IDA News: 3-30-05

IDA is proud to be entering its nineteenth year as the international coordinator of World Week for Animals In Laboratories (WWAIL), an annual event that is observed from April 23 to 30. Those who want to see an end to animal cruelty perpetrated in the name of science still have a lot of work to do because the majority of Americans still believe the myth that medical progress would be impossible without research on animals. What isn't widely known is that the facts overwhelmingly discredit this conclusion. Animal experimentation actually misleads researchers down dead end paths so that advances take years and even decades longer than they should because the data from animal research doesn't fit human physiology. Ideological blindness on the part of scientists has actually been responsible for the deaths of many people who were treated using drugs and surgical techniques developed from an over-reliance on animal research studies, as is well documented in the writings of C. Ray Greek and other medical authorities.

WWAIL is a great opportunity for animal advocates and medical reformers to educate the public about the waste of tax dollars on cruel research that is hurting more humans than it helps, so please join IDA in speaking out against vivisection this April.
Help us expose the routine abuse of animals in laboratories that has been uncovered by investigators and documented by whistleblowers time and time again. WWAIL events are being planned around the country in cities like San Francisco, Boulder, Orlando, Atlanta, Boston and Grand Rapids. So please take part in a WWAIL event, or plan an event in your city. For more information on events and other ways you can promote compassion for animals used in experiments, visit http://www.WWAIL.org .

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Table of Contents:

IDA ACTION ALERTS

1. Prevent Cruel Taser Tests on Pigs
2. Free the CU 34 Monkeys
3. Last Chance for Discounted AR 2005 Registration
4. Help Stop Extermination of Exotic Deer in Point Reyes

CAMPAIGN NEWS AND UPDATES

1. What's Your Plan During World Week for Animals In Laboratories?
2. Demonstrators Take Aim at Korean Dog Eating
3. IDA Presents Animal Guardian Day
4. Listen to Animal Radio
5. Veganism In the News


IDA ACTION ALERTS

1. Prevent Cruel Taser Tests on Pigs

The U.S. Department of Justice has given Professor John Webster at the University of Wisconsin-Madison a $500,000 taxpayer-funded grant to shock pigs with Taser stun guns to determine why these supposedly non-lethal weapons are sometimes fatal to humans. To test his theory that Taser deaths are the result of drug use and other medical factors, Webster will attach electrodes directly to the pigs' skin and implant catheters near their hearts to measure the voltage of the Taser shocks. He will then administer overdoses of cocaine to the pigs and use a device to induce heart arrhythmia to make the animal test subjects more similar to human criminal suspects fleeing arrest while high on illegal narcotics. To make matters worse, these experiments are almost exactly the same as tests that have already been done on both pigs and dogs. Besides, experts in the field are convinced that studying people who have been injured or killed by Taser shocks can yield much more reliable data.

What You Can Do

1. Click here (http://ga0.org/campaign/PigTaserTests) now to send an automatic email urging the Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to end this cruel and unnecessary experiment. Also click here
(http://www.helpinganimals.com/aa/PattiGillman2.doc) to read a powerful letter from the sister of a Taser victim to the Chancellor.

2. Click here (http://www.channel3000.com/news/4326263/detail.html) to read a Channel 3000: Wisconsin TV news story on the controversy and to vote against the experiments in their online survey.

2. Free the CU 34 Monkeys

Over the course of seventeen years, Mark Laudenslager conducted cruel maternal separation experiments on macaque monkeys at the University of Colorado (CU) using millions of dollars in taxpayer funding. These experiments continued despite the fact that almost identical research had already been performed decades earlier. After years of public pressure, funding for Laudenslager's experiments was finally withdrawn in 2003. Since then, they former test subjects have been held captive with monkeys used for other heartless experiments in the basement of a one hundred year old building on the CU campus that does not even meet the minimum U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) housing standards. IDA and other animal advocates are working hard to transfer these primates to a sanctuary that has already agreed to provide for their care, but CU officials are demanding $10,000 to $15,000 for each of the thirty-four monkeys.

What You Can Do

Click here (http://ga0.org/campaign/CU34monkeys) now to send an automatic email urging the CU Regents to send these monkeys to a waiting sanctuary at no cost to the public.

To learn more about the CU 34, please visit http://www.FreeTheCU34.org .


3. Last Chance for Discounted AR 2005 Registration

Discounted registration for the Animal Rights 2005 National Conference ends on March 31, so be sure to reserve your place now to get the best price. AR2005 takes place this year from July 7-11 at the Westin LAX Hotel in Los Angeles. Please visit http://www.AR2005.org to take advantage of the current discounted registration rate!

The conference will feature workshops, rap sessions, videos, exhibits, live music, and an awards banquet. Many key figures in the animal rights movement - including IDA's founder and President Dr. Elliot Katz, Howard Lyman, Lorri Bauston, Alex Hershaft, and Paul Watson - are already scheduled to speak. More than a thousand people representing 80 animal protection groups are expected to attend. Don't miss this amazing event!

