Chicken mentality gives Jones courage

By Ron Borges, Globe Staff, 2/13/2003

PENSACOLA, Fla. - It is midday on the chicken farm and everybody is ready to fight.

The fighting cocks, all 700 of them, are crowing. It's not noon time in this place, even though the big hand and the little hand are on the 12. They're in a different time zone here. Here it's always testosterone time.

Each rooster is tugging at the leather leash and nylon cord that keeps it chained to a small iron hook in the ground. The sound of fussing and crowing echoes across 88 acres of pine tree country in the Florida panhandle. Repeatedly they pull at the leash, staring at each other with bloodless eyes before they duck inside their plastic tepees to get out of the sun for a moment or two. Then they come out and do it again. Every bird is looking for the same thing. They're all looking for trouble.

Not far away, exactly 40 pit bulls sit and stand, each about 8 feet apart. Every one is chained to the ground as well, with a small plastic house behind them so they can get out of the sun. Each is chained for the same reason - because they live a life filled with bad intentions.

Each dog spends a lot of time snarling and barking. They are alive with tension but their eyes are stone dead. When they look at you they think of only one thing - lunch.

The way Roy Jones Jr. looks at it, this world is paradise. It is the perfect environment in which to breed the perfect fighting machines.

''If one of those chickens gets off [the leash], and if I don't get out there within the hour, somebody's going to be dead,'' Jones is telling a coterie of reporters and documentary filmmakers assembled by his side in a small building near his house. ''That's how they are. Ain't nobody got to make 'em do nuthin'! They get off while I'm in here, by the time I get out there, somebody is going to be dead.''

As he speaks, the undisputed light heavyweight champion looks around a room filled with the appropriate decor for this discussion. On one wall is the stuffed head of a wild boar Jones shot in his driveway. There's a mounted deer head next to it, three stuffed rattlesnakes underneath it, and a stuffed gator he caught in his fishing pond down the road to its left. Scattered in various corners are four stuffed fighting cocks as well.

This is a fighter's fortress filled with symbols of the fighter's fate, both good and bad. It is a place where Roy Jones Jr. prepares himself for the personal war he is about to embark upon in 21/2 weeks when he takes his 190 pounds into a boxing ring to face World Boxing Association heavyweight champion John Ruiz, a man who will likely outweigh him by 30 to 40 pounds.

Jones knows what is coming that night but like the fighting cocks he breeds among his 2,000 chickens, he knows nothing is guaranteed to the warrior but pain. You go, you fight. How you come out is not determined only by yourself.

''They know at any given second anything can happen,'' Jones said of his fighting animals. ''Wind can blow a pin over and here comes this guy to fight you to the death. So they stay ready to kill or be killed. That's the way they stay, so they can relate to the way I'm feeling right now.

''I'm doing what I got to do to win. He's coming to do what he's got to do to win. So he's coming to kill me and I'm coming to kill him. You got to know that. People can't relate to that unless they're going to war. My animals are really the only ones who can relate to me. They're the only ones who know you may not come out of this. That's very coldblooded but look at what you all are asking me to do. Go and fight a 230-pound man. That's pretty cold-blooded, but I've got to go do it, man.''

Jones had to do no such thing, of course. He could have chosen to defend his 175-pound titles against No. 1 contender and cross-Florida rival Antonio Tarver and forgotten this whole heavyweight challenge. But that was not enough. He wanted more than another payday and another victory to add to a 47-1 record with 38 knockouts and three world titles at three weights.

He wanted what his fighting cocks are always looking for. What those 40 pit bulls never shy away from. He wanted a real fight, and this is one in which he is trying to do something that has not been done in 106 years. He wanted to see if a second middleweight champion could do what Bob Fitzsimmons did on March 17, 1897 - win the heavyweight title.

In other words, Roy Jones Jr. wanted to see if it's true that it's the size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog in the fight, so he issued a challenge to Ruiz and, perhaps to his surprise, found he wasn't the only fighter pulling on his leash.

Ruiz refused to argue with Jones over money or anything else. He just accepted the fight. When Jones demanded a $10 million guarantee, Ruiz gave it to him. Because Jones has always concerned himself as much with what his opponent was earning as what he was, Ruiz said he'd fight with no guarantee, which means he could end up fighting for nothing because Jones has to be paid before Ruiz earns a nickel.

Now beak to beak, each straining on their own leashes, Jones had no choice but to accept, and that is why he is in this place, where he comes once a week from his New Orleans training camp. He is here to feed and talk with the only creatures on earth he believes understand him now.

