Tag: Friends of Animals

Alaska Expands Plans to Kill Wolves

While Priscilla Feral and Friends of Animals were busy trying to organize protests against plans by Alaska to kill 140 wolves in the McGrath area using aerial hunting, the Alaskan Department of Fish and Game was busy expanding its wolf control program. In January it began taking permit applications to kill about 30 wolves in the Nelchina basin.

As with the McGrath plan, the goal of the wolf control program in Nelchina is to reduce the wolf population in order to increase the size of the moose population for hunters.

The Nelchina basin had a land-and-shoot program until 1995, and since that program ended the wolf population in the area has more than doubled according to the Department of Fish and Game. This has resulted in the moose population in the region declining by more than half (the wolves are apparently extremely efficient at killing moose calves).

As far as McGrath, so far weather conditions have meant that no wolves have been killed yet, but the Department of Fish and Game expects that to change in February and March.

Source:

Alaska takes applications for new wolf control program. Mary Pemberton, Associated Press, January 7, 2004.

Friends of Animals Organizes "Howl-Ins" to Protest Aerial Shooting of Wolves in Alaska

In December, Friends of Animals organized 32 protests across the United States to object to a decision by Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski to allow the aerial shooting of wolves by wildlife control officials in that state.

In order to reduce the population of wolves, which Alaskan officials claim are preying on moose in the McGrath area, Alaska plans to kill about 40 wolves from aircraft over the next 2-3 years.

In response, Friends of Animals is trying to organize a nationwide tourism boycott of Alaska. From Dec. 27-28 it held 32 “Howl-Ins” in various cities to get its message across.

According to the Associated Press, for example, in New York Friends of Animals workers carried placards reading,

Alaska is planning a heart-stopping wildlife spectacle,” the placard read. “They call it ‘management.’ We call it murder.

The group also handed out postcards to send to Alaskan government officials asking them to stop the planned hunt as well as pamphlets urging a tourist boycott of Alaska.

Alaskan officials say they have received about 15,000 e-mails and 1,000 letters protesting the hunt, but that the scale of the protests so far don’t match a similar protest against a wolf hunt in 1992 when state officials received more than 100,000 letters and phone calls opposing a wolf hunt. That protest forced then-Gov. Walter J. Hickel to call a wolf summit that eventually rescinded plans for the hunt.

Murkowski told the Associated Press that the wolf hunt is the right thing to do and that he won’t be swayed by the protests,

We think we addressed this in a responsible manner. We have a state to manage and game populations to manage, and we’re not going to do it on emotion.

The 1992 campaign, by the way, featured some familiar tactics according to the Associated Press,

State officials recall receiving death threats in 1992, and employees were trained to detect mail that could contain explosives. At one point Alaska State Troopers had to provide security at the state Department of Fish and Game.

Sources:

Wolf-kill foes stage protests across country. The Associated Press, December 29, 2003.

Friends of Animals Launches “Howl-Ins” for the Wolves of Alaska. Press Release, Friends of Animals, December 19, 2003.

Friends of Animals Condemns Chiron Bombing

While many animal rights activists and groups were cheering the bombs set off at Chiron Corp. in August, Friends of Animals did quickly issue a press release condemning both that bombing specifically and extremist actions in general.

Friends of Animals’ said,

On Saturday the 30th of August, an obscure group called the Revolutionary Cells claimed responsibility for the two small explosive devices that went off early Thursday morning at the Chiron Corp. buildings in Emeryville, reportedly in protest against the firms’ relationship with animal research group Huntingdon Life Sciences. The blasts did not injure anyone, but a handful of Chiron employees were reportedly in the building.

“Vandalism, arson, explosives, and threats have no place in a movement for animal rights,” said Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals.

“Such irresponsible acts are unacceptable in any movement for the betterment of society, and we categorically denounce them.”

. . .

“Clearly there is a tremendous social value in informing the public about the detriments of cross-species transplantation and other biotech research using animals, and in bringing the urgent and multi-layered ethical problems into the open,” said Priscilla Feral. “But this can only be done by education. It cannot be done through acts of intimidation or the endangerment of works.”

