A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Operation Stop The Monkey Business: Day 1

Day 1 of the action alerts during the week of action against Nepal's monkey exports. Nepal is currently supplying monkeys to the vivisection industry and they msut be stopped!

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============================================================ OPERATION STOP THE MONKEY BUSINESS: E-PROTEST
=========================================================== INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF ACTION 14 -21 JULY
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INTRODUCTION:--

There is currently a global shortage of suitable Rhesus Macaques for the 'research' industry so it will come as no surprise that the two American research institutes involved, (The University of Washington & The Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research), both have breeding colonies of Rhesus Macaques which they supply globally to the likes of HLS, Covance, UCLA and all the other primate abusing establishments worldwide.

In 2003 the then king of Nepal signed an agreement with THE 2 American research institutes to permit the breeding and export of 'Indian Type' Rhesus Macaque monkeys for use in experiments, The Wildlife Breeding Act (2003). Rhesus Macaques are a favourite 'tool' of the vivisectors because they are considered to be the most closely related primates to humans, (except for the Great Apes), and the Indian Type Rhesus Maaque is considered by the vivisectors to be the most favourable.

The agreement enacted by the king was unlawful, (the king has also since been deposed), but the monkeys remain in the breeding facilities, the law remains enacted and the American research institutes are exerting pressure to ensure they receive the first shipment of monkeys in September...We must ensure that this does not happen!!!

'Where...a few years ago you might have paid $2,000 for a rhesus monkey, now the price can be anywhere from $5,000 to $12,000.' - John P. Hearn, (Primate Researcher and Vice Chancellor of the Australian National University)

Do not underestimate the importance of this campaign, if we can increase the price of Rhesus Macacques then the vivisectors will be forced to look at using alternative methods or even decide whether the research is valid at all!

Over the next 7 days there will be a series of action alerts aimed at important and influential targets inside Nepal to show the global opposition to primate experiments and to try to stop Nepal exporting rhesus macaques for vivisection before it's too late!

DAY 1 STARTS BELOW....

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===== OPERATION STOP THE MONKEY BUSINESS DAY 1; Government ====
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PHASE 1: -- Email The Government Ministers:

The minister responsible has already declared that he is opposed to the exports, however the Nepalese Government seems to be under the impression that the monkeys are already safe from export under the CITES legislation. This is not true!

The Nepalese rhesus monkeys as they are not listed in the CITES Appendix of protected animals and therefore there is nothing to prevent private enterprises, such as the monkey farms currently in operation in Nepal, exporting animals bred in Nepal to overseas vivisection laboratories.

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INSTRUCTIONS:--

Please send a copy of the sample letter to each of the blocks of 25 emails separately. This will ensure that they are not filtered by spam filters and they reach the intended recipient.

The Sample Letter is prepared to inform you about the issue. Please try to shorten and personalise it before sending, and don't forget to add your name at the bottom!

You might also like to attach a photo to your emails for maximum impact, it is said that a picture speaks a thousand words and that is never more true than in the case of vivisection!

You might find something suitable to attach here:

http://www.all-creatures.org/anex/monkey.html

India banned the exports of rhesus monkeys 30 years ago because of a set of gruesome images that were circulated showing the vivisection that their monkeys were subjected to, pictures work! If you can take the time to add a picture it will make a big difference, it's quite possible that many of the government ministers don't really know about the horrors of vivisection so for the sake of the monkeys we must enlighten them.

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SAMPLE LETTER:--

Honourable Minister,

I am very concerned about the involvement of your government in the planned export of rhesus monkeys to the US. Since 2003 the Wildlife Breeding Act has allowed the breeding and export of rhesus monkeys for biomedical research. What's more, your government actually provides the primate centres with monkeys from National Parks managed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation.

I had always believed that Nepal is a country which prides itself on its wildlife conservation efforts, such has been your outstanding efforts in the field of wildlife conservation, (most notably the Rhino & the Tiger), so I had always assumed that the primary objectives of your government was to conserve your country's major representative ecosystems, it's unique natural and cultural heritage, and to give protection to it's wildlife species.

As I'm sure you are aware, monkeys are highly intelligent animals and maintain intricate social structures. Like humans, they have complex emotional lives, care for one another and show love to their babies just as we humans do to our children. I have always believed that monkeys are considered sacred and an important part of Nepal's heritage, so I find this proposal to export them to their deaths in research centres laboratories to be incomprehensible!

