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Animal Liberation News
News, upcoming events, and resources of the movement for Animal Rights in the Bay Area and beyond.
Contribute by posting to the newswire or calendar and selecting the category "Animal Liberation".
If you would like to help out editing this page contact sfbay-web@lists.indymedia.org

Upcoming Events | Resources | photoPhoto Gallery

Saturday Jul 4
11AM Farm Sanctuary's Fourth of July Pig-nic: An...
Monday Jul 13
9AM AETA4 Court Appearance
Friday Jul 17
5PM Kentucky Fried Cruelty Demontration
More Events...

Motion Filed to Dismiss the Indictment of AETA 4 On May 21st, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC) joined in a defense attorneys’ motion in the U.S. District Court in San Jose to dismiss U.S.A. v. Buddenberg, a federal prosecution of four animal rights activists in California—known as the AETA 4—for alleged conspiracy to commit animal enterprise terrorism. The four have been charged with conduct that includes First Amendment protected activities such as protesting, chalking the sidewalk, chanting and leafleting. The motion asks the Court to strike down the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) as unconstitutional.

“To characterize protest and speech as terrorist activities is ludicrous,” said CCR cooperating attorney Matthew Strugar. “And it is not just animal rights activists who are in danger here. The AETA is so broad and unclear it could be used to suppress lawful protests and boycotts by any activists across the spectrum, no matter what the issue. The law must be struck down.”

Passed by Congress in November, the AETA is aimed at suppressing speech and advocacy by criminalizing First Amendment-protected activities such as protests, boycotts, picketing and whistleblowing. It targets animal rights activists, but includes language so broad and vague it could be used to prosecute labor activists who organize a successful boycott of Wal-Mart, or union folks who picket a university cafeteria. Pushed through Congress by a powerful lobby of corporations and research institutions, the AETA is an unconstitutional law, because it criminalizes a broad swath of protected First Amendment activities and is so unclear as to fail to give people notice of whether or not their conduct is lawful. imc_pdf.gifRead more

The Center for Constitutional Rights created an online petition for people to write their senator and representative to demand that they repeal the AETA.

see also: Obama administration targets environmental and animal rights activists as eco-terrorists | Government files responses to AETA4 motion to dismiss

Previous coverage: Activists Arrested for Chalking Sidewalks, Protesting with Bandanas, and Leaflet Distribution
cowboy_hazing.jpg Buffalo Field Campaign volunteer patrols have been documenting the Montana Department of Livestock, Yellowstone National Park, Gallatin National Forest and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks agents carry out massive and relentless hazing operations, harassing and harming America's last wild bison population.

On May 12th, agents were set to haze bison within Yellowstone National Park to "make room" for the bison that would be hazed off of Horse Butte. But Mother Nature had different plans: one group of bison the agents planned to target consisted of forty bulls who would follow none of the agents' orders. An incredible hail storm assisted and the haze was called off for the day. Local DOL agent Shane Grube's foot was broken after his horse stepped on it.

Every day of the week agents chased bison family groups, including newborn calves and pregnant mothers, off of the south side of the Madison River, and on May 14th they set their sights on cattle-free Horse Butte. In fact, all of the Gallatin National Forest lands where the buffalo roam are cattle free, yet livestock interests insist on assaulting them with mounted cowboys, ATVs, local and federal law enforcement and the DOL's helicopter.

photovideoRead More, Photos & Video
Undercover Investigation at Maine Factory Farm Leads to State Raid The animal advocacy group Mercy for Animals recently did an undercover investigation at New England's largest egg factory farm, Quality Egg of New England in Turner, Maine. The hidden camera video shot in early 2009 provided a glimpse behind the closed doors of one of the nation's leading egg producers, exposing the truth behind battery cage egg production — what Mercy for Animals calls "heinous cruelty to animals." As a result of the investigation, the state police and Maine Department of Agriculture raided the farm on April 1st.

