Editorial; Abolitionist #3 The No Going Back Issue

What have those kids been up to over at PeTA? I am spoilt for choice. What won’t they do for a headline? In their bid for incessant publicity even they have out-classed themselves this time. As if the two PeTA members being arrested on 62 charges of animal cruelty weren’t bad enough, now PeTA is telling us that no-kill shelters were the problem all along.

Isn’t the preservation of animal life part of the abolitionist stance? PeTA compromised and compromised their position to such a point where they themselves probably still believe it’s possible to work towards animal rights while concurrently killing the object of that liberation as well.

Our point is this: Apart from the traitorous act of killing non-human animals in their charge, which is bad enough, if PeTA had marketed themselves initially as a welfare organisation nobody probably would have batted an eye-lid about this latest debacle because that’s what’s expected in the sordid killing grounds of animal welfarism. Keep non-human animals fed and sheltered up until the time they are killed “humanely”.

Another point of issue is this: PeTA seems intent on destroying the no-kill shelter, which has so little voice at the best of times. PeTA, a rich compromised organisation now tells the world it is in favour of killing animals - sending a message that killing shelters will suffice and all the no-kill efforts are in vain.

Nobody asked PeTA to play God on the issue of over-population. They are such a wealthy organisation, they easily could have, for one thing, brought a trendy vegan café/restaurant and situated it near their own no-kill shelter as a form of education for the general public. The restaurant could have funded the no-kill shelter but PeTA chose not to do anything quite as creative or as harmless as this.

Ingrid Newkirk has lost something money can’t buy and that’s street cred amongst grassroots animal rights activists.

What did she think? That we wouldn’t notice?

By attempting to play off one thing against the other has enabled PeTA in the past to have it both ways: maintain the nearly universal, false notion that everything done “for animals” is animal rights and not actually be an animal rights organisation, so not to alienate highly speciesist, anti AR donors. PeTA’s disregard for the devastating effect this would have on no-kill grassroots animal activists and their shelters is astounding in light of their visibility and wealth.

Why speak out against them?
Because we too are a voice for non-human animals. We’ll make it our business to be a voice for the most recent 12,500 (at a conservative estimate) animals – the latest casualties - that were murdered by the hand of PeTA in the back of the PeTA van or over at their ‘shelter’.

PeTA are culpable. Their killing spree achieved the wiping out of thousands and thousands of lost lives that the little shelters they were taking animals from couldn’t hope to compete with even if they were killing constantly for a full year. And this was all done in the name of ‘animal rights’. What a laughing stock they are trying to turn us into.

PeTA misguided? More like bloody disgraceful!
Ingrid Newkirk should apologise and resign immediately.

The Abolitionist-Online asked Jeff Perz to comment on PeTA’s killing policy. He did so in the article “Must Love Dogs…to Death”.

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Racism and Xenotransplantation – Back To Back.

You would think that Australians would be accustomed to hearing about deaths in custody by now. So far there have been over 9000 Aboriginal deaths in custody since they started counting back in the 80’s. There’s been a Royal Commission in 1999 and over 380 recommendations to stop indigenous people from killing themselves while in custody, if indeed that’s what’s happening.

The widespread suspicion amongst Aboriginal people that people and prison officers were directly responsible for many of the deaths in custody was not borne out by the Royal Commission. However, so far, not one single prosecution has occurred. This is only one thing in a string of incidents targeting indigenous peoples.
In New Zealand, last month, an article appeared, “NZ Backs Animal Transplants For Humans” but the gist of it is – for Maori and Maori people only. (my italics)

“Maori suffer disportionately from the conditions which might be helped by xenotransplantation, such as diabetes, and the council recommended that the environment minister fund a process for Maori – and only Maori – to address any ethical concerns…..”. 2005 AAP

Is it any wonder then that while interviewing hip-hop’s Dead Prez’s Sticman, the Abolitionist’s Justin Barker asked if he thought there was a deliberate plan to kill off the Black African in the world today?

If there were any doubts left at all, Hurricane Katrina put an end to all of that. This interview makes for compelling reading.

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We dedicate Issue 3# to Bill Rodgers.

While on the subject of deaths in custody a memorial in February was held in Arizona for Eco-defense arrestee Bill Rodgers who was found dead in his holding cell.
Community members spoke of a man who worked for social justice, was co-founder of the Catalyst Infoshop and Bookstore. One of his loved ones said about the case, “We need to show {the township of} Prescott and the US that we are not ashamed of who Bill – or The Catalyst – is, but proud of how they have served to bring people together”. From all accounts Bill was a loving person of great integrity.

Sending a Message to Bob Debus

Springwood’s local member and Attorney General, Bob Debus, is responsible for a catastrophic decline in Red Kangaroo numbers in New South Wales. As State Minister for the Environment he has approved huge commercial killing quotas during the worst drought in a hundred years.

