Defend Direct Action
(Delayed report) 7th Nov 2023, Malaysia
According to local media, two motorists splashed red paint on four butcher shops at Jalan Silk Hong, Rejang Park, Sungai Merah, and Jalan Wong Soon Kai at around 2:30 am on the 7th November.
The owner says the motive for the vandalism is unclear.
4th March, Greece.
Originally published on Athens Indymedia.
ENGLISH (translation):
“When others exchange recipes, we wear hoods.
At dawn on Sunday we invaded the Vassiliadis and Kavouras ‘game farm’ in Megara. First we tore down the fence of the wild boar enclosure and then we opened the doors of the deer cage.
We refuse the role of ‘liberator’ and consider that we have simply done the bare minimum solidarity with these captive beings: We gave them a chance to live.
Good riddance to all of them and death to those who consider them food.
Words are nothing, actions are everything and we are judged only by them.
Until next time…
ALF ØΛØ”
GREEK (original)
“Όταν άλλοι ανταλλάζουν συνταγές, εμείς φοράμε κουκούλες.
Τα ξημερώματα της Κυριακής εισβάλαμε στα Μέγαρα στα ‘εκτροφεία θηραμάτων’ των Βασιλιάδη και Κάβουρα. Στο πρώτο ξηλώσαμε τον φράχτη των αγριογούρουνων και στο δεύτερο ανοίξαμε τις πόρτες του κλουβιού των ελαφιών.
Αρνούμαστε τον ρόλο του ‘απελευθερωτή’ και θεωρούμε ότι απλώς κάναμε το ελάχιστο χρέος μας ως αλληλέγγυοι απέναντι σε αυτά τα δέσμια όντα: Τους δώσαμε μια ευκαιρία να ζήσουν.
Καλή λευτεριά σε όλα τους και ψόφο κακό σε όσους τα θεωρούν φαγητό.
Τα λόγια δεν είναι τίποτα, οι πράξεις είναι τα πάντα και μόνο από αυτές κρινόμαστε.
Μέχρι την επόμενη φορά…
ALF ØΛØ“
12th March, North Italy.
{Editor’s note: The video contains some sections where animal flesh is displayed. The English translation includes the a poem that was submitted alongside the report. We are not professional translators and the poem might sound odd in English.]
ENGLISH (translation)
“In a few days it will be Easter, and with this holiday comes the slaughter of lambs and goats, symbols of a cruel tradition.
Born to be killed at a few weeks old, their fate is no different from that of millions of other animals that are slaughtered every day amid excruciating suffering to be brought to the table. Today you can feed yourself without eating anyone. The choice is yours alone: this year choose an Easter with dishes that have not brought suffering to anyone, choose not to ingest the pain of innocents, choose compassion, choose to be just.
Every life that is born has the desire and the right to live as you do: CHOOSE VEGAN!
In the silent night, among the golden stars,
Nine goats’ souls were rescued.
From the clutches of oppressive breeding,
They were freed with decisive gesture.
Under the mantle of the moon, the angels of the ALF
Protected these creatures with love and warmth,
They led them away from cruel captivity,
To a new life, free and faithful.
Their little paws dance on the fresh earth,
Their eyes shine with a turquoise light,
Freedom is their song, in the whispered wind,
Nine lives filled with hope and breath.
Now they wander in meadows, among flowers and streams,
Away from pain, evils and entanglements.
They are the ambassadors of a kinder world,
Where compassion triumphs over every vile obstacle.
Let the story of these kids be a hymn to freedom,
May their courage and resilience be an eternal truth.
And may the call of wild life always be heard,
In nature’s embrace, in the heart of infinite universe.
THE ALF IS WATCHING AND THERE IS NO PLACE TO HIDE.
A.L.F”
ITALIAN (original)
“Tra pochi giorni sarà Pasqua e con questa festività si avvicina la strage di agnelli e capretti, simbolo di una crudele tradizione.
