Animal Liberation Aotearoa : News

On Saturday June 27th activists held an information stall in Napier town centre for several hours in order to re-educate the public about whats happening in their own back yard. A lot of information about VARC and animal testing was given out and we received an overwhelming response and a lot of support. Public were encouraged to phone Allen Goldenthal and express to him personally their disgust.

On Saturday July 18th a protest was held outside VARCs Bainesse facility and boarding kennels near Palmerston North. Several activists held placards and banners outside the facility. Regular demos are held outside Bainesse to draw attention to the fact that the boarding kennels are merely a front for the breeding and testing facilities.

ALA Joins Face Book

If you are a Facebook member please visit the ALA Facebook group and come one of our friends.

We not got much on there at the moment but we will be adding to it over the next few days.

Pigs Saved in Open Rescue

Newsletter Issue Two Out Now!

Save the Beagles Public Stall and Protest - Napier

Valley Animal Research Centre is a contract animal testing company which breeds and test on hundreds of Beagle dogs each year, as well as other animals. VARC is owned by Allen Goldenthal and his wife Margaret Harkema.

On Saturday June 27th we will be holding a public stall to get the word out about this disgusting and shameful industry and the people that profit from it.

Come along and make your voice heard for the animals that suffer under the hands of Allen Goldenthal.

Meet at 10.30am, Soundshell, Marine Parade, Napier.
Public stall from 11am till 1pm. Protest will be held after this.

Cat Adoption Drive

This Saturday we met with other people who manage cat colonies in Auckland and held a small adoption drive in Onehunga.

WE WANT YOU . . . to contribute to Liberate!

From Liberate Magazine

We want your news, views, articles, art for the fourth issue of Liberate Magazine.

The deadline for the next issue is 15th August 2009.

Please send all submissions to liberatemagazine@yahoo.com or via snail mail to Liberate, PO BOX 7523, Wellesley Street, Auckland.

Pork Board Desperation and Farm Tour Success

On the 8th of June Massey University are holding an 'Advancing Pork Production' seminar for the Pork Board at the Kingsgate Hotel in Palmerston North. We thought this would be a good opportunity to let the public see, first hand, the suffering that 'Pork Production' really entails.

This Queens Birthday weekend we successfully held a Farm Tour at a pig farm close to Palmerston North. We say successfully because the Pork Board did try and stop the tour through several different means including using Private Investigators and attending our organising workshop. These actions by the Pork Board say a lot about how desperate they are to prevent further exposure of their industry.

Events for the Animals in Palmerston North This Month

Next week Animal Liberation Aotearoa are holding the following two events in Palmerston North, we hope to see you there.

Investigate - an animal rights film screening
The vivisection and meat industries are some of the most secretive in the world. Animal rights activists from New Zealand and abroad have exposed the truth behind the closed doors. Come along to see three short films featuring undercover investigations in to these barbaric industries.

Pig Farm Tour - experience intensive pig farming first hand

On the 8th of June those consultants, key pork producers, pork processors, and veterinarians responsible for this cruelty are gathering at the The Steeple, Kingsgate Hotel for the ‘Advancing Pork Production seminar'.

Mike King Exposes Pig Farm Cruelty

For the last seven years the New Zealand pork industry had commissioned Mike King, one of the country's top celebrity icons, to encourage kiwis to eat more pork. He was damn good at his job too. Pork sales increased. Everyone was happy, or so he thought.

Late in 2008 SAFE sent Mike King information about factory farming of pigs in New Zealand. In utter shock and disbelief, he began researching for himself how pigs were reared to produce pork, bacon and ham. He searched internet sites, spoke with friends and began asking questions of his employer, the New Zealand Pork Board.

Save The Beagles Demo Times Announced

Protests against Valley Animal Research Centre will be held on the last Saturday of every month from next month onwards. We will alternate protests having them in Napier one month then Palmerston North the next.

Confirmed protests dates for the rest of the year are as follows:

27 June - Napier
25 July - Palmerston North
29 August - Napier
26 September - Palmerston North
31 October - Napier
28 November - Palmerston North

Issue Three of Liberate Magazine Out Now!

In this issue we discuss Rob Gilchrist and how he was ousted as a police informant late last year. We also look at animal rights in China, inside slaughterhouses and how you can run a campaign, as well as much more.

