Can We Spell "Schizophrenia"?

By Teresa Platt, Executive Director, FCUSA

The word "schizophrenia" comes from the Greek for "to cleave", or split apart. Webster's Dictionary tells us schizophrenia is a "psychotic reaction marked by withdrawal from reality with highly variable accompanying affective, behavioral and intellectual disturbances," a loss of touch with one's environment.

Modern society, which has so lost touch with the environment on which it depends, often exhibits evidence of schizophrenia. For example, many people don't see the contradictions inherent in "animal rights," the philosophy that opposes the direct use of animals for food and clothing (meat/fish and leather/fur, etc.), while supporting the indirect use of animals and their habitat for the production of food and clothing (grains/vegetables and petro-chemical synthetics/cotton, etc.).

Displaying well-advanced schizophrenia, former Beatle Paul McCartney has named a new cancer center in Liverpool, England, after his deceased wife, Linda, an animal rightist. Linda Eastman McCartney, who died recently of breast cancer, was a devout follower of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) and worked tirelessly against medical research. During her life, Linda attempted to realize a dream of English hillsides covered with frolicking lambs by working with PeTA to eliminate the lambchop business. Schizophrenia in spades!

Genetic Illness?

Linda and Paul McCartney's daughter Stella is following in her parent's schizophrenic footsteps. Late in 1997, Stella joined PeTA as it launched an attack on English fur farms using videotape showing abuse of a fox in Illinois. PeTA claimed the video depicted the practices of "modern fur farms," and that the facility in question raised 1,500 foxes, making it one of the largest fox farms in the United States. Oddly enough, the videotape showed foxes along with raccoons held in cages. Raccoons carry disease that can be transferred to farm animals, so why did this videotape show them in cages?

Further checking with the auction house about the owner of this facility revealed a meager 12 fox pelts consigned in 1997, followed by 196 fox pelts and 81 wild raccoon pelts in 1998. Raccoon pelts come from raccoons that are trapped, not from farms. And drastic swings in the production of fox pelts from this facility don't reflect the systematic breeding activities that one finds on a normal fox farm. The videotapes showed cages without nesting boxes, a requirement for breeding healthy foxes, and we couldn't spot any watering system - all very irregular. Something did not add up.

PeTA's literature directed concerned citizens to contact Dr. Bromwell of the Illinois Department of Agriculture which oversees domesticated animal operations such as fur farms. Since FCUSA represents mink and fox farmers in the U.S. and this facility was absent from our lists, we called Dr. Bromwell at the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Dr. Bromwell promptly referred us to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources which permitted the facility under the State Game Code. The Illinois Game Code was used in this instance because the operation in question does not qualify for an agricultural operations exemption from permits as issued by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).(1) According to the DNR, the bulk of the facility's animals, which included fox, raccoons, deer and other miscellaneous critters, were taken from the wild and held for the collection of their scent. The resulting product is used by wildlife biologists and managers, hunters and trappers as a lure for wild animals. The facility did not meet the state of Illinois' definition of a "fur farm," an agricultural enterprise raising domesticated animals.

Triggered by the PeTA complaint, the State of Illinois' Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Animal Welfare did become involved under the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act and fines and penalties followed. The owner of the facility, we are told, is now meeting all State regulations and requirements in the care of his animals.

Isn't it slightly schizophrenic to use a film of abuse of a wild animal held in the US at a scent-producing facility in order to attack fur farmers raising domesticated animals in Britain? And isn't it ironic that PeTA screams about lack of regulation when the State of Illinois illustrated not only a quick response but LAYERS of bureaucracy in place to protect animals from mistreatment and prosecute those who do not provide humane care?

Mark well what Webster's says about a "loss of touch with one's environment"!

ADL & ALF - Split Personality?

With over 200 world-class designers using fur to create some of the most beautiful garments the world has even seen, 1998's Fur Fashion Week in New York was a showplace for unbridled creativity, excitement and imagination. Meanwhile, outside the building, members of the Animal Defense League of New Jersey (ADL-NJ) screamed until they were hoarse, "One, two, three, four! We want a Fur War!"

So who are these friendly folk? According to their website, ADL-NJ "adamantly supports"(2) those in the business of defacing, destroying or sabotaging chicken restaurants, butcher shops, fur stores, you name it. But they are not, repeat not, to be confused with the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) or the Animal Liberation Front of New Jersey (ALF-NJ).

"The Animal Defense League is NOT the A.L.F.," it beseeches us to believe. "The ADL SUPPORTS the A.L.F. ... The A.L.F. is not limited to New Jersey. This page, run by the ADL-NJ, only deals with New Jersey because that is where we are located. The A.L.F. is a world wide network originating in England."

The site then offers an interview with an ALF activist who happens to be (surprise!) a co-founder of the ADL-NJ.

"This interview with Darius Fullmer, co-founder of our very own Animal Defense League - New Jersey convicted for committing an illegal direct action, was taken from the Support the Animal Liberation Front Homepage. Darius continues to fight for animal liberation with the ADL-NJ and we are extreemely [sic] proud of him for ALL of his efforts."

