FREE FELIX, Demo report + Banner drop pictures!

As part of the Felix Solidarity Day on the 4th August, activists from Gloucestershire Animal Action unfurled a 12ft by 12ft banner which read “FREE FELIX, STOP THE OXFORD LAB” (See pic below) from the top of the Beechwood Arcade in Cheltenham Towns busy shopping area in Gloucestershire.

The banner was left hanging for around 30-40 minutes before security from the arcade along with community police officers ran to try and apprehend the individual who dropped the banner, although no laws were broken and the roof is accessible via a fire escape with no private property warnings? The banner was eventually taken down by security.

Simultaneous demos were taking place during the banner drop outside Vodaphone and Thomas Cook with a huge amount of public support(to the horror of community police who were told to monitor all protests for the day). four information stalls were set up with loads of speak / vivisection info, petitions, AR and vegan outreach materials were available to members of the public.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Felix, Felix is the name given by vivisector Tipu Aziz to a macaque monkey whom he intends to abuse and torture for the next few years. The irony of his naming should not be lost on us. Tipu Aziz avowedly has no feelings for animals, yet he has chosen a name for the animal that is to be his slave. Aziz has freely admitted: if it was left up to him he would kill animals in order to test cosmetics and Aziz also believes we should be experimenting on Great Apes.

Felix is the monkey who featured in the recent BBC2 documentary, ‘Monkeys, Rats and Me’, aired on 27th November, 2006, which showed the sanitized, ‘acceptable’ face of vivisection that vivisectors want the public to see. The BBC issued an apology to Europeans for medical progress regarding the bias of the documentary maker (this can be viewed here) and invited EMP to be involved in arguing the anti vivisection side of the story in future documentaries.

Free Felix Solidarity Day.

Gloucestershire Animal Action will be running a stall to help raise awareness for Felix and all the other sentient beings that are suffering at the bloody hands of Oxford University and in laboratories all across the world. Please come and help us pass on this vital message to the public.

Location: Cheltenham Town centre, near to the Beechwood Arcade.

Time: 1.30pm onwards

Date: 4th of August

For more info please contact us.

For more information about Felix and the campaign against the Oxford torture lab visit the SPEAK website please visit www.speakcampaigns.org

Activists help flood victims Foie Gras sellers the George Hotel refuses aid.

Activists from Gloucestershire Animal Action took a break from constant protests to help flood victims on Royal Well Road on Friday after a storm drain went out of control. Activists spend several hours helping to sandbag the homes and gardens of local residents.Unfortunately we quickly ran out of sandbags but had a large amount of sand still available, so was asked politely if the George Hotel could let us use some pillow cases to fill with sand, the staff member smirked and refused. He was then told that the homes of the elderly were flooding round in the lane and it wouldn’t hurt to give us ten cases to save the homes of local residents we would pay for them if needs be. “Sorry, cant help you.”

After an hour of trying desperately to construct flood defences using any available materials we approached the George again and luckily spoke to a more sympathetic staff member who could obviously see that despite our differences in regards to the Foie Gras demos we were trying to help people who’s lives were going to be turned upside down if we did not hurry. We were given 6 pillow cases which were immediately filled and placed in doorways.

The defences held long enough for a pump to arrive and the lane was drained over a matter of hours.

Omnivorous “Cat and Dog” Hypocrisy

After reading a news article yesterday entitled “Teen Girls Accused of Setting Kitten Ablaze” which described teenage girls setting alight to a kitten for “their own amusement”, I was reading through the visitor comments in which various people had made their stance clear about what they might consider to be justice for such a crime. The comments included “I’d burn them (the girls) and laugh.” And “I think they should be put into a mental institution so they can receive the proper care”. This of course is no surprise to hear how sentimental people feel about the life of an innocent kitty, these comments did however come across as somewhat hypocritical.

Why were these girls torturing a kitten? Amusement.

Would it have been more morally acceptable if they would have asked another individual to torture and kill the cat? When this question is asked to most people they would confirm it is just as unacceptable. When asked if they consume animal products most would reply “yes”, when asked why they eat meat, most would reply “I like the taste”.

This poses an awkward dilemma for those who eat meat and other animal products…

Why is it morally unacceptable for the girls to torture a kitten for amusement but it is morally acceptable for an individual to pay for another individual to kill / enslave / torture other sentient beings because they like the taste? Surely as excuses go there is little difference.

