According to a post by Stop Cal Vivisection, FBI agents showed up unannounced at an individual's workplace in Oakland. They seemed more obsessed with who they think her friends might be than anything. They made mention of Santa Cruz and some type of flyer. They wanted to know if she could lead them to two individuals. The FBI agents stated that they are going to have to keep investigating if two named individuals don't give them a call. The person made clear that she didn't know anything and was busy at work. Read More

see also: Know Your Rights

Animal Liberation Press Office writes, "The home of one UC Santa Cruz vivisector and the automobile of another were burned early Saturday [August 2nd], in what local authorities are calling attacks by animal liberationists. No communiques claiming the actions have yet been received by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office as of Sunday afternoon [emphasis added]. According to a San Jose Mercury News reporter, the automobile of a vivisector whom police refused to name was completely destroyed, while the damage to the home of animal abuser David Feldheim was limited to a door frame and smoke damage. Feldheim is fond of terrorizing and killing mice in his research, which according to his website, involves the "viral introduction of genes into living mouse brains."

"The attacks occurred four days after a customer at Caffe Pergolesi, a downtown Santa Cruz coffeehouse, found fliers listing the names, home addresses, home phone numbers and photos of thirteen UC-Santa Cruz vivisectors. Police believe unidentified animal rights activists created the fliers, which were made to appear as "wanted posters." The fliers warned: "Animal abusers everywhere beware; we know where you live; we know where you work; we will never back down until you end your abuse." Read More

Will Potter, an independent journalist who focuses on how the “War on Terrorism” affects civil liberties, writes, "First, it should be noted that no animal rights group like the Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility. Yet the FBI has recklessly labeled this “eco-terrorism,” just like the recent Seattle arson, before the smoke had even cleared. We’ve seen plenty of instances when the government later says “oops, it wasn’t ‘eco-terrorism’ after all.” And we’ve seen other instances, like the attempted murder of Judi Bari, when the FBI framed activists. In short: reporters, activists, and the general public need to slow down, step back, and stop blindly trusting the “official” story provided by the FBI."

see also: Faculty Rally at UC Santa Cruz in Support of Firebombed Colleagues | Commentary by Will Potter, GreenIsTheNewRed.com | Corporate Coverage and Discussion

The campaign against science experiments on animals at the University of California continues to grow stronger, but not without opposition. Over the last several months, activists have been conducting frequent demonstrations outside the homes of UC animal researchers -- a handful of people with signs, a bullhorn and some literature to hand out to neighbors.

At the state level, the University of California Regents have won restraining orders on behalf of researchers at UCLA that not only restrict protesters from engaging in home demonstrations, but also restricts posting addresses and other information about animal researchers on the internet.

UC Berkeley spokesperson Robert Sanders commented to the press that, "We need to prove a pattern to show the court these people should be banned from harassing people in their homes. They are domestic terrorists, and the FBI has started treating them just as they would Al-Qaida."

UC Berkeley is getting ready to build the Li Ka-Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences which will include a basement-level laboratory for experimentation on animals and will extend Cal's existing Northwest Animal Facility by seventy percent. Read More

New website launced for UC Berkeley anti-vivisection campaign || May 1 UC Berkeley primate vivisector Jack Gallant home demonstration reportback || UC threatens lawsuit - wants Stop Cal Vivisection site removed || Primate vivisector Jack Gallant home vigil report-back

Farm Sanctuary, which operates the largest rescue and refuge network for farm animals in North America, and Animal Place, a nonprofit sanctuary for abused and discarded farmed animals, have responded to a call from Santa Cruz Animal Services and are coming to the aid of 14 neglected animals confiscated from a Watsonville slaughterhouse on May 1st.

The rescued animals—12 goats, one cow and one sheep—were discovered at the Lee Road slaughter facility on May 1st by Todd Stosuy of Santa Cruz Animal Services, when he noticed a cow with a bloody horn from the road and initiated an investigation. Stosuy said that in addition to the injured cow, he found 12 very ill, malnourished goats with overgrown, rotted hoofs, as well as several other animals who would have perished if he had not intervened. Upon returning to the facility on May 3rd, Stosuy seized eight more goats and another sheep whose health had deteriorated since his last visit; the sanctuaries and Animal Services are arranging placement of these animals. According to Stosuy, all of the rescued animals were either acquired by the owner at auction or raised on the property and were to be hand-picked by and slaughtered for local customers. Read More

Farm Sanctuary | Animal Place | Californians for Humane Farms | NoDowners.org

On April 9, 2008, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen certified an anti-cruelty ballot initiative for the statewide general election on November 4, 2008. Californians for Humane Farms, sponsored by The Humane Society of the United States, Farm Sanctuary and other animal protection groups, family farmers, veterinarians and public health professionals, said the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act will provide the most basic protection to nearly 20 million animals confined in industrial factory farms in California: that they merely be able to turn around and extend their limbs.

When approved in November, the Act will prevent California factory farms from confining animals in the most restrictive crates or cages — specifically, veal crates for calves, battery cages for egg-laying hens, and gestation crates for breeding pigs. The new law would take effect in 2015, allowing producers ample time to transition to more humane and environmentally sustainable systems.

"Across California, millions of farm animals are crammed into cages so small they can barely move for months on end," stated Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "We're heartened that nearly 800,000 Californians signed to put this important anti-cruelty initiative on the ballot, and we look forward to November, when Californians will vote to establish the principle in law that animals raised for food deserve humane treatment."

Read More | Previous Indybay Feature

On February 21st, the Bush administration finalized its controversial decision to remove the Northern Rockies gray wolf from the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act. The removal of federal protections for the gray wolf puts its continued survival in the Northern Rockies at the mercy of the woefully insufficient state management plans developed by Wyoming, Idaho and—to a lesser extent—Montana. These plans call for dramatic reductions in wolf populations in the region.

George Cadman of Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM interviewed Mike Leahy, Rocky Mountain Region Director for Defenders Of Wildlife, about the recent decision. Read More and Listen to Audio

On February 23rd, noted animal rights activist Peter Young spoke at the Louden Nelson Center in Santa Cruz about his experiences with the animal liberation movement. His talk was followed by a screening of the film "Behind the Mask", a thought provoking film that gives an in-depth look at the lives and motivations of animal liberationists. The event was a benefit for the SHAC 7; six individuals whose 1st Amendment rights were violated when they were sent to prison for defending animals by merely drawing attention to the horrors that go on at an animal testing facility called Huntingdon Life Sciences.

In 1997, Peter and a friend liberated over 8,000 mink and foxes from various fur farms in a two-week road trip across three midwestern states. Read More and Listen to Audio

see also: Audio Interview with Will Potter of "Green is the New Red" || Analysis of Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act || Green Is The New Red.com

Local and national media are reporting on the recall of 143 million pounds of meat from a southern California slaughterhouse. More than 70 school districts and social service agencies in the Central Valley ended up with some of that meat. But, the issue of contaminated meat might be a lot more problematic and local than we have been told. According to Steven Gomez*, who worked for six months at Cargill Regional Beef in Fresno, the practices that led to the current recall at the Hallmark Meat Company in southern California happen every day locally.

"They use downer cows all the time," Gomez told Mike Rhodes in an exclusive interview. Gomez said it was common practice for workers in the southwest Fresno slaughterhouse to hit downed cows with sticks and eventually pick them up with a fork lift to get them onto the kill floor. According to Karen Stump*, who also worked at Cargill, "they would shoot the cow because it couldn't get up and then they would bring them into the kill room with a fork lift." Both Gomez and Stump said those downer cows would be processed and put into the food stream with all of the other cows.

According to a statement from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the group that uncovered the southern California incident that led to the current recall, "downer cows must not be used for food-plain and simple. As the HSUS video shows, this is necessary to protect animals from suffering. As science has made clear, this is necessary to protect food safety. The practice of slaughtering downed cows is especially troubling now that the link between downed cattle and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, has been firmly established. Of the 15 known cases of BSE-infected animals discovered in North America, at least 12 involved downed animals."

