Kevin Nealon Delivers "Goods" to Gorilla Captors

In June, former Saturday Night Live star Kevin Nealon, along with his wife Linda, presented thousands of petition signatures in the form of coupons to the owners of Monkey Jungle pleading that King, a 30-year-old western lowland gorilla living in a hideous concrete-and-bars cage, be immediately transferred to the spacious gorilla habitat at Zoo Atlanta where, for the first time since he was a baby, King could be socialized with members of his own species. The event was covered by all of south Florida's television stations, The Miami Herald, and was the topic of the hour on the popular Neil Rogers AM talk radio show.

More than 6,000 coupons were presented to Monkey Jungle owner Sharon Dumond in January 1998, after ARFF placed an ad in The Miami Herald containing a coupon to kick off the campaign. Since that time over 5,000 additional coupons have poured into ARFF from across the country and five continents.

In May, the Los Angeles Times ran a 1/4 page story on ARFF's campaign to give King a better life. Among the newspapers that re-ran the article were the Palm Beach Post, New Jersey's Bergen Record, and Tacoma, Washington's News Tribune. In June, the national supermarket weekly, Globe, ran an article about actress Doris Day and TV-personality Bob Barker joining ARFF's efforts on behalf of King. ARFF continues to spearhead the campaign.

Florida's Poultry Industry

Each year in Florida, 140 million chickens are killed by the poultry industry. In addition to chickens killed for their flesh, Florida egg farms produce approximately 2 1/2 billion eggs each year. Laying hens and "meat" chickens produce over one million tons of waste annually, fouling lakes and rivers across the state. Both poultry and egg production are responsible for massive animal suffering.

The Egg

The Tampa Bay area is a major egg-producing area. The Zephyr Egg Co. in Zephyrhills is one of the largest egg producers in Florida, imprisoning two million chickens on several farm complexes in Pasco County.

In huge warehouse buildings on these "farms," tens of thousands of chickens are confined in small wire cages. Four or more hens are crammed into a cage just 16 inches wide. The birds cannot stretch their wings or legs, or do any natural behaviors. This type of "battery" cage for chickens has been banned across Europe.

Laying hens suffer from disease and deformities from the intense confinement and the stench of ammonia. Chickens routinely have their beaks cut off to prevent injuries from stress-related fighting. After a year and 250 eggs, the hens are killed to be used in soups, etc.

Please join ARFF's demonstration on "World Farm Animals Day," 
Saturday, October 2, 12:00 noon, at the Zephyr Egg Company, 4622 Gall Blvd. in Zephyrhills.

Directions: From Tampa, take I-275 north; exit onto S.R. 54 (exit #58), and follow 54 east into Zephyrhills; turn right onto U.S. 301, Zephyr Egg Co. is 1/2 mile on your right.

The Chicken

Tyson Foods is the world's largest poultry producer, killing over 2 billion chickens every year! The Tyson poultry processing plant in Jacksonville is the largest in the state, slaughtering as many as 750,000 birds a week.

Tyson also operates a hatchery in Clay County that provides chickens for its Jacksonville plant. About 850,000 chicks are born there each week, then trucked to contract farms where they are kept in over-crowded, sweltering buildings for 4-6 weeks before being stuffed into crates and trucked to the processing plant where their throats are cut. Chickens raised for meat suffer from skeletal deformities and leg problems as a result of being genetically altered to gain weight at an unnaturally fast rate.

Please join ARFF's demonstration, Thursday, October 14, 5:00 P.M., at the Tyson hatchery in Clay County.

The best thing that you can do is to remove chicken and eggs from your diet. In addition to no longer supporting an industry responsible for immense animal suffering, you'll be healthier. Salmonella-contaminated eggs cause over 100 deaths and hundreds of thousands of sicknesses each year. So serious is the danger that the federal government recently proposed placing warning labels on egg cartons. Contact ARFF for tips on cooking without eggs.

Upcoming Demonstrations:

Junior Rodeo State Championship Finals

Saturday, August 21, 11:00 a.m. in Davie, Florida

Rodeo promotes violent and brutal treatment of animals. Youth rodeos teach harmful lessons to young people about the proper treatment of animals. In the junior rodeo, young boys and girls between ages 6 and 14 participate in calf roping, goat tying and other cruel rodeo events.