4. Help Stop Extermination of Exotic Deer in Point Reyes

The National Park Service is planning to kill much of the exotic deer population in California's Point Reyes National Seashore to deal with overpopulation. The deer were originally purchased in
1948 from the San Francisco Zoo by a Point Reyes resident who released them into the wild to hunt. When Point Reyes became a national park in 1962, hunting was banned in the area and the remaining deer proliferated. At present, about 1,150 exotic deer live in the park.

The plan devised by the National Park Service proposes a combination of lethal and non-lethal control methods (such as
sterilization) to manage the deer. You can read the park's Environmental Impact Statement online at http://www.nps.gov/pore/home_mngmntdocs_exoticdeer_deis.htm .

What You Can Do

The National Park Service is accepting public comments on their proposal between now and April 8, 2005. Please contact the Superintendent of Point Reyes and urge the use of non-lethal methods to control the deer. Let her know that humans caused the overpopulation problem, and any solution must take the interests of the deer into consideration.

Click here (http://ga0.org/campaign/reyesdeer) to send a prewritten letter online, or write to:
Superintendent, Point Reyes National Seashore Point Reyes, CA 94956
Attn: Non-native deer management plan
Email: ann_nelson [at] nps.gov

CAMPAIGN NEWS AND UPDATES

1. What's Your Plan During World Week for Animals In Laboratories?

Many Americans are unaware that each year, tens of millions of animals are dissected, infected, injected, gassed, burned and blinded in hidden laboratories on college campuses and research facilities. This torture takes place under the guise of improving human health, even while the billions of dollars spent of animal experimentation have not paid off in the form of concrete medical advances. The development of humane and more reliable non-animal testing methods makes the vivisection industry even less defensible, but animal research continues due to pseudo-scientific bias and multi-million dollar taxpayer grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other entrenched governmental organizations.

This is why, every year since 1986, IDA has served as the international coordinator for World Week for Animals in Laboratories (WWAIL). This year promises to be bigger than ever, with animal advocates taking a stand against animal cruelty around the globe and exciting WWAIL events taking place around the country.

What You Can Do

Visit wwail.org/index.cgi?page=list_events to find out what events are planned in your area. If you would like to organize an event in your community, IDA would be happy to assist you.
Contact Kristie [at] idausa.org for more information and to receive free materials.

2. Activists and Canines Stage "Bark-In" to Protest Korean Dog Consumption

On Saturday, March 26, IDA activists and their canine companions sent a strong message to the throngs in San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza about the Korean Government's proposed scheme to hygienically control - and effectively legalize - the dog meat trade in their country. Holding signs that read "Dogs Are Our Friends, Not Food," animal advocates protested South Korea's plan, which would make them the first country to officially sanction the consumption of dog meat. Korea's Ministry for the Office of Government Policy Coordination continues to push for the plan, even though the vast majority of Korean citizens do not eat dogs and long to see the practice banned for good.

Meanwhile, Animal Freedom Korea was joined by 250 supporters in Seoul who urged passersby to imagine the suffering of dogs who are strung up by their hind legs and beaten, then boiled alive and butchered. The outcry of many who feel this way has strengthened our campaign to put an end to the Korean dog meat
trade: if not for the thousands of letters, emails and phone calls from IDA members and other animal advocates, the Korean Government would have already put its plan to legalize dog meat into action.

What You Can Do

Visit http://ga0.org/campaign/koreandogs to send a letter to the Korean Government voicing your strong opposition to their cruel plan.

3. IDA Presents Animal Guardian Day

Join IDA members from around the country this year on June 11th to celebrate the 2nd annual Animal Guardian Day, a great opportunity to turn compassion into action by volunteering to help animals. To get started, choose your volunteer project, contact the animal charity of your choice to coordinate your efforts with their needs and schedule, recruit other volunteers through flyers and web postings, and hold a meeting to plan your project. Your project can take many forms, from caring for an elderly or sick neighbor's companion animal or hosting a fundraiser for a local charity to presenting a humane education program to children or holding a pro-animal film screening.

Visit http://www.guardiancampaign.org to register your volunteer project, and IDA will mail you an Animal Guardian Day 2005 poster designed by Patrick McDonnell, creator of the award-winning comic strip "Mutts." Also be sure to list your event on IDA's Action Calendar and in your local event calendars!

Last year's Animal Guardian Day was marked by jubilant celebrations in New York City and St. Louis. Senator Liz Krueger presented IDA's Lawrence Carter-Long and Valerie Sicignano with a Resolution officially recognizing Animal Guardian Day throughout New York State, and IDA members from all over the East Coast turned out to volunteer at the Companion Animal Adopt-a-thon in Central Park sponsored by the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals. We look forward to another great day for animals.