Unfortunately Friends of Animals was apparently in the minority of animal rights opinion about the Chiron bombing (it was the only group, to my knowledge, that bothered to issue a condemnation of the attack).

Source:

Friends of Animals condemns Friday’s pipe bomb attack in the city of Emeryville, California. Friends of Animals, August 2003.

Alaskan Governor Signs Wolf Cull Bill

Apparently willing to risk the promised boycott from Friends of Animals, Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski signed a bill in June that will allow private citizens to hunt wolves from airplanes.

The law also alters the rules that determine when the Alaska Department of Fish and Game can order a culling of the wolf population. Under the old rules, it could only do so if it found that there was a decline in the population of animals that wolves prey on. Under the new rules, the department can order a cull of wolves when their numbers grow regardless of the impact such growth is having on prey species.

The Department of Fish and Game will likely use the aerial hunts to thin the population of wolves near McGrath, where residents would like to see the moose population expand to provide more hunting and economic opportunities. The department already has a project underway to capture and remove bears from around McGrath.

Friends of Animals, meanwhile, apparently believes there are constitutional issues with the law and are holding off on calling for a boycott hoping that those issues will render the law moot,

FOA believes that there are legal problems with the new statute. Among other things, it appears that this statute violates the Alaska Constitution’s separation of powers rule by invading the legal authority of the Governor and the Commissioner of the Department of Fish and Game. We brought this problem to the attention of the Alaska Attorney General, and we expect that it be addressed before anyone tries to take any action under the statute. Aside from that constitutional infirmity, there are also some serious legal, administrative and fiscal impediments to implementation of the statute. FOA anticipates litigation if the Game Board tries to use this new statute to initiate wolf-killing. If wolf control is implemented, Friends of Animals will call for a tourism boycott of Alaska during the months of November 2003 through January 2004 — when tourists book summer visits to Alaska with tourist agencies. — Priscilla Feral

Sources:

Murkowski signs aerial wolf control bill. Associated Press, June 19, 2003.

Friends of Animals Opens Canadian Office

In May, Friends of Animals announced it was opening an office in Toronto, Canada. In a press release announcing the new office, Friends of Animals said,

Today, Friends of Animals is one of the most esteemed activist groups, with active members in all 50 states of the United States and in many countries.

“This is a milestone,” says lawyer Lesli Bisgould, new Law and Policy Director of the Canadian FoA. “Animal rights is an idea whose time has come to Canada, and with the effective advocacy of Friends of Animals now on the scene, the international movement gains substantial strength.”

The FOA release describes Bisgould as “the only animal rights lawyer in Canada, [who] played a significant role in Canada’s recent judicial decision to refuse a patent on mice who are genetically altered for vivisection purposes.”

Source:

Major Animal Rights Group Moves into Canada: Friends of Animals Plan Progressive Campaign Agenda. Press Release, Friends of Animals, May 1, 2003.

Friends of Animals Unhappy with Proposed Pig Race

Derby, Connecticut is planning to hold a pig race as part of its Derby Day festivities on June 29, which has drawn fire from Friends of Animals which considers it cruel to allow spectators to watch pigs race around a track.

Friends of Animals’ Jessica Rae Patton told The Connecticut Post,

It’s inhumane to pigs because pigs can’t sweat; they have no sweat glands and can’t pant. They need pools of water and mud holes to keep cool, and they shouldn’t be made to run in the summer heat. It’s ludicrous

John Coscia, a member of the Derby Cultural Commission, countered that the animals are treated humanely and have access to wallowing pools and rest areas. Coscia told The Connecticut Post,

I don’t think it is inhumane like they say. I’ve seen these pig races before and they’re fine.

Of course Friends of Animals thinks it is cruel to ever have animals perform for entertainment purposes. According to Patton,

We don’t think any animal should be forced to perform for entertainment.

That is a sentiment that Friends of Animals’ Priscilla Feral reinforced, saying,

I don’t think the pigs should be used for entertainment purposes in spectator sport. Pig should be left alone.

Source:

Pig race promotion prompts complaints. Associated Press, May 25, 2003.

Official: Pig racers for Derby Day not mistreated. Anthony Spinelli, The Connecticut Post, May 12, 2003.