A Scottish survey run by the Gamekeepers association has shown that hundreds of hunting items were vandalised in the past year.
Fenn traps, rail traps and squirrel traps were smashed or stolen. Large mammal traps were squished or cut open. Snares taken away. A hunt vehicle was damaged to no repair (with a cost of about £25,000) by rolling it down a hill. Cat traps destroyed, GPS trackers installed in hunt vehicles and cattle grids, high seats dismantled or cut and multiple bird traps destroyed.
Dozens of call birds, crows and magpies, have also been released. Gas crowscarers cut, smashed or broken. Poison grit boxes also stolen.
‘Anonymous comminque recieved (photo is from google and isn’t linked to this particular farm):
“Last year Paul Candy & Dan Britten killed nearly 3,000 badgers in the Somerset countryside. We noticed that Candy recieved a lot of attention on facebook and his business was targetted regularly. Paul Candy earlier this year decided to give up killing badgers.
That just leaves Dan Britten, we went round his farm and decorated one of his cars and his yard using spray paint, he should now know; we will be back.
“The night of the 6th of August we headed to Brightling Park and paid a visit to Jon Gaunt’s game farm. Mr Gaunt rears both pheasant and partridge as the gamekeeper of the park.
The pheasants were already in the release pens, but two rows of rearing pens full of partridge remained. We cut the ties that held the panel frames together and pulled the end off. Because the partridge was ready to fly, we decided to roll up all the netting, making sure that birds wouldn’t get caught and we made the birds fly away.
As many birds were still inside of the rearing shed, we cut the plastic walls and opened doors to give them a chance to escape. The situation in the shed was terrible, with sawdust that had never been changed, dozens of birds dead and piled up in corners and cables dangling in all directions.
We believe to have freed in between 4,000 and 6,000 partridge in one night. We wish for those birds to have a safe flight away from the guns, and a long and comfortable life.
We want to dedicate this action to Matthias, a comrade who has spent over eight months in preventive prison in Switzerland, accused of smashing butcher shop windows (without tangible proof) and who is very bluntly being targeted by the state in yet another show of repression.
We recently joined the animal liberation gathering in Rome for a weekend of workshops and building connections with radical liberatory anti-speciesists.
In our introduction to hunt sabotage workshop, we shared our various techniques for stopping different types of hunting in different countries. We had a lot of fun discussing the smashing of hunting towers, sheds and traps, and drew upon the similarities in the uk badger cull and Italian nutria cull. We also discussed the links between weapons manufacturers producing arms for both hunters and warfare.
In our workshop on security culture, we shared ideas about keeping safe, especially given the severe repression many comrades are facing and the extreme measures utilised by the state for surveillance.
There was a strong emphasis throughout the gathering on the importance of solidarity and support of comrades in prison or awaiting trial. There are currently over 30 anarchist prisoners in Italy, some of whom have sentences of 20 years, and other cases of “preventative arrest” where comrades have been caged for 2 years before being released without charge. This situation is similar to that of Matthias in Switzerland, who’s 8 months in prison has now been extended for at least another 2.
Joining together with comrades from around the world made us ever more aware of how interconnected our struggles are, and the multi-national operations of corporate animal abusers. For example, the company building Europe’s largest pig slaughterhouse in Binefar, Spain, is an Italian company with offices and operations within Italy.
Another major topic discussed was how to make the animal liberation movement more radical, and move away from how the rise in veganism had shifted discourse from animal liberation to welfarism, health, and individualist consumerist veganism. Also, how we stop the infiltration of fascist groups, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and ableism, and remain intersectional. We must build a strong alternative, and grow a movement for total liberation.
It was wonderful to build those connections and we cannot wait to meet again. It was also a pleasure to share our bit of knowledge with everybody.
If anyone is able to help with travel costs, getting to Italy and back was £300, so PayPal or patreon is always appreciated.
“On the night of the 7th of August we liberated 11 wild individuals out of their imprisonment. These beings were abused for training for an absurd tradition.
Hunting does not protect anyone – it kills only.
The argument of regulation of numbers is just one more excuse from humans to justify the killing and the oppression.
The human species spreads out in a ruthless way, steals the natural habitat of these beings and murders them systematically.
Every life has equal value. We humans have no right and absolutely no necessity to imprison, torture and kill millions of sentient beings.
We won’t stop until every cage is empty.
No one is free until all are free. We think of our friend Matthias and hope to see him in freedom soon. Like these wild boars now.
Regularly, when publishing anonymous reports, folks tend to leave celebratory and encouraging comments. It is not surprising that some people feel very happy when the animal agriculture industry is under attack or when a few animals are helped out of their cages. It is probably also good to see those comments for those who have taken action, making them feel like they should carry on. There is one standardised comment that we have tried to fight off multiple times without much luck and we would like for folks to rethink their position.
When we compare people to heroes, angels and some other supernatural concept we are creating a barrier between “everybody” and “hero”. We create a hierarchy where those who manage to help a few animals free are in a much higher position than everybody else when anyone can take direct action. By comparing folks to heroes, we are telling everybody else that they are “highly skilled” and “away from everybody else”. Everybody can take direct action to change the world.
This would not be half as bad as it is if there was more solidarity with people facing legal trouble. We have been reluctant to post about this, but it has reached a point where if we don’t call people in, we don’t believe things will change.
