Hi Bertina,
I stand accused of "extravagant" language by those who like to kill rabbits.
I put the legal letter and some excellent responses on my website.
Still deciding what to do, I can either give a piece of my info to someone
else to host, or modify my language (I could change murder to kill).
If you have a look at my website, you may see a letter from a 12 year old
girl who also said that the people who caused her bunny to die were murderers.
I feel the same way. Here is the letter anyway (there is already an
excellent response on my website and some other comments). Unfortunately we
don't have your Freedom of Speech (First Ammendment?) and our laws are based
more on English law which tends to protect big business and not the people
on a small income. I am considering going to the press about the whole thing.
The debates re religion on Eco Fem have been quite an eye opener for me.
I never knew of all the different beliefs in the world and it is nice to know
that we have diversity in beliefs (although I don't think Angela could ever
accept this).
Kind regards,
Marguerite
Manuel Fuller Merrigan
Barristers and Solicitors
Tolley's Building
1st Floor 82 Waymouth Street
Adelaide
South Australia 5000
Your ref Marguerite Wegner
Our ref: ABF 960176 (jm7 0006)
9 November,1998
Manager
[Rabbit Information Service]
[Address]
Dear Ms Wegner,
The Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia (formerly Anti Rabbit Research
Foundation of Australia)
We act for the Foundation for Rabbit Free Australia.
We are instructed to write to you with respect to some of the material on
your website concerning our client and its operations.
Without being exhaustive of the matters of complaint, the following extracts
are of particular concern:-
l. The allegation that our client "is a body dedicated to the destruction of
rabbits in Australia".
2. That the type of research undertaken by our client "will involve the
deliberate and painful cruel murder of pet rabbits trapped in laboratories
and containment areas".
3. That money raised by our client will "support up to four conservation
projects (murdering rabbits?) each year".
4. That "other diseases that the ARRF may find or develop to murder rabbits
may be similar to myxomatosis with regards to the level of pain and cruelty
inflicted on both wild and pet rabbits".
5. That our client has indulged in "cruel and painful research to test RCD
on rabbits".
6. That rabbits have been delivered to our client's researchers "to be
murdered in attempts to find new ways to kill bunnies".
7. That our client's "cruel and abhorrent funded research is a blight on the
humanity of all Australians".
8. That our client is "directly involved in the murder and torture of
rabbits in Australia."
In light of the extravagant language which you have used in your , it is
necessarily to be inferred that you intended to damage our client's
reputation within the wide audience to whom your website is published.
It is also to be inferred necessarily that in encouraging people not to
donate any money to our client your intention is to cause our client
financial loss.
The statements and accusations in your website are libelous entitling our
client to sue you for damages and for injunctive relief restraining you from
any further publication of your website in that or a similarly offensive form.
The purpose of this letter is to bring the concern which our client has to
your attention and to provide you with an opportunity to remedy the mischief
created by your website. We urge you to avail yourself of this opportunity.
If you do not take steps as soon as practicable to remove the offensive
material from your website, the fact that you have been afforded this
opportunity to mitigate the loss and damage to our client and have declined
to take advantage of it, will be a matter which will be drawn to the
attention of the court in any proceedings which our client might contemplate
taking against you.
If you have any doubts as to your position and exposure with respect to the
matters which we have raised, we urge you take your own legal advice as soon
as possible.
In the meantime, our client will be monitoring your website closely.
Yours faithfully,
Tony Fuller
***************************************************************
For any one who is interested here's some info from the CSIRO website re the
AARF
From: http://www.csiro.au/communication/rabbits/rcd_book.htm
What can you do to help?
Since its formation in 1992, the Anti-Rabbit Research Foundation of
Australia has administered a publicly subscribed national fund to do the
following:
Support research that contributes to the eradication of wild rabbits in
Australia.
The Foundation has so far committed $100 000 to research projects. These
include:
*using chemicals and vitamins as rabbit control agents
*discovering how Australian wildlife co-exists with rabbits
*helping to identify the probable insect carriers of RCD
*developing computer models indicating the best time to release RCD
*identifying myxomatosis strains to be used in future rabbit control
*mapping of warrens using ground-penetrating radar
*identifying other pathogens with potential to control wild rabbits.