I invite you to consider exactly what fate awaits Nepal's monkeys in the USA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s15BMc8iY90

The American Government requires an increasing number of primates for bio-terrorism research, and American research centres spend a lot of time trying to find loopholes in the world's legal animal rights provisions in order to feed that demand. In Nepal, (one of the few countries in the world still largely without such legislation), they have found ideal working ground and your Government appears to be complicit in this obscene exploitation of your natural wildlife.

Past experience has demonstrated that animal-modeled biomedical research yields results that cannot be safely applied to humans, they are often misleading and are as likely to cause harm as benefit. There are now many substitutive research methods, (methods that don't require living animals), that are capable of providing clinically relevant data. Nepal will not gain any credit by supporting and maintaining outdated, unreliable, and unethical methods for conducting scientific studies.

I invite you to consider these examples of animal tested medicines causing serious injury to human beings:

http://www.avimedi.net/en/stevens-johnson-syndrome-photos.html#photos

The European Union has begun to phase out the use of primates in bio-medical research completely due to the unacceptable suffering they cause to innocent creatures, and due to the scientific unreliability of the results which primate experimentation yields. The fact that Nepal, (a country renowned for its conservation efforts), has decided to engage in this ethically derided industry is only going to serve to harm your global reputation and thus your tourism industry.

Recently a German Consul to Nepal stated that he had received a 'memo' stating that export of Nepalese rhesus monkeys would be impossible under the CITES treaty, however as the Nepalese rhesus monkey is not in the CITES Appendix of protected species it would be perfectly legal for the export of rhesus monkeys to take place. The only way to ensure that rhesus monkeys are not supplied from Nepal to research laboratories worldwide is to annul the Wildlife Breeding Act (2003)!

If the Nepalese Government is serious about supporting animal conservation and helping farmer communities it should implement long term, scientific solutions to monkey overpopulation, such as birth control and farm land protection rather than short-term solutions which only benefit those who are keen to exploit Nepal's natural wildlife for their own gain.

The decision to license these exports, and thus inflicting unnecessary suffering to animals, goes against the spirit of the Muluki Ain. I therefore strongly request your government to demonstrate its commitment to enlightened and ethical research practices, as well as a respect for all living beings in the spirit of Muluki Ain, by halting all biomedical research on Nepalese monkeys, annulling the Wildlife Breeding Act (2003) and implementing legislation to prevent such developments from reoccurring.

It is with regret that I must inform you that I will not be visiting your country until your Government stops exporting it's wildlife and focuses on conservation again instead. Much as I would love to trek in your mountains and enjoy your culture I feel that my ethics would be severely compromised if I did and I am sure there are many others who will feel the same.

Yours sincerely,

***YOUR NAME GOES HERE***

For more information on the campaign to save Nepal’s monkeys see:

http://www.gatewaytohell.net

http://www.stopmonkeybusiness.org/

NOTE:--

In the event that the formatting of the sample letter has become skewed during this message's passage across the internet you can find an online copy here:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/7/14/2002852/D1P1.doc

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FULL CONTACT INFORMATION:

Emails, (in blocks of 25):