* Steven Gomez and Karen Stump are not the whistleblowers' real names. Photos and full story

The Humane Society of United States (HSUS) conducted a video-taped undercover investigation of Hallmark Meat Packing Company slaughterhouse in Chino, California. The six-week investigation was conducted in secret by an investigator who posed as an employee. The investigator documented cows unable to walk, known as "downed" cows, being rammed with the blades of a forklift, jabbed in the eyes, stabbed with electric prods and sprayed in the nose with high-pressure water hoses. Under federal regulations, only animals able to walk on their own can be used for meat. Downed cattle, which have higher occurrences of mad cow disease and other health issues, are supposed to be euthanized and removed immediately.

The video was released to the public by HSUS on January 30th. The video led to San Bernardino County district attorney filing criminal charges against two workers on February 15th, and then on February 17th, the USDA announced the recall of 143 million pounds of beef that came from the Chino plant, making it by far the largest beef recall in U.S. history. The plant has since been closed. USDA officials have noted, though, that most of the beef intended for the recall has already been consumed. The Chino slaughter plant had supplied the Westland Meat Company, which processes the carcasses. The facility is the second-largest supplier of beef to USDA's Commodity Procurement Branch, which distributes the beef to needy families, the elderly and also to schools in 36 states through the National School Lunch Program.

Read More: 1 | 2 · Exposé Video · Audio

GARDINER & WEST YELLOWSTONE, MT: 290 wild buffalo have been slaughtered by the National Park Service in Yellowstone since February 8th. These actions are being taken to appease Montana's cattle interests, who claim they fear the spread of brucellosis from wild bison to cattle. A week of action was held February 14th though the 21st to draw attention to the role of Yellowstone National Park and Montana in the harassment, capture, and slaughter of the last wild population of American bison remaining in the United States.

"Originally the U.S. Calvary was sent here to protect the last remaining bison found in Yellowstone," said Mike Mease, co-founder of Buffalo Field Campaign. "How sadly ironic that millions of U.S. tax dollars are now being spent to kill them."

George Cadman of Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM spoke with Stephany Seay of the Buffalo Field Campaign about the real reasons behind the slaughter, what they are doing to fight it and how people can get involved. Read More and Listen to the Interview | BFC's Feb. 21st Update from the Field

Meeting up with the BFC: The paradox of joy and failure || Stopping slaughter of buffalo in Yellowstone: What's next to do? || Previous Coverage

On February 7th, the Australian Government released graphic photos of whales being slaughtered by a Japanese whaling fleet to the media. The Australian Government has also extended the mission of the Oceanic Viking in documenting the whale slaughter in preparation for an international legal case against Japanese whaling.

Masatoshi Wakabayashi, the Japanese Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries says a diplomatic complaint will be lodged with Australia over the release of the photos. "We had agreed to handle the issue calmly and avoid damaging friendly relations between the two countries,"he told a news conference as reported by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). "However, Australia released pictures of a whaling vessel and made remarks that don't appear calm," Mr Wakabayashi said. "We will express our regret about it and call on them through diplomatic channels to act calmly." he said.

One of the photos released apparently shows the killing of a mother minke whale and its calf, as evidence to back legal action against Japan’s controversial whale hunt. The graphic images show the mother whale and her calf being winched aboard a Japanese vessel after being shot with explosive tipped harpoons. Scientists say the calf in the photograph was less than twelve months old. Read More and View Photos

see also: Australian Government Refuses to release Whale Slaughter Photos || Sea Shepherd: Australian Government too timid on Whaling || Paul Watson: Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace An Unfortunate Conflict in Anti-whaling Campaign || Sea Shepherd: Greenpeace should Refuel and Return to Stop Whaling || Low fuel forces Greenpeace to abandon Whaling Fleet || Whaling Company in Tokyo served with Australian Court orders || Sea Shepherd bushwacks Whaling surveillance vessel || Greenpeace Blockades Refueling of Whaling Factory Ship || Sea Shepherd Tailed By Japanese Mystery Ship || Sea Shepherd website hacked || Previous Coverage