[Onthebarricades] Protests over animal rights and conservation, Nov-Dec 07/08

[Andy]

*  UK:  Restaurant targeted over foie gras geese torture
*  US:  Store selling fur protested
*  US:  Trial for monkey liberation action marked by monkey-suit protests
*  US:  Protests over Point Reyes deer-killing programme from animal 
activists and locals
*  JAPAN/PACIFIC OCEAN:  Sea Shepherd, Greenpeace, and Australian animal 
rights groups target Japanese whale hunt
*  US:  Anglers protest mass netting of fish
*  UK:  Hindus protest killing of ill cow at temple

[Talk about WHINING.  how can this man claim to be the victim of harm when 
he supports torturing geese?!]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2951153.ece

November 27, 2007
Police accused over foie gras protest
GLOUCESTER A restaurateur has accused police of failing to protect his 
customers and staff from intimidation by animal rights protesters 
campaigning against the sale of foie gras.
Glen Tanswell said that he had been bullied into taking the delicacy, made 
from the livers of force-fed geese, off the menu of the Bearlands Restaurant 
in Gloucester, close to the police station, after "constant harassment and 
intimidation".
He said: "My main gripe is not with the protesters, it is with the police. I 
tried to get their help numerous times. Customers were saying they felt 
intimidated. We had cancelled orders and I had to pull it to save the 
business."
A group called Gloucestershire Animal Action claimed that it has succeeded 
in having foie gras withdrawn from the menus of 40 restaurants in the past 
three years. The group said: "Our campaign has not been without its 
hardships. We have had 13 arrests in the past year for campaigning against 
foie gras."
Gloucestershire Police said: "We are aware of this situation and are 
monitoring it closely."

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/07/18470932.php

On-going Protest of Fur Shop Kicks Off on Fur-Free Friday
Mon Jan 7 2008
J. Malnick's in Oakland Targeted as the Only Major Fur Retailer in the East 
Bay
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. During the peaceful protest, 
potential customers actually decided not to enter the shop that sells both 
fur and non-fur items on what is the busiest shopping day of the year. The 
owner, Mr. Warren Malnick, obviously not pleased that customers might find 
out about this dirty business, tried to dissuade the protesters, first by 
calling the police. When the police arrived and told him that the protesters 
were not breaking the law and were welcome to voice their opinions, Malnick 
then got visibly angry and hurled insults at the protesters.

Further demonstrations have been regularly scheduled.

http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/409493.html

Posted on Tue, Dec. 18, 2007 10:15 PM

A Kansas City woman accused of taking three monkeys from an animal sanctuary 
appeared Tuesday in court, drawing a group of protesters wearing furry ape 
suits.

Catherine M. Montes, 44, faces one count of burglary and two counts of 
stealing. The animal sanctuary, Monkey Island Rescue, sits along Missouri 
150 in southeast Jackson County.

According to court documents, the owner of the sanctuary told police that a 
surveillance video showed Montes taking the monkeys.

The protesters held signs including, "Where's our stolen monkeys?"

A judge ordered Montes to stay at least 2,000 feet from Monkey Island. Her 
next court date is Jan. 23.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/22/BADQU2UIM.DTL

Politicians protest Point Reyes deer-killing program

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer

Saturday, December 22, 2007

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Bay Area politicians have joined a chorus of outrage over the mass killing 
of exotic deer in the Point Reyes National Seashore, but a big part of the 
hunt has been completed and federal officials said the eradication campaign 
is expected to continue.

State Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, sent a letter Thursday to U.S. 
Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein asking for a moratorium on shooting 
deer in the national park until 2010.

The letter, in which Migden characterized the shooting of hundreds of 
nonnative deer as unnecessary and inhumane, was also addressed to Rep. Lynn 
Woolsey, D-Petaluma, who previously demanded a halt to the killing.

The National Park Service approved a plan last year to get rid of about 
1,100 fallow and axis deer using a combination of contraception and 
high-powered rifles. A Connecticut company, White Buffalo Inc., was hired to 
do the shooting. About 400 deer were killed in the late summer and fall, 
park officials said.

"We have reason to believe (White Buffalo) has unnecessarily risked the 
safety of local residents and park visitors," Migden wrote. "We are 
concerned about ... the inhumane killing of wildlife."

Animal rights activists and local residents have complained about finding 
deer carcasses near residences and trails, with apparent gunshot wounds to 
their stomachs and other vital regions, indicating the animals endured slow, 
painful deaths.