Nati per essere uccisi a poche settimane di vita, il loro destino non è diverso da quello di altri milioni di animali che ogni giorno vengono macellati tra atroci sofferenze per essere portati in tavola. Oggi ci si può nutrire senza mangiare nessuno. La scelta è solo tua: quest’anno scegli una Pasqua con pietanze che non abbiano procurato sofferenza a nessuno, scegli di non ingerire il dolore di innocenti, scegli la compassione, scegli di essere giusto.
Ogni vita che nasce ha la voglia e il diritto di vivere come ce l’hai tu: SCEGLI VEGAN!
Nella notte silente, tra le stelle dorate,
Nove anime di capretti sono state salvate.
Dalle grinfie dell’allevamento oppressivo,
Sono stati liberati con gesto decisivo.
Sotto il manto della luna, gli angeli dell’ALF
Hanno protetto queste creature con amore e calore,
Li hanno condotti via dalla prigionia crudele,
Verso una vita nuova, libera e fedele.
Le loro zampette danzano sulla terra fresca,
I loro occhi brillano di una luce turchese,
Libertà è il loro canto, nel vento sussurrato,
Nove vite riempite di speranza e di fiato.
Ora vagano nei prati, tra i fiori e i ruscelli,
Lontano dal dolore, dai mali e dagli incastri.
Sono gli ambasciatori di un mondo più gentile,
Dove la compassione trionfa su ogni ostacolo vile.
Che la storia di questi capretti sia un inno alla libertà,
Che il loro coraggio e la loro resilienza siano un’eterna verità.
E che il richiamo della vita selvaggia sia sempre udito,
Nell’abbraccio della natura, nel cuore d’universo infinito.
THE ALF IS WATCHING AND THERE IS NO PLACE TO HIDE.
A.L.F”
[Editor’s note: Itamar, from caso Susaron, is free, although with heavy probation conditions and having to serve a five year sentence. The other three prisoners are still locked up awaiting trial for the arson of a butcher shop and slaughterhouse. Please write to them on [email protected] and if you can afford it, please send some coins here: Their communal PayPal is www.paypal.me/solidaridad4 . Below is a translation of Ita’s statement after coming out of prison.]
ENGLISH (translation)
I write this words with a bittersweet feeling. On Tuesday, 5th March, I was sentenced to five years probation [Ita says “liberated vigilada intensive, we assume is tag, signing at cop shop and other intensive probation conditions], found guilty of arson. However, this alternative to the prison sentence has only been handed out to me. That means my comrades are still in prison. As a legal case this is hopeful, but we never assume the behaviour of the enemy and we chose to assume with pride and patience whatever the future brings.
Today, after many months in prison, after having suffered in my own skin what being locked up means, what imprisonment seeks to do to our body and mind, I vehemently insist on how important and urgent it is to take antispeciesist action. Think about how millions of animals are subjugated to imprisonment daily in conditions even worse than the ones me and my comrades experienced, forced to sleep in crammed spaces, receiving the constant mistreatment of their prison guards who seek to undermine their animality in the worst way possible.
There is no difference between human and non-human prisons. Speciesism is the ultimate expression of authoritarianism that humankind has acquired over the years. The believe of superiority based on species, the lack of empathy and the search for comfort mean the imprisonment of millions of animals, and in that way, they too become part of the prison system that many tend to condemn.
For comfort, they justify brutality and destruction.
Because of that superiority complex, knowing or unknowingly, many spaces against prisons, anarchists antiauthoritarian seek to abolish the prison system whilst forgetting what that means, forgetting the animal prison system which in my opinion is the most raw, bloody and abandoned.
How can we seek to abolish prisons without wanting to abolish non-human animals’ prisons? Where is the antiauthoritarianism when we scream total liberation with a mouth full of blood and suffering? Freedom for some, until it harms my comfort?
Direct action for animal liberation is now. Animals suffer the consequences of their imprisonment now. The indiscriminate murder, abuse, rape and torture is now. It is on our hands to stop it. The time is now. Animal liberation needs hearts and minds dedicated, willing to sacrifice for those who don’t have the chance of defending themselves.
