Month: October 2002

Fund for Animals Wants Activists to Register Opposition to License Plate

Earlier this year the Virginia legislature authorized a large number of various specialty license plates, including one that is to bear the slogan “Fox Hunting.” As soon as the Virginia Office of Motor Vehicles has enough requests for the specialty plate, it will begin producing them.

The Fund for Animals is urging people to write state legislators and register their disapproval for the fox hunting plate. According to the Fund for Animals,

The state of Virginia is beginning to sell a fox hunting license plate. The cruel practice of fox hunting releases baying hounds onto terrified wildlife for recreation. This special license plate was overwhelmingly authorized by the state legislature in 2002 in House Bill 680. Now the Department of Motor Vehicles is trying to sell enough of the special plate to justify beginning production. While it is too late to stop this horrific license plate, your legislators need to hear from you that you do not approve of their support for the vicious and indefensible practice of foxhunting.

Source:

Tally-No, Virginia!. The Fund for Animals, October 2002.

More Massachusetts Activists Indicted

Back in August 2002, two animal rights activists were indicted in Massachusetts after they allegedly threatened to burn down the home of Marsh Insurance manager Robert Harper Jr. Today, 9 additional individuals with links to Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty were indicted on various charges related to their harassment of Harper and Marsh.

According to a press release from the Attorney General’s office, the indicted individuals include,

  • Ryan Kleinert, 17, of East Brunswick, N.J., indicted on one count each of attempted extortion, threats to burn a dwelling, stalking in violation of restraining order and criminal harassment, and four counts of conspiracy.
  • Jacob Conroy, 26, of Seattle, Wash., indicted on one count each of attempted extortion, threats to burn a dwelling, stalking in violation of restraining order, criminal harassment, and four counts of conspiracy.
  • Ryan Smith, 19, of Billerica, indicted on one count each of attempted extortion, criminal harassment and two counts of conspiracy.
  • Laura Lungarelli, of Gilford, N.H., indicted on one count each of attempted extortion, criminal harassment and two counts of conspiracy.
  • Lisa Lotts, 23, of Allston, indicted on one count each of attempted extortion, criminal harassment and two counts of conspiracy.
  • Alexandra Doane, 18, of Foxboro, indicted on one count each of attempted extortion, criminal harassment and two counts of conspiracy.
  • Lauren Gazzola, 23, of Bethel, Conn., indicted on one count each of attempted extortion, criminal harassment and two counts of conspiracy.
  • Joshua Schwartz of Chicago, Ill., indicted on one count each of attempted extortion, criminal harassment and two counts of conspiracy.
  • Jennifer Greenberg, 17, of Wheeling, Ill., indicted on one count each of attempted extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion.

Additionally, two unnamed women and one unnamed man were indicted. Police have photographs of the unnamed individuals and are seeking to identify them.

Attempted extortion is the most serious crime that the individuals were charged with, and in Massachusetts carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.

Kurt Schwarz, of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, told the Boston Herald that, “These 12 people in the name of protest engaged in conduct that went far beyond the bounds of protected speech.”

Referring to Ryan Smith, Schwarz told the Lowell Sun,

He, like the 11 others were all participants in multiple protests in Boston and the protest he participated in, we allege, were designed to not only criminally harass the targets but were designed to compel the target’s company [Marsh] to withdraw its business relationship with the English company [Huntingdon Life Sciences].

Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General Philip J. McGovern of the Corruption, Fraud and Computer Crime Division has been assigned to prosecute the cases against the indicted individuals.

Sources:

Billerica teen accused in animal rights terror case. Jennifer Fenn, Lowell Sun, October 28, 2002.

US animal rights activists indicted for stalking. Reuters, October 28, 2002.

Activists indicted for harassing Hub man. Michael Lasalandra, The Boston Herald, October 26, 2002.

AG Reilly Announces 43 Indictments Against 12 People In Connection With International Animal Rights Extremist Group. Office of Attorney General Tom Reilly, Press Release, October 25, 2002.

Farm Sanctuary Charged With Elections Law Violations in Florida

Kudos to the Center for Consumer Freedom for publicizing an August decision by the Florida Elections Commission to charge Farm Sanctuary and its co-founder Gene Bauston with 210 counts of violating Florida election laws.

