Since 2010, Princeton University has been cited over twenty times to be in violation of the bare minimum requirements set forth by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Welfare Act. Amongst the staggering list of charges, reports unveiled that the University has neglected ailing animals, deliberately deprived animals of water and veterinary medical care, routinely subjected animals to excessive confinement, and maintained speciously incomplete record keeping.

In response to this degenerate display of Princeton University’s blatant disregard for the animals they hold captive, a large and organized anti-vivisection alliance has emerged consisting of Win Animal Rights (WAR), Animal Activists of Philly (AAP), and Friends of Animals United NY/NJ (FAUN) to bring these egregious acts into the public consciousness. While these organizations have been tirelessly campaigning against this institution for over eight months, they are now unifying their efforts by establishing a Princeton-based body of campaigners, increasing their presence on other areas of the campus (including Green Hall – the actual primate laboratory), circulating petitions, creating relevant multi-media content, and with the support/sponsorship of Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) are developing a central website to expose the horrors behind these violations.

To join the cause, sign the petition, donate, and/or learn more please visit the links provided below:

Princeton Primate Abuse: http://www.princetonprimateabuse.com/

Friends of Animals United (FAUN): http://www.faunnj.org/

Animal Activists of Philly (AAP): http://www.meetup.com/Animal-Activists-of-Philly/

Win Animal Rights (WAR): http://www.facebook.com/WinAnimalRights

Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN): http://www.all-creatures.org/saen/

Video of the Alliance’s protest on April 28th, 2012: http://youtu.be/nAaOvh0csOk

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Last week it was announced that the Royal Hanneford Circus—plagued by annual protests and recurring political pressure to school administrators—would not be returning to Michigan State University’s Breslin Events Center.

In 2008, MSU’s animal rights group spearheaded a campaign to get the event removed from campus. The initiative involved letter-writing campaigns to college and local newspapers, a petition in the form of a Facebook group, an assertive speech to the MSU Board of Trustees, and culminated in a student-organized protest that drew over 80 participants and multiple news organizations. This effort, organized by a handful of dedicated undergraduates, was enough to have the circus canceled the following year, after almost 20 years of uninterrupted Lansing appearances.

Pressure from the Michigan Farm Bureau and other agriculture lobbies killed trustee support for a circus ban, but SPAR’s work pressed on by repeating the annual protests and enlisting the help of national animal protection groups like PETA and HSUS, which helped to pressure the University and made dozens of phone calls to local businesses and advertisers and informing them of Royale Hanneford’s many Animal Welfare Act violations. This barrage of action led to a 35 percent drop in ad revenue and a cancellation of the circus on “economic” grounds.

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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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While some student-governed animal rights groups are relegated to a second-class status amongst collegiate clubs and organizations, Paths to Animal Liberation (PAL) worked to defy this norm by fulfilling their school’s requirements, policies, and guidelines to be officially recognized.  On the campus of Hunter College, the largest college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system, PAL was successfully deemed a 1st Year Charter Club by their administration, and therefore receives funds of $1,000 annually for their activities.  With official elections and an executive board, PAL not only maintains a validated and legitimized presence on their campus, but they do so with a hard-line vegan message.

Since its inception a mere nine months ago, and with a core membership of only 15 individuals, PAL exemplifies ardent activism as they have organized numerous film screenings, hosted guest speakers, distributed free vegan food samples to students and faculty, conducted public vegan cooking demonstrations, setup outreach tables on an average of twice per month, and cultivated a mailing list of over 200 people.  Most notably, PAL was also able to make incremental changes toward veganizing their campus cafeteria by inclusively educating the appropriate staff members of their needs, delivering a petition of over 300 signatures, persistently initiating all lines of communication, and inevitably succeeding in bringing specifically-labeled vegan meals to the cafeteria three days a week.

In the months to come, PAL seeks to improve the efficacy of their outreach, fully veganize their cafeteria, and increase their presence on campus.  Recently, the group has constructed a facebook page to better disseminate information and is now developing plans to design their own website.  In addition to college funds, PAL also seeks assistance and resources to expand its reach from external sources such as Farm Underground, Mercy For Animals, Win Animal Rights, and the Tri-State Area’s most active animal rights group Friends of Animals United NJ (FAUN) in organizing events, strategizing effective means of animal advocacy, and acquiring relevant outreach media/literature.

To learn more about this group, discover ways you can implement similar strategies, or to simply share ideas and resources, please feel free to contact PAL with the information below.

Contact:           Danielle Amodeo (Founder/President)
Email:               pal.hunter@yahoo.com
Facebook:       http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=158063214208388

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The importance of starting a student group at your college cannot be emphasized enough.

Starting a student group is more than a symbolic gesture, it is a real step towards building an animal rights community and accomplishing goals on campus.

How to Start a Group:

The first thing you should do if there is not a registered animal rights student group on your campus is so start one yourself. Even if you don’t think yourself the “leader” type, that’s OK. The purpose of registering the group is draw others to you so that you can build a community. You need not lead the community, you are merely stating that you would like to be part of one, and making a starting point.

Requirements:

Registering student groups is typically organized through a department of student services, which should be accessible from your school’s homepage. Registration requirements vary from school to school, but in most cases you will only need to fill out a few forms. In some cases you’ll need to submit a constitution stating your group’s mission statement (“Animals are not ours to eat, wear, etc.”). For help writing a constitution, or any other college activism concerns, feel free to email me at JTsmiley14@gmail.com.