There is no disputing that animals feel pain as humans do and farmed animals feel pain just as our companion animals do? So why do we continue to knowingly cause suffering when we can choose a life of doing no harm? Buying free range does nothing for animals, with DEFRA guidelines animals can be kept in barns by the thousands and still be sold as free range, free range organic beef means nothing accept the usual chemicals that are pumped into animals to stop them getting infections and diseases are not used. There are no guarantees with a humane existence and most of all there is no ethical way to take another animals life.

Veganism as a compassionate lifestyle choice therefore should be the baseline for our moral stance in regards to the interests of the animal kingdom. Veganism is healthy, it removes you from the ongoing loop of exploitation of animals (including humans) and environment, not to mention it has been shown to be a much cleaner healthier dietary choice for human beings. You can find out more about veganism from www.vegansociety.com or email us info@stopanimalcruelty.co.uk for more information and meal ideas!

Further reading about the Abolitionist approach to animal rights can be found on Prof. Gary L. Franciones site www.abolitionistapproach.com

Chris

Shocking Foie Gras video report from Quebec

Foie Gras – A report from the frontlines

We apologise for the lack of updates but we have been on the Foie Gras frontlines literally over the past weeks with only two days rest. We have been relentless in our resolve for the ducks and geese that are tortured for the vile Foie Gras industry.

Unsurprisingly the police and NETCU have been rather unrelenting as well during our lawful protests making six wrongful arrests on two occasions for supposed tresspass / breach of the peace etc. We had a sergeant shoulder barge one young protester for looking through the window of the police car. We have been moved away using Section 14 notices, we have been told we would be nicked and “I don’t need evidence I just need reasonable suspicion” (this is right but knowing full well we haven’t broken the law makes this a bit of an threat). We have been told to “Grow up, animals will always be used and we can’t stop it” by a custody sergeant. Not to mention being told by two cops on separate occasions “We WILL stop your protests you know”. Better get an armed response unit out quick because you will have to pry MY placard from my death grip.

Anyway we don’t want to concentrate on the cops, they will be self-”cop”ulating over the idea of being mentioned on the internet as it is.

Our protests at the Queens Hotel have a history, for those of you we started protests around a year and a half ago but the protests were few and far between as our group were concentrating on fur campaigning during this time. It took around 8 protests without a break for them to question whether it is really worth losing customers over one item on the menu. A constant police presence further enhanced the effect of our protests reducing the Queens to the status of a grotty bed and breakfast in Blackpool rather than the pride of Cheltenham Spa. They definitely tried every trick in the book to stop the protests they lied to the police telling them a protester entered the hotel and started harassing staff (which resulted in five arrested) and they told one protester “I could kill you like that” (snapping fingers). But eventually they took down the menu and we received confirmation via email that they had permanently removed Foie Gras from the menu.

During our protests at the Queens to keep the local law keepers on their toes we broke away to give our friends at Lumiere some attention. After three days of returning and countless apologies and free bottles of wine to their patrons and a year after the chef cooked “Foie Gras” for protesters to try and then attempted to throw it at protesters (he was then reprimanded by the police), the owner approached activists with a statement “Foie gras has been permanently removed from our menus”.

La Scala and Merlot Brassiere are literally opposite each other, unluckily for both of these businesses (and the ducks and geese who suffer for Foie Gras) road names aren’t the only thing they have in common, they both serve(d) Foie gras. We try to focus our protests at these two businesses on Saturdays as they are closed most evenings when the majority of our protests take place. After around seven protests La Scala informed us that they had permanently removed Foie Gras from the menu as a result of the protests. Unfortunately Merlot continues to sell Foie Gras – Contact details below.

Yesterday (17th July 2007) saw Hotel on the Park receive their first protest, they were very understanding and removed the menu and have now confirmed the removal of foie gras from the menus via email – many thanks to them.

Protests at Monty’s and the George Hotel in Cheltenham are ongoing and they have received half a dozen protests so far with many free bottles of wine being offered because of the protesters causing such a “disturbance”. They produced yesterday a letter saying the are now serving Foie Gras from “Free range” ducks (not geese because that is apparently more cruel?!) that are NOT FORCE FED!?!?!! Had they said they had sourced the Foie Gras from Spain we might have been more convinced, but they confirmed it was a French supplier.

