WHAT: Animal liberationist, green anarchist week, workshops and mingling.
WHEN: 12-17 August.
WHERE: Location undisclosed, Peak District, near Sheffield.
The folks at Radical Animal Lib have sent us their event to promote. They organise an animal liberation corner at the Earth Frist UK Gathering, essentially marrying the eco anarchist and the animal liberationist into a force for change (and trouble).
Yes, we know, it is the same weekend as VCO! It couldn’t get any better than to have a solid, political, animal liberationist event to go to when avoiding the capitalist cash grab, hey?
They’re asking for more workshops, so if you have things to say, maybe hit them up over instagram (@radicalaniallib) or over email.
Last year we got hold of a banging little zine they had printed called ‘The Whole Point is Fighting’ and were told it was just exclusive to the event, who knows, maybe they do another one this year!
Read their words below, and go meet people and organise cool shit in the streets (or in the fields!) with them!:
“HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!
Earth First! UK summer gathering is coming, and with it, the Animal Liberation stream.
Come join us, mingle, meet new friends, learn new stuff and be inspired to keep pushing campaigns until all are free!
12th – 17th August.
Location undisclosed, Peak District, nearest train station is Sheffield. Exact location will be announced closer to the date.
Bring comfy clothes, a tent and sleeping bag.
Vegan food provided.
Entry cost is sliding scale at the gates, nobody will be turned back for lack of funds.
[Editor’s note: This call to action was anonymously submited, we are sharing it but cannot confirm the authorship]
JUNE/JULY AS PART OF THE MONTHS OF SOLIDARITY WITH IMPRISONED ANARCHISTS
This is a call to break free from such passivity, an invitation, regardless of where you live, to all vegans, anti-speciesists, and anarchists who are fed up with animal exploitation.
Animals are not resources at the service of speciesist, capitalist, or state interests. For this reason, we urge you to fight against all forms of oppression.
We want to make it clear that animal liberation will not be achieved if we continue to sit idly by; it is very easy to talk the talk but not walk the walk as long as our necks are not on the line.
We want to make it clear that speciesism will not be stopped simply by adopting veganism: obviously, not collaborating with animal exploitation is the first step, but that is not enough. It is naive to think that simply by not participating in an evil, it will end without a serious and organized process of resistance.
We are aware that veganism has become just another trend, just another consumerist choice among many, losing all political substance that would enable the true emancipation of us animals, and in some cases perpetuating the very problem it claims to combat by failing to criticize and instead supporting capitalism.
We firmly believe that it is time for a radicalization of the struggle for animal liberation, understanding ‘radical’ to mean attaching a problem at its root, contrary to the negative perception that this word holds for many.
For these reasons, we invite our comrades in the struggle to truly attack every form of oppression against us animals with whatever means are available to them and within their power. Some actions they can carry out include the following: but do not limit yourselves to what is written in this text; let your imagination and your desire to achieve total liberation run wild. Let us use all the powerlessness, frustration, and rage we feel in the face of so much exploitation and slaughter to fight back:
Flyering
Graffitti
Demonstrations
Sabotage
Animal liberations
Film screenings
Discussions/debates
Performances/drama
Workshops
Study groups
Concerts
Fairs
Information sessions
Festivals
Creating written materials, posters, music, or anything else that helps spread the message of animal liberation.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Photo unrelated, we did not receive media with this report]
received anonymously via email:
“In the early hours of 9th May some hooded creatures gained access to the yard of John Sheppard, a ‘family owned & operated’ butchers and slashed the tires of around 15-20 refrigerated vans, also tagging the sides and using leftover paint to cover the wing mirrors and headlamps.
This small action was done in solidarity with the Filton24, anarcho-nihilist vegan Ru of Susaron case and T, anarchist accused of torching a cop car in Brussels.
“A female Podenco puppy has been rescued from a hunting pack in Zamora, Spain. We have named her Palestina. She is now living happily with a family.
Rehalas are hunting packs of around 20 dogs used to chase wild boar and other animals in a form of hunting known as ‘montería’.
Each pack leader (rehalero) keeps dozens of dogs locked up in appalling conditions, sometimes chained up all year round, except on the days they are used for hunting.”
SPANISH (original):
“Una cachorra de podenco ha sido rescatada de una rehala en Zamora, España. La hemos llamado Palestina. Ahora vive feliz con una familia.
Las rehalas son grupos de unos 20 perros empleados para hostigar jabalíes y otros animales en una modalidad de caza llamada “montería”.
Cada rehalero mantiene decenas de perros encerrados, en condicones lamentables, a veces encadenados durante todo el año; excepto los días que son empleados para cazar.”