Now what did Webster's' say about a "split personality"? But on to the interview.

ADL-NJ: "What would you say to someone who is against illegal direct actions?"

Darius Fullmer, ALF activist and co-founder of ADL-NJ [not to be confused with ALF! - editor]: "There are basically two kinds of poeple [sic] who are against direct action - people outside the movement, and more conservative people within the movement. With the first, they are probably coming from speciesist [sic] viewpoints, so you have to take it outside the realm of animal liberation for them to understand.

"Of course slavery and the Underground Railroad is the obvious example. At one point black people were viewed as property to be used by their owners, not as individuals deserving respect. Animals are in the exact same situation now. I would remind them that there were people who followed their hearts and were willing to break the law and take what was considered other people's property because they knew it was right. In retrospect, just about anybody can see that regardless of the laws of the day, or the rights of the oppressors to their 'property' it was a just and moral act. The ALF is no different, and in retrospect this will be clear."

Clear? Now I am even more confused. Darius was arrested for using a semi-automatic BB gun to blast the plate glass windows of a fried chicken restaurant. For this act of vandalism, he compares himself to the courageous souls of the Underground Railroad who transported slaves to freedom in the North before the Civil War. And he conveniently ignores the fact that if it weren't for all the chickens, pigs, turkeys and wild game slaughtered along the way, many on the Underground Railroad would have starved to death before reestablishing their human rights.

But back to the interview with Darius, the ALF activist and co-founder of ADL-NJ [not to be confused with ALF! - editor].

"When it comes to the people within the animal libertion [sic] movement who don't support the Animal Liberation Front, there are some who are just concerned with raising money for their groups, and feel the ALF hurts their image. I could not care less about their image. Their image doesn't save animals, the ALF does.

"I think the rest are simply misinformed. I would remind them of the effectiveness of the ALF, not only in the financial harm caused to the target as well as the whole targeted industry, but in their impact on the movement as all- together [sic]. There are no better educational opportunities than ALF actions - they generate more public interest and media than any protest or media event ever could."

Darius Fullmer, ALF activist and co-founder of ADL-NJ [not to be confused with ALF!], concludes:

"The only failing point may be above ground groups' inability to take advatage [sic] of the situation. I would also remind them that you can protest, write letters, get petitions signed until you are blue in the face, but if a fur store is nothing more than a pile of ashes, they are not going to be selling any more fur, and that's the bottom line."

In other words, according to ALF [not to be confused with ADL!], the most effective means of extending rights to animals is to attack and destroy human rights, property and communities and then crow about it. Loudly.

Can we spell schizophrenia? How about ... A-N-I-M-A-L R-I-G-H-T-S?

NOTES:

(1) Response from the Illinois Department of Agriculture to a letter dated December 10, 1997, from Mary Beth Sweetland, PeTA:

Illinois Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Welfare
P.O. Box 19281, Springfield, IL 62794-9281
217-782-6657, 217-524-6858, 217-524-7702/fax

December 16, 1997

Ms. Mary Beth Sweetland, Director, Research, Investigation & Rescue Dept.
PETA, 501 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510

Dear Ms. Sweetland:

This letter is in response to a communication from your office on the subject of acceptable methods of euthanasia for animals in the State of Illinois.

This Department does administer the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act, a copy of which is enclosed, and all statutes administered by this Department reflect that any euthanasia performed shall comply with the most recent report of the AVMA Panel on Euthanasia, with 1993 report being the most recent.

The species of animals that your refer to in your inquiry are regulated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and included in the Game Codes for this State. Please recognize that the Department of Agriculture has no statutory authority as to licensure, inspection or review for persons engaged in such activity. We do respond on a case by case basis when we receive or are advised of an allegation for a violation under the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act.

The particular case which was the primary basis for your letter was investigated, charges filed and further prosecuted through the courts of the State of Illinois by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources for certain noted violations of their Game Code. The method of euthanasia was immediately stopped, and it was ordered that any future euthanasia for animals be performed in compliance with the aforementioned AVMA Report. It was further ordered that the Department be allowed total access at any time to any part of the defendant's property for the purpose of monitoring for compliance. The current methods of euthanasia being evaluated are CO and CO2 from tanks into a chamber. We have also had conversations with his veterinarian who has agreed to perform this type service in an acceptable prescribed manner.

I trust this satisfactorily addresses your inquiry.

Very truly yours,

BUREAU OF ANIMAL WELFARE

Signature

David R. Bromwell, D.V.M.
Chief Veterinarian

(2) "The Animal Defense League - New Jersey adamantly supports the Animal Liberation Front and all of their activities." Source: http://host.envirolink.org/adl/alf.html.

See also:

Saving Society from Animal "Snuff" Films FCUSA commentary, Dec. 15, 1998.

Teresa Platt, executive director of Fur Commission USA, represents 400 mink-farming families, and serves on the boards of the National Animal Interest Alliance and Alliance for America, groups working to restore people and common sense to the environmental equation. For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.

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