Yet again we have added a new section ‘actions speak louder than words’. This new section will report back to readers on all the awesome above ground actions and campaigns being fought on the animals behalf across Aotearoa.

A Busy Two Weeks

World Lab Animal Week

This World Lab Animal Week ALA members attended demos organised by Save the Beagles at the Valley Animal Research Centre in Palmerston North and then returned to Auckland to hold demos against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as part of our Stop HLS campaign.

Duck Hunting Demo

This year the 2nd of May was the opening of this years duck hunting season. In deciding what action to take we knew that placards and banners were not going to change the minds of those at the hunting grounds as such we wanted to do something that would reduce that amount of time the hunters had on the water and thus the time they had to maim and kill.

ALA Animal Rescue Blog

This week we have also set up the ALA Animal Rescue Blog. After having made the Tyre Cats and Backyard Catz blogs it was getting a little messy so we decided to amalgamate them into one. This can be seen at www.alaanimalrescue.blogspot.com

We are helping individual animals pretty much every week so we will be posting regularly. Please check back regularly to see who we have met and how you can help.

Meat Investigation 2008 - 2009

Young piglets with growths nearly as big as their heads, large bulls hanging from the roof while blood streams from their throat, mother sheep bleating because their babies have been stolen and baby chicks so heavy their young skeletons can not hold their body weight. This is the reality of life for millions of animals on New Zealand’s pastoral and factory farms and it is what we saw during our first investigation.

What we saw is the very reason we wanted to start investigating what is happening to animals in New Zealand. We want everyone to get the chance to see what is happening behind the closed doors of the countries animal abuse industries. This summer we had an overview look at what life and death is like for these millions of animals. During this investigation we visited several pig, duck, goat and chicken factory farms, as well as dairy farms, sheep and ‘beef’ cattle farms, sales yards and chicken, duck, cow and sheep slaughterhouses. During these visits we documented what we saw with video and still cameras.

World Lab Animal Week Action - NEXT WEEK!

This year Animal Liberation Aotearoa are holding demonstrations as part of our Stop HLS campaign. Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) is the largest contract animal testing company in Europe. There is an international campaign to close them down; this is called Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty (SHAC). The campaign targets HLS customers and service providers as well as HLS themselves.

During this week we have organised the following actions against GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), HLS's largest customer.

Tuesday 21st April - Phone/Email in Day
Contact GSK on the following numbers 0800 808 500 or 0800 804 040 and let them know what you think about their role in animal testing. Alternatively (or as well) email them via their website contact form (at the bottom of this page) gsk.co.nz/contact.html

If you don't reach him at work, you can contact director Michael Bryant at home that night on 09-535 4116

Friday 24th April (World Lab Animal Day) - GSK Office Demo
Meet at Starbucks at the bottom of Queen Street; 12 noon.
We have plaquards, leaflets and banners but please feel free to bring yours as well.

Duck Hunting Discussion Dinner and Demo

Discussion Dinner
Sunflower Vegetarian Cafe, 50 High Street, Auckland City
Thursday 30th April, 6pm

This duck hunting season opens on the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of May. Over this weekend ALA are planning on holding a demonstration at a popular South Auckland hunting ground and taking action that will hopefully prevent as many hunters as possible from getting on to the water to kill and maim.

Introducing the Backyard Catz

Just weeks after starting to help manage a South Auckland cat colony we have a new cat colony in Grey Lynn. These cats came to use via an article in the Harbour News local paper.

The plan for this colony is to de-sex all of the cats and return them to the colony. Once they have become more tame we would like to place them all in permanent homes.

We have set up a blog so that you can follow the journey of these cats. This can be viewed at www.backyardcatz.blogspot.com .

Introducing the Tyre Cats Cat Colony

There are a few people helping to care for a cat colony in South Auckland; this includes caring individuals, members involved in other cat colonies and members of Animal Liberation Aotearoa.

The plan for this colony is to de-sex all of the cats and return them to the colony. Once they have become more tame we would like to place them all in permanent homes.

First Ever ALA Newsletter Out Now

Every two months ALA put out a newsletter to let you all know what we have been up to on behalf of the animals and how you can help.