American Association for Laboratory Animal Science

1999 Florida Branch Annual Meeting

Saturday, August 28, 10:00 a.m. in Melbourne, Florida.

The 1999 AALAS meeting will include a presentation by Dr. Joseph Wagner, who is infamous for his involvement in experiments on monkeys, and primate breeding programs, at the University of Miami and at Homestead's Mannheimer Foundation. Other presentations will include, "Anesthesia in Small Animals," "Goat Intubation Techniques," and, amazingly, "What Can I Do to Make My Job as an Animal Technician More Fun." Please join ARFF to denounce the torture and killing of animals in laboratories.

Youth Deer Hunt

Friday, October 15, 11:00 a.m.

Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission building in Tallahassee

The Youth Deer Hunt (children are also encouraged to kill pigs) is a special hunt sponsored by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) for eight- through fifteen-year-old children. This bloody program was initiated in 1985 and is held annually in October at two wildlife management areas in northern Florida. The Youth Hunt is one of many "special hunts" sponsored by the FFWCC in an attempt to recruit new hunters and ensure revenue from license sales.

Help ARFF bring the message of compassion and respect for animals to the doorstep of the FFWCC.

Updates:

Wellington Rodeo

ARFF held several demonstrations against rodeo events in the spring and summer of 1997 at the Thunder Ranch in Wellington. In June 1998, the Wellington zoning commission approved plans for the construction of an arena at the Thunder Ranch. Plans included bleachers for 1,000, food concessions, and a large parking lot for monthly rodeo and bull-riding events. As this newsletter goes to print, construction has still not begun for the planned rodeo arena, and Thunder Ranch has not hosted any rodeos since late 1997. Maybe rodeo isn't as popular as the Thunder Ranch thought?

ARFF Named to School Board Committee

Very unhappy that circus tickets and rodeo promotions were being distributed to students in the Broward County schools, ARFF began a letter-writing campaign that culminated in the school board's establishing the Animals on Campus Ad Hoc Committee to discuss the school district's policies regarding animals. At a recent meeting, several issues were discussed, including the circus and rodeo promotions and animal exhibits visiting the schools. ARFF coordinator Nan Vollbracht showed the committee ARFF's vegetarian slide-show, which is under consideration as a resource for Broward classrooms.

The committee also includes school science curriculum personnel, Sgt. Sherry Schlueter of the Broward Sheriff's Office, and others. We will include updates of the committee's progress in future newsletters.

A Crown, a Sash, and 55 Tortured Animals

Again this year, one of the prizes awarded to the winner of the Miss Florida USA pageant was a full-length mink coat from Bloomingdales. Considering the horrendous cruelty that was involved in the making of this coat, it is a very inappropriate prize. Please contact the organizers of the event, and urge them to remove fur from future pageants.

Victories:

Level Heads Prevail in Deltona Duck Debate

The fate of hundreds of Muscovy ducks in Deltona was called into question when a few irate residents complained to the city that the animals were a threat to the lawns along five lakes in the area. Backed up the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, they called for drastic measures, including killing the ducks outright or having them hauled off by a paid trapper to be killed.

The city commission took up the issue at its May 3 meeting. Several ARFF members in the area attended and spoke at the proceedings proposing a calm, long-term, non-lethal approach to the situation. ARFF director Laura Guttridge presented a prepared statement explaining that egg collecting and selective relocation of some of the ducks to private property where the animals would not be harmed made more sense than moving in with guns and traps. Laura also noted that, although Muscovy ducks are considered "non-native" and therefore are not covered by the game laws, they are nonetheless included under the state's cruelty-to-animals statute.

In the final vote, the city commission passed an ordinance forbidding the feeding of Muscovy ducks by city residents in the hope of causing a natural reduction in their numbers through fewer births. Some selective relocation will also be permitted, and the commission was open to a future strategy involving egg collection.