Mercy for Animals's investigation, highlighted in a 5-minute video, revealed: rotting carcasses in cages with live hens still laying eggs for human consumption; workers and managers killing birds by grabbing their necks and swinging them around in circles; supervisors and workers throwing live birds into trash cans; birds suffering from broken bones, bloody open wounds, and untreated infections; hens confined in tiny wire cages so small they were unable to stretch their wings, move freely or engage in other basic behaviors; birds trapped in the wire of their cages or under the feeding trays without access to food or water; and management and workers kicking live hens into manure pits.

videoRead More with Video | Mercy for Animals updates

Some Previous Related Indybay Features: Prop 2 Passage Represents Landmark Victory for Animals in California | Are Tumors, Abscesses, and Downed Cows in your Hamburger? | Largest Beef Recall Ever After Video Exposes Downed Cow Abuse | Historic Egg Farm Cruelty Case Ends in Acquittal | Activists Score Big Victory in Fight Against Battery Cages | "Wegmans Cruelty" Filmmaker Sentenced to Six Months for Trespassing | Foster Farms Threatens East Bay Animal Advocates | Egg Industry Battery Cages Exposed by Activists
Paul Watson: We Need to Stop Eating the Oceans Captain Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, writes: The Oceans are like the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg. As long as it was alive it laid a golden egg each day but then the greedy farmer decided to kill it to get all the gold inside and found nothing and the Goose laid no more golden eggs because it was dead. For centuries, the oceans have fed humankind. But in the last century, human greed has raped and pillaged oceanic eco-systems remorsefully with an ecological ignorance that is staggeringly insane. I don't eat fish because I am an ecologist and I have seen the diminishment of fish in the seas all of my life.... We humans have waged an intensive and ruthless exploitation on practically every species of fish in the sea and they are disappearing. If we don't put an end to industrialized fishing vessels and heavy gear very soon, we will kill the oceans and in so doing, we will kill ourselves.... We are feeding fish to cats, pigs, and chickens, and we are sucking tens of thousands of small fish from the sea to feed larger fish raised in cages. House cats are eating more fish than seals; pigs are eating more fish than sharks; and factory-farmed chickens are eating more fish than puffins and albatross.

Read More | Sea Shepherd

Previous Related Indybay Feature: Sea Shepherd Returns From the Whale Wars
The U.S. Navy is facing criticism for its training operations on the Pacific coast. Environmental groups say some areas should be off limits to weapons testing. The Navy wants to use nearly the entire U.S. coastline for weapons and warfare training including under water bomb detonations and mining, and the use of aircraft, missiles and sonar. Environmental groups say the use of sonar and bombs has long-range effects on marine life.
Attack on KFC in Santa Cruz autonomous rebels for social collapse write: Last night, we attacked the Kentucky Fried Chicken on Mission St. Two stones cracked two windows and we melted back into the shadows. Property will never be worth more than the lives of living things. Solidarity with our poultry brethren; we may not be the same species, but we breath the same poison air.

We acknowledge that attacks like this do little to actually harm the infrastructure of capital or animal abuse. They are a great way, though, to become familiar with night action. We encourage all who feel a brooding discontent to find ways of expressing it. Read more
Federal Authorities Arrest Four Bay Area Animal Protesters Since the passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), a sweeping new law labeling animal rights activists as “terrorists,” corporations and industry groups have been pushing the federal government to use their new powers. On February 19th and 20th, the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI arrested four animal rights activists as “terrorists” in the most sweeping expansion of the War on Terrorism and the “Green Scare” to date.

As background, a campaign is being waged across California against animal research at the University of California system. There has been a wide range of both legal and illegal tactics. Illegal tactics have included the destruction of UC vans. In August, an incendiary device was left at the home of a UC researcher; no animal rights group has claimed responsibility for this crime, but the university, the FBI and others have recklessly attributed it to activists.

These “terrorism” arrests are not related to that bombing, though. And they’re also not related to the destruction of property. These activists–Nathan Pope, Adriana Stumpo, Joseph Buddenberg, and Maryam Khajavi– were arrested for First Amendment activity. According to the FBI’s press release, the activists are facing charges for incidents which include: Protesting outside the home of a UC professor, chalking defamatory comments on public sidewalks, wearing bandanas to hide their faces, and distributing leaflets with contact information for several researchers.

Will Potter, a freelance reporter who focuses on how the War on Terrorism affects civil liberties, states, "At issue here is not the validity or morality of animal research, nor is it the efficacy of controversial tactics. Differences of opinion on those issues no longer matter. What’s at issue is whether the War on Terrorism should be used to target protesters as terrorists."