apmmc@cnet.wlink.com.np,

agronomy@wlink.com.np,

catc@wlink.com.np,

env@stat.wlink.com.np,

cdps@wlink.com.np,

turecast@mail.com.np,

cndv@ntc.net.np,

archaeology@infoclub.com.np,

sdvkvs@ntc.net.np,

doc@bij.enet.com.np,

hrp@npl.healthnet.org,

docsi@wlink.com.np,

dda@ddazz.healthnet.org.np,

doepss@mos.com.np,

dof@col.com.np,

foresc@wlink.com.np,

dhm@wlink.com.np,

immigration@mos.tgov.np,

doi@ecomail.com.np,

shyam@ird.gov.np,

doi@info.com.np

dol@mos.com.np,

tls@ntc.net.np,

dnpwc@bdcin.wlink.com.np,

ddcmustang@cnet.wlink.com.np,

harp@nardf.org,

iedi@mos.com.np,

kitta@napi.wlink.com.np,

agrimarket@mos.com.np,

meiktm@wlink.com.np,

dls@ntc.net.np,

motca@ntc.net.np

mof@rna.mil.np,

info@most.gov.np,

mfsc@mail.com.np,

moga@ntc.net.np,

amritrai555@hotmail.com,

gljoshi5@hotmail.com,

suresh_pradhan2001@hotmail.com,

jpsktm@yahoo.com,

koshahari@yahoo.com,

dwarika6@hotmail.com,

bhaba_raj@yahoo.com,

langurbhakta@yahoo.com,

bhachek@hotmail.com,

yagyahamal@gmail.com,

suresh_pradhan2001@hotmail.com,

knstha@hotmail.com,

parasnepal@hotmail.com,

lnb50@hotmail.com,

r_udras@hotmail.com,

mani_laxmi@hotmail.com,

sitaula@mofa.gov.np,

nbasnyat@hotmail.com,

dilipnnepal@yahoo.com,

manirsp@gmail.com,

pandeyra@hotmail.com,

jpsktm@yahoo.com

homehmg@wlink.com.np,

mlg@most.gov.np,

nfdin@infoclub.com.np,

nhrc@ntc.net.np,

npcs@ntcnepal.gov.np,

npcnepal@gov.com.np,

npedc@wlink.com.np,

ednarc@ntc.net.np,

nbsm@nbsm.gov,

nfdb@ntc.net.np,

nitb@wlink.com.np,

nbrmint@ntc.net.np,

info@ntb.org.np,

oshp@mos.com.np,

satishsuman@yahoo.com,

press@ntc.net.np,

crrpl@wlink.com.np,

ratc@wlink.com.np

dgdor@ntc.net.np,

rdrl@healthnet.org.np,

iedifin@mos.com.np,

khaskosh@wlink.com.np,

swmrmc@enet.com.np,

survey@dept.wlink.com.np,

info-trpap@ntb.org.np,

tourism@mos.com.np,

wecs@mos.com.np

NOTICE:--

The validity of contact details cannot be guaranteed. During campaigns, recipients may change or disable their email addresses and contact details from government, corporate, or institute websites may be incorrect.

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PHASE 2 -- Snail Mail The Prime Minister:

The Nepalese Government has admitted to receiving "dozens" of foreign protest letters but this simply is not enough, we must never underestimate the power of a physical signature on a protest letter.

The Nepalese know that it takes a lot of time and effort to physically send a letter from Europe or the US to Nepal, so we need to show them that we are willing to make that effort to save the monkeys and stop the exports starting!

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INSTRUCTIONS:--

The second phase of this action alert requires you to print off, sign and send a letter to the Nepalese Prime Minister. The average price of sending a letter to Nepal is $1, (which seems to roughly translate globally). Therefore, you could easily get friends and family to sign letters and send them too. A few dollars and a trip to the post office is nothing compared to the fate awaiting Nepal's monkeys!

1) Download The Document:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/7/14/2002852/NepalPM.doc

2) Print, Sign and Send!

3) Repeat Process For Friends and Family....

The letters are not time critical, and the more you can send the better, so you could aim to send a quota each week...for example by simply committing to send 2 letters from friends and family each week you can have a real impact.

Every letter of people pledging to boycott Nepal put real pressure on the Government, so please send as many as you can afford to. If you do information stands you could have the letters to Nepal for people to sign and ask them for donations towards the postage.

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FULL CONTACT INFORMATION:--

Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers
Singh Durbar
P.O. Box: 23312
Kathmandu, Nepal
Fax: 00-977-1-4-227-286

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CAMPAIGN UPDATES:--

For More Information on The Stop Monkey Business Campaign:

http://www.stopmonkeybusiness.org/downloads/stopmonkeybusiness.pdf

For The Latest Campaign Updates See:

http://www.gatewaytohell.net

http://www.stopmonkeybusiness.org

To Find Your Local Nepalese Embassy or Consulate:

http://www.welcomenepal.com/brand/missions2.asp

Campaign Materials Are Available From:

coalitionantivivisection@riseup.net

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DISCLAIMER:--

Neither The Stop Monkey Business Coalition, (SMBC), The Coalition Anti-Vivisection, (CAV), nor the Gateway to Hell Campaign, (GTHC), assume any responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided or for the consequences of its use. Nothing in this email is intended to encourage illegal action in whatever country you are reading it in. Neither the SMBC, the CAV nor the GTHC engage in, nor support, any form of harassment or unlawful activity. Nothing in this alert is intended to promote such conduct and neither the SMBC, the CAV nor the GTHC assume any responsibility for the missuse of this information, which is provided solely for the purposes of lawful protest. The SMBC, the CAV and the GTHC actively encourage all recipients to act responsibly but assume no responsibility for the actions of others.

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Stop Monkey Business Coalition

UK Indymedia

Operation Stop The Monkey Business: Day 1

Global IMC Network