- The Reality of Meat Production in Aotearoa: a report from our first investigation

Study Links Red Meat To Premature Death

This is something that some of us already knew but it is good to see in the mainstream press. This is an article from Stuff.co.nz.

People who eat the most red meat and the most processed meat have the highest overall risk of death from all causes, including heart disease and cancer, US researchers reported.

Abolition of Meat Day Farm Tour

In recognition of the first World Day for the Abolition of Meat we took a handful of interested and concerned people to an Auckland pig farm and attempted to go to a broiler farm near by.

Meet Your Meat Farm Tour

In recognition of the first World Day for the Abolition of Meat we want to take you to see how factory farmed broiler chickens and pigs are kept before they become your dinner.

The Meet Your Meat Farm Tour will be on the morning of Saturday January 31st however we will be holding a work shop on Friday 30th to discuss the plight of ‘meat' animals in Aotearoa and the farm tour in more detail. If you wish to attend the farm tour we ask that you first attend this workshop. Caregivers are welcome to bring children to the workshop and/or farm tour if they think it is appropriate for their children.

ANZCCART Charges Dismissed

This morning six activists had charges of being unlawfully in an enclosed yard dismissed. These charges relate to a demonstration held at the East Tamaki Landcare Research building during the ANZCCART conference in July of 2008.

Four Cats in Urgent Need of a Home

Animal Liberation Aotearoa trapped several cats at one property late last year. There are four of these lovely cats left who are now ready to go to a new home. The person who has been fostering them must find them all new homes by the end of January 09 because they are moving.

Are you able to provide a loving home for one of these cats away from busy roads.

Final Call for Liberate Submissions

February is just around the corner and the Liberate submission deadline is fast approaching.

For the third issue of Liberate, we will be featuring "State oppression of animals and activists". In this feature we will discuss the role of the state in furthering and maintaining animal abuse through mechanisms such as requiring animal testing of new products, subsidising dairy farmers and allowing industry to write codes of welfare. Further to this we will discuss how the state protect animal abusing companies and industries by targeting activists.

8 Foot Sativa to Release Animal Rights Video

Meat Free Media, Sunset Studios and NZ Open Rescue are extremely proud and excited to announce the launch of 8 Foot Sativa's latest music video for their new single "Sleepwalkers". For the last few months we have been producing a hard hitting animal rights music video for the all-vegan band and Thursday 22nd of January is your chance to help us mark it's launch.

There will be an evening of speakers and other animal rights videos culminating in the first ever public viewing of the music video. This will also be your chance to hear how the video came about, how it was produced and meet those involved in making it. Speakers on the night will include the director of the video, Duncan Eastwood, NZ Open Rescue and vocalist for the band Ben Read.

ANZCCART Arrestees In Court On Wednesday

UPDATE: The court ran over time on Wednesday and the hearing will be continued on Wednesday the 14th of January from 10am at the Auckland District Court. Please go along and show your support.

Last year several animal rights activists were arrested during a week of action against vivisection and the ANZCCART conference in Auckland.

The arrests, subsequent charges of being unlawfully in an enclosed yard, relate to a demonstration at the Landcare Research Offices in East Tamaki. Landcare Research conducts "pest control" research on animals including small numbers of cats and dogs. In 2003 painful experiments resulting in "severe" and "very severe" suffering were conducted on rabbits, rats, possums, mice, ferrets and fish.

Abolitionist No.8 Out Now

The Abolitionist is an on-line magazine from Australia. The 8th issue has just come out.

There are many articles including:
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Jane Duck interviewed
Jumps Racing interview with expert Lawrence Pope
The Season to Go Vegan with well-known international animal
Activists favourite recipes and they tell why they are vegan.
Confessions of an Ex-Slaughterman - not to be missed!
Mindless Conformity: Lynda Stoner writes on agribusiness in Australia

GSK Director Gets Early Morning Xmas Message

GSK are HLS's single largest customer. They use HLS for experiments every single day and are responsible for the pain and suffering of thousands of animals every year. There is an international campaign to shut down HLS and there are demonstrations and actions world wide targeting GSK for their role in HLS animal abuse.