By registering an animal rights group on campus, anyone looking for other vegetarians and activists will naturally look up the list of student organizations. Even if you have a robust group of animal activists at your college, many potential new members will not know about it unless the group is listed in the school directory.

Other ways to grow the AR community

In addition to becoming a registered student organization (RSO) you will want to use all other means available to advertise the existence of your group to attract the most members. There are many ways to do this, but my two favorite activities are flyering and letters to the school newspaper.

Creating a flyer is a relatively straightforward process. Print out as many flyers as you can; you may be able to get a discount on printing costs through your school library. Post them on campus message boards, or in local businesses that want to promote community events, such as coffee shops.

If you want to reach the widest possible audience at no cost and for just a half an hour’s work, write a letter to your school newspaper stating the new group on campus and calling on students of conscience to help out. Be sure to visit the newspaper’s website to find their preferred length and style requirements, and include contact information so that readers can find you and get involved.

Another great way to attract new people is simply by being an activist yourself. Activism means touching people in order to change them. This means that by being an activist you are interacting with hundreds of potential activists every day, whether they are already sympathetic and simply don’t know anyone else, or they are simply horrified when they find out the truth and want to help. Either way, you’re well on your way to building solidarity and establishing powerful campaigns to make lasting changes at your college!

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At SUNY Cortland, in the middle of New York, there is a new and very exciting student animal rights group emerging! Cortland Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is having their first meeting October  18th at Corey Union, Room 204-206. If you are a national or international organization, this group is needing flyers, posters, videos, and speakers! So please contact them. The main organizer of the group is Ashley Mosgrove a student at SUNY Cortland. On a historical note, SUNY Cortland was the site of last year’s 9th Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies, that had over 300 people attend from six different countries. Click here to visit Cortland Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Facebook group.

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July 7 saw the confluence of thousands of student progressives in Washington D.C. to share information and learn about progressive causes and strategy at the 2010 Campus Progress National Conference. The Feminist Majority, the SEIU, and the Enough Project were just a few of the groups present along with myself, representing peta2. Sadly, the wide array of campaigns presented at the conference by speakers, panelists, exhibitors, and students seemed to leave little room for animal liberation.

Originally thinking peta2 would help facilitate the Force of Food panel discussion, I was ultimately relegated to a place in the audience, frantically waving my arm as the discussion closed without anyone mentioning animal suffering. The sole and fleeting moment of respite came when Malik Yakini, chairman of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, confessed—rather dismissively—to being vegan, and prompting applause from several audience members.

Following the panel, which focused on food inequality and the industrialization of agriculture, each table from the audience discussed the issue. I was left to address animal liberation to my table of progressive students, who attempted to placate me with polite and dismissive responses. The woman to my right claimed the reason for silence on animal rights is because “we know” about the cruelty. One man said that eating meat was a comfort food to him and part of his Greek culture. A black woman said that she read Eating Animals but buttressed it with “I like meat” and asked what people like her can do to help animals (short of not oppressing them).

The table was primarily interested in how to bring fresh, local, healthy food to those in disenfranchised communities without being seen as intruders. Important, to be sure. And necessary for liberating humans and nonhumans alike. But avoiding the most abject form of oppression inherent to the system of animal agriculture—the animals.

I was further disappointed by the limited selection of vegetarian fare available during meal times. If meat, milk, and eggs are environmental, human rights, and animal issues, and the environment, human rights, and animal issues are pillars of progressive discourse, then someone forgot to tell the lunch and dinner organizers. The website’s FAQ responds to the question of whether the conference will be environmentally-friendly with: “Duh.” The boxed turkey sandwiches say something equally flippant, but much less reassuring.

On one hand, we should embrace the terms on which the “progressive movement” wishes to discuss factory farming and veganism (if this conference is an accurate sampling of some “progressive ideology”). At the same time a group that, at least on its face, seems so wrapped up in addressing inequality, is ripe for a critique of its anthropocentrism.

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1. Call for Presentations – Sex, Gender, and Species Conference

Members of the newly formed Connecticut Animal Rights Network (CARN) along with New Haven residents protested at Yale University’s George St. building. Activists carried signs reading “Yale Tortures Animals”, “End Ivy League Animal Abuse”, and “Shut Down Yale Animal Labs.”

Leaflets were distributed detailing the lives of the 150,000 animals who are locked away with examples detailing how animals suffer in Yale labs along with the names of specific Yale faculty members who are responsible for such suffering and death.

“Yale has recently been cited with violating the Animal Welfare Act and has spun stories as to why this doesn’t matter; the real reason it doesn’t matter is because it is the every day, legally sanctioned operations that truly threaten the well being and the lives of animals,” said Christine Koczur, founder of the Connecticut Animal Rights Network. “We are not asking that Yale operate their animal labs within the law, we are demanding that they shut down the labs altogether.”

Yale University currently imprisons over 150,000 animals in laboratories at various locations throughout New Haven.  These animals have had holes drilled into their skulls, have been subject to “inescapable” electric shocks, have been forced to consume dangerous drugs including methamphetamines and cocaine, and are routinely killed.  Animals include primates, dogs, cats, ferrets, rodents, and others.

Local news coverage and video of the event can be found here.

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