Pat Martin, 60, a rancher who lives in the park, said White Buffalo has left 
dozens of dead deer lying in the fields, sometimes on private property.

"They kill them and leave them," Martin said. "The biggest problem that 
local people have is that the meat goes to waste. And it's good meat."

Martin said that the smell of dead animals stretched from Point Reyes to 
Bolinas about a month ago.

John Dell'Osso, the chief of interpretation and resource education for the 
Seashore, said 80 percent of the dead deer are retrieved.

"From the get-go we did say we would try to retrieve as many deer as 
possible, but we didn't say 100 percent because that's impossible in certain 
places," he said. "Some have been left, but they are food for other animals 
in the ecosystem like turkey vultures, foxes, coyote, bobcats and ravens."

The culling plan, which is supported by several environmental groups 
including the Sierra Club, aims to get rid of all 1,100 nonnative deer by 
2021, said Don Neubacher, superintendent for the Point Reyes National 
Seashore.

So far, 80 does have been captured and sterilized with an experimental 
contraceptive drug called GonaCon. White Buffalo gunmen killed 400 fallow 
deer using high-powered rifles and helicopters mostly at night, but have not 
been active for more than a month, Neubacher said.

The Park Service, he said, is waiting to see how well the contraceptives 
work before the hunters come back, probably in the spring. He said 
necropsies were performed on several animals and none had gut shots. 
Vultures may have opened the suspect wounds after death, he said.

As for shooting near homes and endangering the public, he said: "Our 
contractors wouldn't do that. We instructed them that safety comes first.

"We have a three-year contract and we've done five years of planning and to 
my knowledge we never even heard from Sen. Migden until now," Neubacher 
said. "It's well under way and it would be very costly to stop at this point 
in time."

He said officials will meet with Migden to hear her concerns but are 
planning to proceed with the eradication campaign.

A rancher introduced fallow deer and the less commonly seen axis deer to the 
area in the 1940s. Their numbers have been growing since 1994, when the last 
culling program was ended.

Fallow deer are voracious eaters and they can carry Johne's disease, an 
intestinal disorder often fatal to native deer. The invaders from the 
Mediterranean are multiplying so fast that the native black-tailed deer are 
being edged out, Park Service officials said.

Axis deer, from India, like the open plains and are not as numerous at Point 
Reyes - there are about 250 of them in the park - but they compete for 
vegetation with the natives.

So far, 150 of the dead deer have been donated to area food banks, according 
to park officials, and 200 carcasses have been given to a California condor 
recovery program.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7189580.stm

 Last Updated: Tuesday, 15 January 2008, 13:59 GMT

Japanese detain whaling activists

The Japanese claim acid was thrown by the activists (Image: ICR)
Two protesters have been taken into custody after they boarded a Japanese 
whaling vessel in the Antarctic.
The Sea Shepherd campaign group said the two - a Briton and an Australian - 
had been assaulted and tied to the radar mast by the Japanese crew.
They said they wanted charges of kidnap to be filed in Australia.
Minoru Morimoto, of the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), admitted the 
pair had been detained but denied they had been assaulted or harmed.
He said the Sea Shepherd's accusations that the two men were tied up were 
"completely untrue".
"It is illegal to board another country's vessels on the high seas. As a 
result, at this stage, they are being held in custody while decisions are 
made on their future," he added.
Legal injunction
The two - Australian Benjamin Potts and Briton Giles Lane - boarded the 
Yushin Maru 2 from the Sea Shepherd vessel the Steve Irwin.
In a statement, the group accused the Japanese crew of holding the two men 
hostage.
"Captain Paul Watson has notified the Australian Federal Police that he 
would like to see kidnapping charges brought against the Japanese whalers," 
the statement said.
The campaign group said the pair had intended to deliver a message informing 
the Japanese that it was now illegal to kill whales, because an Australian 
court had outlawed the practice.
A Federal Court judgement in Sydney ruled that it was illegal for the 
Japanese fleet to hunt whales, and ordered them to stop their expedition.
But Tokyo has said in the past that it will ignore any injunction resulting 
from the case.
The Japanese fleet plans to kill about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales by 
mid-April as part of what it describes as a scientific research programme.
But Australia and other nations say the research goals could be achieved 
using non-lethal methods and call the programme a front for commercial 
whaling.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4356216a7693.html

Memorable protest promised
By NATHAN BEAUMONT - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 15 January 2008

Radical anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd is steaming toward the Japanese 
whaling fleet as it continues to run from Greenpeace, and says its protest 
tactics will make the season one to remember.


