Feature Archives

GARDINER, MONTANA - Yellowstone National Park officials captured 53 wild American bison on February 8th inside the Stephens Creek bison trap located within Yellowstone National Park's borders. The captured bison are members of the last wild, genetically intact population existing in the United States, and number fewer than 4,600. Most, if not all, will be sent to slaughter without being tested for brucellosis antibodies.

On February 2nd, a number of animal rights/liberation activists demonstrated for about three hours outside of J.Malnick Clothing at 1901 Broadway St. in Downtown Oakland. J.Malnick is Oakland's only major fur retailer, which sells both full length fur coats and fur-trimmed items as part of their inventory. Activists turned many customers away (who vowed to never shop there again) much to the dismay of the store's employees.

On January 9th, Peter Young spoke at the Long Haul in Berkeley prior to a screening of "Behind the Mask: The Story Of The People Who Risk Everything To Save Animals." Peter says that the film was not intended to entertain, but rather to confront viewers with their own inaction while pulling the mask away from the people in the movie so that viewers see themselves. He emphasized that there are no experts in direct action or animal rights actions and that "every single one of us is an animal liberator."

During the early hours of January 15th, two crew members of the Sea Shepherd vessel, 'Steve Irwin', were taken hostage by the Japanese harpoon vessel 'Yushin Maru No. 2'. The incident occurred in the area of 60 Degrees South and 78 Degrees East about 2500 miles southwest of Fremantle, Western Australia and 2800 miles southeast of Cape Town, South Africa. Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane boarded the vessel to deliver a letter to the Japanese captain stating that the whalers were in violation of international conservation law by targeting endangered species in an established whale sanctuary and in violation of a global moratorium on commercial whaling. The hostage situation ended on January 17th.

The California Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act would prohibit some of the most egregious practices in factory farming such as packing egg-laying hens into wire "battery cages" and confining pregnant pigs and baby calves in crates so small that the animals cannot even turn around. Volunteers are currently working to collect 650,000 signatures by the end of February to place the measure on the ballot in the November 2008 general election.

On Friday, November 24th, ("Fur-Free Friday") approximately 10 individuals protested the selling of fur at J. Malnick's at 1901 Broadway in Oakland. Protesters educated passers-by about the horrors of the fur industry, including how animals are commonly killed using cruel methods including poisoning, gassing and anal electrocution and how cat and dog fur is often mislabeled as coming from another animal. Further demonstrations have been regularly scheduled.

On December 14th, Rod Coronado entered a guilty plea in federal court in San Diego to one count of distribution of information related to the assembly of explosives and weapons of mass destruction. This was the charge that Rod had fought for almost two years and for which he faced approximately five to ten years in prison if found guilty at trial. Rod stated in an open letter that “hopefully this plea agreement will once and for all grant me closure in a well-known campaign of repression against me for my past involvement, association and support for covert campaigns against environmental destroyers and animal abusers..."