Battery Hen Farm Tour

Last week, following a workshop about battery hens, nearly 20 people went to a South Auckland factory farm to see first hand how battery hens in Aotearoa are living. For many this was the first time they had been to a factory farm but it was something they needed to see, despite the risk.

More Charges Withdrawn Against Activists

Activists Betrayed by Rob Gilchrist: Police Informant

UPDATED: It has been revealed that for the last ten years Rob Gilchrist has been paid by the NZ Police to spy on activists groups within New Zealand. Many of those involved with Animal Liberation Aotearoa, and previously Auckland Animal Action, regarded Rob as a friend and comrade. Below are links to all the media reports.

Charges Against Activist Dismissed

Yesterday an Auckland activist had charges of intimidation and unlawfully in a yard dismissed by the Judge at the North Shore District Court. The charges related to an Auckland Animal Action demo against GlaxoSmtihKline’s involvement with European contract animal testing company Huntingdon Life Science (HLS).

December Battery Hen Farm Tour: Please come along

This December we are taking a visit to an Auckland battery hen farm and would like you to come along.

There are over 2.5 million battery hens in New Zealand; producing over 90% of New Zealand's eggs. These animals are confined to sloping wire cages in dark sheds, with little or no natural light. Virtually all of a battery hens natural behaviours are suppressed - they cannot perch, preen, or spread their wings; they will never see the sun, scratch the earth or forage for food. They are denied the opportunity to make nests, dustbathe, and engage in normal social interaction.

Climate Global Day of Action: Auckland demonstration against Kwila

"Western demand for kwila is not only killing the forests, it is also killing our people. The forest is seen as our mother, which provides us with food, water and shelter - and when that is taken away, our people lose everything."

Saturday 06 December 2008
13:00pm - 15:00pm
Design Warehouse
136 Fanshawe Street
Auckland

Peta Expose Chinese Rabbit Fur Farm

PETA Asia-Pacific's new video footage from an undercover investigation shows rabbits crammed into filthy cages that are encrusted with urine and feces. Workers at the farm pull rabbits from cages by their ears and shoot them in the head with handheld electrical devices - often multiple times - while the terrified animals kick and scream. Then the rabbits are hung upside-down and decapitated.

Animal Abuser Targeted in Early Morning Demo

Animals Liberated Worldwide

Reading Bite Back is a great way to keep your sprits up and today was even better than most. The Animal Liberation Front has been busy world wide with four reported actions on Bite Back alone in the last day. This bought a smile to our face and we wanted to share.

Liberate Issue 3: State Oppression of Animals and Activists (Submissions Wanted)

French Cafe Agrees to Remove Foie Gras

Auckland restaurant, The French Cafe, has agreed to remove foie gras from their menu after being given information on the cruel nature of this animal abusing industry.

The Auckland Animal Rights Collective will continue their campaign agaisnt foie gras. They will be moving on to other restaurants and delis serving and stocking this cruel product so watch this space.

Activists Rescue Pullets for World Vegan Day

Anti-Foie Gras Campaign Launched

The Auckland Animal Rights Collective (AARC) is launching a new campaign this Friday against foie gras. This campaign is in addition to the long running Fur Free Auckland campaign that we have been running and will continue in much the same style.

World Vegan Day: Celebrating Compassion

Saturday, November 1st, 2008
4 pm - 8 pm
The Loft
First Floor, 103 Beach Road
Auckland

Celebrate vegan unity in diversity for World Vegan Day. There will be music, info stalls, a feast of vegan delights, informative speakers, and various vegan/vegan-friendly groups.

Open Rescue Activist Found Guilty for Saving Lives

Update: Mark Eden appeared on Close Up about this. To view the Close Up story click here. (Click under Close Up: Compassionate Crime)

A diehard animal rights activist - who once chained himself to a bacon truck - says the battery hens he liberated in his latest protest are happy, safe and will live long lives.

For Mark Eden it was a crime of passion but saving the hens came at a cost for the broke, aspiring film-maker.

Hamilton to Celebrate Anti-McDonalds Day

This day is a protest against the promotion of junk food, the unethical targeting of children, exploitation of workers, animal cruelty, damage to the environment and the global domination of corporations over our lives. McDonalds is the worlds single largest user of beef, much of which is raised on former tropical rainforest land.

