used to work for Merck. In her capacity as a sales rep there, she met a number of people who did animal research. She was struck by several incidents: While visiting a hatchery one day, she saw a chick jump off a tray of newly hatched eggs. Trying to see where the chick went, she noticed the floor. There hundreds of chicks lay dead and dying - most stuck to the floor by their own blood and guts. The workers, oblivious to the suffering, stood around chatting. On another occasion, as a sales rep, Jo Ann found herself at a presentation given by Smith Kline for the American Association of Lab Animal Scientists (appropriately know as ALAS). They were demonstrating, on live animals, a new process to withdraw blood from the heart. Jo Ann, although she would never need to use this procedure, was pushed to try the technique. Jo Ann's focus is on childhood development. She brought up the point that most of the ways that we are being encouraged to birth and raise our children are counter to nature: 1) Sleeping alone is very unusual in primates. Yet we are told that it is good for our children to be separated from us.
2) Hospital births are geared to the convenience of the hospital staff and to the avoidance of malpractice suits. For example, mothers are told not to eat during labor because of the possibility that they will need anesthesia and that they may aspirate some food. Not eating is difficult, as labor is like running a marathon. You need energy. If you don't eat, the baby is more likely to be born with low blood sugar - then the hospital needs to give the baby formula - then, when the baby is given back to the mother, breast-feeding does not work as well. Additionally, mother's milk has a laxative effect. Without that effect, the baby can get jaundice and end up in the neonatal ward.
3) Formula is not as good for the baby as milk. Our milk is watery - as we are supposed to nurse our babies often (a cat's milk is thicker - kittens feed less often, enabling the mother to go out and hunt). Human milk is high in essential fatty acids. However, the fatty acids used in infant formula are cheap and not nutritional.
4) We are encouraged to wean our babies early. It is natural to wean babies between 4 & 7 years of age. (As a side note: A mother's diet can affect her milk. There is also concern about endocrine disrupters - which mimic hormones and work in minute amounts. Hundreds of different chemicals are present in the milk of various animals. We don't know the long-term effects of these chemicals. To reduce exposure, eat a vegan diet. When you eat plant-eating animas, you are eating their lifetime exposure to toxic chemicals.)
5) Cutting the umbilical cord immediately after birth is not wise. The extra blood that comes through the cord while it continues to pump is rich in iron. Without this blood, babies can suffer from low iron.
6) Vaccinations may not be as innocuous as we think. When you inject a vaccine, you are bypassing thousands of years of evolution. (You are bypassing the mouth, mucous membrane and lymphatic systems and sending the viral agents directly to the blood.) There may be a link between childhood vaccinations and auto-immune diseases. Also, vaccines don't work nearly as well as we have been led to believe. CDC's own researchers were unaware of some of the published articles regarding the efficacy of different vaccinations. For example, the SV 40 virus was in the polio vaccine. Now it is linked to a whole variety of cancers. Also, vaccines are rarely needed. During the polio epidemic, less than 1% of those exposed actually contracted polio. Those most likely to be symptomatic were those who had had their tonsils removed, had a vaccine within 30 days, or who had consumed excessive sugar. Vaccines are an assault on the immune system. If you don't want your children to be vaccinated, you can tell the schools that you are opposed to vaccinations on religious grounds (the Supreme Court has ruled that "religious grounds" is any belief that you hold as strongly as you would a religion.) Vaccination: 100 Years is a good book to read. The flu shot is one of the biggest frauds. Many cases of "the flu" are actually food poisoning caused by eating meat and dairy. Raw food diet is probably the best way to boost your immune system. Most vaccines are tested for several weeks or months - there are no long-term studies on the effects of vaccines.
Dr. John Hadidian - HSUS, a uthor of Wild Neighbors
Dr. Hadidian has been involved with animal issues for twenty years. His background was in primatology. He says that, although we have created an uninviting habitat, urban wildlife is capable of adapting to our environment. People used to be interested in animals purely from a utilitarian point of view. As we shifted toward a more urban environment, our attitudes have become more humanistic. Yet we still view animals based on old prejudices. People are afraid of bats, but not of bears. This seems illogical, as bats can seldom hurt you, but bears are very dangerous (he suggests never approaching a bear unless you are with someone who you can easily outrun). We destroy old, dead trees (which are a hotel for many creatures) and build cities - with pipes and tunnels which then become sanctuaries for the displaced animals. We need to learn respect for the environment, tolerance for other creatures and to develop a willingness to solve problems without resorting to killing. Few laws protect "Nuisance animals". Yet there are simple steps that we can take to eliminate the problems we have with urban wildlife. Chimneys can be capped to prevent animals from moving in. Animals that have found their way into buildings can be stopped from returning by the use of a one-way door. (This allows them to get out, but they can't get back in. This should only be used when you are sure there are no infants inside.) Relocating animals is not a good idea. They often get killed trying to return to their home site. Sometimes, there is no easy solution, but many times, there are steps we can take to protect our wild friends:
1) When mallards were nesting under our National Christmas Tree, there was great concern. The tree had spider mites. Yet, spraying for the mites could kill the mallards. After a cadre of engineers and environmentalists stood around the tree, discussing the problem, the mallards decided that it wasn't such a good place to nest after all - and left. Problem solved.
