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Federal agents have been targeting Animal Rights activists in the Bay Area — arresting one, following and detaining others, raiding two homes, and posting a new bulletin for a "wanted" suspect. Peter Young was arrested on March 21st in San Jose. Federal officials have accused him of freeing some 8,000 mink from fur farms in Wisconsin, South Dakota and Iowa. He had been sought since 1998 after being indicted, along with Justin Samuel, on charges of violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. He now faces up to 82 years in prison. Justin Samuel was caught by authorities in 1999. After agreeing to implicate Peter Young in a plea agreement, Samuel eventually served two years in prison and is now free and living in San Diego. Despite repeated efforts to reintegrate himself into the animal rights movement, activists have shunned Samuel as untrustworthy and a snitch.

At 6am, Sunday April 10th, members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI, ATF, Secret Service, Coast Guard, and local police raided activist homes with guns drawn. Since the arrest of Peter Young in Santa Clara County, there have been increasing levels of activity by the Feds in the counties of San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz. The scope of the warrants issued suggests that their primary emphasis is on targeting people who are doing support work for Peter. All materials related to his support campaign found at the homes were seized, and people who have visited Peter in jail, or attended court dates have been followed.

Meanwhile, the FBI is still looking for Daniel Andreas San Diego, their prime suspect in the 2003 bombings of two East Bay companies targeted by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC). Last week, an updated bulletin seeking his arrest was posted and distributed widely across the mainstream media regarding new information the FBI has apparently gathered regarding distinctive tattoos. The source of the information is unknown at this time.

SupportPeter.com · Related Reports: 1 | 2
Reports on San Diego and East Bay Bombings: 1 | 2 | 3
Reports on SHAC Arrests Last Year and More: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Almost two months ago, Kentucky Fried Chicken was one of the most protested chain stores targeted by animal rights activists (previous reports: 1 | 2 ). In response to the building public pressure, KFC entered into negotiations with PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and protests were suspended for a period of six weeks. PETA spokespeople now claim that negotiations with KFC have broken down, and they "still aren't planning to take the recommendations of their own advisors to eliminate the worst abuses of the chickens raised and killed for their restaurants". PETA is now calling for a "Month of Action Against KFC" and is offering free materials for groups that organize local demonstrations. KFC has come under fire because of their policies in regards to slaughtering, housing, and gathering the 800,000 chickens it processed every year. Read More

Summary of Peta/KFC Meeting
PETA's Ongoing Kentucky Fried Cruelty Campaign
Check Indybay's Animal Liberation Calendar for Local Events

To protest and draw media attention to UCSF's dog vivisection program, a Dog March was held Sunday, April 10th at the university's Mission Bay Campus in San Francisco. A large turnout of eighty-four activists plus fifty-two dogs protested the experiments that will make use of 750 dogs. "It's great to see so many people and dogs here to draw attention to this cruel and unnecessary invasive animal research," said demonstrator Nora Kramer, who attended the march with her 15-year-old Black Lab mix Spanky. "The dogs used in these experiments deserve as much compassion and protection from cruelty as the companion dogs we live with." The research, which involves placing pacemakers in otherwise healthy dogs, resulting in heart failure for some of them and the eventual euthanasia of all of them, has been denounced by animal rights activists as not only cruel but also scientifically invalid and unnecessary. Some argue that better scientific results can be achieved using humane human-based research methods. “Better information is available from clinical and epidemiological observations, surgical and procedural results, autopsies and human studies involving cardiac imaging and electro physiological tests,” said cardiologist Dr. John J. Pippin of the PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine).

Reports & Photos: 1 | 2 · Previous UCSF Protest Coverage
Details of dog experiments and others at UCSF
In Defense of Animals' Vivisection Information website

Despite being the target of protests since the 1960s, recent worldwide protests prior to the hunt, and the presence at the hunt itself of numerous protestors from organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Sea Shepherd, this year's Canadian seal hunt, which started March 29th, continues unabated with 20-30,000 pups being killed per day. Many countries, including the United States, ban imports of seal products. The hunt, though, still earned about $16.5 million last year, mostly from pelt sales to Norway, Denmark and China. Clubs, rifles and spears are used to kill the animals en masse for their fur. Regulations require that hunters ensure their prey is dead before moving on but animal activists say they have witnessed otherwise and that the pups are are often skinned alive. Up to 300,000 seal pups may be legally slaughtered per year, as the Canadian government has recently increased the totals allowed. Confrontations between hunters and observers have become heated at times. Hunters have physically attacked some observers. Gunfire has also been used seemingly to scare off those who are lawfully observing the hunts. There are laws which govern how close to a hunt observers may come (10 meters) and several animal activists have been beaten and arrested by authorities for breaching this distance although the activists deny they were in violation of the perimeter of an active hunt. This year, HSUS has called for a boycott of Canadian seafood by American distributors, restaurants, and consumers to exert economic pressure on the Canadian government to stop future seal hunts.

