AR-News: Meeting Notes-Upcoming Projects -Oregon-Shut Down the OHSU/Oregon Primate Center

סמדר rumsiki at netvision.net.il
Sat May 8 22:35:26 EDT 2004 

From:  hlssucks at yahoogroups.com


[caatinfo] Meeting Notes/Upcoming Projects 
Date: 5/8/04 1:33:21 PM Eastern Daylight Time 
From:    caatinfo at lists.riseup.net 



Coalition to Abolish Animal Testing 
No Cures in 40 Years: 
Shut Down the OHSU/Oregon Primate Center 



Hi folks, 

Sorry to be sending another message so soon, but we covered alot of ground at the general meeting Tuesday night, and wanted to fill everyone in who couldn't make it.  Also, and most importantly, there are a bunch of upcoming events/projects you can get involved with, so please read the entirety of this email! 


1. Upcoming Events: 

Doorhangering - this Sunday; 
CAAT Work Meeting next Thursday; 
Dennis Kucinich Forum sponsored by IDA; 
CAAT Garage Sale - Donations Needed! 
2.  New CAAT Pamphlet Linking Underfunded Social Services to Overfunded Non-Human Animal Research 
3.  New Drs. Ray and Jean Greek Book! 
4.  Notes/Strategies from General Meeting - 5/4/04 

1. Upcoming Events: 

---- 
Doorhangering with CAAT and IDA 
This Sunday, May 9th 9am 
Meet at IDA office (NE 30th Ave @ Killingsworth) or RSVP Matt at (503)249.9996 

Every second Sunday of the month we take a neighborhood stroll to let folks know about the atrocities being committed with their tax dollars in their own back yards.  **We DO NOT KNOCK ON DOORS, rather we leave printed materials at the doorstep, so you don't have to worry about bothering anyone.  If you're unable to make it on  Sunday(s), think about "recruiting a friend" to go out in your own neighborhood on your own schedule - we'll provide the materials, and you'll get a walk! 

---- 
CAAT Work Meeting this Thursday May 13th 
8:30pm @ Red & Black Cafe (SE Division @ 22nd Ave) 

To prepare for a mailing of the new pamphlet (read #4 of this email), we will be compiling lists and addresses of organizations/individuals to mail to; devising cover letters specific to the type of organization; etc.   

If you have ideas for addressees and would like to attend this meeting, please rsvp at caatinfo at mac.com or (503)972.CAAT 

**We will also need help with the physical mailing when the time comes re: stuffing envelopes, writing addresses, etc.  If you would be available to help with that, please let us know! 

---- 
Animal and Human Rights Forum 
Free Panel Discussion with Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich 
sponsored by In Defense of Animals 

Sunday May 16th 
7:30pm  Lewis and Clark Law School,  Room 1 

other panelists include: 
Steve Witte of the Oregon Farm Workers Ministry 
Connie Theil of Oregon Defenders of Greyhounds and Grey 2k 
Matt Rossell of IDA 

**if you would like to attend and be willing to person a  CAAT table, please give us a call at (503)972.CAAT 

---- 
Garage Sale to Benefit CAAT 
Saturday June 12th and Sunday June 13th 
9am -5pm both days 

as most of you are aware, CAAT operates on a quite small budget, but our upcoming projects (keep reading!) will require a little more than we have currently.  last year's one garage sale has kept us going for several months, so please help us make it successful again! 

**donations, donations, donations are needed!  if you are interested in giving some of your unwanted stuff to the sale, transporting other  donations to the sale site, or volunteering to actually run the sale for any amount of time, 
please contact elaine at skisp at freegeek.org. 

-------------------------------------------- 

2. New CAAT Pamphlet Linking Underfunded Social Services to Overfunded Non-Human Animal Research 

If you'd like to get your hands on some hard copies and distribute them on your own, please let us know. 

Here are some excerpts: 

"Why is tax money being thrown away while budget 
cuts are killing people? At a time when people are dying because of cuts in 
public programs, it is imperative that we look at how our tax money is being 
spent.The failure of Measure 30 in February of 2004 has resulted in a $207 
million reduction in the current Oregon Department of Human Services budget. 
Despite the alleged shortage of funds to subsidize health care and other 
life saving social services,nationally billions of dollars are being wasted 
on animal research that is not helping people...Screening drugs and 
treatments in animals does not keep us safe.The vast majority of drugs are 
screened in animals yet according to the Journal of the American Medical 
Association,prescription drugs,used as directed,kill more than 100,000 
people per year and injure 2.1 million.Nevertheless, the funneling of our 
money into animal research is increasing. 

Are lab animals being sacrificed for sick people or are sick people being 
sacrificed to pay for lab animals? In the U.S: According to Michael Budkie 
of Stop Animal Exploitation Now!,the publicly funded National Institutes of 
Health (NIH)spends $8- 8.5 billion annually on animal research. 43.6 million 
people have no health coverage." 

