Thanks for your post Margeurite, I think maybe you should go to the media
for support. I also agree that the religious posts are also enlightening
and certainly speaks to diversity.
Bertina
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Mon, 16 Nov 1998, bunny wrote:
~
> 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
> ===========================================================================
>
>
