WARNING: The story and video below are unbelievably disturbing, on many, many levels. But, it is just too important an issue to ignore.
John Ehrenfeld has written the following very upseting post, but one that is very important in understanding.
After you tuck your kids in tonight, say a prayer and give thanks that George Bush and his intrepid band of warriors are tirelessly fighting the war on terror and defending our homeland. For thanks to their efforts, another dangerous terrorist no longer walks the streets among us.
For months the FBI clandestinely tracked the dangerous suspect, watching his every move and those of his friends. They tapped his phone, intercepting and recording more than eight thousand calls. They read his e-mails, they bagged his garbage, and they followed him everywhere he went. Finally, in May of 2004, the authorities felt they had enough and the suspect was indicted by a grand jury on federal charges of orchestrating an interstate campaign of terrorism and intimidation. A conviction would mean a $1,250,000 in fines and 23 years in prison. Warrants were issued, clips were loaded, and soon it was go time.
One cold, foggy morning a squad of hardened agents in black moved in on the terror suspect’s hideout near San Francisco as an agency helicopter flew cover overhead. Equipped with a battering ram and heavily armed, the agents easily secured the premises, the terror suspect was taken into custody and the country exhaled a collective sigh of relief.
Then the questions started. Who was this terrorist that the government spent so many millions of dollars pursuing? In what country was he trained? How did he get here? What God does such an evil man worship? The average American would be shocked to know the answer.
It turns out that the suspect was not a terrorist at all. His name was Kevin Kjonaas, a born in the USA, twenty-something, Catholic school grad who worked at a doggy daycare. His crime? Being president of SHAC USA, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty an animal rights group dedicated to shutting down Huntingdon Life Sciences, the New Jersey based British company who tests products on animals.
Every year HLS kills about 180,000 beagle dogs, mice, primates, rabbits, cats, farm animals like goats, chickens, sheep, guinea pigs, and rats to test a range of products from diet drugs, toothpastes, tanning lotions, food supplements like Splenda, adhesives and pesticides. The animals in the testing process, endure weeks, months, and sometimes years of isolation, poisoning, and violently invasive experiments.
What were the specifics that warranted Kjonaas to be labeled a terrorist? Surely to be labeled a terrorist and to be facing most of his life in prison, he must have done something pretty evil. Not even close.
Kjonaas, and six other animal rights activists were convicted on March 2, 2006, under the controversial Federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act. The Act punishes anyone who “physically disrupts” an animal enterprise. Kjonaas and his colleagues fought to stop the torturing and live dissection of animals, many of which were household pets. He posted the home addresses and telephone numbers of Huntingdon employees on the group’s website and sometimes Kjonaas helped organize protests in front of workers’ homes. When he couldn’t make it to a demonstration, he posted other people’s accounts of the event, seeing himself as a conduit for information.
The bottom-line, these activists are alleged to have operated a website that reported on and expressed ideological support for protest activity against Huntingdon. That was it.
Support the SHAC 7! Their prosecution and incarceration is just another example of the Bush administration’s relentless pursuit of their corporate agenda and their defense of those pursuing wealth at the expense of others. Let no one be fooled, this is not fighting terrorism; this is an assault on freedoms accorded all Americans by the constitution and a way to silence them using the fraudulent war on terror as an excuse.
Kevin Kjonaas is not only not a terrorist, he is an American hero and it’s critical that all social and political progressives and activists support people like Kevin. Please spread the word, contribute to his defense fund and take a moment to send him a letter in prison.
Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) is one of the world’s largest animal-testing labs. It operates two facilities in England and one in East Millstone, NJ. Animals are forced to inhale and ingest excessive amounts of chemicals such as pesticides, coffee sweeteners, diet pills and genetically modified organisms (GMO’s), for weeks or months on end. Then they are killed and dissected. Products known to have been tested at HLS include Splenda, Viagra, Olestra, and Baycol. Every day an average of 500 animals – including dogs, cats, mice, primates and rabbits – die inside HLS
HLS has been exposed in five undercover investigations revealing vicious animal cruelty and sloppy, fraudulent science. Among other atrocities, workers were exposed punching 4-month-old beagle puppies in the face, dissecting a live monkey, falsifying scientific data, and violating Good Laboratory Practice laws over 600 times.
Besides the fact that HLS tests frivolous products such as tanning lotion and weed killers, many M.D.s and scientists are speaking out against animal research as an outdated and dangerous form of pseudo-science (driven primarily by tradition and financial incentives). They argue that enormous physiological variations exist between species, making it impossible to extrapolate experimental results from one species (i.e. a rat or a monkey) to another (i.e. humans). They cite examples like Thalidomide, which was deemed “safe” in animal tests, but caused horrendous birth defects in humans.
Animal research wastes limited research funds, which could instead be directed towards more reliable forms of research such as cell cultures, non-invasive imaging, and epidemiological studies. Jonas Salk, inventor of the Polio vaccine, stated that his efforts were held up for 20 years due to misleading results in studies of non-human primates.
HLS researchers themselves have been caught by investigators stating that their research is “only reliable 5-25% of the time.” What about the other 75-95% of the time? When a worker was questioned as to whether an experimental procedure was done correctly he replied, “Nope. Not supposed to, never saw it, never did it, can’t prove it.” Vivisection in its truest form.
The SHAC7 are 6 activists and a corporation, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA Inc., that have been found guilty of multiple federal felonies for their alleged role in simply campaigning to close down the notorious animal testing lab, Huntingdon Life Sciences. Five of the individuals are currently in federal prison (the sixth, Darius Fullmer, has been released, after completing his one year sentence). They are not accused of actually smashing windows, liberating animals or even attending demonstrations, rather reporting on and encouraging others to engage in legal demonstrations and supporting the ideology of direct action.
After being found guilty, they are beginning their appeal. Unfortunately this appeal will be done from prison. During their stay they need your support! Finances, spreading the word about their case, books, letters or just a friendly ‘hello’! It just takes a few minutes to brighten the lives of political prisoners!
Learn more about responsible medical research.
- Americans for Medical Advancement – learn about the health implications of an animal based diet, and the dangers (for humans) of animal research
- Physicians Comittee for Responsible Medicine – doctors from around the world talk about animal research and animal vs plant based diets
The following is contact information for those who can make a difference. Please consider getting in touch with them.
NYSE Group, Inc.
20 Broad Street
New York, NY 10005
Chairman & CEO
Goldman Sachs Group. Inc.
85 Broad Street
New York, NY 10004
Christopher “Kip” Condron
Head of North American Operations
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10104
Chairman, President & CEO
One Wachovia Center
Charlotte, NC 28288
James D. Robinson III
345 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10154
200 N. 16th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
As always, please keep all correspondence polite and informative. Let them know what they are enabling.