It is our duty to balance it out. Abuse for abuse. Death for death, Blood for blood. Millions of animals suffer and die whilst we scream for the destruction of prisons and it is our responsibility to ensure this is never forgotten. Let’s be the voice of those who are tired of screaming, let’s the the hands of those who live tied up, the quiet feet of those who live imprisoned, the minds responsible for the revenge, the raging hearts that beat thirst for vengeance.
Direct action is daily, it shouldn’t respond to specific dates or anniversaries, because speciesism and its barbarities don’t ever rest or stop.
Animal and total liberation, at whatever the cost.
Until EVERY prison is abolished.
Freedom to Presos Susaron.
Love and complicity to Ru, Panda and Tortu.
SPANISH (original):
Comienzo escribiendo estas palabras con un sabor dulce amargo en la boca. El día martes 05 de marzo, se me condenó a 5 años de libertad vigilada intensiva, imputada por el delito de incendio calificado. Sin embargo, esta alternativa sustitutiva a la pena, por ahora, sólo me fue concedida a mí. Esto significando que actualmente mis compañeros se encuentren aún en prisión. Claramente como caso, esto significa una simplificación de cierta forma, pero no nos confiamos jamás en las tácticas del enemigo, y elegimos asumir con orgullo y paciencia lo que depare el futuro.
Hoy, después de largos meses en prisión, después de haber vivido en carne propia lo que significa el encierro y lo que busca provocar en nuestros cuerpos y mentes. Reafirmo con más vehemencia lo importante y urgente del antiespecimo de acción. Pensar en cómo miles de animales son diariamente sometidos al encierro en condiciones peores a las cuales fui, y son sometidas compañeras, obligados a pernoctar en espacios reducidos, recibiendo un constante maltrato de sus carceleros, buscando someter su animalidad de las formas más aborrecibles.
No hay diferencia entre las cárceles de animales-humanos y no humanos. El especismo, es la máxima expresión de las conductas más autoritarias que el ser humano a adquirido a lo largo de los años. Donde la creencia de una superioridad de especie, la nula empatía y la comodidad, significan el encierro de millones de animales, y de esta forma, sosteniendo y siendo parte del sistema carcelario que tanto se suele aborrecer.
Justificando por comodidad, la brutalidad y el exterminio.
Esta misma creencia de superioridad, de forma consciente o inconsciente, provoca que hoy en día, dentro de los espacios anticarcelarios, ácratas o antiautoritarios, se busque abolir la sociedad carcelaria, y se genere una constante animadversión a lo que ella significa. Pese a ello, se suele olvidar esta arista. Que a mí parecer, es la más cruda, sangrienta y abandonada.
¿De qué sirve buscar abolir el sistema carcelario, más no las cárceles para los animales-no humanos? ¿Dónde queda el antiautoritarismo cuando al mismo tiempo que vociferamos liberación total, tenemos la boca llena de sangre y sufrimiento? ¿Liberación para unas pocas, hasta dónde llega mi comodidad?
La acción directa en pro de la liberación total es ahora. Los animales sufren las consecuencias del encierro ahora. La matanza indiscriminada, la vejación, la violación, la tortura es ahora. Y sólo está en nuestras manos buscar detenerlo. El momento es ahora. La liberación animal, necesita corazones y mentes entregadas, dispuestas a sacrificar por quienes no tienen la oportunidad de defenderse.
Es nuestra obligación equiparar la balanza. Daño por daño, muerte por muerte, sangre por sangre. Miles de animales sufren y mueren mientras gritamos fin a la sociedad carcelaria, y es nuestra responsabilidad que esto no pase inadvertido. Seamos la voz de quiénes ya están cansadas de gritar, seamos las manos cautelosas de quiénes viven amarradas, seamos los pies sigilosos de quienes viven en cautiverio, seamos la mente causante del pago del daño provocado, seamos el corazón furioso, que late en sed de venganza.
La acción directa es cotidiana, no responde a fechas ni efemérides. Porque el especismo y su barbarie, no descansa ni se detiene.
Liberación animal y total, cueste lo que cueste. Hasta abolir la sociedad carcelaria en su multiformidad. Libertad a los presos del caso susaron. Amor y complicidad, a ru, panda y tortu.
