Activism and Actions
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Inflatable, Creative Pro-Turkey Activism
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Why Is the Nature Conservancy Killing Animals?
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Is Golf More Important to San Francisco Than Endangered Animals?
Activists Jailed for Refusing to Testify Before Grand Jury
Published November 17, 2009 @ 04:24PM PT
Two Twin Cities activists have been jailed on contempt charges in Davenport, Iowa, for refusing to cooperate with a federal grand jury investigation into, it is believed, an action taken at a University of Iowa laboratory in 2004. The two were offered limited immunity but still refused to testify about (again, presumably) a break-in that involved vandalism and the rescue of numerous rats and mice. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Star-Tribune and the Quad-City Times have picked up the story.
A "Support Carrie and Scott" blog has been set up where you can read more, including statements from the recently jailed activists themselves. I'll post more on what fellow activists can do to offer support as the situation unfolds.
Seems like a good time to direct activists again to the Center for Constitutional Rights' If An Agent Knocks booklet.
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Photo by Flickr user bloomsberries
Judge Rejects Plea Deal for Animal Activist, Uses "Terror" Rhetoric
Published November 13, 2009 @ 06:12AM PT
Utah is full of unpleasant animal news these days, from the upcoming protest issues mentioned yesterday to the University of Utah undercover laboratory investigation (which we've yet to discuss here) to this: yesterday a U.S. district judge rejected a plea bargain made between the prosecution and a defendant animal rights activist who released several hundred minks last year -- because he believed the plea deal didn't punish the defendant enough for "terrorizing" the man who makes his money terrorizing (no quotation marks) animals.
So what did defendant William Viehl do? Did he try to kill someone? Burn down the owner's house? Hold him hostage at gunpoint? Poison his water supply? Because you'd think he would have had to do something like that for the judge to insist the fur farmer had been "terrorized." Of course, Viehl did no such things. He and his codefendant released animals and spray-painted a barn. He cost the so-called victim money.
Protesting for Minks in Utah
Published November 12, 2009 @ 06:44AM PT
Thanks go to my friends at Food Fight! Grocery in Portland for the reminder on this one.
Morgan, Utah, is home to 15 active mink fur farms -- which makes it more entrenched in the abhorrent practice than any other U.S. community. And on Saturday, November 28, animal rights activists hope to make it the site of a major protest too: "For the first time, the animal rights movement will bring all the tears and rage for the millions killed every year for fur to the belly of the beast: Morgan, Utah. This convergence will climax in a one-mile march through the heart of this fur farm capital, past two of Morgan’s mink farms."
But Morgan County wants to put a damper on any protests; in the last couple months, it made some bold moves. First, it passed an ordinance prohibiting protesters from demonstrating within 1,000 feet of fur farms and the residences on them. Salt Lake animal advocate Colleen Hatfield had this to say in response:
Highway Construction That Considers Animals
Published November 10, 2009 @ 05:03PM PT
The practice of keeping nonhuman animals and their needs in mind during development and construction of human projects has come up around here a few times lately. In early August, we looked at some interesting posts from Emily at the Stop Global Warming blog, on constructing bat habitats, and Glenn of Liberation BC, on proposed high-rises for urban animals. And later that same month, Glenn posted again on the topic, this time regarding underpasses and overpasses designed specifically for animals.
Some current happenings in Colorado fall right into this latter category. A wildlife advocate in that state is trying to make sure humans do their part to protect and accommodate their fellow animals along a highway where animals are routinely hit and killed by vehicles. Beyond seeking a nighttime speed limit, Frosty Merriott is also calling for overpasses and underpasses where animals' natural migration routes intersect with the highway -- the idea being that larger animals can travel over the highway while smaller ones can cross safely below.
Marginalization in the Mainstream, Commiseration in the Community
Published November 04, 2009 @ 04:35PM PT
There are occasional days when, as an animal rights advocate, all you feel capable of doing is burying your face in the pillow and screaming out your frustrations. And such days are why it's important for vegan animal rights advocates to seek out and maintain supportive community, whether face-to-face or online or both. When too often, it seems like most of our fellow humans are plugging their ears, rolling their eyes, patting us on the head, or altogether dismissing us (and by extension, the animals for whom we speak), it's good and necessary to have compassionate community to reach out to, to know and feel connected to people who get it, people who can commiserate with us and then encourage us and get us back out there.
We still live in a world where no matter how big the news, no matter how important or meaningful the story, no matter how great the injustice, when the news, story, or injustice has to do with nonhuman animals, even comparatively minor human stories take precedence, and the nonhuman stories are flashed and forgotten, if not simply buried from the start. We still live in a world where if you care too much about someone (or some group) who isn't human, and you believe that someone has rights, you're called sentimental, and your intellect and priorities are questioned, even if that same intellect and judgment were respected before you outed yourself as a vegan and animal rights advocate.
Are Vegans Responsible for More Deaths in the Fields? No Way
Published October 31, 2009 @ 09:08AM PT
The comment threads around here have been home to a lot of arguments over the last year, and a few discussions have a habit of resurfacing from time to time. One of these typically starts with a defender of animal-eating accusing vegans of being responsible for more animals' deaths than animal-eaters because of the animals who die as a result of raising and harvesting crops. The person making the argument assumes that people who eat plant-based diets must be responsible for more deaths in the fields than those who eat animal-based diets full of flesh, dairy, and eggs, failing to acknowledge, of course, the enormous amounts of plant foods that must be raised and fed to the animals people kill to eat -- more than must be raised for direct consumption by vegans. As has been discussed in those comment threads each time, the logic fails. And recently, Animal Visuals gave animal advocates a great new tool to answer this weak but common argument. Continue after the jump to view the powerful graph settling the debate.
Couldn't Attend Let Live 2009? Catch Up Online
Published October 27, 2009 @ 05:59PM PT
Here's something I've been meaning to tell you about: The 2009 conference put on by the Let Live Foundation in Portland, Oregon, can now be experienced online. Head on over to Vimeo, where you'll find a library of 30-plus videos from not only the various and varied 2009 conference sessions, but also the 2008 conference and Let Live's Activism Series. I have a lot of video-watching to do myself.
Just a quick sampling of titles:
