Our Mission Is to Be a Voice for Voiceless Animals That Endure Cruelty Worldwide
Animal Welfare
Rejecting speciesism, we seek to end violence toward animals through activism and education, and by improving animal welfare laws as well as creating and advocating for the implementation of new animal welfare laws.
Support our work in animal welfare and help us make a difference.
Love Animals Don’t Eat Them
Interests:
– Passing Braveheart’s Law in Illinois
– Fighting to end the dog meat trade in Asia
– H.R.6720 – Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2018
– Community outreach
– Improving standards for dog and cat food
– Fighting speciesism/discrimination against animals
– Animal rights support group
– Working along with other animal rights groups
– Establishing Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights Worldwide
Fighting Speciesism
A social justice issue is known as an ism. Prejudice is based on a perceived difference. It is a fixed set of beliefs that a person holds even when reality proves to be different from those beliefs. Since prejudice does not allow for change, it hinders a person’s growth.
There are many isms such as racism, ageism, heterosexism/homophobia, ableism, sexism, classism. Isms are destructive. Species-ism is regarding non-human animals as inferior and less important.
It is important for people to care for other living beings. Fighting species-ism is about feeling empathy for all living beings, for their quality of life, caring for their happiness and wellbeing.
Animal Rights Support Group
People who care for animals are animal lovers. Some pay attention to the lives of animals making sure injustice is not done to them. People may learn how to advocate for the rights and well-being of animals. Sometimes they might do this collectively and sometimes they might find themselves in a situation where they alone need to advocate on an animal’s behalf.
An animal rights support group is to support each other in the hard work of advocating for the rights of animals. It is not always an easy thing to work for animals’ rights. Many people do not agree and are in denial about protecting animals. People still eat animals, let alone hurt animals.
Because the world does not recognize animal rights, for the most part, it can be a difficult thing to work on behalf of animal rights. An animal rights advocate may even have friends who do not understand them.
Animals are still hurt and killed in labs by people in “research” using their bodies, animals are used to experiment on in the name of health and beauty products, animals are used as food, animals are used in zoos, their fur/hair/skins used as clothing/shoes/furniture by people, in hunting, as entertainment, and in many other ways by people. Animal advocates need support to continue.
The Harvard Law Review, the most important legal publication in the nation, published an article [ https://substack.com/redirect/f055690c-090e-4de5-97d8-89dbe25cd6d5?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ] by Justin Marceau (one of the leaders in the fight against ag-gag laws), Steffen Seitz (a promising new scholar and lawyer who just graduated from Yale Law), and me on the right to rescue animals from abuse. If you had told me 5 years ago that I’d be publishing a piece on open rescue in the Harvard Law Review, I’d have laughed.
Yet it’s now happened, and just weeks before I face my next felony trial on March 18. And this piece shows that the legal debate over animal rights has become a serious issue. Harvard Law has, historically, rarely published anything on animals. That has begun to change, partly because of the work of my brilliant co-author Justin Marceau [ https://substack.com/redirect/9f1bc791-6e29-4983-810d-c2c413c36a4d?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ]. But today’s piece is not just about animals; it is a rousing call to see the fight for animal rights as one of the crucial movements of our age, akin to gay rights or women’s rights. If Harvard can take the argument for animal rights seriously — to the point that it’s publishing an article in its flagship journal — then every other lawyer and judge should, too.
But it’s not enough for the argument to be taken seriously by the legal elites. We need you to take it seriously, too. Indeed, that is the only way the piece will have the impact that the animals need. As I’ve argued previously, [ https://substack.com/redirect/d7582174-08d2-483b-9ace-9e82523a71dc?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ] social movements live or die on their ability to harness networks of ordinary people. Celebrities and influential institutions, like Harvard, are only important to the extent that they help us build those networks. And that outcome depends crucially on, not the lawyers at elite institutions, but… you. We need people, like the tens of thousands who read this blog, to see how the arguments made in this piece — taken seriously by the most important legal thinkers in the world — can strengthen your ability to speak out.
And how can they do that? There are a few key points from the Harvard piece that you can take home.
The first is that, as scary as they seem, the prosecutions of animal rights activists are a crucial tool for social change. As we write in the piece:
For at least 150 years, social movements have used “voluntary prosecution” as a lever to drive legal and social change when other avenues for reform have been blocked.
