SCIENCE TURNS DOGS
INTO CANARIES!
2001 © TheDogPlace
/ Barbara J. Andrews -
This science report is
frightening and it affects us and of course, our dogs. TV and mainstream press are just beginning
to cover the genetic mess in our food supply but in a deliberately
casual way to avoid public panic. Sort of like they would report
little green men landing on the White House lawn. When TheDogPlace
received the science review by Larry Morningstar, we decided to
publish because of the effects on canine reproductive ability and
overall health. Well of course it’s a threat to our own health but
if I said that, you’d blow on by it because obviously, we don’t do
for ourselves what we do for our dogs. If that were so, we’d all be
healthier and in perfect weight and condition right?
 The
disturbing fact is that our dogs have become canaries of the modern world,
ingesting large quantities of genetically modified food, in particular corn
deemed safe for animal feeds but not for human consumption. The
Taco Bell
scandal spread to Kellogg's corn flakes forcing the giant company to close down
one plant for fear that the illicit GM StarLink maize had infected breakfast
cereals. Normal crops have been contaminated by bee-borne pollen and windblown
seed and poor management of biologically “hot” seeds has pretty well penetrated
the rest of our food chain.
In addition to the genetically manipulated plants, agri-producers have perfected
sterile seeds that will grow one plant but will not produce fertile seed. This
forces all but the real diehards to give up gardening. And it forces us to buy
genetically engineered hard, flavorless tomatoes with impenetrable skins
impervious to transportation damage. I’m compelled to make this information
available to all who, like me, believe they are protecting their dogs by cooking
for them or feeding raw meat. The simple fact is that you can no longer trust
grocery store produce or packaged products.
These are just a few of the problems that made biotech news.
Since the BioSafety Protocol was adopted in January of 2000, Canadian scientists
acknowledged that Monsanto's Roundup, Cyanamid's Pursuit, and Aventis's Liberty
herbicides weren’t all that effective against weeds - after an Alberta farmer
planted the company’ GM canola seeds. Do you use canola oil??? Hmmm. A
long-suppressed 1993 U.S. Government memo revealed an experiment in which 4 of
20 female rodents fed the FlavrSavr (a GM tomato now owned by Monsanto) suffered
gross stomach lesions.
Of even more concern because everyone is reporting a rise in repro problems, New
Zealand scientists have carrots engineered to sterilize possums, which are a
major threat to crops. Scientists pooh-poohed concerns that the carrots might
have the same effect on people, and insisted the engineered carrots could be
kept separate from the human food chain …. “if necessary!” England’s Prime
Minister first said that the [GM] products were safe but more recently, was
quoted in The Independent as saying 'there is no doubt that there is potential
for harm from GM food.'” We use a lot of carrots in preparing cooked dog food.
Don’t you?
What we don’t know can hurt us. Of course the food producers aren’t going to run
around announcing problems but important information is being withheld from
health conscious Americans. Maize growers were shunning GM seeds because their
1998/99 exports to Europe had dropped to 137,000 tons from 2 million tons one
year earlier. The insider leak came on the heels of media reports that major
potato processors and fast-food chains were warning growers to avoid GM
potatoes. As though that weren’t bad enough, GM seeds were accidentally shipped
to Europe by U.S. and Canadian seed companies who couldn't seem to keep their
conventional seeds separate from their GM lines. The sloppy inventory management
problem spread throughout Western Europe as country after country found their
fields contaminated with illegal and unwanted GM crops. Relax. New Zealanders
were assured that such management problems could never occur with those
sterilizing carrots.
And the risk is not only in what we feed to our dogs. Remember Ebola virus? Mad
Cow Disease? (By the way, human deaths from Mad Cow Disease in the UK are
reported to have increased markedly in the first half of 2000 compared to 1999.)
Last summer there were reports that a 'jumping gene' used in genetic engineering
had crossed the species barrier at least seven times, including one jump between
flies and humans. If organisms modified using this footloose gene are released,
there is risk of further unexpected jumps. Oh and about those carrots…. New
Zealanders were assured the gene would not be used in developing transgenic
carrots. However, the New Zealand Government admitted that there were at least
100 illicit GM crop experiments underway in that country. Illicit. That
translates to unregulated, unapproved. Could be a mad scientist cooking in his
basement. But don’t worry, after checking on about half of the experiments, the
Government announced that (as with Monsanto) everything was okay and that none
of the experiments could possibly involve either possums or carrots. Oh. Okay.
Whew, for a minute I was worried.
Those little tidbits are only through June of last year. When I sent the
original report to the webmaster, he sought a balancing view, logical brain that
he is. So in the interest of providing you with balanced information, I’ll also
excerpt from an article by Mike Murray who says “I disagree with the fear that
GM foods will end the human race or turn us into half-human half-insect mutants.
People seem to lapse into a state of hysteria whenever they hear of anything new
being done in the name of science or technology. Of course they write these
great diatribes on their computers in their air-conditioned offices with all of
the lights blazing, looking through custom ground contact lenses. When finished
they will jump in their latest automotive marvel and grab the cell phone to
continue spreading the word. When they get home they crank up the air
conditioner, then log on to the home computer to check email and read the
responses from other Chicken Littles. Then out to the living room to pick up the
remote and watch 500 hundred channels of satellite TV. A couple of aspirin for
the headache from staring at a monitor all day, maybe a Valium to relax from the
stress of warning the world of the evils of science.
“GM foods are coming and someday will be a fact of life. Not only that, they
will be a necessity. With farmers lands being 'taken' by Green Earthers, or
their water being taken to preserve 'endangered species', we will need science
and technology to continue to feed ourselves. Or should we go back to a mule and
a plow? I do agree that it needs strong oversight. I just don't understand the
knee-jerk fear of anything that comes out of a laboratory. It's just not all
evil."
I leave it up to you to decide. Maybe when our dogs bark like canaries we’ll
know the truth!!
reprint permission
 SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE Sept 2001
http://www.thedogplace.org/Articles/Andrews/Dogs.Into.Canaries.asp
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