On September 9th 2011, Canisius College’s Institute for the Study of Human-Animal Relations (ISHAR) hosted “The Use of Primates in Biomedical Research: A Personal Perspective” at the Montante Cultural Center featuring guest speaker Dr. James Ha, head of the primate breeding program at the Washington National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) in the University of Washington (UW). It was here and then, where animal rights activist and student, Morgan Jamie Dunbar, was combatively arrested and detained after raising questions during the evening’s Q&A segment about the USDA-documented mistreatment of primates at UW during his tenure at that institution.

Interestingly, this speaking engagement, which was organized at the behest of Dr. Michael Noonan, Director of Canisius’ Animal Behavior, Ecology and Conservation (ABEC) Bachelors program and the event’s moderator, was billed to the student body as a “symposium.” However, with a presentation of only one viewpoint from one speaker, this speciously lopsided affair not only misrepresented itself by solely presenting Dr. James Ha’s position in favor of animal experimentation but also proceeded to suppress and censor opposing view points, as Dr. Ha repeatedly and recklessly referred to animal advocates as “domestic terrorists”, “crazy”, “wild”, and “violent.”

In a written exchange one month prior, Dunbar was promised by Noonan that the evening would present a balanced conversation that would encourage questions of the speaker, stating “My hope is that you will be part of the conversation that we have at the symposium. It is open to the public and we will welcome all points of view.”

With this in mind, Dunbar waited her turn to the microphone before raising questions regarding the fatal starvation of a stump-tailed macaque, 40 illegal primate surgeries, and the subsequent litany of USDA violations that ensued. However, before Dr. Ha could complete his response to the aforementioned points of interest, Noonan directly interrupted and intervened, Dunbar’s microphone was silenced, and she was quickly removed from the auditorium and slammed against a wall in an adjoining room, handcuffed, and told she was being arrested for “criminal trespassing in the 3^rd degree.”

Witnesses report that Dunbar’s questions were relevant and her conduct was in accordance with the symposium’s format.  Attendees watched on appalled and outraged.

In an official statement, Dunbar said “The conditions that allow for social injustice have always emerged as a result of society’s failure to recognize the rights of individuals or groups. When denial of such rights is tolerated or indeed encouraged, it is bound to fortify the bases for further repression and injustice. That is why we, as a community, must speak out in solidarity against the repression and severe violation of First Amendment Rights that occurred on September 9th.”

To voice your concerns on this matter, the following information has been provided below:

Dr. Terri Mangione- Dean of Students
(716) 888-2130
mangiont@canisius.edu

John J. Hurley- President
(716) 888-2100
hurleyj@canisius.edu

Erica Sammarco- Assistant to the President
(716) 888-8203
sammarce@canisius.edu

Dr. Michael Noonan- ABEC Director/ISHAR Director
(716) 888-2772
noonan@canisius.edu
Further Reading & Information:

The Griffin:
http://www.thegriffincanisius.com/news/student-activist-removed-forcefully-from-ishar-lecture-1.2594887?pagereq=1

Artvoice Weekly:
http://artvoice.com/issues/v10n37/week_in_review/monkey_business

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By: Jason Miller

In late 2009, I [Jason Miller] became aware that the University of Kansas Medical Center (aka KU Med or KUMC) had a primate vivisection program.  While the census of their “test subjects” (primarily macaques and squirrel monkeys according to information available through the USDA and KU Med’s website) is relatively small compared to other vivisection facilities, what cried out for Animal Rights activist intervention was the fact that they had been cited by the USDA for 160 violations of animal welfare laws, a staggering number.

Still reeling from a no-holds barred 6 month campaign my allies and I had waged against the Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department to stop a deer cull (which entailed us giving them significant hell through myriad relentless and creative tactics, our tactics delaying the slaughters, our campaign throwing national attention on their insistence on killing when equally efficient and cost-effective non-lethal means of deer management were available, them eventually slaughtering 400 deer, and me being arrested and placed on probation), I decided to wade into a battle against the University of Kansas Medical Center to stop them from imprisoning, torturing, and killing primates with millions of our tax dollars and a blatant disregard for animal welfare laws.

As a grass roots activist in a town with few hard-core ARA’s, with dwindling personal resources, suffering battle fatigue from the deer war, having even fewer dedicated activists than I had in the campaign to save the deer, facing significant barriers to our activism via law enforcement, and struggling against a recalcitrant, politically-connected opponent, I have found spear-heading the KU Med campaign to be incredibly challenging.