Though under-theorized, the impacts of voluntary prosecution are canonical in American history, from the women’s suffrage movement to the civil rights movement. For example, even if Rosa Parks was violating a law when she refused to give up her seat, her arrest and prosecution mobilized the Montgomery bus boycotts, which have been rightly viewed as politically monumental. Criminal cases like Parks’ can provide a powerful opportunity to “rally the troops” and mobilize marginalized groups. And they can reverse the traditional accountability rationale of the criminal law, which counsels, “Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time.” If the public views the charges (or even the criminal statute itself) as unjust or unlawful, then accountability may come, but in the form of a backlash against the legal system. The prosecutor, the judge, and even the law itself will be held to account when the injustice of a prosecution — or its tension with other, more important principles of law — becomes apparent.
We need you to harness the stories of these prosecutions to mobilize people for change! You’ll have an opportunity on our day of action on March 18 [ https://substack.com/redirect/5184b229-6d3b-420a-91d6-a0a829674ad3?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ].
The second point is that progress on animal rights has been blocked, not by ordinary people, but by corrupt systems. This is precisely why activists must thrust ourselves into court cases, decided by juries of ordinary people rather than legal and political elites:
The vast majority of Americans of all political perspectives (83% of Democrats, 77% of Republicans) say cruelty to farm animals is a “personal moral concern.” Yet the vast majority of farm animals are raised in situations that are not just cruel but constitute “torture” according to the New York Times Editorial Board. Voluntary prosecution aims to force a government response to animal cruelty by highlighting the deficiency of state action to protect animals. Moreover, by placing the decision in the hands of a jury, a non-captured decisionmaker, the strategy also avoids the problem of regulatory capture, whereby well-organized industries or interest groups can frustrate efforts at popular change. Corporations such as Smithfield, which have contributed millions of dollars to political campaigns nationwide, have significantly less ability to influence a randomly drawn panel of citizens from the community.
The third point is that there is a long history of these so-called “voluntary prosecutions” in driving change forward. Indeed, there is an argument that they have been crucial to every major expansion of legal rights in American history. Susan B. Anthony’s trial is particularly illuminating, and when I was researching her case, it felt eerily similar to the trials of open rescue. This includes her insistence that her attempts to vote were legal, despite the consensus (at the time) that she was obviously breaking the law:
Anthony, despite engaging in an act that was legally disruptive, grounded her defiance in constitutional and legal principles. While the Constitution and common law had not been tested on the question of sex discrimination, the text was, in theory, quite clear: no person should be denied “equal protection of the laws.” Anthony could thus plausibly argue that her act of voting was an affirmation, rather than violation, of the law. Anthony also had technical legal arguments to buttress her case even if the judge and jury refused her constitutional argument; most notably, she argued that her good faith belief in the legality of her vote undermined the charges against her because violation of the voting act required a “knowing” illegal vote.
This will all sound very familiar if you’ve been closely following the right to rescue trials. Contrary to the prosecution’s claims, the law is quite clear [ https://substack.com/redirect/6942d0b0-3850-4651-a486-7e08c113e33d?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ]: we are entitled, under the necessity defense, to “act in an emergency to prevent a significant bodily harm or evil to someone else.” That is exactly what we do when we rescue aniamls from abuse. Prosecutors and judges, of course, have argued that “someone” does not include animals, but they are are simply wrong. Indeed, they have been widely mocked, including by Vox’s Marina Bolotnikova, when they have compared injured animals to dented cans [ https://substack.com/redirect/5e8f6ecf-bda8-41b8-99e7-e3ee22a34fc5?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ].
More ambitiously, our right to rescue animals has constitutional origins, including the 5th Amendment’s guarantee that “No person shall be… be deprived of life [or] liberty… without due process of law.” The right to rescue isn’t radical or disruptive. Once we recognize that animals are “persons,” it’s a direct implication of existing law. A constitutional right.
The fourth and last point is the most important, however: to truly “change” the law, we need people who are willing to “break” it:
If animal rights efforts are to gain momentum in law, they may need help from activists who are willing to test the boundaries of the law, and even risk being deemed outside the law. Such projects are important not only to test the bounds of existing positive law, but also to elevate the status of the animal rights law agenda more generally…
Voluntary prosecution can highlight the defects of existing legal norms and generate a public affirmation of behavior that pushes the boundaries of respectability. The public attention that a criminal trial can command serves as a megaphone for messages that might otherwise seem marginal; it provides a novel set of outreach opportunities; and, in the context of animal rights, it recasts legal arguments about animals as beings who matter in defensive, anti-carceral postures that may resonate with the public more strongly than conventional tools of legal reform. By inviting charges for breaking the law, voluntary prosecution is a crucial tool for making it.