/// UPDATE 15TH MARCH: ///
Jack has been moved and lost all previous letters. They have a new address, please write to them asap!
Cobb County Sheriff’s office, Georgia
John Mazurek #001109335
PO BOX 247
Phoenix, MD 21131
USA
These are the conditions for the letters:
You can also send books, They’d like to read history and poestry, and also spanish learning books. Books must come directly from a publisher and be new with no writing in them and no hardcover. The address to send books is:
COBB COUNTY ADULT DETENTION CENTER
JOHN MAZUREK
#001109335
PO BOX 100110
MARIETTA, GA 30061
USA
/// 15th March update Ends ///
Jack was scheduled to go to court last week Monday, but the filth decided to indict him on the last minute and cancel the procedures. For that reason, they are still in jain awaiting their first hearing.
They also have a support website now where you can keep up to date:
Please write a letter to Jack today and ensure you let them know they are not alone. They like music (specially straight edge hardcore punk, but also hiphop, they also love rock climbing, but they are interested in many other subjects like prison vegan recipes, carpentry, poetry and just everyday stuff like sunsets and forest walks, so choose any topic and send them a few lines!
They have a fundraiser for legal costs and commisary too, you can find it here:
SOLIDARITY!
[Editor’s note: We received this text a couple of weeks back and had not had time to translate it properly. Thanks to Act For Free! for providing.]
Faced with devastation: sabotage and war!
As the comrades who have raised and formed part of the campaign have understood it, “Switch Off! The system of destruction” consists of the “attack against companies and infrastructures that feed the ecological catastrophe across the world”. Here also, in Abya Yala (ancestral name for the territory known as America), multiple struggles for the defense of the earth have been developed, from the precolonial peoples who continue fighting, to new anarchic perspectives that tip more and more into the struggle for the earth. While we haven’t been able to stop the ecological catastrophe entirely, we can find concrete examples of territorial victories that have managed to stop, expel or at least considerably push back the materialization of extractivist projects, like the resistance and armed offensive of diverse mapuche organizations in Wallmapu.
The struggles in different latitudes aren’t detached form one another and they aim at the same enemies. This is why we believe it favorable to make the “Switch Off!” campaign our own, endowing it with our own territorial circumstances to avoid overlooking our particularities.
The history of Abya Yala has been characterized by pillage and assault by various imperialist hands and powerful economic groups, both local and transcontinental, belonging to the same machinery of exploitation and theft. Today we continue to be the cornerstone of capitalism and its new twist “green capitalism”, the supposed “sustainable” version, finding ourselves with new interests perpetuating ecocide. One of these is lithium extraction that today plays a fundamental role for the reformulation of the system of depredation as was once the case with oil, whose disastrous consequences we already know all too well. This is how the parasitic logics continue over the territories called “developing” or “third world”, that at the cost of destruction make possible and sustain the status and quality of life of the “first world”.
But faced with the manifold forms of exploitation, the expressions of combat and resistence carried out in different territories are also manifold. This is demonstrated by the communities inhabiting the amazon jungle that confront deforestation, displacement and the destruction of ecosystems, a situation that is repeated across the continent. Also the various environmental struggles, especially pursued by state intelligence, its armed wing and the corporate hitmen, showing the discomfort and annoyance that these conflicts generate in power even when they are partial or even addressed only by legal means. Likewise, there is the anarchic offensive that is part of these conflicts, as in the north of the continent where the comrades of the “Coordinadora de mujeres anarquistas por la defensa de nuestro cuerpo-territorio” [Coordination of anarchist women for the defense of our body-territory”] sabotaged the works of the ecocidal “Tren Maya”[2] project, or the resistance in the defense camp in the “Atlanta Forest” where a police training center is being built, and where anarchist comrade Tortuguita was killed in the course of the clashes. [3] On the other hand, the situation in the south of the continent is very similar, in the territory dominated by the chilean state, where these attacks spread and expand: in the Maule region, the “Grupo Autónomo Revolucionario del Maule” [Maule Autonomous Revolutionary Group] attacked machinery of a concrete and asphalt factory [4]; in the Metropolitan Region the “Célula Anárkika Boske Negro” [Black Forest Anarchic Cell” attacked a telecommunications antenna located on an urban hill [5], the “Célula Insurreccional por el Maipo – Nueva Subversión” [Insurrectional Cell for the Maipo – New Subversion] attacked a concrete factory [6] and a refrigeration factory and slaughterhouse [7], both located along the same river, and the “Nuevas Subversiones Anárquicas – Célula Alex Nuñez – FAI” [New Anarchic Subversions – Alex Nuñez Cell – FAI] attack
ed the “Oxiquim” [8] factory with explosives, just to name a few of the claimed actions of the last period. This is not to leave aside or devalue other attacks that, without being explicitly for the earth, target and attack the same power that degrades the planet.