FBI Arrests 4 Activists as “Terrorists” for Chalking Slogans, Leafleting and Protesting | Federal Authorities Arrest Peaceful Protesters | Coalition to Abolish the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act | Will Potter on the Green Scare | 5 Reasons for Activists to Cover Their Faces at Protests | Update on Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act Four | Solidarity with the AETA 4! | Snitch Hunt

Previous Indybay Features: FBI Collects DNA Samples and Issues Grand Jury Subpoena in Santa Cruz || Affidavit Discloses UCPD "Cause" for Raid on Long Haul Infoshop || UCPD and Feds Raid Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley || FBI Agents Visit Individual's Workplace in Oakland || Police Raid House on Riverside Avenue in Santa Cruz, Again || Home, Auto of UC Santa Cruz Researchers Set Ablaze || Police Raid Activist House in Santa Cruz || Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act Passes
Sea Shepherd Returns From the Whale Wars Since December, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been pursuing and disrupting whaling operations by a Japanese fleet that illegally hunts whales in the waters around Australia and the Antarctic seas under the guise of "research." Confrontations included the Sea Sheperd ship, the Steve Irwin, lobbing rotten butter onto the decks of the whaling ships as well as directly ramming whaling ships on the open seas at times. The whalers in turn have used sonic weapons to retaliate against the crew of the Steve Irwin. After three months of operations attempting to prevent the illegal whaling, the Sea Sheperd crew are returning to better prepare for future battles with the whalers.

Captain Paul Watson summarizes recent events: "I have said always said that we would do everything we can short of hurting people to end illegal whaling in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. We have done everything we could with the resources available to us this year. We have shut down their illegal operations for over a month in total. We have cost them money and we have saved the lives of a good many whales. And although we are willing to take the risks required, even to our own lives, I am not prepared to do to the Japanese whalers what they do to the whales and the escalating violence by the whalers will result in some serious injuries and possibly fatalities if this confrontation continues to escalate."

Read More | Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Indymedia.org coverage

videoVideo: Ramming the Japanese whaling ship | Sea Shepherd collides with whaling harpoon ship | Whalers use acoustic weapon on Sea Shepherd in High Seas Confrontations
audioAudio: Two Sea Shepherd activists injured by whaler violence | Sea Shepherds sail out to confront whalers
Reports: Sea Shepherd Rams Harpoon ship while under Sonic Attack | The Battle for the Whales Turns Ugly in the Ross Sea | Taking on Goliath: Whaling and the Contradictions of International Conservation Law | Sea Shepherd: Whalers using Weapons in violation of Antarctic Treaty | Whalers refuse Sea Shepherd help in search for missing crew member | Whales to the slaughter as Sea Shepherd forced to Refuel | In the whale wars, the good guys wear black and fly the skull and crossbones | Ships Collide: Whalers and Sea Shepherd clash in Australian Antarctic waters | Sea Shepherd Clashes With Whaling Fleet in Australian Waters | Christmas Message from the Captain of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin | Heavy Ice Conditions Hinder Sea Shepherd Pursuit of Whalers | Sea Shepherd in pursuit of Whalers in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary | Sea Shepherd Has the Japanese Whaling Fleet on the Run | Sea Shepherd Will Oppose Japanese Whalers Alone - Why no Greenpeace?
Prop 2 Inspires Formation of Grassroots Animal Rights Group Mark Hawthorne writes: One of the most exciting results of Proposition 2 — California’s successful campaign to ban battery cages for hens, gestation crates pigs and veal crates for calves — is that it energized activists across the United States, introducing a new generation of animal advocates to the horrors of factory farming. Many of these people had known little, if anything, about agribusiness practices. But they literally took up the Prop 2 banner, getting involved in the fight to end the use of intensive-confinement devices in California.

Now, taking advantage of the momentum generated by the California voter initiative, a group of activists has formed the Farm Animal Protection Project (FAPP). Located in Sonoma County, FAPP is an all-volunteer group that will use the knowledge, skills and tactics learned during the year-long Prop 2 battle and apply them to a permanent campaign for animals. The group will use leafleting, tabling, food outreach, film screenings, special events and other tactics to educate companies, schools and the public on how easy it is to reduce cruelty to animals, including not buying eggs from caged hens — or, better yet, not buying eggs at all.

Read More

Previous Indybay Coverage of Prop 2
Thu Jan 22 2009 (Updated 01/24/09) Indymedia Server in Manchester Seized by Authorities
On January 22, police seized an Indymedia server in Manchester, England. Kent Police had e-mailed UK Indymedia earlier in the day in regards to two comments containing the address of a judge that had been posted to the site. It is believed the search and seizure was connected to postings about a recent Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) trial in the UK. The seizure specifically targeted a server named "Strummer" which functions as a mirror of the UK site and does not actually receive submissions from users. The server was reportedly handed over to police by hosting company UK Grid without a warrant being served.
Animal Rights Activists in UK Convicted of Blackmail On December 23rd, four out of five activists on trial at Winchester Crown Court, UK were found guilty of 'Conspiracy to Blackmail' Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) after a three and a half month long trial. The world's corporate media, prompted by police press officers, were quick to condemn Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) by providing examples of harassment against the employees of HLS and their customers, shareholders and investors.

