Two Column Unified

San Diego Seals in National Spotlight

CNN's Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell featured APRL's SealWatch Coordinator Dorota Valli on May 12. Click here to watch. The next day, APRL attorney Bryan Pease won a court order to keep the city's rope barrier protecting the seals up until June 3, and the AP ran a story picked up by dozens of newspapers around the country. However, on June 3, the judge allowed the rope to come down pending a final determination on July 15, as reported on the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune on Saturday. APRL convinced the City Council last year to vote 6-2 for a year-round rope barrier to protect the seals, but the city attorney and mayor are failing to enforce the resolution.

LA Animal Rights Conference in July

Don't miss the annual Animal Rights 2011 Conference, the world's largest and oldest animal rights gathering. AR2011 will take place July 21-25 in Los Angeles at the Westin LAX Hotel. There will be more than 100 speakers, including APRL's Bryan Pease and Kath Rogers, sessions on animal protection, organizing, tactics, issues, talks by other social justice leaders, awards to celebrities and activists, etc. Click here for more information and to register. If you would be interested in taking a bus from SD to LA, please reply to let us know. Be sure to stop by our booth at the conference!

Help Stop Wildlife Poisoning in Your Neighborhood

Last week, APRL member Mike Davis learned that his home owners association was planning to poison squirrels within the next few days, and he immediately sprang into action to stop it. An APRL attorney then sent a cease and desist letter that has so far been effective. APRL also recently learned that the MARTA train system in Atlanta is planning to poison pigeons along the train line, even though there is a humane and effective pigeon birth control they could use instead. Please contact the MARTA train through this comment form to politely ask them not to poison the pigeons.

Stop Plans to Exterminate Wild Pigs in San Diego County

Federal agencies have launched a controversial program that will use traps, federal hunters with guns and dogs, and even shooting from helicopters to exterminate wild pigs in San Diego. You can express your opposition to the killing by contacting the U.S. Forest Service before June 26: Pete Gomben, Environmental Coordinator, Cleveland National Forest, 10845 Rancho Bernardo Road, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92127. Comments may also be made via telephone at (858) 674-2901 or fax at (858) 673-6192, or emailed in Word, PDF or text format to pgomben@fs.fed.us.

Updates

APRL volunteers passed out over 5,500 pro-veg leaflets at festivals in May!
Over a dozen restaurants dropped foie gras after being contacted by APRL in May, and we put together a successful protest with 24 hours notice after finding out about a "pop up" restaurant featuring foie gras!
APRL's Thrift Store in San Diego had its five year anniversary in February, and the store is doing so well that we are considering opening a second location. If you have any ideas for a second location, let us know!
Charges against Compassionate Choices leafletter Nikki Benoit have been dropped after her refusal to be constrained by a "free speech zone" on a community college campus, marking an important victory for free speech.
APRL attorneys successfully defended activists who were sued by Brea Mall in Orange County for protesting outside of Barkworks. For details on more Barkworks protests and other Orange County events, check out the local meetup site!
Check out this new map of factory farms across the US that have been investigated and exposed by various groups, including APRL! Several states have considered laws making it illegal to photograph cruelty on factory farms, and New York is on the verge of passing one. Click here to take action.

Bonus Action Alert

Please contact KCET at (323) 953-5238 or memberservices@kcet.org to politely ask that they not allow foie gras (pronounced "fwah grah") at their upcoming fundraiser at Bouchon Beverly Hills on June 13.

We have already confirmed that the June 12 menu does not include the item, but the restaurant has indicated that the June 13 menu, which is $2500 per person, will "almost certainly" include it.

Foie gras is made by ramming metal pipes down the throats of ducks and pumping them full of massive quantities of food. It will be illegal to sell or produce in California starting next year due to a law APRL helped pass.