Considering our similarities and particularities, as well as the urgencies and necessities that bring us together, we find it relevant to adhere actions against the machine of degradation on this continent and the world to the campaign “Switch Off!, with the goal of strengthening our struggles and deepening the combat against the existent and its historically internationalist character, visibilizing on a global level the urgency of negating this reality in practice with everything we have at hand, demonstrating through action that its possible to fight, returning the pain to those responsible, the creators of these conditions, and that it’s possible to embrace a dignified life that breaks with the misery in which they want to suffocate and bury us.
“Remember that the mechanisms of subjugation and control surround us. Wherever you are, you don’t need to venture very far to find the veins of industry; go and cut them”.
We redeem the memory of the comrade Emilia Bau, who was assassinated in a conflict for the defense of the water in Mapuche territory, the comrade Santiago Maldonado who became part of the Mapuche struggle and who was disappeared by the Argentinean state in the course of confrontations with police, and later found dead. Also the weichafes Matías Catrileo and Pablo Marchant, who were assassinated by the police in Wallmapu while exercising territorial control and sabotage, respectively, against colonizers and loggers.
Freedom to anarchist, subversive and mapuche prisoners!!
For anarchy, for the earth, for our lives.
Célula Insurreccional por el Maipo – Nueva Subversión
[Insurrectional Cell for the Maipo – New Subversion]
[1] https://informativoanarquista.noblogs.org/post/2024/01/17/acerca-de-la-campana-de-ataque-switch-off/
[2] https://es-contrainfo.espiv.net/2023/09/20/estado-mexicano-adjudicacion-de-atentado-explosivo-contra-camion-de-carga/
[3] https://informativoanarquista.noblogs.org/post/2024/01/30/ee-uu-y-paises-bajos-en-memoria-de-tortuguita/
[4] https://es-contrainfo.espiv.net/2021/12/14/estado-chileno-adjudicacion-de-atentado-incendiario-contra-la-empresa-aridos-bullileo-y-asfaltos-maule/
[5] https://es-contrainfo.espiv.net/2022/06/13/santiago-chile-adjudicacion-de-atentado-incendiario-contra-antena-de-telecomunicaciones/
[6] https://informativoanarquista.noblogs.org/post/2022/10/03/atentado-incendiario-contra-5-camiones-de-la-empresa-de-aridos-baeza-reivindicado-por-celula-insurrecional-del-maipo-nueva-subversion/
[7] https://informativoanarquista.noblogs.org/post/2023/10/02/chile-adjudicacion-de-ataque-incendiario-a-faenadora-y-frigorifico-cordillera-del-holding-dinacar/
[8] https://informativoanarquista.noblogs.org/post/2022/11/29/intento-de-atentado-explosivo-contra-oxiquim-s-a-reivindicado-por-nuevas-subversiones-anarquicas-celula-alex-nunez-federacion-anarquista-informal/
We’ve been sent quite a nice resource on how to develop into an action group which we believe is worth reading. below is a little excerpt as well as links to the zine on print form and on read only form.
“We are not special. Our skills are not overly technical or advanced, and our tools are simple to acquire. If you are reading this, you are capable of doing what we do.”
