Feature Archives

Bay Area Vegetarians (BAV) and other local grassroots groups are keeping the pressure on KFC for what activists say are well-documented practices of ongoing abuse to chickens. They claim chickens are routinely scalded alive, beaten and kicked. In addition, they say the chickens are pumped full of hormones and kept in crowded filthy conditions which frequently results in their inability to stand up or flap their wings. KFC has so far refused to implement comprehensive guidelines developed by its own animal welfare panelists to prevent these and other abuses. Until it does, activists everywhere are protesting. This weekend in the Bay Area, actions against KFC took place in S.F., Santa Clara, and other cities.

Photos from S.F. Demo

PETA's Ongoing Kentucky Fried Cruelty Campaign
Check Indybay's Animal Liberation Calendar for Future Local Events
Previous Indybay Coverage: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

On July 15, In Defense of Animals (IDA) and other animal protection groups, in solidarity with Animal Freedom Korea, held worldwide protests to coincide with the first of Korea's "Bok days," which literally means the hot, dog days of summer. South Korea's dog meat consumption increases during this time of year because some believe they can keep cool by eating animals that do not sweat. Although consumption of dogs and cats is technically illegal in South Korea, the government is now trying to effectively legalize it by regulating dog meat sanitation. The Government's stamp of approval is said by activists to be particularly indefensible given that the vast majority of Koreans oppose eating dogs and cats.

In San Francisco, activists gathered at the Korean Consulate at 3500 Clay St. to protest the government's actions and to deliver a petition with over 5,000 signatures demanding that the government enforce its own laws against the sale of dog and cat meat.

Video Coverage of SF Demo | Full report and pictures here

Previous Indybay Coverage of Korean Trade Expo Demo

July 12th, 8pm: A rally and vigil for David and Danae started at the Federal courthouse at 8pm, and soon after moved to the Federal Prison down the street. With chants of "Civil Rights are under attack, what do we do? Act Up, Fight Back!" and "Freedom Now!" the 35 demonstrators got responses both from the prisonsers inside (who banged on the windows) and the guards outside (who threatened to arrest anyone on Federal Property). Photos from the Rally
5pm: Michael Cardenas has finished testifying and has been dismissed. He expressed that he does not feel that he shared any information that wasn't already publicly available or already known to the prosecutors. Detailed account
3pm: Danae Kelley and David Agranoff have been taken into federal custody.
Photos from Press Conference
10 am: The judge denied all motions to dismiss the subpoena. The three activists were ordered to go back in court at 1 p.m. to testify and answer all questions from the grand jury. If they refuse to answer questions, the activists will be remanded into custody for as long as the grand jury is convened, or up to 18 months.

Last month, a number of activists were subpoenaed to testify before federal grand juries in both northern and southern California. (San Francisco Grand Jury Coverage) A bay area teach-in on grand juries, entitled The Master’s Tools: How the Government Manipulates the Legal System to Suppress Dissent, was held July 12th at AK Press in Oakland.

Background Report on San Diego Grand Jury

Full Coverage at San Diego Indymedia

The Ringling Brothers Circus, a subsidiary of Feld Entertainment, stands accused by animal advocates of torturing elephants and other animals with whips, tight collars, muzzles, electric prods, bullhooks, and other painful tools of the trade. With this summer's circus season in full swing, the industry is already facing several fines nationwide levied for injuries and mistreatment of animals.

In Fresno, dozens of activists from throughout the Central Valley and the Bay Area joined Fresno Voices for Animals for five days of protests against Ringling Bros. On July 14th, five activists were arrested outside Selland Arena in downtown Fresno while protesting the circus. Despite this and repeated threats from Feld, arena officials, and Fresno police, activists persevered. They banged drums, displayed a twenty foot banner and numerous signs including a five foot tombstone listing animals that have died in Ringling's "care", took backstage photos of Ringling animal handlers with bullhooks, and handed out thousands of pieces of literature detailing the abuse of circus animals. Many patrons of Ringling/Feld stopped to learn more from activists about animal treatment in the circus, and many declared that this would be their last animal circus show.

Reports & Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 · Video

Upcoming Ringling Protest/Leafletting Schedules: Bay Area in August

Fresno Voices For Animals Circus Protests in 2004: 1 | 2
More Information on Animals in Circuses: Circuses.com

Kelah Bott, in the June issue of Fault Lines, writes:
The movement for animal liberation is the bastard child of social justice. Many people fighting for justice on other issues simply don’t see it as relevant to their struggle. Animal liberation isn’t taken seriously, and those fighting for it often have their priorities questioned. Even as we fight for an egalitarian world, a hierarchy of social justice persists. Animal rights always takes a back seat to any other issue.

What many people don’t see is that it is all part of the same struggle. The same system that exploits animals exploits workers, women, people of color and the environment. Read More

A demonstration was held in front of a Red Lobster in San Bruno June 25th in support of a nationwide campaign to end the annual Canadian seal hunt. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is encouraging Red Lobster to join with many other seafood restaurants and retailers in supporting their Boycott Canadian Seafood campaign until Canada permanently ends its seal slaughter. By the end of this year's slaughter, over 300,000 harp seals in Canada will have been killed. Red Lobster is being targeted because it is the number one seafood chain in the U.S and is a major importer of seafood from Canada. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Red Lobster is one of the largest consumers of Canadian crabs, and its imports of seafood from Canada extend far beyond crabs. Activists contend that the connection between Canada's commercial seal hunt, Canada's commercial fishing industry, and Red Lobster as a major purchaser of seafood gives Red Lobster and its customers the power to help bring Canada's annual seal slaughter to an end. Read More with Photos

HSUS's Campaign to Boycott Canadian Seafood
Previous Indybay Coverage of Seal Hunt and Related Protests: 1 | 2

East Bay Animal Advocates (EBAA) has a growing reputation among animal protectionists as one of only a handful of organizations in the U.S. currently engaged in open rescues. From its base in Oakland, EBAA focuses on education, legislation, and rescue work for animals. Christine, founder of EBAA, and her team use video and still cameras to document the conditions they see, publicizing the images online and sending them to the media to counter demonstrably false statements such those made by the California Poultry Federation president that turkeys in California are "living in better conditions than most humans." The group has also engaged in "open rescue", in which activists go onto farms and remove sick, dying, and dead animals, and document the conditions of animals on farms. View the full article from Satya magazine here.