Deltona activists Leola Sweeney and James and Annette Brooks also made successful pleas for a reprieve for the ducks to commission members and the mayor. ARFF will continue to monitor the duck situation in Deltona.

North Miami Beach

In May, ARFF sent an Action Alert to our members in North Miami Beach after the city hosted an animal exhibitor called Pangaea Productions at a community block party.

For animals in traveling exhibits, transportation to the event and exhibition in unfamiliar and confusing surroundings can be extremely stressful. The most basic needs of animals used in such events are frequently subordinated to a desire to provide entertainment.

Mayor Jeff Mishcon responded to our concerns, "Sorry- I was not aware of this. I too love & care for animals. I will immediately advise our city manager to discontinue this practice." Thank the mayor for his decision.

Charity Commits to Being Fur-Free

ARFF has been battling with the Junior League of Boca Raton since, at its 1997 "Woman Volunteer of the Year" awards luncheon, fur was shown in the fashion show, and a mink jacket was awarded as a prize.

ARFF's highly publicized objections paid off when Junior League President Debbie Abrams wrote to us regarding the upcoming 1999 event, "Our contract with Bloomingdale's provides that no furs or fur-trimmed items will be shown that day." We commend the Junior League on its compassionate decision.

Thank the president of the Junior League for her enlightened position and encourage her to make it a permanent policy.

Boca 'Paper's Mouth No Joke

A frequent promotion in the Boca Raton News featured a woman pretending to swallow a live goldfish as part of a dare. After ARFF spoke with the newspaper's editor in June about the improper lessons this image promoted, the depiction was discontinued.

Building Owner Friend to Pigeons

When ARFF member Colleen Ferro noticed pigeons being poisoned at a downtown Hollywood restaurant in March, she immediately contacted the owner. As is common in these cases, the owner was misled into believing the substance he purchased was harmless to the birds. Not wishing to cause any animal to suffer, the owner had his contractor construct steeply angled surfaces where the pigeons had been congregating in order to discourage the birds.

ARFF commends Colleen on her initiative and extends its appreciation to Aaron Halpern, the property owner.

Wildlife Services

In May, we notified members on our Internet Action Alert list, members with fax machines, and members in selected legislative districts about the "DeFazio-Bass Amendment" that would have cut $7 million from the budget of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services program (formerly known as Animal Damage Control). In Florida, Wildlife Services shoots, traps, and poisons thousands of animals including gulls, egrets, ducks, meadowlarks, barn swallows, coyotes, raccoons and wild dogs at the request of fish farms, citrus farms, golf courses and other businesses.

Unfortunately, the U.S. House of Representatives voted against the DeFazio-Bass Amendment, and to maintain Wildlife Services' full budget.

The following members of Florida's congressional delegation voted to reduce Wildlife Service's budget: Representatives Deutsch, Diaz-Balart, Hastings, Johnston, Miller, Ros-Lehtinen, Scarborough and Wexler.

The following members of Florida's congressional delegation voted against the amendment: Representatives Bilirakis, Boyd, Brown, Canady, Davis, Foley, Fowler, Meek, Mica, Shaw, Stearns, Thurman, Weldon and Young. (Rep. McCollum did not vote.)

If your U.S. Representative voted to reduce Wildlife Services' budget, thank them. If they voted against the DeFazio-Bass Amendment, let them know you are disappointed with their vote.

Persistent Neighbor Prevails

Critters Safe Haven is a collection of unwanted and rescued animals in Milton, Florida, that, unfortunately, wound up in the wrong place. Like too many other facilities that claim to be sanctuaries for animals in need, Critters Safe Haven was replete with problems: sick and dying animals, cramped and dirty cages in need of repair, and owners who didn't have the wherewithal to begin to deal with the abundance of cats, dogs, foxes, pigs and goats in their care. The situation was atrocious.

It soon became apparent to neighbor Sara Kinnison that if she didn't act, no one would. Despite Sara's sworn affidavit and graphic photos, along with affidavits from other area residents and former volunteers, no charges were filed when the Santa Rosa County Dept. of Animal Services brought the evidence to the state attorney's office.