Yet my allies and I moved forward by:

1. Publicly asking the university to open up their facilities to inspection by us and/or the media (to validate their claims that they were operating ethically), to provide video evidence of their ethical treatment of the primates (upon their refusal to allow the media or us into their facility), and to respond to Carol McCormick’s offer to do their research upon her instead of the monkeys. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/ku-medical-center-continues-to-torture-and-murder-innocent-primates-with-impunity/)
2. Creating and distributing a flier about two of the vivisectors (which was provocative but well-within First Amendment protected speech or advocacy), an act which got me banned from setting foot on KU Med property. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/while-i-walked-away-with-my-freedom-the-primates-at-kumc-remain-imprisoned/)
3. Putting on numerous demonstrations at a busy intersection near KU Med. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/stop-torturing-our-friends-were-not-going-away/)
4. Engaging in a form of tactile activism, to take the abstract and make it real for KU Med’s Vice Chancellor Atkinson. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/tactile-activism-what-the-hell-is-the-point/)
5. Carrying out a home demonstration at a vivisector’s house, which was a first in Kansas City. That ultimately resulted in a near arrest and three TRO’s (temporary restraining orders) against me.
6. Offering  a reward for stopping the primate vivisection at KU Med with this verbiage: Jason Miller, an Animal Rights and social justice activist of modest means, is offering a reward of $35,000.00 to any group or individual who facilitates freedom (i.e. life in a primate sanctuary) for the primates enslaved by the University of Kansas Medical Center OR to any group or individual who orchestrates or causes the complete and permanent cessation of primate vivisection at the University of Kansas Medical Center. DISCLAIMER: Jason Miller is not endorsing, condoning, promoting, or encouraging the commission of illegal or violent acts to achieve the goals necessary to earn this reward. I am offering this reward (which if I pay it out will require me to sell all my possessions and cash in my 401k retirement fund) because I wanted to employ another unique tactic in the war to liberate animals and to take an action that will underscore my commitment to my spiritual beliefs that nonhuman animals are as sacred as human animals. To my knowledge, this is the first time someone has offered such a reward. When KUMC, and nonhuman animal exploiters in general, tie my hands one way, I find other ways to take the fight for the animals to them. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/35000-reward-pledged-abolitionist-ara-raises-the-stakes-at-kumc/)
   
7. Publishing a harsh critique of Vice Chancellor Barbara Atkinson (who bears ultimate responsibility for the vivisection at KU Med) and her appointment by Obama to a federal bioethics panel. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/obama-hires-kumu-vivisection-murderer/)
8. Taking our message to the streets via motorcade (reaching tens of thousands of people with our message) and by distributing fliers in the neighborhood of a noted vivisector at KU Med. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/crusade-to-stop-ku-meds-publicly-funded-indulgence-of-its-fetish-with-animal-torture-persists/)
9. Informing the public of KU Med’s repressive response to our First Amendment-protected actions. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/08/08/they-cannot-shackle-the-truth-gag-those-who-speak-it-or-blind-us-from-seeing-it/)
10. Publishing and widely distributing (by leafleting on the street) an article by Michael Budkie of Stop Animal Exploitation Now that details some specific examples of KU Med’s torture and abuse of primates. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/the-university-of-kansas-medical-center-has-become-known-for-violating-the-animal-welfare-act/)
11. Challenging the three TRO’s (a temporary restraining order to prevent stalking) against me as violations of my First Amendment rights. This is an expensive under-taking and an effort (for the greater good of the Movement and for the health of the First Amendment) to create a legal blue-print or precedent that will stop the all-too-common abuse of anti-stalking laws to cripple or shut down social justice activists around the country. (http://thomaspainescorner.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/local-activist-takes-on-ku-med-center-ku-med-lies-abuses-animals-and-shreds-the-constitution/)

And the struggle continues…..

______________________________________________________________

Jason Miller, the Senior Editor and Founder of TPC, is a tenacious vegan abolitionist and animal rights activist who lives in Kansas. He has a boundless passion for animal liberation and anti-capitalism. Addicted to reading and learning, he is mostly an autodidact, but he studied liberal arts and philosophy at the University of Missouri Kansas City. In early 2005, he founded the widely read radical blog, Thomas Paine’s Corner. Jason is an accomplished, prolific essayist and his writings on social and political issues have appeared on hundreds of alternative media websites over the last few years. He is a press officer for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, and the founder of Bite Club of KC, a grassroots animal rights activist group which he started in Kansas City in 2009 and through which he and his allies give animal exploiters some serious hell. You can reach him at willpowerful@hotmail.com

• To receive periodic updates from Thomas Paine’s Corner (TPC) and Bite Club of KC (TPC’s “on the street” sister blog), send a request to willpowerful@hotmail.com

• Note: I am accepting monetary donations to my First Amendment legal challenge against TRO’s, as it is a very expensive proposition. Please consider making one via my PayPal account or by mail:

• PayPal Donations:
  1. Log into PayPal; it defaults to “My Account”
  2. At the top select: Send Money
  3. In the box where it indicates “To (Email or mobile phone)” enter: animaliberationist@gmail.com
  4. Enter amount
  5. Under “Purchase/Personal” select what you feel is appropriate (such as Personal/Other, but this is primarily for your financial records so you can just leave as-is if you want)
  6. Select “Send Money”; you may also enter a personal note for Jason at the bottom “Email to recipient (optional)”

