DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250084

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  126 lines

A WAR OF WORDS OVER ANIMALS UPSTART GROUP TAKES AIM STRAIGHT AT PETA

They were about as far apart as the green couch would allow.

Lisa Lange, the impassioned, soundbite-packing spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

David N. Narr, the suit-and-tie-wearing, slow-speaking president and spokesman for Common Sense for Virginia, a pro-animal-use organization that exists because PETA does.

The subject of the discussion last week was animal testing in AIDS research. Hosts Jane Gardner and Kurt Williams of WTKR-TV lobbed questions to the pair. The issue was not resolved between commercials.

The bigger question, though, is whether humans have the right to use animals for their own ends.

Narr's organization, which supports animal use of all kinds short of gratuitous abuse, is less than a year old. It is a local confederation of sportsmen, medical researchers and professional trappers and furriers. But the 55-year-old public relations specialist is the glue.

He licks the envelopes, and he makes the calls and shows up at federal court, where PETA is fending off a civil suit filed by a research company it investigated. He was the one who saw all this coming.

Narr figured trouble wasbrewing when People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals moved here.

As the animal rights group readied its Front Street headquarters building, Narr casually sounded the alarm with fellow sportsmen. PETA is coming, he told them. Here, to Hampton Roads, where some evidence of rural America still exists a short country drive away from urban sprawl.

But it took PETA's international anti-fishing campaign, which helped spark Virginia legislation to protect fishermen from harassment, to open the floodgates of support for Narr's brainchild.

Then people started calling him left and right, Narr said.

By Oct. 7, Common Sense was an official group, contacting government folks and even showing up at an animal rights symposium in Norfolk in March where Narr joined local sportsmen on a picket line.

The size of Common Sense is uncertain. The group's literature claims it represents 12,000 folks through different organizations around the country. But Narr's contact with these groups is through the groups' leadership, not necessarily individual members. And fearing a ``radical fringe'' within the animal rights movement, Narr will not reveal member names.

However, Common Sense member Susan E. Paris is not afraid. She is president and spokeswoman for Americans for Medical Progress Inc. The national group is staffed by seven people and has an operating budget of $500,000 a year. Funded by the research community, it aims to ``set the record straight'' on the animal rights issue.

``We are supported by people who work in the research community,'' Paris said. ``But those are the only people who know the realities behind animal research. We need more people like David Narr who are informed and willing to take a stand.''

Common Sense is ``apprising the public about the truth behind the misleading slogans produced by PETA,'' she said, and they're using the same techniques PETA uses, although, she said, ``I can guarantee you won't see Dave Narr walking naked down the street'' as Doo Dah Parade spectators in Norfolk have seen PETA folks do.

Paris said it is ``vital'' for the public to hear both sides of any issue before they make a vote with their donation dollars. She has a recommendation:

``I think every citizen of Norfolk should send Dave Narr $25 just so we can have the voice of Common Sense.''

It would take about 407,208 such donations to match the nearly $10.2 million in public support PETA pulled down in 1995. PETA also has stars such as Kim Basinger in its backcourt.

``They have a 15-year head start,'' Narr said, adding that he feels Common Sense has a base that has been silent.

``I do think we speak for the vast majority of people who favor biomedical progress, responsible management and use of wildlife resources, and the freedom to make individual lifestyle choices,'' Narr said, ``like eating a hamburger, wearing fur, owning pets.'' Such decisions, he believes, ``are none of PETA's business.''

Dennis J. Foster, a 52-year-old retired Army officer in Leesburg, agrees. He is a member of the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, which provides rules and regulations for fox hunts. In the United States, he said, these do not ``usually'' kill the hunted animal.

``It's a much bigger issue than anti-hunting,'' Foster said. Animal rights activists ``are a political group that has an agenda that goes right down to a meatless society.''

What Narr and his supporters call ``wildlife resources,'' PETA is quick to point out, are animals.

PETA is a multimillion-dollar international nonprofit group that employs 80 people locally. The group, never far from the spotlight, generates millions in donations each year.

The group formed 17 years ago and achieved fame through an undercover investigation at a Maryland research lab that led to an animal cruelty conviction. The conviction was later overturned on a technicality.

PETA says it is not targeting local businesses that use animals, only spreading information, and that the group is trying to be a part of the community. ``We've been here a year, and our focus has been removing animal cruelty,'' Lange said.

Narr's criticism of PETA is wide-ranging:

PETA, he said, is a fund-raising machine, and spends too much on ads and too little on helping animals. He questioned funds sent to PETA's sister organizations in Europe. And he is disgusted that PETA helped pay legal expenses for Rodney Coronado, who was jailed for destroying a federal research lab.

Of Lange, Narr said: ``I really have a lot of admiration for her technical ability to present PETA's message, to stay on point and shade the truth relentlessly and shamelessly.''

Lange doesn't cut Narr much slack, either: ``A group - or a person, in this case - is fighting a group that fights animal abuse. I think it's pretty pathetic.''

Despite the strong words, Lange said she is still unsure where Common Sense stands on the issues.

She called Narr Friday morning and they had a talk they characterize differently.

Lange remains skeptical of his motives.

``He won't come out against any form of animal exploitation,'' she said. ``You've got to question the motives of a guy like that.''

Statements such as that are not likely to go over well the next time Common Sense and PETA tangle.

The only thing they might agree on is that, last week in the WTKR studios, they both sat on the same green couch.

Perhaps.

``It was a loveseat,'' Lange said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]

David Narr

Lisa Lange

[Color Illustration]

JOHN EARLE

The Virginian-Pilot

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