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SCIENCE TURNS DOGS INTO CANARIES!

~ 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.

Here are just a few of the problems that made biotech news.  The entire article and related links is available at  www.TheDogPlace.com.  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!!

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SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE Sept 2001

Copyright © 2001 Barbara J. Andrews.  All rights reserved  except for brief reference quotations citing author and source.  Article Reprint rights granted only when working link to this page is provided or if print media, TheDogPlace.org is listed as source. No portions may be otherwise stored, used, or reprinted in any form without prior express written consent of Barbara J. Andrews.