''I feel the metamorphosis coming on,'' Jones said of the change in himself that takes over as the fight closes in and the moment becomes darker and more foreboding. ''I feel the change. You start to realize every day that it's getting closer. Some military guys feel the same way when they go to war. Your life is on the line. You might have to kill. You might be killed. Not a whole lot matters to you no more.

''I think about retiring but somebody calls my name and I fight. I've got to learn to curb my appetite [for fighting] but I don't know how. The deadlier the risk, the quicker I take it. What I live for is the possibility of losing. You know how badly I've been longing for this?''

Jones believes only his animals do. Each is, as he is, longing for a battle so intense only one combatant can survive. It is an odd life but it is the fighter's life.

It is what he has chosen and this is where he is preparing for it. Not physically, for that work is being done in New Orleans. This is where his mind is getting right to become a 190-pound fighting bird pulling at his leather leash, longing to get at a 230-pound opponent.

''I ain't the only one going to be answering questions come March 1,'' the 34-year-old Jones said, his voice rising and his right hand punching the air. ''I'm just the only one answering questions for you all now. Don't you all think I'm going to go in there and be quiet. I'm going to be asking some chin questions, too. Know what I'm saying? This is Roy Jones. Don't forget.''

At that moment the fighting cocks crowed again. This time not all of them were out in the yard.

This story ran on page D7 of the Boston Globe on 2/13/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

Source: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/044/sports/Chicken_mentality_gives_Jones_courage+.shtml

Newcastle disease hits another ranch
By DAVID BRADVICA AND
NAOMI KRESGE
STAFF WRITERS

LYTLE CREEK — Exotic Newcastle disease task force workers descended on the 6-M Ranch at the base of Cajon Pass Thursday, driving the now-familiar rental trucks seen at sites where chickens are targeted for death.

Dave Landmesser, owner of 6-M, confirmed Thursday that his flock was one of four commercial flocks that tested positive recently for the deadly exotic Newcastle disease.

The slaughter of Landmesser's 80,000-bird flock was initially scheduled to begin Thursday but was delayed because of wet weather that shut down a local landfill where the chicken carcasses will be disposed of.

"This is a rather painful time," said Landmesser as he sat in his sport-utility vehicle outside the gates of his ranch just west of Interstate 15. "I've been in this business for 40 years. But this is necessary because this is a bad disease that spreads really quickly."

Workers set up five large trash bins just outside the henhouses at 6-M Thursday morning, and some activity could be seen by people wearing the white "space suits" donned by those who kill the chickens.

A workman wearing a yellow slicker and mask washed off the tires of trucks before they were allowed to exit the ranch.

Newcastle Task Force workers outside the 6-M ranch said a backyard flock of about 600 fowl was killed - "depopulated" in their words - on Thursday. Landmesser said he didn't know if the Newcastle had spread from the smaller flock to his ranch, or vice versa.

The Exotic Newcastle Disease task force on Thursday relaxed its rules regarding home birds in areas near confirmed Newcastle cases. When birds are not infected and owners can demonstrate a biosecurity program and keep their birds isolated, the birds may be spared. Annette Whiteford, state area commander of exotic Newcastle disease task force, said the task force's goal when dealing with backyard flock owners is to educate.

"Our job is not running around killing birds," Whiteford said.

Rather, their goals are to educate the public about biosecurity measures.

"If nobody moves their birds for the next three months - nobody - we could stop this disease," she said. "Its easy to have one slip-up so, we're trying to be redundant."

Landmesser has seen the devastation of Newcastle before. A smaller ranch he used to own in Norco was decimated by a similar outbreak in the 1970s. That outbreak, which originated in the Fontana area, spread statewide and threatened the U.S. poultry and egg industry, leading to the slaughter of 12 million chickens.

Landmesser said this outbreak could be worse.

"I think that was just a small tornado compared to what's happening now," he said. "This is not slowing down."

For now, Landmesser said he's out of the egg business. He recently sold the land on which his chickens are housed to a developer, who will soon turn the land into a suburban housing tract.

"I might start one more flock if the development takes more time than expected," said Landmesser, who opened the Fontana ranch in 1965. "Otherwise, this is an end of an era."

David Bradvica can be reached by e-mail d_bradvica@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-9318.

Naomi Kresge can be reached naomi.kresge@dailybulletin.com or by phone at (909) 483-8553.