Photos · Audio from KPFA · Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Early in 2004, Calle, an Asian elephant, and Maybelle, an African elephant, both died at the SF Zoo due to captivity-related health problems. Their deaths set into motion a maelstrom that involved animal rights activists, sanctuaries, politicians, and zoo accreditators. After nearly 9 months of hard work by activists (letter writing, attending City meetings, leafleting the zoo every weekend, gathering signatures, monitoring the elephants, etc), the SF Zoo decided to transfer an Asian elephant named Tinkerbelle to the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) sanctuary where she would have the space that elephants need to stay healthy. The American Zoo and Aquarium Association threatened to remove the SF Zoo's accreditation if Tinkerbelle was not transferred to another zoo instead. Despite the threat, after spending 37 years in a small enclosure at the zoo, Tinkerbelle was moved to the sanctuary on November 28, 2004. At the time, Tinkerbelle was already in very "fragile" condition due to the severe arthritis and foot and joint problems she had developed at the zoo. Activists had hoped the move was not too late. In December of 2004, the SF Board of Supervisors approved a law that contains so many restrictions for keeping elephants that it amounts to a de facto ban on them for the SF Zoo. Lulu, an African elephant, the last elephant at the SF Zoo, was moved to PAWS on March 10, 2005. Unfortunately, on March 24, after only 4 months at the sanctuary, Tinkerbelle collapsed and was subsequently euthanized. Many reacted with sadness to the news as elephants in the wild survive nearly twice as long as those in captivity. Some turned to anger, publicly questioning the care Tinkerbelle received at the sanctuary. Most, though, found solace in the fact that the larger battle to remove elephants permanently from the zoo has been won and there will be no more Tinkerbelles at the SF Zoo.

Recent Accounts of Tinkerbelle at PAWS: Report | Video
Recent History of Tinkerbelle: 1 | 2 | 3
Contention Over Tinkerbelle's Care at PAWS: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Captive Elephants Elsewhere: Anchorage 1 | 2, Connecticut, Chicago (#3), Detroit, & Central Valley, CA
IDA's Campaign to Help Stamp Out Captive Elephant Foot Disease

As Easter Sunday approached, a day that also marks the beginning of spring and the rebirth of life in nature, a number of activists used the occasion to remind the public that the holiday is meant to be a celebration of life by demonstrating and distributing infomation against the Easter-related exploitation of animals, from pigs and ducks to rabbits and baby chicks. On Saturday March 26, members of Bakersfield Alliance for Animals protested Honey-Baked Ham sales in the Central Valley. The Bakersfield Alliance for Animals demonstrated outside of the Honey-Baked Ham store on Ming Ave. to discourage people from buying hams for Easter Day. There were eight of them there, holding signs saying such things as "Does your food have a face?" and "Why call some animals pets and others food?" A couple even had gruesome pictures of how pigs are treated in the factory farms that they were raised in. Photos
More Info on Easter and Animals: In Defense of Animals | Viva!USA

The Lark Creek Inn Restaurant in Larkspur has not returned activists calls for a meeting to discuss the end of the sale of foie gras at their restaurant with local activists. Activists have hand delivered letters, packages of facts and video tape footage of the cruel process of producing foie gras to the restaurant. The Marin Peace and Justice Animal Rights Committee is now officially calling for a boycott of The Lark Creek Inn restaurant until they stop buying and selling foie gras. Foie Gras is a product of ducks being force fed nearly four pounds of corn mush a day through metal pipes shoved down the birds’ throats until their livers explode and they die. The three daily force-feedings frequently choke, injure or kill the birds by gouging open their throats with the metal pipe. By the end of the force-feeding process, ducks are physically debilitated with livers five to ten times normal size and many are unable to stand or walk. Read more

Other Recent Coverage of Fight Against Foie Gras