Paul Watson, captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship Steve 
Irwin, hoped to find the whalers within the next day and said his crew would 
not change its stance once the protest began.

On previous campaigns organisation members have rammed a whaling ship and 
thrown bottles of chemicals at whalers.

"When we do catch them we won't be sitting down to tea with them. We intend 
to make this a season for them to remember," Mr Watson said.

It could be several days before Japan's whaling fleet resumes its hunt, 
after the Greenpeace ship Esperanza pushed the mother ship hundreds of 
kilometres outside the hunting zone.

Greenpeace's activities in Antarctic waters have earned the ire of Japanese 
researchers, who have branded the group "environmental imperialists".

Esperanza has refused to give the whalers' coordinates to the Steve Irwin, 
but yesterday Greenpeace said it would provide the information to Australian 
customs ship Ocean Viking, which is making its way to the Antarctic to 
gather evidence for possible legal action against the whalers.

Esperanza spokeswoman Sara Holden confirmed contact had been made several 
times with the Ocean Viking, but said poor phone connections had prevented 
Greenpeace passing on the information.

Late yesterday Greenpeace was still driving the Nisshin Maru beyond the 
designated limits imposed for the whaling fleet's scientific research, but 
Ms Holden acknowledged the ship would flee only for so long before changing 
tactics.

She suspected the fleet was planning to refuel soon and to offload processed 
whale meat on to the Panamanian-registered tanker Oriental Bluebird.

Greenpeace said the Nisshin Maru and Esperanza had the same top speed. 
Yesterday the Esperanza was three kilometres behind the Nisshin Maru, 
however. It had continued to maintain radar contact.

"Even if the Nisshin Maru turned around right now and started heading back 
it would take some time before it reached the hunting ground," Ms Holden 
said.

The crew did not know the location of the other ships in the whaling fleet, 
which scattered when protesters found them on Saturday.

A spokesman for the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, Glenn Inwood, 
from Wellington, has refused to talk to The Dominion Post, but told other 
media he believed Greenpeace's actions breached international law.

"It's time the public saw this fringe group for what they really are - 
environmental imperialists who are trying to dictate their morals to the 
world," he said.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/well-get-them-this-time-vows-whaling-protest-leader/2007/12/27/1198345159236.html

We'll get them this time, vows whaling protest leader

Captain Paul Watson and his boat, the Steve Irwin, at Docklands: "We'll just 
keep them on the run."
Photo: Craig Abraham
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Ben Schneiders
December 28, 2007

WITHIN a week, anti-whaling boat the Steve Irwin hopes to be harassing the 
Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean.

But yesterday it made an unscheduled appearance at Victoria Harbour at 
Docklands to replace pistons and take on fuel.

Since leaving Melbourne on December 5, the Steve Irwin and its 41-strong 
crew from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have fruitlessly searched 
the Southern Ocean for the whalers.

Captain Paul Watson is confident he will find the Japanese this time around, 
with the boat likely to leave Melbourne today, leaving behind a couple of 
crew who suffered from seasickness.

He said that this year the Japanese had started whaling in a different area, 
3000 kilometres from where the Steve Irwin had been searching. "We didn't 
find that out until recently."

But now that the general location of the Japanese is known, he hopes to 
disrupt the planned slaughter of about 1000 whales. "If we catch them 
they'll run from us," Captain Watson said. "We'll just keep them on the 
run."

Sea Shepherd's vigorous tactics have attracted criticism. Among the measures 
it has used are ramming whaling ships and throwing smoke bombs and a 
relatively harmless form of acid on the decks of the ships.

"We don't do anything lethal," Captain Watson said. "I find it completely 
absurd that these people are filling the ocean with blood down there and are 
calling us violent eco-terrorists."

Until this month the Steve Irwin was known as the Robert Hunter, but with 
the support of Terri Irwin, widow of environmentalist Steve Irwin, the boat 
was renamed.

Captain Watson is critical of the Rudd Government, which has won praise for 
its diplomatic efforts to stop whaling and for sending an observation vessel 
to the Southern Ocean.

"Greenpeace have been taking pictures for years - what's another boat taking 
pictures going to do?" he said. "It's more talk, talk, talk."

* Animal Liberation Victoria staged an anti-whaling protest at the Japanese 
consulate in Melbourne yesterday.

Up to 10 activists entered the reception area, pouring fake blood over 
themselves.