Red Kangaroos are going the way of the koalas. If you drive out west now you won’t see any mobs of Red Kangaroos outside of national parks.

Maybe Bob Debus needs to be taught a lesson. We have been spending time this past few months letterboxing in Springwood and Katoomba with a colourful leaflet financed by the World League for the Protection of Animals.

It has been remarkably well received. Australians love kangaroos. They insist on seeing them in their non-consumptive state and we will continue to keep the pressure on.

A Short Intro: The Shearwater (Muttonbird) Slaughter:

Yvette Watt from Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania (AACT) calls for the abolition of an industry that is slaughtering Tasmania’s Muttonbird.

Abolitionist: Can you tell us what is exactly being done to Muttonbirds in Tasmania?

Yvette Watt: The Muttonbird is a name that’s given to a bird’s whose real name is a short-tailed Shearwater. They are a migratory sea bird that nests in quite large colonies around Tasmania and also in some parts of NSW and Victoria.
Tasmania, however, is the only state that allows the birds to be killed for both a commercial season and a recreational season. The birds were banned from being killed in Victoria some 30 years ago.

Abolitionist: How big is the commercial industry Yvette?

Yvette Watt: The commercial industry which is run by Tasmanian aborigines allows up to 200,000 birds to be killed in a season. The recreational season is actually bigger than that. In the last few years, over one thousand licenses have been given out to recreational Mutton-birders and that allows them to take up to 25 birds a day over a 16 day season. There’s a potential for over 400,000 Mutton birds to be killed during this recreational season.

Abolitionist: Why would any body want to shoot a Shearbird (Muttonbird)?

Yvette Watt: They don’t actually shoot them. The Muttonbirds themselves build burrows where they lay a single egg once a year. They re-use those burrows, year in and year out. What the birders do is they come along and they put their arms down the burrow and haul out the chick and then the chick is then killed. The recreational birders are renown for slinging them around by their necks to try and kill them. They are also renown for using spiked hooks to haul them out of the burrows rather than putting their arms down. That’s common practice.

Abolitionist: Is it like duck shooting. Are they just killing them for fun or what?

Yvette Watt: Basically, yes. People do eat them which is why they have taken on the name Muttonbird and why our group is trying to get the name ‘Muttonbird’ changed back to its original – Shearwater.
From the recreational kill there is also a black market in these birds. The commercial kill is regulated but the recreational kill is not regulated at all as this happens in really remote areas like off-shore islands and there are nowhere near the amount of Parks and Wildlife officers there to oversee the recreational kill. Poaching is also rife.

Abolitionist: Is this Australia’s best kept secret?

Yvette Watt: I think it probably is. People a). have no idea that this is going on and b). have no idea what the scale of this is like. Looking at the potential for over half a million Shearwaters to be killed every season when you combine the recreational and commercial kills.

Abolitionist: Yesterday Against Animal Cruelty-Tasmania organised a protest against the killing of Muttonbirds. What happened?

Yvette Watt: It went really well. We ended up with protesters in four cities in Tasmania – in Hobart, Launceston, Davonport and Ulverstone. The biggest protest by far was in Hobart where we had about 20 protesters standing outside Service Tasmania holding up placards and handing out leaflets to passers-by. We stood outside here because that’s where the Muttonbird licenses for the recreational season are issued. People only need to pay $23.00 for a license then they can go into any Service-Tasmania office and buy one.

Abolitionist: It’s a wonder they haven’t been challenged before Yvette.

Yvette Watt: The massive number of these birds that are slaughtered for fun is of great concern to AACT. With poaching rife and more birds also drown in fishing nets, Shearwater numbers could easily plummet very quickly. The Tasmanian and/or Federal Governments must act immediately to end this terrible and totally unjustifiable slaughter of these extraordinary birds before we lose them forever.
For further info contact:

Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania Inc.
P O Box 1045, Sandy Bay, Tasmania 7005
Email: AACT_now@hotmail.com

Direct Action is not a last resort.
Direct Action is a PREFERENCE.

Thank you to Bite Back magazine for permission to reprint The Jennifer and Richard Pryor Interview.

To Marie Warby for her depiction of PeTA’s Pro-Killing of Pound Animals Cartoon

To Ann Paterson for her graphics on the kangaroo.

To Auckland Animal Action for the battery hen pic on our “ Anti-Speciesism” graphic.

To all our contributors.

To Diana Simpson for providing us with non-copyright horse slaughter footage and for being there in Tasmania to capture, on film, the bull who broke his back at one of their rodeos.

This site is dedicated to: Barry Horne, Jill Phipps, Mike Hill, Tom Worby, the Australian Diana Simpson and Ronnie Lee.