“While I agree with this sentiment, the reader is left with many questions about how to develop such a capacity for action, even if they are motivated. What exactly does it take to not get caught carrying out heavy actions like arson? This is especially important in the long run; not getting caught for a single arson is one thing, but being able to continue carrying out attacks in the face of heightened repressive attention is quite another.
For anyone who wants to carry out actions like this, but isn’t doing so yet, I’ve sketched an outline of the steps I think are necessary to sustain hard-hitting attacks on domination (limited to the topic of “operational” considerations, i.e., acquiring skills). This brief outline is intended to orient you and provide a “learning path” — each step has recommended reading that actually goes into the appropriate amount of depth on the subject. Use the Tails operating system to visit these links, which runs from a USB drive and leaves no trace on your computer. What I’ve written here is by no means definitive, and I hope to spark a dialogue about any operational aspects I may have neglected, as well as anything outside this scope that is important for sustaining and intensifying the capacity for action.”
Mid February, Bavaria Germany.
According to reports in hunting media, two hunting areas near Würzburg in Bavaria have been vandalised by activists.
At least three concrete pipe traps were destroyed, along with the wildlife cameras set up around them.
Thilo Duschner, the hunter and owner of the traps and wildlife cameras, says the attack was no coincidence. He believes it was the work of animal rights activists, not pranksters, as the traps were quite far apart and all destroyed on the same day.
His loss as a result of the attack was in the region of 800 euros.
8th March, North Italy.
ENGLISH (TRANSLATION):
“Hunting is legalized murder that wreaks havoc among wildlife every year during the hunting season. However, there are other victims that both during the hunting season and at its end suffer the consequences: hunters’ dogs. Exploited as breeders, trained with electric collars and sticks, held in cages, treated as slaves, regarded not as sentient beings and companions but as “auxiliaries” (a definition used by hunters that denotes the purely instrumental relationship they establish with their dogs) as long as they are good at hunting and then left to die amid excruciating suffering in the shadows and in solitude in dilapidated facilities. Many are abandoned on the streets or even killed when they are no longer needed or if considered “defective” on par with a botched factory product.
Tonight we entered one of these run down sheds to rescue 6 dogs that were always left in the dark during the day. We found them frightened, in the dirt and entrusted them to people who will guarantee them a decent life and above all a chance to know cuddles and human warmth, the love they have never known and would never know otherwise.
THE ALF IS WATCHING AND THERE IS NO PLACE TO HIDE.
A.L.F”
ITALIAN (ORIGINAL):
“La caccia è un assassinio legalizzato che ogni anno durante il periodo venatorio fa una vera e propria carneficina tra la fauna selvatica. Ci sono però altre vittime che sia durante la stagione venatoria che al suo termine ne subiscono le conseguenze: i cani dei cacciatori. Sfruttati come fattrici, addestrati con collari elettrici e bastoni, detenuti nei serragli, trattati da schiavi, considerati non esseri senzienti e compagni di viaggio, ma come “ausiliari” (definizione usata dai cacciatori che denota il rapporto puramente strumentale che instaurano con i loro cani) fintanto sono bravi a cacciare e poi lasciati morire tra atroci sofferenze nell’ombra e in solitudine in strutture fatiscenti. Molti vengono abbandonati in strada o addirittura uccisi quando non servono più o se considerati “difettati” al pari di un prodotto di fabbrica malriuscito.
Stanotte siamo entrati in una di queste baraccopoli per liberare 6 cani che durante il giorno erano lasciati sempre al buio. Li abbiamo trovati spaventati, nello sporco e li abbiamo affidati a persone che gli garantiranno una vita dignitosa e soprattutto la possibilità di conoscere carezze e calore umano, l’ amore che non hanno mai conosciuto e mai avrebbero conosciuto.
THE ALF IS WATCHING AND THERE IS NO PLACE TO HIDE.
