| Newsletter: January - March 1999 |  |
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ARFF Newsletter: January - March 1999
On October 17, 1998, in the pre-dawn hours, ARFF held a demonstration at Andrews
Management Area west of Gainesville to protest the Florida Game & Fresh Water Fish
Commission(GFC)-sponsored Youth Deer Hunt. Children from 8- to 15-years-old and
accompanied by an adult are stationed throughout the reserve and shoot deer and pigs
beginning one-half hour before sunrise. The Youth Hunt is one of many "special
hunts" sponsored by the GFC in an attempt to recruit new hunters and ensure revenue
from license sales. Jim Kelly has been a hunter most of his life. His recollection is he has killed 1 deer,
7 pigs, about 20 turkeys, and an unspecified number of ducks, quail, and doves. His 10
-year-old son Jeremy, has only recently taken up blood sports. ARFF spoke with Jeremy and
his father as they exited Andrews later that morning. In November, U.S. Congressman Allen Boyd and his sister-in-law, Florida Representative
Janegale Boyd sponsored a "Dove Hunt and Dinner" at their sod farm in Ashville
(northeast of Tallahassee), with proceeds going to area Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. ARFF
held a demonstration at the entrance to the site, and also flew an airplane overhead
towing a banner that read "Boyds Kill, Birds Die, Scouts Profit." An estimated 40 million doves are killed for sport in the United States each year, more
than any other bird or mammal.Nearly one-third of all doves shot by hunters are wounded
and unretrieved. Crippled birds slowly suffer until they die. Doves are not hunted for
their food value. The two types of doves in Florida, mourning doves and white-winged
doves, contain less than two ounces of flesh. Instead, hunters kill doves essentially for
target practice. Doves are easily mis-identified in the air resulting in hunters
inadvertently shooting birds such as hawks, kestrels, and barn swallows. ARFF's demonstration was covered by local television news, and an Associated Press
story ran in newspapers across the state (see "ARFF In The Media"). Congressman Boyd has proven not to be a friend of animals. In September, Boyd was very
vocal in support of the deceptively titled "Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act"
which would seriously weaken the provisions of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act that
prohibits the hunting of migratory birds over bait. Boyd's 1998 reelection campaign was
heavily funded by pro-hunting interests, including Safari Club International (a
trophy-hunting club for the wealthy) and the National Rifle Association (Boyd's top
individual donor). Write to the Boyds and ask them to stick to skeet shooting & sporting clays for
their 1999 event, and leave the birds alone. Also, write to the Scouts and express your
disappointment with their being the beneficiaries of proceeds collected from the Boyd
family dove hunt. Ask them to pressure the Boyds to host nonviolent fund-raisers in the
future. WRITE TO: Rep. Janegale Boyd Congressman F. Allen Boyd, Jr. Palmer Sanders, Executive Director Merline Harbin, Executive Director In June, five of Florida's U.S. Representatives caved-in to the ranching lobby and
voted against animals and taxpayers. The Wildlife Services program (formerly Animal Damage
Control) shoots, traps, poisons, and uses other cruel methods to kill predators and other
"nuisance" animals. In Florida, Wildlife Services has snared coyotes at the
Pensacola airport, shot cormorants on catfish farms, and relocated hundreds of vultures in
a controversial program for Disney World. The House passed an amendment to a budget bill
that cut $10 million from Wildlife Service's budget; two days later, after hearing
misleading testimony from cattle ranching lobbyists and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, the
vote was reversed. The following five Florida legislators voted in favor of the pro-animal
amendment during the first vote, but then changed their mind and voted against the
amendment during the re-vote (Cong. Boyd, see above, voted against the amendment twice):
Tille Fowler, Carrie Meek, Clay Shaw, Karen Thurman, David Weldon. If you are in their
districts, please contact them and let them know how disappointed you are that they
reversed their vote on the Bass-DeFazio amendment, legislation that would have saved
thousands of animals. Ask the representatives to support pro-animal legislation in the
1999 legislative session. The Honorable _____________ The annual convention of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association (CTFA) will
be held at the Boca Raton Hotel and Club again this year. Since ARFF began protesting at
CTFA's annual convention in 1989, hundreds of companies have stopped testing cosmetics and
household products on animals, including CTFAmember companies Revlon, Amway and Aubrey