Foie gras (French for “fat liver”) is “the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by gavage” (as defined by French law [1]).

[1] French rural code L654-27-1: “On entend par foie gras, le foie d’un canard ou d’une oie spécialement engraissé par gavage.” (“By “foie gras” one is to understand the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened by gavage”).

During one protest at Monty’s and the George police seized a banner that read “SERVING DISEASED MEAT” although Foie gras literally is diseased meat (liver disease – hepatic lipidosis). The police said our text only banner had “Caused alarm and distress”. Even if it is totally true. We continued to inform the public loudly that they are serving diseased meat which may have been prepared next to the meals they were eating.

Bistro Scena have had a fair few protests outside and the tiny French fellow and tall chef always like to make a comment or try to humiliate themselves in front of the restaurant patrons. On one occasion last week they managed to exit the restaurant and attack our group in front of two dinners who were wholly supportive of our campaign. Needless to say for a dinner to break up a brawl between activists and restaurant staff showed the level of stupidity they are serving at this particular place. What caused the battle to ensue? The petite owner of Bistro Scena decided he could threaten a younger member of the group to stop the protest and was filmed, when he realised his actions were being recorded he lunged at the person filming and went into a frenzied attack… no doubt fearful that the police might not like his threatening behaviour.

Anyway the battle continues on the Foie Gras frontline. More info coming soon…

So far we have received confirmation from: Queens Hotel, Lumiere, La Scala, Frere Jacques.

Watch this space…

Chris

Please Contact the following businesses using the details below.

Merlot Brasserie
merlotbrasserie@hotmail.co.uk
phone: 01242 574008

Monty’s Brasserie
hotel@stayatthegeorge.co.uk
Phone: 01242 227678

Bistro Scena
info@bistro-scena.co.uk
Phone: 01242 238134

Cheltenham Hamper Company
sales@cheltenhamhampers.com
Phone: 0870 203 3000

Kandinsky
kandinsky@aliashotels.com
Phone: 01242 527788

Le Champignon Sauvage
mail@lechampignonsauvage.co.uk
Phone: 01242 573449

The Daffodil
eat@thedaffodil.com
01242 700055

All emails:

merlotbrasserie@hotmail.co.uk; hotel@stayatthegeorge.co.uk; info@bistro-scena.co.uk; sales@cheltenhamhampers.com; kandinsky@aliashotels.com; mail@lechampignonsauvage.co.uk; eat@thedaffodil.com

(Please be lawful in your communications – it does nothing for animals if you are aggressive or threatening)

Five wrongful arrests during peaceful foie gras protest at the Queens Hotel

Five activists from Gloucestershire Animal Action were arrested on Tuesday 27th June during a peaceful demonstration outside the Queens Hotel in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Two undercover police officers were on site from 5pm and a uniformed police officer was on site at around 5:30pm to tell the protesters to be quiet during the demonstration and to inform us we were not allowed to use a megaphone on our demonstration (so we ceased its use and used our voices which the sergeant was ok with…). Being so diplomatic he used the amusing phrase “I’ve got plenty of empty cells and I’d gladly fill them up with you lot!”, It would seem it doesn’t matter if we have broken the law or not does it?

We then moved on to Lumiere for a lively protest during which time the manageress told us she was phoning the police… Oh NO… not more wasting of police time! No police were forthcoming on this occasion and many complimentary bottles of wine were given out to dinners to apologise for the protest.

At around 7:30 we returned to the Queens Hotel for more protest, everything was peaceful the guests were more than happy to take leaflets and agreed with out sentiments 99% of the time. At around 8pm sirens were heard closing in… Five police cars and a police van arrived with around 12-13 very purposeful looking public “servants” flying towards us telling us we had been inside the hotel… We had not entered and had no reason to talk with staff inside or outside.

The police confirmed they had reports of a female entering which fitted the description of one of our group and we were summarily arrested under Section 5 of the public order act. On exit of the police van one of our activists hit her head on the roof and was smirked at by a particularly ugly copper.