It is not only ridiculous but also incredibly sad that whilst pouring comments of hero-worshipping towards people taking action there are folks in need of serious help that are being completely ignored. There are three cases right now we want to bring up to you, and we want people to read about them, to share as much as they can and to donate what they can to help them.
Let us remind you that without prisoner support, direct action would not exist. Without the support of everybody, those who feel like they are willing to break the law are a lot less likely to do so. When someone knows that if they are caught there will be a network of support raising funds for fines or writing letters to them in prison, they are much more likely to not care about consequences. So this is a very easy equation. If you like people taking action, you should be willing to support them as a bare minimum.
(FIRST CASE EDITED OUT AS WE DO NOT WANT TO PROMOTE THE PERSON AFTER RECEIVING SOME INFORMATION).
The second case we want to mention is Matthias. Matthias has been in preventive prison for 8 months now, getting another two months added to the preventive sentence every time they are ready to be released. They were accused alongside two other comrades of window smashing as well as destroying speciesist advertisements and posters and of destroying a slaughterhouse. Even tho the prosecution does not have any evidence to pin Matthias down, they have kept them locked up “in case they do something else”. This is just more proof of how racist and classist the prison system is, and Matthias needs as much help as they can get.
Their support group alongside other groups in Europe have called for autonomous action of whatever kind that leads to their release. This is not a simple “showing solidarity with Matthias” but taking serious action that puts pressure on the Swiss government to do something about it. Wherever you are, there has to be a Swiss embassy that can be visited, maybe during the day, maybe during the night.
They also have a link to help them with all the costs that prison have. Only 15 people have donated through that link, even tho it has been up for several months. Matthias needs a bit of help, and we should all be helping.
The third case that we need to bring to your attention isn’t by an activist doing unaccountable actions, but still an important case to support. A comrade from Brighton was arrested in a McDonald’s during a protest, and they are facing two different charges because of it. Multiple calls to action have been made, overground actions as disruptions and protests but also underground actions like smashing windows of McDonald’s. There was certain traction during the week of the court trial, but then it died down again. Their next day of trial is the 12th of September and the call to action still stands, so folks should be taking whatever action they can to fight back McDonald’s and to show solidarity with the comrade. They are using #disruptmcdonalds on social media to share actions.
There is no alternative but solidarity. Without solidarity, our movement dies down, diluted in vegan capitalism crap, and becomes assimilated by the corporate. Without acts of solidarity, our comrades will not carry on pushing forward because they will not feel safe if worse comes to worst.
From Unoffensive, the biggest chunk of donations goes straight away to prisoner support. We don’t manage to help even a small fraction of what we should, and we understand that some folks prefer to send cash to specific campaigns than to a pool of money for anyone that needs it. Some folks prefer to remain anonymous and not make their legal struggles public, so the only way there is to support them is for groups like the ALFsg or us to send them cash. If you want to help, join our Patreon below. Or at least, send some cash through the links above. However it is, help out activists in need instead of vegan celebrities. It’s about time we shift the tide.
“On the night of 6-7 August we set fire to a shooting tower near the village of Morschenich. Thanks to a simple fuse made from incense and matches, we were already tucked up in our beds by the time the fire took hold, but the flames warmed our hearts as we pictured the murder weapon’s destruction.
This attack is a direct response to the hunters who came to the edge of the Hambach Forest, who made threats and called the cops. You do not intimidate us. Bringing the police to the forest was a big mistake.
You say you “love” the forest – like an abuser who “loves” their victim. You cannot love the forest and destroy the lives inside it. The animals ARE the forest, as much as the trees and the plants are.
Either you take down these towers or we will. We will not stop defending nature, no matter how much you threaten us. The boars and the deer will run free and the forest will stay.
We issue a call to action. To all who believe all animals should be free to live out their lives without fear of hunters, that animals are more than just moving targets for twisted blood junkies. Get out there and destroy all the shooting towers you can find – and any other hunting junk – in any way you see fit.
Feuer auf die Jagdtürme! Feuer auf die Jagd! Feuer auf den Jagdschutz!”
“On the night of 6-7 August we set fire to a shooting tower near the village of Morschenich. Thanks to a simple fuse made from incense and matches, we were already tucked up in our beds by the time the fire took hold, but the flames warmed our hearts as we pictured the murder weapon’s destruction.
This attack is a direct response to the hunters who came to the edge of the Hambach Forest, who made threats and called the cops. You do not intimidate us. Bringing the police to the forest was a big mistake.
You say you “love” the forest – like an abuser who “loves” their victim. You cannot love the forest and destroy the lives inside it. The animals ARE the forest, as much as the trees and the plants are.
Either you take down these towers or we will. We will not stop defending nature, no matter how much you threaten us. The boats and the deer will run free and the forest will stay.
We issue a call to action. To all who believe all animals should be free to live out their lives without fear of hunters, that animals are more than just moving targets for twisted blood junkies. Get out there and destroy all the shooting towers you can find – and any other hunting junk – in any way you see fit.
Feuer auf die Jagdtürme! Feuer auf die Jagd! Feuer auf den Jagdschutz!”
“We entered the pig farm at night. The stable was very dirty and full of cobwebs. The mothers were locked up in cages where they could barely take a step. They are now in safe hands and they escaped the slaughterhouse.”
“We entered the pig farm at night. The stable was very dirty and full of cobwebs. The mothers were locked up in cages where they could barely take a step. They are now in safe hands and they escaped the slaughterhouse.”
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