Our legal and moral arguments are, in fact, logically correct. Any 2nd grade student knows there is a difference between a dented can and a sentient being. And if an embryo [ https://substack.com/redirect/03527fca-01c7-4a14-8eaa-7df4ab364ad5?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ] or a corporation [ https://substack.com/redirect/88c0b7e2-6f06-47a3-94b7-c0f5156d9ec2?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ] is a “person,” then surely a dog can be as well.
But the truth is that most systems do not work on logic. They work on emotion, momentum, and power. I’m facing very serious consequences in the upcoming cases, and the reason I am not just moving forward, but positively excited, is because these cases have the ability to harness those more fundamental forces to create change.
I hope you’ll read the piece, learn its lessons, and join us on March 18 [ https://substack.com/redirect/e69d7e44-43cc-4a54-8275-96691aff2e35?j=eyJ1IjoiMTI3M3kzIn0.NOVKyAtUwK5a6gwFDm2ZoN4KCEUUrnOE-rDEOUrOY5o ]. The future of animal rights is bright, as the Harvard piece today shows, but it will depend on you to carry that light forward.
H.R.6720 – Dog and Cat Meat Trade Prohibition Act of 2018
This bill was drafted to prohibit the trade and consumption of cat and dog meat in the United States. However, it excludes a member of an Indian tribe for slaughtering and consuming dog and cat meat for religious purposes.
This bill is intended to encourage other nations to ban the trade and consumption of cat and dog meat. Since then, Congress has introduced additional legislation calling on all nations to ban the trade and consumption of dog and cat meat.
Cat and Dog Food Standards
In a capitalist society, many companies only think about there financial growth. They want to make sure they make the most profit at less cost.
The western world has become an animal-based food diet. Many products that are sold to people are sold without any information about how they affect the lives of these animals, people’s health, and the planet.
People that still follow an animal-based food diet think it is good for their health. Paying attention to what kind of food is being sold to customers for their cats and dogs, we realize it is also an animal food-based diet. People that still follow this diet can think it is also good for their cats and dogs to be vegetarian/vegan. Dogs and cats that follow a vegetarian/vegan diet have normal weight.
Community Outreach
We have a responsibility to educate the people we connect to in our every day lives about animal welfare issues. People are hoping to learn something new from others every day. People might have a priority in their lives as to what they consider to be more important to care for. It is important for people to realize that no matter how unique the matters they care about are, they are all connected.
When you care about the well-being of animals you are making a statement about the importance of other areas of our lives. Caring for the well-being of a living being is holistic, meaning it involves all aspects of their lives. It involves caring for their needs, their happiness, being treated with justice, respect, peace, kindness. It involves the whole planet since we all live on it. When people realize all things are connected, then they are more open and receptive to all issues involving the lives of all living beings and our planet. Like Reverend Martin Luther King Jr said, “injustice somewhere is injustice everywhere.” We need to care for all living beings and our planet. It is our calling and our wellbeing.
Asian Dog Meat Trade
What has been a concerning matter is the dog meat trade in Asian countries. Dogs and cats in many Asian countries are being tortured and killed for their flesh. People have been abducting dogs and cats from their natural environment to exploit them. Some of these dogs were stolen from their human families. Images reveal what is being done to these animals. Most people recognize that crimes are being committed to these animals and want to do something about it.
This problem has received the attention of people worldwide. In response, animal rescue groups have been formed to help. More awareness is needed but change is happening. Two cities in China have banned dog meat sales and consumption. Zhuhai and Shenzhen lead the way and No Dogs Left Behind will stand with them and continue to fight until all of China implements laws as such.
This photo of a black Great Dane is a pooch we adopted after partnering with No Dogs Left Behind to raise money to bring dogs to the United States from Yulin, China. Dogs were in slaughterhouses being prepared to be tortured, killed, and eaten. We hope when people hear each dog’s story, they will help bring awareness to the issue of animals being eaten.
Passing Braveheart’s Law
Did you know that most animal cruelty cases in the United States end without trial or conviction? Even with strong animal cruelty laws, states often struggle to enforce the laws due to limited resources. Because they are inundated with cases involving crimes against people, courts frequently dismiss animal cruelty cases or permit defendants to participate in diversionary programs that leave no record of the offense and result in a slap on the wrist and meaningless probation. While thinking about the victims of egregious acts of animal cruelty not receiving justice is heartbreaking and tragic to those of us who love animals, it should also be alarming to all members of society.
There is research that indicates that there is a strong link between harm to nonhuman animals and harm to human animals. One such study is by professor of criminology Amy Fitzgerald who discovered a direct link between slaughter houses and violent crime. “Local crime rates go up, especially violent crimes, wherever and whenever slaughterhouses open.” Slaughter houses are a direct threat to the lives of nonhuman animals and to the lives of human animals.
