Our congratulations to Concordia University of Montreal which is circulating a Petition to be placed before the Canadian Federal Government:

Canadian petitioners "humbly pray and call upon Parliament to:

Totally and completely abolish all tests and experiments made on or using live animals on the pretext of relating observations to humans, as such practices are not only cruel, unnecessary, unjustifiable, unreliable and morally wrong, but invariably generate misleading concepts and dangerous results which are most damaging to the health of Canadians as well as to that of citizens from every country in the world."

The Canadians plan to flood their government with petition sheets until a law is passed prohibiting vivisection on the grounds of scientific fraud. The Petitioners hope that "continual drumming into people's heads will trigger off an international trumpet call for total abolition".

NZAVS trusts that those trumpet calls do not fall, as they have done in New Zealand... on the ears of stone deaf politicians!

The following is the text of a Petition circulating in Denmark:

"We, the undersigned, join in demanding the total abolition of all experiments and tests on living sentient animals, knowing that several thousands experts in surgery, medicine, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, pharmacy and other fields, deny that vivisection is of any value. Animal experiments are, at best, useless, and at worst dangerous, misleading and a hindrance to real science and research.

The numerous instances of medical scandals prove that although all medical substances are tested on living animals, many turn out to be injurious or fatal to humans."

The initiative's scientific experts are medical doctors Werner Hartinger and Prof. Pietro Croce... both members of the International League of Doctors Against Vivisection

We wish our Canadian and Danish counter-parts well.

Dr Milly Schar-Manzoli, President of ATRA and general secretary of ILDAV, has announced plans to launch a second Swiss initiative to abolish vivisection in October.

The first initiative, based on Hans Ruesch's Slaughter of the Innocent and Naked Empress, won an astounding third of the popular vote in this country dominated by multinational drug firms which persuaded conservative animal welfare organisations to work against the measure by introducing a weaker version that split the vote.

(Source: The Civil Abolitionist)

Swedes consider animals equal to humans

The results of a survey carried out by three researchers at the Faculty of Theology in Uppsala, Sweden, show that 66 percent of Swedes consider animals to be of equal worth to human being, while only 27 percent see humans as being of higher worth than all the other living creatures. Most of those holding the majority viewpoint were younger people many of whom conclude that there is a move away from the traditional Christian ethic portraying Man as the centre of creation. The researchers state in their published report that there is a growing appreciation of the worth of animals, which, they say, will produce growing ethical problems since "animal breeding, hunting, and the use of laboratory animals for research purposes is not reconcilable with the concept of equal norms for humans and animals".
(Dennis Stuart)

Medical testing centre abandons use of animals

A medical centre in Herford, Germany, which specialises in the analysis of samples taken from human patients in order to identify suspected infections, announced in a letter sent to its doctor customers (in February 1989) that it would abandon the use of animals for its tuberculosis tests as from the beginning of April. Doctors who operate the centre claim that the necessity for using animals to identify tuberculosis bacteria has been disputed for many years and that experience with cultures has now led the appropriate German medical authorities to conclude that no animal testing is necessary for this purpose. They also state that their decision to stop testing on animals is based partly on "the growing political pressure of the anti-vivisectionists and political parties".
(Dennis Stuart)

On June 25, 1989 the largest protest ever held in Spain against bullfighting took place in Madrid. Held on the eve of the Summit Meeting of Leaders from 12 Nations it attracted demonstrators from many countries including Spain, France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway, Greece and Venezuela, who marched through the city before gathering in the square before the "Las Ventas" bullring, under their national flags, to voice their protest at the suffering inflicted on both bulls and horses. None of the 10 British "animal welfare / animal rights" societies notified of the demonstration were in attendance... and eight failed to reply to the invitation.

Dennis Stuart in Frankfurt writes:
"I had to carry the Union Jack, and make a speech in front of the bullring on behalf of the millions of Britons these societies are supposed to be representing!"

The results of a public opinion poll carried out on behalf of the government of Catalonia (North-East Spain), show 53 percent of those questioned wanted bull-fighting abolished. According to the results published in February 1989 another 12 percent considered bull-fighting brutal, 23 percent thought it is acceptable so long as the bulls were not killed, and eight percent of those interviewed were in favour of the practice being continued in its present form.

A public opinion poll shows the majority of the population is against vivisection in the pharmaceutical industry. Nationwide 74 percent of those questioned considered vivisection is irrelevant and could be abolished. In the Federal State of Voralbert 94 percent hold this view. (Confirming Hans Ruesch to be correct when he says that Europeans are years ahead of the British or Americans in understanding the subject.)
(Dennis Stuart, Germany)

For years NZAVS has been affiliated with the dynamic conservation group Sahabat Alam Malaysia.

We are pleased to learn that Sahabat Alam Malaysia is a co-recipient of the 1988 Right Livelihood Award given by the Swedish Parliament. These awards are considered "alternative Nobel prizes".

The citation refers especially to SAM's work protecting the rain-forests of Southeast Asia, and in particular to the courageous efforts of Mr Harrison Ngau, a 28-year old Kayan, who has led human blockades of logging roads in Sarawak. Ngau is now under house arrest for his activities.

Sharing the award was Jose Lutzenberger of Brazil, a leader of the campaign to save Brazil's rain forests.

In 1986 Indonesia restricted the use of pesticides in agriculture.

The annual consumption of pesticides was dramatically reduced, after 57 insecticides were banned, from 14,200 tonnes pa to 5800 tonnes. If any chemical companies had predicted disasters for Indonesian agriculture, they were wrong. The 1987 rice harvest was 16 percent higher than in 1986.
("Choice", Sept 1988, via "Bogong" Vol. 9 No. 4 Oct-Dec 1988, Canberra.)

The case against chemical agents use in baby care has been strengthened by a second survey on cot deaths in Southland and Central Otago by researcher, Dr Jim Sprott.

The results implicated poisoning by gases from chemical residues in clothing as a cause of some cot deaths. After his first survey Dr Sprott strongly recommended the use of soap only and since his findings were made public the incidence of cot deaths in the area dropped sharply.

Data from the Southland Area Health Board shows 23 babies died in 1987, and 13 in 1988 but only two died in the six months since publication of the poisoning theory.

"There is a marked difference in the use of chemicals between the 'cot-death' and the 'no cot-death' response", he said.

"I do urge parents to get rid of all baby care chemicals and use soap and soap only for washing associated with babies. Teats should be rubbed with salt, and bottles and teats should be boiled."

Dr Sprott who now lives in Vancouver said that in Western Canada the rate of cot deaths was only one-sixth to one-eight as great as in Southland.

A fundamental difference in child care in the two countries is that many New Zealanders use synthetic detergents for washing clothes and nappies, and soak nappies, bottles and teats in chemical products, whereas these products appear to be unknown in western Canada.

(Extract from report in Christchurch Press, 22 August 1989.)

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