[editor’s note: Cizallas Negras sends us an even to promote, a networking, workshops and talks about animal liberation with an anarchist perspective. check it out!]
WHAT: Anarchist, anti-speciesist and anti-authoritarian workshops and events.
WHEN: 28th June.
WHERE: La Cinetika, Rambla Fabra i Puig 28, Barcelona, Catalunya.
“On June 28, we will come together to share experiences, strengthen mutual aid networks, and continue building paths toward animal liberation from an anarchist, anti-authoritarian, and anti-speciesist perspective.
La Cinetika (Rambla Fabra i Puig 28) 1:00 PM During the gathering, we will have:
– Presentation by the collectives @accionyliberacion and @archivoalf (Colombia)
– Updates on anarchist and anti-speciesist projects and struggles across Europe and Abya Yala
– Talk on Animal Liberation and direct action (in Minecraft)
– Book and zine presentations
– Solidarity lunch in support of an animal sanctuary
– Distros, tattoos, haircuts, and letter-writing
In the face of animal exploitation, capitalism, and all forms of domination, we continue organizing, building community, and weaving resistance.
“As the months have passed I’ve become quieter and more withdrawn. I suppose those are normal effects after spending a fairly prolonged period in prison.
I hadn’t written for a while because I hadn’t felt like it and because I felt I’d already said what I needed to politically. But I have never stopped receiving shows of support, solidarity actions and other gestures. That is why I write these words.
First of all: about three months ago I was moved out of my old unit, 3C; punished, and sent to what is considered one of the two punishment units in the prison: “Gallery 12”. A kind of underworld within the prison underworld, governed by the church, who pronounce the gendarme’s decisions as if they were one of them, under the cover of evangelical faith. A very crazy and violent place, more so than anyone would imagine. Fortunately, through previous connections you pick up over the months inside, I got through it without major incident, but under quite intense psychological pressure.
After a couple of weeks I was moved to Street 5, a ward that is generally decent, where you can get through day-to-day life with some calm, and where I was received by people from common criminality with whom I’ve formed good bonds, and where I found a few comrades from the struggle, which has been a mental and spiritual relief.
I’ve been applying for a transfer to Colina 1 for several months to be with other long-standing comrades and to seek better chances of shortening my sentence, since it’s easier to apply for benefits and such from Colina 1. Last week I signed the confirmation of this transfer, so I’m awaiting the move, which is imminent.
These past months have been marked by an influx of convicted comrades arriving at this kidnapping centre known as the prison, specifically the comrades from the 6 July case and comrade Lucas Hernández, who has been subjected to an impressive amount of police bullying, obstructing any proper classification and leaving him in the other punishment section, “Heavenly Hell”, Street 4, arbitrarily and permanently, in evident revenge for the significance of his case. Lucas has kept their head high and resisted this stoically, without bending his combative spirit. I send him my respects and embraces, and call for active solidarity with his situation.
With my transfer imminent, I also call for participation in fund‑raising initiatives, as all these transfers between units, losses of essential items, lawyer fees and parcels have been very costly and are being covered by my partner and my family. Therefore I call on all anti‑speciesists to show up and ease this situation.
Regarding my integrity, I can only say I remain vegan, I remain straight edge and I am more anarchic than ever, and under any pressure or circumstance I will remain so, because many years ago I signed in blood my commitment to this war against multiform domination.
My eyes still light up when I see images of the arson I am accused of and for which I fully and proudly accept intent. I still sigh with joy when I see its echo in other territories and times.
For that reason I send an incendiary greeting to the anti‑speciesist “anarchist flamethrowers” who torched the trucks of the Paris Terroir slaughterhouse in France.
Another affectionate show of support to the Animal Liberation Front in the United Kingdom, who freed a lamb that faced only torture and death.
And to the members of the FAI/FRI, who set fire to the livestock company Rio Bueno S.A., disabling much of its facilities. To all of them: health and much freedom! Keep being shadows of chaos, always faceless and nameless to the bastard power.
I end this message from Street 5 of the Former Penitentiary, awaiting a new start in my incarceration, but firmer and more determined than ever, now on course to serve four years of effective imprisonment. With a heart fuller than ever, eager soon to breathe the air of a mountain or bathe in the icy water of a river, keen to join the trenches that have formed in these years of struggle. Fire to existence.
Fire to all prisons and to all authority. Total liberation or barbarism. They would not coexist, so they will have to die.
“Another giant chicken shed, they are the same all over the country. Massive, stinking and packed with chickens who are deprived of grass, sunlight and so many other things.