A consulate spokesman described the protest as "regrettable". Police are not 
investigating the incident.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22978552-661,00.html

Protest at Melbourne Central office signed in 'blood'

December 28, 2007 12:00am

ANTI-whaling protesters have vandalised the Japanese Consulate in Melbourne 
with fake blood.

A consulate spokesman said about six protesters spread red ink on carpet 
inside the office on the 45th floor of the Melbourne Central building 
yesterday.

Japanese whalers are due in the Southern Ocean soon to begin their annual 
scientific whale hunt.

An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman said protesters were removed from 
the building.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said no charges had been laid because the 
protesters tried to clean the mess before they left.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-01/04/content_6370580.htm

Protest against whale hunting in Melbourne
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-04 09:16

A protestor lies covered in fake blood at the centre of a Japanese national 
flag during an anti-whaling demonstration outside the Japanese Consulate in 
Melbourne in this handout photograph released January 3, 2008. Protesters 
from Animal Liberation Victoria (ALV) staged the demonstartion to draw 
attention to the Japanese whaling fleet who have commenced their cull which 
has angered conservationists. [Agencies]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hWxtumdgVgQ2qIttwKRVUVeJzBOg

Australian whaling demonstrators protest in Japanese consulate

Dec 27, 2007

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian anti-whaling protesters smeared fake blood on 
themselves in the Japanese consulate in Melbourne Thursday before police 
moved them on, police and protesters said.

Protesters wearing bio-hazard suits coated themselves in 'blood' in the 
foyer of the consulate, located in the central office in Australia's second 
largest city, a spokesman for Animal Liberation Victoria (ALV) said.

"They (the Japanese) were pretty angry and wanted to get us out of there but 
we told them we meant no disrespect to them but simply wanted to demonstrate 
against the slaughter of these gentle giants," ALV vice-president Noah 
Hannibal told AFP.

Hannibal said the protesters were in the consulate for about an hour before 
they agreed to leave following negotiations with police but more 
demonstrations were planned if Japan refused to abandon the whale cull.

A police spokeswoman said officers removed the protesters from the building 
but they were not arrested.

Japan has been under fire for defying international protests and sending its 
whaling fleet into Antarctic waters to hunt around 1,000 whales, ostensibly 
for "scientific" purposes, exploiting a loophole in a 1986 moratorium on 
whaling.

However, the Japanese bowed to pressure last week by abandoning plans to 
kill around 50 humpbacks, which form the backbone of Australia's and New 
Zealand's lucrative whale-watching industry.

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=7558552&nav=menu227_7

Anglers continue to protest Nez Perce gillnetting
Associated Press - December 30, 2007 7:24 PM ET

LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) - Anglers in northcentral Idaho continue to protest the 
recent decision by the Nez Perce tribe to start gill net fishing for 
steelhead on the Clearwater and Snake rivers.

The group Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife is holding meetings to protest the 
move.

Jason Hollibaugh says time and money have gone into restoring runs of wild 
steelhead.

All that could be damaged if the tribe starts gill netting the fish, which 
could result in indiscriminate taking of wild fish.

The tribe, meanwhile, is asking for a fair examination of their fishery 
impacts, not just criticism over the method.

Clifford Allen, a tribal member, says an 1855 treaty gives the tribe the 
right to harvest fish on tribal lands - as it pleases.

http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1924862.0.hundus_peaceful_protest.php

Hindu's peaceful protest

Hindus, whose temple cow was pu down by the RSPCA will hold a peaceful 
protest and prayer vigil at 11am today outside the charity's headquarters on 
Wilberforce Way in Southwater, Horsham.

The cow, called Gangotri, was unable to walk after a "mating accident".

There will be simultaneous prayers conducted at Bhaktivedanta Manor in 
Letchnmore Heath, where the cow was cared for.
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Sruti Dharma, a Hindu priest, said: "In Hinduism, it's traditional that 
mourning extends for 13 days, with a ceremony held at the conclusion of that 
period. Boxing Day is 13 days after she was killed."

Madhava das, another priest from a second temple added: "None of us had the 
chance to perform the traditional ceremonies at the time. The RSPCA came 
without warning and simply ended her life while the monks were at prayer. At 
least this observance will help to bring this period to a conclusion."

The Hindus will be accompanying their prayers and peaceful protest with the 
traditional sound of cymbals and drums. Saffron-clad monks will be in 
attendance.

"The community's Christmas has been overshadowed by this terrible event" 
said Gauri das, head of Bhaktivedanta Manor.

"It was a tragedy for thousands of our members, and especially the 
children".

8:25am Wednesday 26th December 2007