To contribute via mail, please send to the following address:

Jason Miller
PO Box 19569
Lenexa, Kansas 66285

You can also join our Facebook group, FIRST AMENDMENT DEFENSE AGAINST TRO’S FUND at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=160915580589690

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Special Issue: Animals and Prison

________________

The connection between nonhuman animals and incarceration discourses has never been more intimately associated. It seems one cannot discuss animal liberation without conversing about prison, whether that be in the form of imprisoned nonhuman animals or human prisoners incarcerated for their role in liberating nonhuman animals. As activists continue to be sentenced under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, prison becomes more realty than metaphor in human-animal studies. At the recent Let Live Animal Rights Conference in Portland, Oregon, former political prisoner Andy Stepanian served as the opening speaker. The synopsis of his talk asks, “what if you closed your eyes and woke up a prisoner? What if you were estranged from your family and labeled a convict? What if you lived your entire life in a cage? What if you were convicted and imprisoned for trying to set beings free from their cages?” It’s unclear whether he is speaking about nonhuman animals or his own incarceration, which is exactly the point. We are at a critical moment in history with mass incarceration and mass exploitation of nonhuman animals. This issue seeks to illuminate connections between animals and prison and to generate new ways of thinking through and tackling nonhuman and human oppression.
________________

Possible Areas of Inquiry:
·    Policing bodies
·    Prison industrial complex and mass animal agriculture production
·    History of prison reform and rise of the animal rights movement
·    Nonhuman animal prisoners/ human prisoners
·    Invisibility and incarcerated hidden populations
·    Nonhuman animals in human prisons, such as dog training programs
·    Linked oppressions
·    Connection of race, animals and prison culture
·    Prison abolition/animal abolition movements
·    Discourse of prison in animal liberation material
·    Capitalism and the animal/military//agricultural industrial complexes
·    Caging, control, domination and power

________________

Papers Due: April 15, 2011 at 5pm EST

Send papers to: Professor Susan Thomas (herapellet@aol.com), Director, Gender and Women’s Studies, Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, and Political Science, Hollins University, Roanoke, VA 24020
________________

Visit http://www.criticalanimalstudies.org/?page_id89 for submission guidelines

________________

Susan L. Thomas, Director, Gender and Women’s Studies
Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, and Political Science
Hollins University
Roanoke, VA 24020
Email: herapellet@aol.com

________________

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From the Civil Liberties Defense Center:

• On November 17, 2009, Scott DeMuth was jailed for contempt of court, since he refused to answer questions posed to him by a federal grand jury in Davenport, Iowa. They were interested in questioning him about his knowledge of an unsolved Animal Liberation Front action in 2004 at the University of Iowa. At the time, Scott was only 17 years old and was a resident of the Twin Cities (Minnesota). Scott is a University of Minnesota graduate student and Dakota language student whose research focuses on liberation struggles and social movements in the U.S. and globally. In his work, he has researched and/or interviewed numerous activists from Native American struggles for sovereignty and land, and environmental and animal liberation movements in the U.S. The grand jury was interested in asking him to divulge the names of activists (his interviewees), which would violate the confidentiality agreements that he made with his research participants.

• Scott took a principled stand against the grand jury, and decided to go to jail rather than be party to what many attorneys and the American Bar Association (ABA) view as a dangerous practice that deprives people of basic constitutional freedoms. But it gets worse. Two days later (November 19, 2009) Scott was charged with conspiracy under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) of 2006. This indictment came just one day before the statute of limitations was to expire and was rushed through to freeze the statute of limitations, with the intent of buying the state time to issue additional future indictments. These legal maneuvers are indicative of an investigation that has gone nowhere, and prosecutors who are desperate to locate members of the Animal Liberation Front, no matter what legal acrobatics are required.

REGARDING SCHOLARLY RIGHTS:

The American Sociological Association’s Code of Ethics states:

• Section 11.01:
  “Sociologists have an obligation to protect confidential information and not allow information gained in confidence from being used in ways that would unfairly compromise research participants, students, employees, clients, or others.”
  Section 11.06:
  “Sociologists do not disclose confidential, personally identifiable information concerning their research participants, other recipients of their service which is obtained during the course of their work.”

This scholar-research participant confidentiality is the bedrock of academic research and without it the public would lose trust in scholars seeking important information (concerning, for example, social histories or institutional discrimination practices), leading to the incalculable loss of invaluable data for community preservation, public policy, and university teaching purposes. Scott is being charged with conspiracy for invoking his constitutional rights and heeding professional codes of conduct.

Sign a petition supporting Scott:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freescottdemuth/

It will also prompt you to donate money if you would like, and that is by no means necessary – signing the petition will be a start. Or you can contact your representative or senator and make sure they are aware of Scott’s case.

Excerpted from http://phdadventure.wordpress.com/2009

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freescottdemuth/

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