4. Listen to Animal Radio

Animal Radio, America's most-listened to animal show, is on the air! Tune in to hear interviews, news and information about animals, and to win great prizes! This week, you can hear how Joe Duff uses his ultralight airplane to teach newly hatched cranes to migrate, a conversation with animal companion advocate and "Mutts" cartoonist Patrick McDonnell, and advice on traveling around the country with your dog.

A list of AM-FM radio stations that air Animal Radio can be found at http://AnimalRadio.com . You can also listen to Animal Radio online at this website anytime using Real Audio, Windows Media or MP3. Animal Radio takes your questions and comments live every Saturday between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon PST. Call toll-free (866) 405-8405 to participate in discussions.

5. Veganism In the News

An excellent article in the University of Wisconsin Post, a student-run independent weekly, asks: "Why do we hate vegans?"
The author, Jill Brogley, goes on to articulate many strong reasons why those who choose a compassionate lifestyle should be respected rather than ostracized. She confirms that people choose veganism for a host of good reasons, from putting their values into action in everyday life to battling obesity. The article also touches on animal rights throughout history, the meat-based diet's impact on the environment and world hunger, and even the influence of spirituality on people's decision to choose a lifestyle that doesn't harm animals. Click here
(http://www.uwmpost.com/products_detail.asp?id=1224&tableID=products)
to read the article.

Loving Tributes

Do you have a friend or family member whose concern and care for animals you've always wanted to express appreciation for? Are you struggling to find the perfect gift for someone special on that special occasion? Perhaps you want to congratulate a new graduate, or send a unique birthday tribute or wedding present?
Or maybe you or someone you know has recently lost a beloved person or animal in their life and you'd like to express your condolences.

IDA's Loving Tributes is a great way to honor your special friends or memorialize a dearly departed companion. IDA gratefully accepts and appreciates gifts "in honor" or "in memory" of a special person or companion animal.

We will notify anyone whom you designate of your thoughtful gift that helps animals. If you choose, we would be happy to print your Loving Tribute of $100 or more in a special section of IDA's Magazine.

You can make a Loving Tribute gift with MasterCard or Visa via our secure online server by clicking here (https://secure.ga3.org/02/idadonations). If you prefer, you may send a check to IDA, Attn: Loving Tributes, 131 Camino Alto, Mill Valley, CA 94941, or call (415) 388-9641 to make a donation with your credit card.

Help Someone Kick the Meat Habit with FARM's Meatout Monday Newsletter

If you know someone who says they'd like to cut meat out of their diet but thinks it's too hard, then tell them about Meatout Mondays, a free weekly e-newsletter designed to help those who don't want to quit "cold turkey" kick the meat habit one day at a time - starting with Mondays! Easy and fun to read, Meatout Mondays encourages individuals to make changes at a pace that is comfortable for them, and is an excellent tool for introducing vegetarianism to anyone.

Every week, Meatout Mondays includes tasty vegan recipes, new product and book reviews, important health information, and inspirational stories of people who have changed their lives for the better by cutting animal products from their diets. This week's Meatout Mondays reports on a study by the National Cancer Institute linking carcinogens in overcooked meat with increased risk for stomach cancer. Click here
(http://www.meatoutmondays.org/05-03-28.htm) to read the latest issue.

Please visit http://www.meatoutmondays.org to review past issues and to subscribe your friends and family members. Meatout Mondays is a free e-newsletter, and individuals can easily unsubscribe at any time.
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Team IDA encourages teammates to take part in local athletic events to raise awareness of animal issues and much-needed funds to rescue and protect animals from cruelty and abuse. You don't have to be an avid runner or a serious athlete to sign up. Just by cheering and wearing your Team IDA apparel you can show your pro-animal attitude.

Wear your Team IDA t-shirt whenever you are running, biking, walking, or just hanging around your neighborhood to help promote a cruelty-free world. If you have a Team IDA t-shirt and have received comments about it, we want to hear from you! If you do not already have a Team IDA t-shirt, please call (415)
388-9641 to inquire. Also, if you have participated in any events in your area on behalf of Team IDA, or would like your picture and bio posted on our website, please let us know!

You can also make Team IDA even more successful by spreading the
word: a great way to do this is by distributing Team IDA brochures at races and placing them in athletic stores and clubs. Team IDA brochures are always available free of charge by
(415) 388-9641.

We are always interested in learning more about your experiences and hearing your ideas regarding Team IDA. Please send an email to teamida [at] idausa.org and tell us your story. Visit http://www.teamida.org for more information. Join Team IDA today!

http://ga0.org/join-forward.html?domain=indefenseofanimals

You can sign up for In Defense of Animals Action Center at:

http://ga0.org/indefenseofanimals/join.html