Source: http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~1179116,00.html

HOUSTON -- Houston police officers removed goats, chickens and pigeons from a home Wednesday night after neighbors complained the animals were being killed, which the family admits but said that it was part of a religious sacrifice, authorities said.


	HPD: Family Practices Santeria

The animals were taken at about 8:30 p.m. from the home, located in the 300 block of Coach Road in north Houston.

Houston Police Department investigators told News2Houston that officers rescued 11 goats, some chickens and pigeons, but that some animals had already been killed.

"In most animal cruelty cases, it's a simple animal cruelty case, (but) in this case there's a religious ceremony being practiced and because of freedom of religion we have to handle it a little differently," HPD Officer Terry Starkey said.

The family told police that they were practicing Santeria, which is an African-based religion similar to voodoo, originating in Cuba and Brazil, which combines the worship of traditional Yoruban deities with the worship of Roman Catholic saints.

During part of the religious ceremony, the animals are killed and their blood is offered as a sacrifice, authorities said, sometimes to ask for forgiveness or purification.

"They have a family member that is sick," Starkey said. "My understanding is that the ceremony was to ask their saints for that person's recovery."

Although authorities said that they cannot press criminal charges against the family, they said that they are taking what action they can.

"What we're going to do is seize the animals with the Houston SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), and a hearing will be set," said Harris County Precinct 1 Deputy Constable Cristine Kendrick. "The SPCA, as well as myself, and these people at this residence, will come to court and the judge will decide what the outcome will be for the animals."

"We will review their health (and) treat them for any conditions that exist" Houston SPCA spokeswoman Kim Hogstrom said. "At least one of them has some sort of eye problem and several of them are very thin."

SPCA officials said they are also investigating whether the family broke or violated any city codes, such as having so many animals at their home.

'Prison Fellowship' Program Violates Constitution, Group Charges
By Lawrence Morahan
CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
February 14, 2003

(CNSNews.com) - The use of government funds for a program that seeks to rehabilitate Iowa prison inmates is unconstitutional because it promotes fundamentalist Christianity, a national advocacy group said in two federal lawsuits filed this week.

The InnerChange Freedom Initiative (IFI), a program run by Charles Colson's Prison Fellowship, indoctrinates prisoners in religion and discriminates in hiring staff on religious grounds. Therefore, the program should not receive federal funds, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said.

"A program that has religious conversion as its central goal can't be funded in any way with public dollars," said Robert Boston, assistant director of communications for Americans United, which filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

"The objective to reduce recidivism and get these inmates to turn their lives around may be laudable, but that doesn't mean that it should be funded by the government or supported by the government," he said.

The IFI program is currently in operation in Iowa, Kansas, Texas and Minnesota. President Bush helped bring the program to Texas when he served as governor. He later cited it as the kind of faith-based program that could serve as a model for his faith-based initiative.

"This is in federal court, so we're hoping to set a national precedent. It's also an important challenge of President Bush's whole faith-based approach," Boston said.

Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, which are spiritually based, are different than programs like the IFI, which require inmates to immerse themselves in a fundamentalist lifestyle and convert to a certain religious tenet as a measure of success, he said.

According to the lawsuits, about 200 Iowa prisoners pray and memorize Bible verses under the guidance of Christian staff members. In return, the prisoners are granted special privileges, including better cell accommodations than other prisoners.

Jerry Wilger, national director for the IFI program, said it was designed to help the state reduce recidivism, increase public safety and reduce the burden of government.

The state has come out with requests for proposals to accomplish that task over a number of years, and the IFI program responded to those, he said.

The states decided to use what IFI had available to accomplish that task and to cover part of the cost for the secular portion of the programming, Wilger said.

A study recently completed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for the Texas Legislature showed a 63 percent reduction in recidivism among inmates who had completed the IFI program and had been out of prison for two years or more, compared to those who had qualified to come to the program but did not, Wilger said.

"The effect of what the IFI program is providing is a substantial reduction in recidivism. It is a Christ-centered, Bible-based program. The inmates volunteer to come to the program after they've gone through a six-week orientation as to what the program is about," he said.

"They don't have to be Christian, they don't have to be of any religion. People come to the program from all religions, and they don't have to convert to Christianity, and they can leave anytime they want. The only requirement we have is that they have to participate in all the classes and all the programming," Wilger said.

E-mail a news tip to Lawrence Morahan.

Send a Letter to the Editor about this article.