Where: Garden Place, Hamilton City

NZ Open Rescue: Minister is Failing Farmed Animals

New Zealand Open Rescue has produced a five minute documentary reviewing intensive farming in New Zealand. The documentary is targeted to MP's and calls for party policy on Animal Welfare.

The organisation is also calling for separate Ministry's of Animal Welfare and Agriculture, as currently Welfare falls under Agriculture.

Abandoned Cats Need Your Help

This week ALA learnt of a house in Glen Eden where several cats had been abandoned by the tenants. The house is due to be demolished as part of Council works along the nearby streamside. The tenants had moved out and left their cats there. Initially we thought there were only two or three cats there however after further investigation and a call from the SPCA we established that there are nine cats (six adults and three eight-month old kittens).

The cats have been left in the house however they can access the outside. They have been left with no food or water and the house stinks of cat excrement and urine. The room where the cats seem to send most of their time is full of rubbish and household items the tenants did not take with them. Outside the house the patio is covered in dog faeces and more rubbish.

Liberate Issue Two Out Now!

In this issue Liberate discuss veganism and the need to recognise that all forms of oppression are linked; hence the feature title; Vegan is Not Enough. It is not enough to recognise our privilege over animals but ignore that which we have over women, other cultures, queers and the environment. Similarly people active in social justice movements often do not acknowledge the power and privilege they hold over the earth and our animal brothers and sisters.

Activists Liberate Lambs & Chickens for World Farm Animals Day

"The animals were rescued to spare them from slaughter and challenge the assumption that animals are food", states the communiqué Animal Liberation Aotearoa (ALA) received from the activists involved.

Celebrate World Vegetarian Day

October 1st marks World Vegetarian Day. On this day a vegan picnic will be held at Nixon Park, Central Ave, Kingsland. 6pm.

Local Support for the Beagles

A local Manawatu resident is looking for other interested locals to attend and help organise regular demonstrations at the Valley Animal Research Centre.

Valley Animal Research Centre (VARC) is a contract animal testing company, which keeps over two hundred beagles for experiments. VARC was set up two years ago by Allen Goldenthal and his wife, Margaret Harkema. The company has facilities in Hawke's Bay and in the Manawatu, where they keep both dogs and cats for research purposes.

The Price of Milk - A Debate

SAFE presents a debate on the effects of the milk and dairy industry on animals. Guest speakers will explore in depth this issue on both sides of the argument, taking in health, environment, animal rights and economic issues, especially relating to how it interacts with New Zealand culture. Is milk really just a source of ‘wholesome goodness and simple nutrition'?

Kelly the Dolphin Dies After 34 Years of Performing

Marineland's elderly dolphin Kelly has died after 34 years in the limelight, marking the "end of an era", Napier Mayor Barbara Arnott said today.

Marineland manager Gary Macdonald told NZPA Kelly had been ill for about a week but had perked up yesterday which made her death in the early hours of this morning quite a surprise.

Activists Tour Pig Factory Farm

In Aotearoa there are over 350,000 pigs on factory farms; most destined to be eaten. They live in filthy crammed conditions, unable to display of their natural behaviours such as foraging, nesting, forming hierarchies and in many cases even turning around. In 2005 over 750,000 pigs were slaughtered for their flesh. This is hard to believe and something we had to see for ourselves.

On a sunny winter day in June we took a ‘self guided' tour of a North Island pig farm. The point of this farm tour was to see, with our own eyes, how pigs were factory farmed in this country and to gain a better understanding of pigs in general.

Farmers Accused of Impaling Cow On Tractor

Two 42-year-old central North Island men will appear in Ohakune District Court next Friday to face animal cruelty charges after what police call a "barbaric" incident.

The charges follow the discovery by Ohakune police sergeant Mike Craig of a live cow impaled on the forks of a tractor front-end loader. Mr Craig said he could not believe his eyes when he was driving past the tractor, on State Highway 49 between Ohakune and Waiouru, and saw the cow's head moving.

Walk for the Beagles in Palmerston North

The recent Walk for the Animals in Palmerston North, organised by SAFE and Save the Beagles Campaign to protest against animal testing, was a huge success. Despite pouring rain almost 100 people marched around the central city holding placards and banners to voice their opposition to the local animal testing laboratory (Valley Animal Research Centre).