Feature Archives

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.

6/22 Update: No activists testified today in S.F.
Photos from the rally: 1 | 2

Ten Bay Area residents, who include animal advocates, alternative media members, prisoner rights activists, and members of the greater Bay Area progressive community, have been subpoenaed to a Federal Grand Jury in San Francisco. The first hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 22nd. Supporters of the Bay Area residents, as well as all those who seek to defend and keep free speech rights, have been invited to attend on a show of solidarity with those subpoenaed. The hearing will take place at 9am in the Federal Courthouse at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco. The date is subject to change, so people who plan to attend are encouraged to check FBIwitchHunt.com for updates. Animal Liberation supporters believe that the grand jury is an effort to intimidate them. Read More

In addition, as of 6/20, at least eight activists in San Diego have received grand jury subpoenas, and the Activist San Diego house in City Heights was visited by three federal agents. Audio

Listen to Grand Jury Teach-in Audio · Fault Lines article · Other Press: 1 | 2

FBI's New Heightened Focus on ALF, SHAC, and ELF
Related Congressional Hearings
Recent Indybay Coverage: 1 | 2 | 3

Recently, a family dog fatally mauled a 12-year old boy, an elderly woman was attacked by dogs, and others in public parks have been attacked by escaped dogs, all in San Francisco. In consideration of these recent tragic events, SFDOG will be hosting a town hall forum on aggression in dogs Tuesday, June 21st, 7:30pm. A panel of experts will discuss what we as individuals, a community, and a city can and should do to address the problems caused by aggressive dogs. The discussion will be moderated, with an extended period for questions from the audience. People are encouraged to attend this informational forum on how to deal with aggression in dogs. Read More on Forum

Since the attacks, some have defended Pit Bulls by organizing a Dog Walk in SF June 11th (Photos · TV Coverage). These fans and defenders of the breed plan to hold another walk in Sacramento July 2nd. Others meanwhile, such as PETA's Ingrid Newkirk, have discussed banning pit bull breeding all together.

In Defense of Animals (IDA) and BAARN co-sponsored a protest at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to return the spotlight on the University's determination to conduct painful heart experiments on hundreds of dogs. Several advocates brought their dogs to remind people that the animals used in experiments are living beings with feelings and personalities. This event was similar to the Dog March that the groups held in April, which drew public and media attention to the plight of UCSF's animal victims. Before UCSF's students and staff left for summer break, they held a follow-up dog protest. This time it was at the main campus of UCSF (a different location than original), on May 25, Wednesday, at 10 A.M. A number of activists took the morning off to go with their canine companions. Dr. Katz of In Defense of Animals was there again and the groups received more media attention for the plight of animals at UCSF including broadcast news coverage.

Photos | UCSF Fact Sheet | IDA's www.vivisectioninfo.org
Post-Protest Call to Action

Indybay Coverage of Previous UCSF Demo