*Raise community awareness of the nature and damage that rabbits cause to
*agriculture and the environment
The Foundation has actively campaigned to raise public awareness of rabbit
damage and the need for rabbit control. Its activities include:
producing many educational materials for use in schools
establishing the Easter Bilby campaign
presenting national submissions in support of RCD
running conferences and seminars, and presenting talks at others
raising thousands of dollars for conservation projects
providing talks, interviews and articles for many media outlets
raising funds for the publication of the RCD Field Handbook.
ARRFA
The Anti-Rabbit Research Foundation of Australia is a voluntary organisation
and depends on sponsorship and donations.
Donations are tax-deductible, and can be sent to:
Anti-Rabbit Research Foundation Trust
Adelaide Zoological Gardens
Frome Rd
Adelaide SA 5000
Ongoing research on RCD
Scientists working with RCD have learnt an important lesson from the
myxomatosis experience. The initial spread of a biological control agent
provides a unique opportunity to gather information essential to
understanding how the agent works. Without this information, scientists
cannot offer reliable advice to land managers on how to gain maximum benefit
from the disease, frustrating rabbit control efforts and wasting valuable
resources.
The RCD program is coordinating a field study of RCD, bringing together
Commonwealth and State/Territory agencies responsible for conservation and
primary production, and scientists from CSIRO.
Ten detailed monitoring sites have been selected in major bioclimatic zones
in Australia, with at least one site located in each State and Territory,
except the ACT. These cover a range of land uses including agriculture,
pastoralism and conservation. Information collected will provide an
understanding of the effects of rabbit calicivirus on rabbit populations
over time and on the effects of decreased rabbit grazing pressure on
agricultural and pastoral production and conservation values.
Research on disease spread is being undertaken by the CSIRO Division of
Wildlife and Ecology to improve understanding of how rabbits and rabbit
calicivirus interact under different field conditions. It will:
provide an understanding of the initial spread and recurrence of the disease
identify the environmental factors and vectors involved in spread of RCD,
and identify the relationship (if any) between RCD and myxomatosis. Land
managers can then make better informed decisions on using RCD in an
integrated manner as part of their overall rabbit control strategy. We will
then have the best chance of achieving effective and permanent control over
rabbit populations.
Click here to return to front page
At 03:26 PM 15/11/98 -0500, you wrote:
>What is the legal threat? You do pay for your website dont you? Are there
>restrictions to what can be put on a website?
>
>Bertina
>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>On Fri, 13 Nov 1998, bunny wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I received a serious legal threat this week concerning my website from those
>> who hate and kill rabbits in my country. Yet the internet is full of
>> websites of dubious nature including pornographic sites and websites hosted
>> by those people that are out for themselves or out to profit from
>> environmental degradation.
>> How sad that the authorites target one lone person such as myself who has
>> targeted cruelty to the animals and has opposed the spread of the cruel
>> diseases in the environment. It surely is a strange world.
>>
>> Marguerite
>> ===========================================================================
>> /`\ /`\ RABBIT INFORMATION SERVICE: _ _
>> (/\ \-/ /\) P.O.Box 30, Riverton, Western Australia 6148 (.\_/.)
>> )6 6( http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm \6 6/
>> >{= Y =}< VEGETARIAN PAGE =\ /=
>> /'-^-'\ http://www.geocities/RainForest/4620 /O\ /
>> (_) (_) / \ (
>> | . | U U )
>> | |} Pity the human race its illusion of permanence (| |)/
>> \_/^\_/ w'-'w
>> ===========================================================================
>>
>>
>
>
===========================================================================
/`\ /`\ RABBIT INFORMATION SERVICE: _ _
(/\ \-/ /\) P.O.Box 30, Riverton, Western Australia 6148 (.\_/.)
)6 6( http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm \6 6/
>{= Y =}< VEGETARIAN PAGE =\ /=
/'-^-'\ http://www.geocities/RainForest/4620 /O\ /
(_) (_) / \ (
| . | U U )
| |} Pity the human race its illusion of permanence (| |)/
\_/^\_/ w'-'w
===========================================================================