In Oregon :Massive budget cuts have caused thousands of people to lose 
access to medical care.Approximately 500,000 people have no medical 
coverage, and the coverage offered by the Oregon Heath Plan (OHP)is 
dwindling. In 2003,because of budget cuts,40,000 OHP clients lost all 
benefits for drug treatment and outpatient mental health services.Many 
social service programs have shut down and those agencies remaining are 
struggling to survive. 

Labcoat Welfare:At Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU),publicly funded 
animal research is increasing dramatically despite the lack of returns on 
our involuntary investment...Supposedly funds are not available to treat 
humans suffering from drug addiction,but we are paying for plenty of useless 
animal- based addiction research.For example,at OHSU,Oline Ronnekleiv has 
been injecting pregnant monkeys with cocaine to study the damage done to 
their babies.This study alone cost us $233,203.According to the Physicians 
Committee for Responsible Medicine,700,000 pregnant women use illegal 
drugs.Not only is it obvious and well documented that maternal cocaine use 
is harmful,trying to learn about human addiction in another species is 
completely useless... 

Peter Kohler,president of OHSU,lives in a mansion owned by OHSU.He pays no 
rent and makes $600,000 per year.That ¹s $50,000 per month,$11,538 per 
week,$1,685 per day. And,OHSU pays no property taxes.Meanwhile,OHSU has 
threatened to close down their poison control hotline for lack of funds... 

----------------------------------------- 
3. New Drs. Ray and Jean Greek Book!   
from  http://www.curedisease.com 

What Will We Do if We Don't Experiment on Animals? Trafford. 2004. 

In their first two books, Drs. Greek explained why the animal model is archaic and dangerous in modern-day biomedical research. Despite the fallacy of the animal model, society seemed reluctant to abandon the animal model unless there was something to replace it. Hence, they were constantly asked what society should use if the animal model was no longer valid. This book answers that question examining traditional research methods such as epidemiology, clinical research, in vitro research with human tissue, and autopsies and newer topics such as genomics, pharmacogenomics, toxicogenomics, DNA chips, stem cells and technology. 

Medical research has progressed from the days of studying anatomy and physiology on the gross level to studying the differences in disease and drug response between men and women, adults and children, and different genotypes. Consequently, using animals as surrogate humans has decreasing utility. Fortunately, today we have research and testing methods far superior to animal models. 

---------------------------------- 
4. Notes/Strategies from General Meeting - 5/4/04 

This turned out to be one of CAAT's most productive meetings yet.  There was meaningful discussion on the direction CAAT should be taking, and there seemed to be agreement on public education as a main focus.   

*Unfortunately, the dominant public perception in this country is that non-human animal research is necessary for saving human lives. Until there is a widespread paradigm shift, or change of this perception, non-human animal research will continue.  CAAT has been working for several years to change this perception, and although we have observed some impact, we have decided to take it one step further.   


The new pamphlet linking the lack of human health funding to unproductive, wasteful, and harmful non-human animal research will be widely distributed. We are going to have them professionally printed and will distribute them to social service/human health providers, educators, etc; tax watch-dog organizations; neighborhood associations in and around the OHSU primate center; schools;  mayoral/political candidates;  etc. **WE NEED YOUR HELP!  if you have ideas for folks to send this information to, please email caatinfo at mac.com or call  (503)972.CAAT 


Judy Cameron, responsible for some of the most aggregious examples of repetitive, ludicrous, common sense "studies" at OHSU, has gotten off the hook for too long.  CAAT is preparing a short video film focusing on her research, and, more specifically, how useless it is for the human health professionals she is purporting to help with their human patients. We will also need ideas on folks to send this to/where to have it shown once it is finished 

*There was a suggestion to study successful campaigns, particularly in Europe - find out what steps they took/have taken 
*Not enough attention has been given to the main private/non-National Institutes of Health funders of OHSU.  Find out who they are, and incorporate into campaign 
*A 2005 Primate Freedom Tour is being planned - one of the organizers will be in Portland area early next month to visit the OHSU primate center - he would like to meet local activists.  We will announce when the dates are solidified for his visit. 


We'll see you out there! 
-- 
CAAT 
NO CURES IN 40 YEARS 
SHUT DOWN THE OHSU PRIMATE CENTER 
caatinfo at lists.riseup.net 
(503)972.CAAT 


Protect R Wildlife (PA Rep.) http://www.ProtectRWildlife.org 
HOME OF GREAT NEW PROGRAMS: 
PAWS-BAY (Auction for Wildlife) PAWS-Bay Home 
TNR + TNR + 
K.A.W.S. 4 KIDS K.A.W.S 


Put an end to Huntingdon Life Sciences once and for all 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HLSsucks/ 

Help end the cat and dog meat trade 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/StopNightmareDogIndustries 

Tell of your passions of the causes you fight for! 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stateyourcause/ 


"The Earth And Her Threatened Animal Nations Deserve The Same Level Of Defense That We Support When Human Life Is Threatened. Otherwise We Are Just More Hypocrites Wanting Change Without The Risk And Sacrifice That Is Already Being Made By Others." 

I Believe It Is Far Better To Live For Animal Liberation Than To Die For It. 


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