The Florida Elections Commission web site doesn’t have much in the way of details on the case, but a Center for Consumer Freedom press release said the commission voted 9-0 to bring the charges alleging that,

. . . [Farm Sanctuary] illegally acted as the ballot committee’s cashier, accepting donations from Floridians on behalf of the “Amendment 10” campaign’s PAC, and unlawfully promising those donors a federal tax deduction for their campaign contributions.

Farm Sanctuary co-founder Gene Bauston was also personally named as a defendant by the Commission, which found probable cause that Farm Sanctuary’s actions were “willfull.” This distinction indicates that Mr. Bauston and Farm Sanctuary were fully aware that their actions were illegal.

Amendment 10 is the Florida ballot proposal to amend the state constitution to ban pig “gestation crates.”

The Center for Consumer Freedom noted in its press release that while the Florida Elections Commission decision only pertains to actions involving Florida voters, that Farm Sanctuary has apparently been playing a shell game with donations that likely violate election and tax laws.

Basically, Farm Sanctuary appears to have been actively taking in tax free donations using its nonprofit status, and then turning around and donating large sums of money to Floridians for Human Farms which is a political action committee to whom donations are not tax deductible. According to the Center for Consumer Freedom, Farm Sanctuary has donated more than $465,000 to Floridians for Humane Farms since September 2000. That makes Farm Sanctuary the single largest source of funds for Floridians for Humane Farms.

The Center for Consumer Freedom has an excellent dossier (PDF file) of documents pertaining to this case.

Source:

Biggest Financer of “Amendment 10” Campaign Charged With Election Finance Abuses. Center for Consumer Freedom, October 2002.

Wisconsin Town Considers Changing Animal "Guardian" Law

Back in March the Menomonee Falls Village Board approve a change to its ordinances that eliminated the term “owner” from animal-related ordinances and replaced it with the term “guardian.” But now, the Village Board is having second thoughts after hearing from its attorney that the change could have unforseen legal consequences.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,

Village Attorney Michael Morse said Monday that, under current common law, an animal is property and that guardian is a legal term that refers to people.

“I couldn’t guarantee that some clever lawyer wouldn’t apply aspects of the term guardian to a situation involving pets,” he said. “I don’t believe the trustees ever intended those consequences.”

The board is apparently considering “guardian/owner” which would seem to simply further muddy up the legal waters.

Source:

Falls might change pet ‘guardian’ terminology. Kay Nolan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 22, 2002.

Activists Who Hate McDonald’s More Than Polio

According to the British Medical Journal, some activists apparently hate McDonald’s more than polio and are angered at UNICEF’s deal with the former to fight the latter.

McDonald’s has an agreement with Unicef in which the international chain restaurant will distribute millions of orange boxes which children in the United States have used the past few years to raise money for UNICEF’s fight against polio. According to UNICEF’s Soraya Bermejo,

Obviously, the extra boxes will greatly increase the funds raised on behalf of children in need around the world. Like all similar Unicef activities, this one will be reviewed once we have allowed it to run its full course.

That’s not enough for activists with the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action which penned a letter to UNICEF complaining that UNICEF had,

. . . entered into a partnership with a company known worldwide for its aggressive promotion of foods that contribute to ill health and poor nutrition both in industrialized and non-industrialized countries.

Ah yes . . . the fight against polio is far less important than striking a pose against an evil corporation like McDonald’s.

Source:

Unicef comes under attack for Big Mac funding deal. Owen Dyer, British Medical Journal, 26 October 2002, p.923.

Protesters Arrested After Vandalizing Mexico City McDonald's

According to the Associated Press, about 80 people who identified themselves as members of the Collective Front of Anarchist Vegetarians were arrested at a Mexico City McDonald’s on October 16.

The activists marched through downtown Mexico City, protesting at various restaurants, handing out leaflets and blocking traffic. Members of the group also spray-painted animal rights slogans on a McDonald’s before they were arrested.

Source:

Vegetarian protesters arrested after march targeting McDonald’s. Associated Press, October 18, 2002.