Straight away we were greeted by the sight of a rotten corpse of a chicken that died in this man made hell. We are sorry we never got to take them to freedom. We filled up our carriers in no time and took everyone we could carry away to a better future of loving homes and fresh air.
We hope Marius who should be released from prison by the time we send this report is also enjoying the sunlight and fresh air.
Hello again scummy gamekeeper. You got new traps and moved them to new locations but we know our way around in the dark.
The first larsen we found was full of rotting flesh and scared magpies. The call bird looked in a bad way and the two trap compartments had successfully captured two other magpies. We took them all away and broke your trap. Next we found some fens and then another larsen. This one had just the call bird, skinny and covered in fleas with no food and hardly any water. We took them away with us too.
After a night of rest, a health check, some food and treatment, three birds flew away to rejoin the wild. But one call bird had been so roughly treated that they will need time to recover before they can fly away.
Fuck all traps, all cages and prisons. We will keep going till they are all broken.
Solidarity with the Filton 24, one struggle one fight.”
Victories for the animal freedom movement have come thick and fast this month.
For those on the ground, who have spent decades smashing traps and freeing badgers, perhaps the biggest news is that the grotesque badger ‘cull’ is finally ending! Since the Krebs report was published in 1997, the UK government has overseen a mass genocide in our countryside, killing an estimated 250,000 badgers based on dodgy science, lies, and greed.
After decades of protest, lobbying, and direct action, the government has finally seen reason. With countless thousands of traps smashed, stomped, and destroyed, and untold numbers of badgers released and set free over the last 30 years, we are delighted that the badger-saving pixies will finally take a well-earned rest (or, more likely, keep saving other wildlife), once the supplementary licences expire.
SeaLife’s London Aquarium is prison for 14 gentoo penguins (as well as countless other marine animals). The birds are kept in an underground crypt, without access to their basic natural needs or environment. After intense campaigning from No To Captivity, Freedom For Animals, and others, the tide is starting to turn. SeaLife has announced that it is ceasing its captive breeding program. This means that no more birds will be born into this miserable life, but the ones who are still there still need to be saved, so campaigning continues!
There have also been partial victories for CAFT, with Milan fashion week implementing a voluntary ban on fur on its catwalks – not enough of course, but a sign of another major win on the horizon as pressure against the fashion show intensifies. The MBR Suppliers campaign has convinced the company who supplied MBR with blood-letting kits (every bit as vile as it sounds) to drop their contract.
Amidst fierce campaigning by grassroots activists and organisations, including Protect the Wild, NatureScot have just received a licence application from the ‘Men of Ness’. If granted, this licence would allow ten men to sail to the remote island of Sula Sgeir in the Outer Hebrides to bludgeon gannet chicks (guga) to death. The chicks, who are an otherwise protected species, are sold on the Isle of Lewis as a ‘delicacy’. Killing these birds would be a crime anywhere else in the UK. The so-called ‘hunt’ has already faced fierce backlash, including smashed windows, activists perched on the roof of NatureScot, and one of Scotland’s largest-ever petitions. NatureScot are currently considering the application, and with enough pressure this could be yet another big win just around the corner!
The Animal Freedom Network national gathering is taking place at a sanctuary near Northampton from September 25-27. There is a great line up of workshops, including ones from:
ALFSG (Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group)
CAFT (Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade)
Camp Beagle
Hunt Sabs
Little Green Pigeon
MBR Suppliers
Project Livestream
Rescue not Retail
Shut Down All Dog Tracks
This is a free event, with food provided by Veggies on a donation basis. Accommodation will be on-site camping (please bring your own tent!), with limited space, so please apply in advance, and keep vehicles and spread to a minimum! There will be a shuttle service from Wellingborough train station. Contact [email protected] for more information.
The first-ever Parade for Animals was held in Bristol this month, with over 600 animal advocates from across the UK and beyond taking to the city’s streets. A sea of colour, noise, and energy flooded the streets, with participants speaking out for and representing all the animals currently exploited by humans on farms, in the wild, in laboratories, in breeders, in zoos, and more. The parade was a brilliant demonstration of a movement on the rise, and we hope to see twice as many participants next year.
There’s some exciting events to take part in this month, including:
CAFT’s Feral Summer – 12-17 June
The Animal Freedom Network are collaborating with CAFT for their Feral Summer tour in London on 12-17 June. This will see several days of protests across the capital to support their anti-fur campaigns, as well as campaigns against testing on animals and other issues.
MBR Acres National Protest – 21 June
There is a national protest outside the notorious puppy factory farm, MBR Acres, at 11 am on 21 June. This is an important protest against testing on animals, and the organisers hope as many people as possible will attend.