A bill recently introduced in the California legislature would bring an end to the tradition of hunting with dogs.

Assembly Bill 342, sponsored by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-Los Angeles) would make it illegal for any dog to pursue or take a mammal. It would ban bear hunting, fox hunting, rabbit hunting, raccoon hunting and more. The bill will cause an increase in conflicts between people and bears and will contribute to the spread of rabies.

The nation’s leading anti-hunting groups including the Humane Society of the United States and the Animal Protection Institute back the legislation.

Once again, the anti’s are attacking California sportsmen. The state lost cougar hunting in 1990, trapping in 1998 and it now faces the loss of hunting with dogs. Sportsmen should see this for what it is - an attack on all hunting.

Take Action! California sportsmen must contact their assemblymen today. Let them know that Assembly Bill 342 is the anti-hunting lobby’s attempt to restrict our hunting heritage. Tell them that the bill will cause health and safety concerns.

To find your Assemblyman and for contact information, call (916) 319-2856, fill out the Take Action Now icon above or use the Legislative Action Center on the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance homepage, www.ussportsmen.org.

Source: http://www.ussportsmen.org/interactive/features/Read.cfm?ID=1005

From The Home State Of The HSUS Endorsed Senator Wayne Allard And

Leading Up To All Men And Animals Are Created Equal Was...........

Pet 'Companion' Bill Pulled From Consideration

POSTED: 2:44 p.m. MST February 14, 2003

DENVER -- A bill that would have allowed owners to sue when their pets died because of vaccination abuse was twisted into a companionship issue that drew so much attention its sponsor pulled it off the table Friday.

While state law defines pets as property, Rep. Mark Cloer's bill would have recognized pets as companions and allowed owners to collect up to $100,000 for animal cruelty and negligent health care. Current law allows owners to receive fair market value of up to $500.

Many took the bill to mean pets would be classified as companions instead of property, which attracted international attention.

"The bill's intent was not to give animals a special status. The bill allowed the owner to seek civil remedies. It did not empower any animals," the Colorado Springs Republican said.

Even Cloer's decision set off a round of controversy.

Senate sponsor, Ken Chlouber, R-Leadville, was angry with Cloer for pulling the bill, but said he would not try to resurrect it this session. He wants the bill to have a broad interpretation, allowing a pet owner to sue for loss of companionship.

"Are they property, or do they have a higher value? They are more than property," said Chlouber, whose two Labrador retrievers died last year, one of old age and another in a car accident.

Cloer drafted the bill as a way to force veterinarians to stop over-vaccinating pets. He believed the only way to succeed was to put financial pressure on vets by allowing pet owners to sue for more money.

Veterinarians opposed the measure, while others took the language to mean Colorado would define pets as companions instead of property.

Colorado is one of 14 states with current laws recognizing dogs and cats as beneficiaries and allowing people to leave their assets to their pets.

Cloer appeared on national and international news programs to discuss his bill, which also was mentioned by Jay Leno on NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

Ted Cohn, a Denver veterinarian, said veterinarians opposed the bill because it would have driven up the cost of care. He said they also recognize that vaccinations can be dangerous.

"I feel pets are certainly worth more than property. I also have suffered with grief at the loss of a pet," he said. "We need to be very careful, because it's a short jump from a pet dog or cat to including horses and other animals, and the whole agriculture industry could be in trouble. It certainly would drive up the cost."

Jim Schwartz is a retired financial planner from Centennial who started the Next-To-Kin Foundation to advocate for dogs, cats and their owners. The foundation also works to eliminate unnecessary vaccinations.

He asked Cloer to carry the bill after his poodle, Moolah, acquired autoimmune cancer after vaccination and died at age 11.

"What happened to Moolah need not, must not, happen to your dog or cat," Schwartz said.

Dr. Bob Rogers, a Texas veterinarian who has crusaded against over-vaccination of pets, said there is ample evidence that pets are being harmed.

Every year, 1.6 million pet owners in Colorado spend over $160 million for vaccinations that are unnecessary and expose their pets to unnecessary adverse reactions, he said.

He said dogs are developing a disease where they reject their own blood, and cats develop injection site fibrasarcomas, a fatal type of cancer.

Source: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/1979114/detail.html

Roy Jones Jr. in PETA Row

To find your Assemblyman and for contact information, call (916) 319-2856, fill out the Take Action Now icon above or use the Legislative Action Center on the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance homepage, www.ussportsmen.org.