We were held in the booking in room for a while as we were checked in one at the time… during which time the megaphone siren decided to go off to the shock of everyone at the cop shop… It was funny though

At around 2am we were released without charge and given the following speech by some arse of a copper who clearly was a right wing pillock.

(Paraphrased) You lot need to grow up, people are always going to use animals… thats what they are for youll never stop it.

At which point I envisioned him in a 60s style uniform talking to a young black kid whom he had beaten badly saying its nothing personal its just the colour of your skin…

I politely told him, thanks for the speech but while people exploit other life or the environment we will always be here protesting.

During our time in the cells, one activist was denied medical care after requesting it. 3 activists denied food and water.

No apologies were forthcoming. We will be pursuing a claim ASAP and complaints will be made via the IPCC.

Please check out this video about Foie Gras…

Thanks

Chris

Five month investigation leads to chicken rescue by Gloucestershire animal activists

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Five month investigation leads to chicken rescue by Gloucestershire animal activists.

Five months ago activists from Gloucestershire Animal Action learned of a farm in Gloucester which had been visited by DEFRA after the rotting carcasses of chickens and pigs were left causing a stench which had affected the local community. Local press covered the incident in which the farm owner had claimed that around one hundred animals die per week at the facility. Activists visited the farm at Little Witcombe in Gloucester with the intention of documenting the conditions in which the animals were housed which has resulted in the deaths of so many animals. With our investigation footage we hope to highlight the reality of modern non caged “barn” egg businesses to show that free-range and barn eggs are in no way a guarantee that your food is ethically produced in many cases barn egg systems are worse than battery cage systems and if you wish to be a truly ethical person you really need to go vegan. The government has maintained that veganism is a very healthy way to live, you can almost half your carbon footprint in most cases and you can live a cruelty free lifestyle knowing that no animals or humans are being exploited for your diet! The following is the account from one activist involved in the investigation:

“We entered one of the long sheds which hadn’t been secured properly late one evening, making sure to protect the animals inside we disinfected our feet and clothing before entering. To be honest I was expecting to have to search for animals in a bad condition but the reality was it was more difficult to find animals that looked healthy, maybe one in fifteen chickens weren’t in a bad condition. The air was acrid and filled with ammonia and dust particles and the fans didn’t seem to be working properly. The worker chart on the wall had said that 6 deaths had occurred in one day in a single shed and there are fourteen sheds on the farm. It would seem that this is the norm for a facility that holds more than 70,000 chickens.”

During the following months the activists returned to check the conditions which didn’t seem to be improving. After sufficient evidence had been gathered in order to highlight the plight of the hens inside a collective decision was made by those involved that we would attempt to rescue and give veterinary care to a small amount of the chickens (Thirteen in total).

The rescue took place during the early hours of a warm night in May, three activists entered a barn with animal carriers and recording equipment, footage was recorded and photos taken, the animals were then carefully loaded into animal carriers and into a converted laundry bag, they were then transported to a house for the night for food and water. The next morning they were taken to live out their lives at a sanctuary. It should be remembered that these animals have never experienced sunlight or fresh air and to see these intelligent creatures being given a chance to live with real food and fresh water in fantastic conditions brought those involved to tears. We can only hope that the remaining thousands of animals and billions of animals breed each year for our animal diet experience the same luxury one day.

Gloucestershire Animal Action are a peaceful group of individuals, we consider our actions to be totally justified and are willing to accept any repercussions as a result of our actions. During our visits we saw no signs which indicated that the property was private. We are aware that we have caused damage to a lock on the farm during our last visit and we will be sending a payment to cover the cost of replacing the lock however we will not be paying for the chickens taken. We however welcome donations via our website towards transportation costs and vet bills.

Note: The activists wear face coverings during the rescue to prevent identification this is for personal safety and to protect their freedom, animal activists have been imprisoned for years after rescuing animals from facilities such as this one.

For information about Gloucestershire Animal Action you can visit the Gloucestershire Animal Action website at http://www.stopanimalcruelty.co.uk/ or you can watch the full video of the rescue online via YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JllgcO0f_Gg

Pictures are attached to this email although you can also request hi res photos and original video on a DVD via contact below.

A spokesperson for Gloucestershire Animal Action is available for comment or interview via email chris@stopanimalcruelty.co.uk.

Thank you for taking the time,

All the best,

Chris