Still undaunted, Sara contacted elected officials and addressed a meeting of the county commission with her first-hand knowledge of the obvious animal suffering at Critters Safe Haven, which had requested a zoning variance for relocating the animals.

In June, the commission not only denied the rezoning, but also decreed that the current facility is out of compliance with zoning and may no longer operate in its current condition. The commissioners expressed concern for the animals and have ordered a new investigation.

When you see animal suffering don't be discouraged if at first your concerns are not taken seriously. Persistence pays off!

The Cat Network

The Cat Network is an all-volunteer group that works to reduce the stray cat population of south Florida by the humane trapping, low-cost sterilization, and adoption of cats and kittens. They are currently in need of volunteers to provide foster homes for cats recuperating from spay/neuter surgery, for animals waiting to be adopted into permanent homes, and volunteers of any kind. To learn more, visit their website: www.thecatnetwork.org. If you can help, please contact the Cat Network: (305) 255-3482, email: info@thecatnetwork.org.

ARFF In The Media:

• 5/11/99: ARFF Managing Director Joe Taksel was interviewed by WPEC-TV Ch. 12 regarding a proposal in Beverly Hills, California to accurately label fur coats.
• 5/11: The campaign to give King the gorilla a better life was featured in the Los Angeles Times.
• 5/16: ARFF's 10th anniversary dinner was featured in the "Celebrations" section of the Sun-Sentinel.
• 5/27: A letter by ARFF Communications Coordinator Nicolas Atwood clarifying Florida's new "Conserve Wildlife" license tag was published in the Palm Beach Post.
• 6/8: The efforts of Doris Day and Bob Barker on behalf of King the gorilla were featured in the national magazine, Globe.
• 6/10: A letter by Joe Taksel against the cruelty of wild hog hunts was published in the St. Petersburg Times.
• 6/11: The Los Angeles Times story regarding King the gorilla was re-run in The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA), and in the Palm Beach Post.
• 6/17: Actor Kevin Nealon's presentation of coupons in support of King was covered by WTVJ Ch. 6, WFOR Ch. 4, WPLG Ch. 10, WSVN Ch. 7, and WAMI Ch. 69.
• 6/18: ARFF's coupon presentation was featured in The Miami Herald.
• 6/20: King was the topic of the hour on the "Neil Rogers Show," WQAM 560 AM radio.
• 6/20: ARFF's comments were included in a story about the use of the bird poison Avitrol in The Miami Herald.
• 6/20: ARFF's concerns about the trapping of coyotes were published in the Panama City News-Herald.
• 6/21: ARFF was interviewed by WOKV AM 690 and by Florida Public Radio regarding St. Augustine's carriage horses.
• 6/27: The Los Angeles Times story regarding King the gorilla was re-run in the Bergen Record (New Jersey).
• 6/28: ARFF Communications Coordinator Nicolas Atwood was interviewed by the Spanish television channel Univision for a story on the meat industry.
• 6/29: ARFF was interviewed by WAMI-TV regarding alligator farming.
• 7/5: The King campaign was featured in an Associated Press story that ran in the Florida Times-Union, Florida Today, Orlando Sentinel, St. Augustine Record and other newspapers statewide.
• 7/18: A letter from ARFF clarifying a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on ritual animal sacrifice was published in the Palm Beach Post.

ARFF In The Community:

• May-July: ARFF distributed 13 Humane Education Kits to high schools in Alachua, Gulf, Pasco and Volusia Counties.
• Deltona, 5/3: ARFF Director Laura Guttridge spoke before the city commission in support of non-lethal methods of addressing a duck issue.
• Coral Springs, 5/30: ARFF volunteers Shelley Faust, Liz Filler and Paula Winters tabled at Animal Amore '99, sponsored by the Girl Scouts, at Coral Square Mall.
• Washington, D.C., 6/11: ARFF Director Laura Guttridge represented ARFF at a political lobbying training session sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States.
• St. Augustine, 6/28: Laura Guttridge spoke before the city commission against an application by a carriage-horse company for more permits.
• Fort Lauderdale, 7/3: ARFF volunteers Erica Ford, Christa Russell, and Carrie Silvestry tabled with PETA at the ZetaFest music festival.