A.L.F”
[Image credit: @undergroundbadgersyndicate]
The end of the main hunting season is approaching and hunts are getting desperate. Northants Hunt Saboteurs have had a difficult time with the Cottesmore Hunt after continued threats of violence and intimidation by hunt ‘security’, who throw their weight around in front of the police. But the sab group maintained a presence on the hunt. Though they had some setbacks due to the hunts rent-a-mob, this inevitably comes with its own set of problems for the hunt; hiring them costs them money and they attract negative media attention. The Pytchley with Woodland Hunt, who Northants sabs also contend with, has also got themselves into trouble and ended their season early after multiple hounds were killed on the busy A43 whilst out hunting.
Lincolnshire Hunt Saboteurs have also had problems with hunt employees who slashed their tyres during a ‘gruelling day’ with the Burton Hunt, but were able to continue taking action throughout the month.
Despite the best efforts of local sabs, deer were killed by the Stevenstone Hunt in Devon and, two days later, by the Kent Hunt. Farm animals were also victim to hounds, as seen by a post by North Wales Hunt Saboteurs who stated that the Flint and Denbigh hunt killed a Sheep and her an unborn lamb. Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs also reported of a fox being killed in a garden by the Grove and Rufford Hunt. Though upsetting and frustrating, they took solace in knowing they prevented other kills by this hunt and also of the Holme and Colne Valley Beagles, who they packed up earlier in the day. They, like many other groups, have worked tirelessly in a challenging time of the year as wildlife becomes much more vulnerable as the Fox and Hare breeding season takes place.
Beds and Bucks Hunt Saboteurs announced that the Oakley Hunt will disband at the end of the season, following a 10-year concentrated campaign against them. A decade is a long time but the abundance of wild animals, as well as hounds bred for hunting, that will be spared cruelty and death is undoubtable well worth it. The group state that two major factors in their demise is due to a massive decline in subscribers and a lack of land they are permitted to hunt on – both of which are vulnerable to pressure campaigns. Protesting fundraisers and hunt related social events, shaming landowners and business that host the hunt, as well as direct action in the field are sure ways to make a hunt unviable. With such attention being given to a hunt, it is inevitable that they struggle to maintain staff, as proven by the Oakley Hunt. Now, local and neighbouring saboteurs can move onto their next hunt.
Kent Hunt Saboteurs reported that costs of policing the protest against the Kent Hunts boxing day meet mounted to over £14k, which can add additional pressure on the hunt as members of the public rightly question why public money should be spent on policing an illegal hunt. Suffolk Action for Wildlife received reliable intel that multiple Essex and Suffolk Hunt masters, who often play an integral position financially, are leaving at the end of the season, which makes them vulnerable and an attractive target for a pressure campaign.
The Fox Inn, a pub, hotel and wedding venue in Stourton, were forced to no longer host the Albrighton and Woodland Hunt end of season ‘supper’ after Staffordshire Hunt Saboteurs named-and-shamed them online. Members of the public, including locals and potential visitors from afar, were given the opportunity to contact the business and voice their concerns which ultimately worked. Events like these are not only important to raise money for the hunt, but also double up as a networking and social event, and is a big problem for a hunt if cancelled. Businesses heavily rely on reputation so negative publicity can produce quick results when they are seen to be supporting wildlife killers.
Underground Badger Syndicate have reawakened after taking some time to rest after the intensive badger cull but soon got back to work by removing 20 mole traps from a posh private estate. Traps and other means of wildlife killing are used all year round but springtime is particularly nasty, so they’ve set up a new donation page to help them pay for fuel so they can keep active. Others who have also been busy, including Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs dealing with fen traps and The Great Unwashed dealing with a shooting hide.
Devon County Hunt Saboteurs reminded the online world that, as of the 1st February, the supplementary badger cull has stopped and won’t continue until June. However, they make the point clear that people should remain vigilant as persecution of the supposedly legally protected wild animal will continue regardless. Checking up on setts is a casual way of doing this and is also vital intel that can be used in the future, as pointed out by Northamptonshire Badger Group who have been regularly surveying throughout the month. They, as well as hunt sabotage groups, can provide training and workshops on sett checking and general surveying which is not only a great way to learn about the fascinating and beautiful existence of wildlife, but also the skillset on how to protect them.
NO LIFE LIKE THE WILD