Illegal actions taken against HLS, but not linked to those convicted, were pointed to as evidence of the defendants' extremism. Police spokesmen and the National Extremist Coordination Unit, the branch of the police set up to eliminate the animal rights movement and other expressions of the public's dissent, hailed the convictions as a victory. What was not examined in the media was the worrying development of the repressive use of the law which lead to the conviction of the four defendants.

The trial is part of a larger attack on the animal rights movement. In May this year, Sean Kirtley, an activist involved with Stop Sequani Animal Torture (SSAT), was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for updating a website with news about a legal, nonviolent campaign to close down Sequani laboratories in Ledbury. Read More

see also: SHAC v HLS | Strategic Importance of HLS in the broader anticapitalist fight | Indymedia UK SHAC topic page
From the open publishing newswire: "That's how the corporate university works. It's because of the licensing of bovine growth hormone (rBGH) by the UC system (human growth hormone is also a UC patent). In the past (before Bayh-Dole in 1980), any company that wanted to use the results of academic research for their business could - but with Bayh-Dole came the exclusive licensing of patents to private industry, for which the UC gets a little cut, as do the professors who created the patent - at taxpayer expense."
rescued_hens_1208.jpg A rescue effort by local animal protection groups has saved 650 hens from a California egg farm. The hens were rescued on Friday and Saturday from battery cages and will soon be placed in permanent homes. Coordinating the effort was Animal Place, a farmed-animal sanctuary and education center in Vacaville, about 45 miles northeast of San Francisco. Kim Sturla, Animal Place's director, is working with other local organizations to find homes for the hens. These groups include Marin Humane Society, Sacramento SPCA and Sonoma Humane Society. Although California voters recently approved a measure that will phase out battery cages and other intensive-confinement devices, that law will not take effect until 2015. Meanwhile, nearly 19 million hens languish in battery cages in California, making these 650 hens especially lucky. All the birds rescued were considered “spent” hens. The egg industry deems a hen “spent” when her egg production has dropped and it’s no longer economically viable to continue feeding her, typically after two years.

Read More
Prop 2 Passage Represents Landmark Victory for Animals in Largest Ag State On November 4th, 2008, California voters passed Proposition 2 by a 63% to 36% margin. The new "Standards for Confining Farm Animals" statute, originally known as the "The California Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act," phases out some of the most restrictive confinement systems used by factory farms — gestation crates for breeding pigs, veal crates for calves, and battery cages for egg laying hens — affecting 20 million farm animals in the state by granting them space to stand up, stretch their limbs, turn around and lie down comfortably. The YES on Prop 2 campaign was run by Californians for Humane Farms, a coalition headed by Farm Sanctuary and the Humane Society of the United States. Farm Sanctuary's Gene Baur released a statement on the Prop 2 victory:

"The passage of Prop 2 in the country's largest agricultural state marks a monumental victory for farm animals. This campaign did an amazing job of raising public awareness about the cruel treatment farm animals endure at the hands of an industry that has consistently fought meaningful change for animals.... Today marks a significant change in the way we view and treat farm animals and falls closer in line with public sentiments and values of compassion. We look forward to seeing these confinement systems phased out nationwide."

Huge Victory for the Animals in California Factory Farms | Monumental Victory for Farm Animals | Landmark Day for Animals From Coast to Coast | Pointing fingers at Prop 2 will not help us repeal Prop 8

Previous Related Indybay Features: Anti-Cruelty Measure Certified for California’s November 2008 Ballot | California Bans Foie Gras (in 2004)
UC Berkeley Celebrates Primate Liberation Week On October 13th, a protest held outside of UC Berkeley's new animal testing facility drew media and cops. Cops vigilantly watched although the protest was calm. The protest marked National Primate Liberation Week, which featured demonstrations and press conferences across the country. The still-under construction Li Ka-Shing Center's basement level laboratory will lead to a seventy percent expansion of the existing Northwest Animal Facility come it's completion in March 2010. The University already experiments on approximately 40,000 animals at any given time, including at least 15 primates.

photoPhotos | More Info | USDA Report on Animals Used for Experimentation at UC Berkeley