2) Bears in Mammoth Lake are treated with "tough love". A behavioral program is being used to make the bears believe that people are dominant. Also, bear-proof locks are used on dumpsters. This has eliminated bear-human problems, yet allowed the bears to continue to live in the city.
3) Canada geese are becoming a problem. They were protected, so the populations grew. Now people are dealing with the large geese populations by herding the geese into pens and carting them off to slaughter. One humane way to handle the overpopulation problem would be to use special dogs to chase the geese away. The HSUS is holding "Geese Speaks" to educate the community, and has worked to promote egg addling or egg replacement as a way to reduce the geese population.
4) There are 6,000,000 beavers in our country now. They are environmental engineers. They will take down trees and flood areas. There is a simple solution. Place a 3' wire cage around the trees to protect them. Using piping systems and beaver deceiver systems (these are big fences that are built around potential dam areas to confuse the beavers) can prevent the flooding caused by beaver dams. With these systems, the beavers stay - but they don't build.
5) Runoff has become a real problem in urban areas that are covered with concrete. A way to reduce this problem is to have small open squares of grass within concrete areas (the design we saw was for a driveway - it looked like a little grid of concrete and grass). These squares, used in Europe, allow rainfall to absorb into the ground, but still provide a solid surface for cars.Robert Cohen, President of the Dairy Education Board and author of Milk: the Deadly Poison
There are a number of nationally prominent doctors who are dedicated to exposing the myth that milk is the perfect food. Every sip of milk has virus, puss, bacteria, fat, glue, cholesterol and hormones. The USDA allows up to 750,000,000 pus cells in every liter of milk. In raw milk samples, 90% contained e-coli and other bacteria. We are eating a diet today that was totally unknown to our species just 100 years ago. One hundred years ago, those who did not live on farms did not consume milk ? as there was no refrigeration. One hundred years ago, a cow produced one quart of milk a day - today, courtesy of antibiotics and growth hormones, cows produce 17 quarts per day. We would think it disgusting to drink the milk of any other animal. Would you think of drinking dog milk or eating dog ice cream? Yet, we have come to believe that it is acceptable to drink a fluid designed for baby cows. Just think how milk smells when it is rotten. After 10 days, you pour it down the drain - but on day 9 you are drinking it? This is the bodily fluid of diseased and dying animals.
Two Nobel Prizes were awarded for the discovery of a crystal that can turn the human brain into a sponge. This crystal causes CJ disease, known as mad cow disease in bovines. Mad cow disease can take up to 40 years to develop in the body. Cows get it when they consume food that includes rendered scabies-infected sheep (it is common practice to grind up animals and feed them to other animals - odd, when you think that cows were designed to eat a vegetarian diet). We can get this disease when we consume infected cows or their byproducts. We cannot identify which cows have mad cow disease, it is not destroyed by heat or processing, and it is 100% fatal. Twelve percent of Alzheimer's patients test positive for CJ.
The symptoms of milk allergy are frequently delayed in appearing, thereby obscuring their connection with the previously digested food. Food allergy, in the extreme, can be deadly. Flo Jo died of what might have been an allergic reaction to dairy products. On autopsy, they found 2500 cc of undigested food (including cheese) in her intestinal tract. They also found Benadryl. She was acutely congested with mucous.
Mr. Cohen suggests going one week without milk products. He says that, in that time, your body will expel one gallon of mucous. If you have allergies or asthma, they will be diminished or gone. In 1978, the Journal of Clinical Nutrition studied the Japanese. In 1950, the Japanese consumed, on average, 5.5 pounds of milk and dairy a year. In 1978, they consumed 117.4 pounds. In that time, the average 12 year old grew 19 pounds heavier and 4 _ inches taller and the average girls' menses dropped from 15.4 years of age to 12.2 (the earlier the menstruation, the greater the risk of uterine and breast cancer.)
Here are some interesting statistics:
- The average cow produces 80 pounds of excrement in a day.
- In his lifetime, the average American will consume: 15 cows, 24 hogs, 12 sheep, 900 chickens, 1,000 pounds of fish, 25,250 pounds of dairy products.
- There were 175,000 cases of food born illness last year.
- 50% of cows have paratuberculosis - this can give humans irritable bowel and Chron's disease.
- 90% of the dioxins we consume come from dairy products and meat.
- Ben & Jerry's ice cream contains 22,000 times the safe level of dioxins.
- There is a hormone in milk that is similar to morphine. And is very addictive.
- Epidemiological and serologic data in humans suggest a relationship between the consumption of cow's milk and diabetes. It is possible to reverse insulin-dependent diabetes by eliminating dairy for just 20 days.
- Australia and New Zealand are the first two countries to put warning labels on milk: "No child under the age of one should ever have whole milk." USDA says it is their policy never to give babies whole milk.
- Dr. Benjamin Spock (who wrote the second most read book in history ? the first being the bible) says that no human should ever drink cow's milk.
- The average American will get, each day, from dairy, cholesterol equivalent to eating 53 strips of bacon.
- 50 million Americans experience bloating, stomach pain, cramps, gas or diarrhea after consuming dairy products. For this reason, we produce products to help people digest milk. "They give you the antidote so you can take the poison."
- 95% of African Americans cannot digest milk.
- Osteoporosis is caused by a number of things - the most important being an excess consumption of dietary protein. Dietary calcium does little to prevent bone loss. Yet, billion dollars per year are spent to promote dairy and to convince you that it will prevent osteoporosis.
- Vegetarians who eat dairy products are responsible for the death of one cow and two calves.
- Dairy cows end up in the slaughterhouse. And, what is a worse form of abuse, baby calves are taken from their mothers so that we can steal the babies' milk. The cows and calves cry for days.
- Cows injected with BGH are digesting their own body organs ? heart, liver, spleen, and pancreas.
- Cleveland Clinic says that heart disease is reversible. You can reduce your cholesterol from 300 to 150 within 14 days by eliminating meat and dairy products from your diet.
- Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) has been identified as the key factor in the growth of breast, prostate and lung cancer. (This is the only hormone shared by two different animals - cows and humans.) By eating cows and dairy, we increase our levels of IGF-1.
Mr. Cohen recommends that we read Sacred Cows and Golden Geese and that we visit his website: www.notmilk.com for further information.Chris De Rose, Last Chance for Animals
Chris was an actor who got involved with animals when a dog walked up to him in an acting class. He ended up taking the dog home with him, and through his interaction with this stray dog, realized that non-human animals have feelings, too.
Last Chance for Animals does a lot of undercover work in order to expose animal abuse. The group is now working to eliminate Class B Dealers. (There are three types of dealers. Class A is the puppy mills -Kansas is the heart of this business; Class B is the procurement of animals that are already in existence.) Pet theft is an organized crime. The USDA is licensing dealers and not supervising them. Last Chance was able to get a Class B Dealer (Herb Stefani) closed down by taping the dealer as he sold a dog for food - and shot and skinned the dog. Chris said that it was difficult to watch this, but the dealer had been killing thousands of animals each year. Without this evidence, many more dogs would die.
Chris recommends that we never make animal rights or welfare a personal issue. We need to remain focused. We also need to avoid in-fighting. All the disruption within the animal rights movement is counter-productive. His methodology is to go undercover, get the tapes, go to the news, and then go to the law. Last Chance has also been very successful in exposing horrendous animal experiments. It is Chris' belief that, one day soon, the biomedical industry as it is today will collapse.Gene Bauston, Farm Sanctuary
Gene and his wife started their sanctuary on a shoestring. They subsisted by selling veggie hotdogs at Grateful Dead Concerts. Today, almost nine billion animals are raised and slaughtered each year in the U.S. While we might look into and animals' eyes and see the fear, the people who profit from the slaughter see only cuts of meat. We need to work to change the perception. We need to love the sinner and hate the sin. We can all learn and improve. Our challenge is to bring awareness. We need to etch out new, creative solutions. 250,000,000 chickens are thrown away each year. Over the past 15 years, state laws have been changed to remove protections for farm animals. Most people are appalled when they learn how farm animals are abused. Veal crates, still used in the U.S. are illegal throughout Europe (as are battery cages). We need to get the message out. This is a challenge, as the meat, egg and dairy industries have money. Yet, there is encouraging news.
- There is an initiative to outlaw factory farming in Florida (will probably be passed by 2002).
- Over 20 NY restaurants have signed a pledge not to serve veal that has been kept in crates and fed an anemic diet.
- Last summer, USDA said they would no longer buy meat from downed animals for the school lunch program. With understanding, there cannot be hatred. A lot of people doing these horrible things just don't understand - we have to figure out how to reach them. We need to expose people to a humane way of treating other animals. We need to facilitate a change at the business and the consumer end. Try to be positive. Have people over for a vegan Thanksgiving dinner. Be patient, persistent, and polite.
Visit humaneusa.org. This group is designed to elect humane legislators. If we vote and get to know our legislators, we will have a voice. Animal abuse is a people problem. We need to connect with other people to let them understand what we are feeling. Our challenge is to keep hopeful.