Organics. Unfortunately, there are still CTFA-member companies, such as Johnson &
Johnson and Procter & Gamble, that continue to test new products and ingredients on
mice, rabbits and other animals. CTFA policy continues to defend animal testing. CTFA
lobbied against legislation in New York and Ohio that would have banned the cruel Draize
eye irritancy test. Help us convince CTFA and its member companies to join the
compassionate majority by committing to an end to animal product testing. Directions: I-95 to Palmetto Park Road exit. East to U.S. 1, turn right (south) to Camino
Real, then left (east) to circle at the Boca Hotel. WestFair "Championship
Rodeo" Saturday, March 6, 1999, 1:00 P.M. The rodeo in the town of Davie has long been a target of ARFF's. We have held numerous
demonstrations at the rodeo arena, beginning in 1990. Davie is known for its western theme. Many residents own horses; the local McDonald's
has a hitching post. Davie's original rodeo arena was built in 1946. Today, although the
western feel of the city remains, the animal abuse inherent in the rodeo is something that
should be left in the past. WestFair is an annual 'Western Style' festival to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of
Broward County. Activities include monster truck rallies, sporting events, a re-creation
of a Wild West shoot-out, and "championship rodeo." Rodeo is a violent activity that frequently leads to injury or death for the calves,
bulls and horses involved. Directions: The Bergeron Rodeo Grounds is located at 4271 Davie Road. Take Griffin Road to Davie
Road, north on Davie Road to the rodeo arena. Or, take I-595 west to exit #7 (Davie Road),
south to the rodeo arena. Write to WestFair's
sponsors, and ask them to remove rodeo from WestFair. Put on your running shoes! Wear an anti-rodeo t-shirt in WestFair's 5K
"Stampede" Run, Saturday morning, March 6. Please call ARFF for registration
details. ARFF's 10th Anniversary Celebration! Join special guests for a dinner and auction,
Saturday, March 20, 1999 at the Bahia Mar Resort and Yacht Club in Fort Lauderdale. The board of directors of the Marineland aquarium in northeast Florida voted in early
November to close the attraction, leaving a skeleton staff to take care of the animals.
Because of sluggish ticket sales, the park lost $1 million in the first six months of
1998. Soon after closing, Marineland sold the emus and alligators who had called the
aquarium grounds home, and sent their otters to another aquarium. Plans to lease four
dolphins to the Atlanta development company JDI & Associates are still in the works.
According to a recent New York Times article, JDI still plans to open a facility in
Florida and use dolphins in exploitative dolphin-human interaction programs. Marineland hopes to restructure its debt and reopen in the spring, but if the
aquarium's past difficulties in attracting tourists remain, the animals will eventually be
sold. Marineland's most valuable assets, worth approximately $100,000 each, are the
remaining 19 dolphins. Marineland, which opened in 1938, has the ignoble distinction of being the first
aquarium to display captive wild dolphins, and the first to train a wild dolphin to do
circus tricks. Marineland's dolphins, penguins, and two sea lions deserve retirement from show
business to a sanctuary that will allow them to live the rest of their lives with dignity.
If you haven't already, please write to JDI and urge them to drop their support of
programs involving captive marine mammals: In October, ARFF learned of a plan by the U.S. Air Force to test explosives in a
sensitive marine habitat. The Air Force requested a permit from the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) that would allow the Air Force to "potentially disturb and
harass" bottlenose dolphins and spotted dolphins while conducting explosives testing
off the beaches of Eglin Air Force Base near Fort Walton Beach. The tests would include 10
underwater explosions. The Air Force estimated that approximately three dozen dolphins could be disturbed and
harassed by the noise from the explosives. Other marine animals, such as sea turtles,
would also be at risk. ARFF was one of only three organizations that submitted comments against the
application, noting that underwater explosions would almost certainly effect the sensory
perceptions of wild dolphins, and inflict unnecessary stress and possibly injury.
Unfortunately, in December it was announced that the Air Force had been granted permission
to conduct the underwater tests. Reneging on its third promise in as many years, Miami's Monkey Jungle has failed to
break ground for a new enclosure for Kinga magnificent, 450-pound, western lowland
gorilla. King, now 29-years-old, has lived in a hideous 20- by 40-foot concrete bunker
since he was 11. Since 1996, Sharon Dumond, owner of the roadside zoo, has been misleading
the public by claiming that a multi-million-dollar gorilla exhibit would be constructed.
ARFF continues our campaign to give King a better life. On January 5, Jeb Bush was inaugurated as Florida's new governor. Unfortunately, the
inaugural parade through downtown Tallahassee included a 28-year-old Asian elephant from
Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey circus. The elephant (elephant's are the traditional
symbol of the Republican Party) was directed in the parade by animal trainer Gunter
Gebel-Williams, who became infamous for his harsh treatment of elephants during his 50
years as a circus-animal trainer. In 1998, three animals traveling with the Ringling Bros. circus- an elephant, tiger and
a sea lion- died, and the circus has experienced two separate animal attacks that resulted
in tiger trainers being hospitalized with serious injuries. Write to Governor Bush and express
your disappointment at the inclusion of a circus elephant in his inaugural parade. Governor Jeb Bush Sears, Roebuck & Company has ended its sponsorship of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum
& Bailey Circus, under pressure from animal activists (we asked you to write to Sears
in the Sep./Oct. '97 ARFF News). Sears began sponsoring the U.S. tour of the circus in
1992. Thank Sears for their sensible decision: WRITE TO: Arthur Martinez, Chairman & CEO In January, the Embassy Suites hotel in Deerfield Beach hired an exterminator to remove
pigeons, grackles and other birds who were perching on the building and, according to the
exterminator, "making a mess." The exterminator used a poison called Avitrol to
kill the birds. ARFF learned of the poisoning when local residents began finding dead
birds who had literally dropped from the sky. Avitrol is corn which is soaked in a highly toxic chemical. The cries and excited
behavior of birds who eat the corn apparently scares off other birds. Unfortunately, as is
the case with most lethal ways of controlling "nuisance animals," Avitrol works
for a few months, but soon other birds return to the site. Although a relatively small number of birds are killed each time Avitrol is used, for
the affected birds it is a horrible death. The chemical is rapidly absorbed by the stomach
and soon begins to affect the central nervous system. Poisoned animals salivate
excessively, suffer tremors, in coordination, and seizures before finally dying of heart
failure or respiratory arrest. Avitrol was banned in Britain in 1976, and is illegal in
San Francisco and several other cities. A 1996 USDA study on the use of Avitrol concluded that, "there is a large
potential for exposure of non-target, particularly grain-feeding birds." Across the
country, Avitrol has been responsible for the deaths of falcons, sparrows, owls, ducks,
and other vertebrate animals. Avitrol is supposed to be used only as a last resort, but for many businesses it is
more economical than other more permanent and humane methods of control. Write to the operator of Embassy Suites hotels, the Promus Hotel
Corporation, and ask them to institute a policy prohibiting the use of Avitrol or other
bird poisons at their 1,275 hotels in North and South America. Norm Blake, CEO Write to the state agency that regulates exterminators and ask them to
tighten the regulations on the use of Avitrol. Steve Rutz, Director In January 1998 we sent an Action Alert to our members in Miami regarding the sale of
dogs and cats at the "World's Largest Indoor Flea Market," held at the Miami
Beach Convention Center. Recently we contacted the flea market management for an update
and were told that they had received "boxes of letters" from concerned Miamians
and no longer allow the sale of dogs and cats at the flea market. ARFF has been successful in convincing two more establishments to remove The Lobster
Zone, a cruel "live lobster crane game." Panama Pete's bar in Tamarac faxed a
reply: "I received your letter just minutes ago and have directed my bartender (who
ordered it) to call the vendor supplying The Lobster Zone to have it removed. Thank you
for your letter." Soon after, ARFF received a letter from the owner of City Streets
in Davie who wrote, "Thank you for your well put case for the lobsters. I have had
the device removed today." In the past year, ARFF has persuaded three bars and/or
restaurants in south Florida to remove these machines. Please let ARFF know if your local
bar or restaurant has one of these machines. ARFF member Isabell Spindler convinced the Citrus County Democratic Club not to offer
veal at their holiday event. Talked to your vet lately? (ARFF did and you might be shocked!) Many of us in animal rights have wound up with a houseful of castaways, usually of the
feline or canine persuasion. Naturally, we want to be good guardians. More often than not,
that means relying on the advice of animal-health professionals veterinarians. Some of us
have been lucky enough to find a vet who's caring, competent and reasonable. Others have
not. We're also curious about whether or not our animals' doctors share our views. Last October, ARFF conducted a survey by mail of all the vets in Broward County listed
in state records. We asked questions about controversial procedures, prescribed diets,
sterilization , and one directly about the philosophy of animal rights. Of the 271 that
were delivered, about 8 percent were returned completed. Many of the results were
surprising. The vets were almost unanimous in their condoning of cat declawing- a
procedure many of us might consider a form of mutilation. One respondent boasted of being
a hunter. The responses were split on the appropriateness of tail-docking and
ear-cropping, and vegetarian diets for dogs. At present, it's no easy task to find a caring, proficient, moderately-priced
veterinarian who also subscribes to the tenets of animal rights. Though not large enough
in scope to pass scientific scrutiny, our survey indicated that most veterinarians'
attitudes toward animals pretty much reflect those of society at large. For a copy of the complete survey results and a discussion of some of the more
interesting comments, please contact the office (no doctors names will be furnished). According to USDA statistics, the central Florida counties of Okeechobee, Highlands,
Hardee and Polk rank as the worst in Florida in terms of animal waste. Okeechobee County
ranked in the top 20% of all counties in the U.S., with an estimated 1,500,000 tons of
animal waste (feces and urine) produced in 1997. Animal waste from poultry, dairy and
cattle operations can result in serious environmental and health problems. 
Animal Rights Foundation of Florida |
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