For more info on Primate Liberation Week, visit: http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/event-nplw-announce.html.
Following last month's raid of the venerable Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley, UCPD is still holding the computers and data storage devices seized from the computer lab, Slingshot newspaper and other tenants for analysis by a forensics team. The San Francisco chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) says it is working with EFF on a legal response on behalf of the Long Haul.
iCal feed From the Calendar:
7:30PM Saturday Jul 11 San Francisco Vegan Prom
9AM Monday Jul 13 AETA4 Court Appearance
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Upcoming AETA4 Court Dates AETA4 Support
Thursday Jul 2nd 4:28 PM
Government files reponses to AETA4 motion to dismiss AETA 4 Support (10 comments)
Tuesday Jun 16th 12:52 AM
Lierre Keith's Elaborate, Self-Congratulatory Excuse for Abandoning Veganism at BT Books nothing with a face (13 comments)
Friday Jun 12th 6:15 PM
Petition to Congress: Repeal the AETA via CCR
Friday May 29th 12:01 PM
Loud Anti-Animal / Children Frequency on Bernal Hill (no joke) anonymous (3 comments)
Friday May 29th 9:23 AM
AETA4 motion to dismiss filed AETA4 Support (3 comments)
Friday May 22nd 8:18 PM
Is Chanting Terrorism? 4 Charged Under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act Slingshot (9 comments)
Tuesday Apr 28th 1:21 PM
AETA4 Update AETA4.org (1 comment)
Friday Apr 17th 1:04 PM
Former Political Prisoner Peter Young Speaks BOAA (5 comments)
Monday Apr 6th 9:36 PM
Oakland Animal Shelter Director, Adam Parascandola, Resigns anonymous (1 comment)
Wednesday Mar 25th 6:48 PM
Navy Militarizes Coastal Waters Christina Aanestad (3 comments)
Tuesday Mar 24th 6:19 PM
Donate and support the AETA4! AETA4 Defense Fund (9 comments)
Friday Mar 20th 11:55 AM
More Local News...
Declare dog Independence Day Lindsay Pollard-Post
Thursday Jul 2nd 12:09 PM
Sea Shepherd: Two ships to Challenge Japanese whaling fleet Takver - Sydney Indymedia
Thursday Jun 25th 9:46 AM
Slaughterhouses: Where racehorses go to ‘retire’ Kathy Guillermo
Thursday Jun 25th 9:29 AM
Bioterror, Swine Flu, H1N1, Roche, Gilead, Glaxo and other scam profiteering Pharm Watch (1 comment)
Tuesday Jun 16th 4:14 PM
Jimmy Buffett's Jamaica dog sled team training to race in cruel Iditarod  Sled Dog Action Coalition
Wednesday Jun 10th 7:52 AM
Denver Nuggets Owner Connected To Mammal Genocide Knowledge Is Power
Friday May 29th 12:51 PM
Meet your meat By Paula Moore (1 comment)
Thursday May 28th 11:29 AM
Animal Liberation Front Delivers 4 Incendiary Devices to Nevada Primate Supplier animal liberation press office (2 comments)
Wednesday May 27th 10:15 PM
Cruelty on the midway By Desiree Acholla
Tuesday May 26th 2:14 PM
ALERT: Humane Society of Central OR promotes cruel Iditarod and musher - WRITE Sled Dog Action Coalition (8 comments)
Sunday May 17th 10:54 AM
More Global News...
Looking at the World Through a Fly’s Eye Ingrid E. Newkirk (1 comment)
Sunday Jun 21st 12:39 PM
NPR Tries to Erase Upton Sinclair's Work Truth To Power (1 comment)
Tuesday Jun 9th 8:33 AM
Canada's Gov Gen'l Eats Heart of Just Murdered Seal[/ Seattle Times Excerpts (1 comment)
Tuesday May 26th 6:43 PM
Feinstein's husband criminalizes AR protests at Univ of Calif. Impeach Feinstein
Thursday May 14th 9:20 AM
Federal Trial Exposes Ringling Bros.’ Systematic Mistreatment of Elephants Nicole G. Paquette, emagazine
Wednesday May 13th 10:42 AM
Illegal Whaling By Canada, Seal Clubbing Nation Colombo
Tuesday May 12th 5:38 PM
Childhood Vaccine Pusher Giuliani Appointee Nominated to FDA FDA Watcher
Thursday May 7th 10:37 AM
Hiding Animal Murder Through Semantics Niemus
Thursday May 7th 6:14 AM
Animal Advocacy & Cruelty-Free Living Choices for Tomorrow (CFT)
Saturday May 2nd 7:26 PM
Files for Online Sit In defr
Thursday Apr 23rd 7:43 PM
Join the Online Sit In Against HLS-THIS FRIDAY!!! none
Saturday Apr 18th 9:09 PM
Open Newswire...
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