Boycott Newbury Comics; SHAC update 18 February 2006
Posted by Zach in SHAC, activism, boycotts, fur, regional.trackback
I’ve seen my share of graphic footage of animal abuse, but holy shit, I couldn’t finish watching this video, from a 2004-2005 undercover investigation of Chinese fur farms.
If you don’t want to or can’t watch it, let me give you the highlights: workers killing or stunning animals by repeatedly slamming their heads on the ground by their hind legs, workers skinning animals alive, skinless animals still alive and moving, animals going berserk in cages as they see what’s going to happen to them.
Apparently, about half of the finished fur sold worldwide comes from China, because animal regulations there are virtually non-existent and labor is so cheap. So this is kind of like a major problem. You can read more about it (and send a letter to someone) on this page by the HSUS, or this less detailed Peta page.
What Newbury has to do with it
I heard about this, albeit in less graphic detail, this past Monday at a meeting of the Boston Animal Defense League (BADL). BADL is organizing a boycott of Newbury Comics, a popular New England music retailer, because they have refused, after months of polite requests, to stop selling novelty items made with Chinese-farmed rabbit fur in their stores. They’re a smallish operation (26 stores, all in New England), so I imagine the boycott will be successful.
That link goes to a wikiveg page I just made, which contains info on getting more involved if you like. You can also get more info on the boycott’s homepage, myspace.com/boycottnewburycomics.
Second week of SHAC 7
The SHAC 7 site, which for a while hadn’t been updated, has been modestly redesigned and is now being updated. Yesterday this report on the second week of the trial was post:
The second week of the SHAC 7 trial has come to a close, with the prosecution nearing the end of its case. It is expected that the prosecution will rest on Tuesday afternoon.
The week saw employees from a variety of companies related to HLS testify about home demonstrations and direct action targeted at their companies and residences. Their testimony contained one common thread: they could not identify any of the defendants as having directly been in contact with them. A slew of FBI agents, officers, and others also took the stand to testify about the information seized from the defendant’s homes during raids. One computer expert that the government spent nearly $200,000 just on analyzing the defendants’ computers. Talk about money well spent!
Thus far, the jury has only heard one side of the story—the way the government would like to present it. Next week, the defendants will finally have a chance to have their voices heard.
Well we will never give up the fight for the animals and other creatures affected by the cruelty at Huntingdon Life Sciences,in England and in the United States (New Jersey).The convictions of the Shac activists will not stop further activism to inform the many of what this heinous facility is involved in.Even the united states government cited hls for their cruelty,as evidenced in undercover videos from a peta activist.These videos showed extreme cruelty by the workers inside hls.This facilty will be closed soon and from information to the people. Act Up!, Fight Back!!