We cannot claim to value or experience true liberation as we oppress billions of others, a principle expressed in Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” A direct threat to a life anywhere is a direct threat to a life everywhere and therefore a direct threat to all life.
There is a clearly established link between animal cruelty and future violent behavior. In fact, depending on how you analyze the data, anywhere from 43% and 80% of school shooters have a history of animal cruelty. Serial killers such as Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer admitted to torturing and killing animals before they started murdering people.
Braveheart’s Law is based on Desmond’s Law, which passed in Connecticut in October 2016. Thus far, over sixty animal cruelty cases in Connecticut have had lawyers representing them in court. Our hope is to see this law passed in every state. Maine has already passed Franky’s Law. New York, New Jersey, and Michigan have introduced versions of the law. California, Oregon, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Washington, and Nevada have all asked for help introducing versions of Desmond’s Law. Please join us and help give dogs and cats a voice by contacting your representative today!
Braveheart’s Law, SB 0153, is in the senate. Let’s show that we want volunteer lawyers for cats and dogs who are victims of egregious acts of cruelty in Illinois!
Sample
Dear Senator,
Please support SB 0153 to give abused cats and dogs a voice in court. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Name
Address
Please share this post!
This bill in Illinois is named in honor of Braveheart, one of eleven dogs found living in feces and urine in the home of a man who had a previous animal cruelty conviction. When rescued, she had multiple bite wounds on her face, forelegs, and neck. Her right ear was cut in half. All of the adult dogs in the home had visible scarring on their faces and forepaws. Braveheart and the other dogs languished at Chicago Animal Care and Control as the property of her owner for months. Forfeiture should have happened sooner, so Braveheart could have been considered for foster or adoption. Instead, she was held hostage by the system. Tragically, the owner got a plea deal and had his charges reduced from seven counts of felony cruel treatment to one count of animal cruelty with only eighteen months of probation, a minor inconvenience.
This repeat offender should have had a more serious sentence, a sentence that would have protected animals and sent a strong message to the offender that animal abuse is not tolerated.
Animal cruelty needs to be taken seriously. Braveheart’s Law is a bill being introduced in Illinois that will give a voice to abused dogs and cats, and it will act as a resource to state courts by allowing judges to appoint volunteer lawyers or supervised law students to work free of charge on behalf of the animal victim. Although judges will decide whether an advocate is appointed, defense attorneys and prosecutors may also request them. The appointed advocate will monitor the case and assist the court in gathering information from animal control officers, humane agents, veterinarians, and police officers. They will also be able to advocate for forfeiture of the abused animals, so the animal can be placed in foster or adopted.
Next Steps for Braveheart’s Law SB 153 Good morning! It’s time to start calling our Illinois State Senators! The bill will be presented on Tuesday, 3/23! It is critically important for the senators to know their constituents support this! Please use the instructions below to get the phone number for your Illinois State Senator and ask them to support SB 153 to help cats and dogs that are victims of egregious acts of cruelty! You can use the script below. Thank you all for getting the bill this far! Let’s keep going for the finish line! Thank you!
You can follow the development of this bill here, https://www.ilga.gov/
Here are instructions for identifying your state senator:
Click on this link: https://www.illinoispolicy.org/maps/ and click on the Illinois senate,
Then you are taken to a page that asks you to type in your address:
Then it will take you to your Senator’s contact info.
My Senator probably will not be the same as yours. Once you identify your Senator, please call or email them to ask for their support for SB 153.
Here is a sample script/letter. Please make sure to add or discuss your personal reasons for wanting this bill to pass.
Dear Senator,
Please support SB 153 to give the court the resource of an appointed licensed lawyer or law student to help enforce existing animal cruelty laws. This bill helps cats and dogs who are victims of egregious acts of animal cruelty get justice. The state often struggles to enforce animal cruelty laws due to limited resources. Because they are inundated with cases involving crimes against people, courts frequently dismiss animal cruelty cases or permit defendants to participate in diversionary programs that leave no record of the offense and result in a slap on the wrist and meaningless probation.
While thinking about the victims of egregious acts of animal cruelty not receiving justice is heartbreaking and tragic to those of us who love animals, it should also be alarming to all members of our society. Research findings consistently suggest a strong link between animal cruelty and violence towards people, including domestic abuse and child abuse. Research has shown that cruelty to animals is an indicator for future acts of violence, including rape, child molestation, domestic abuse, and school shootings. This needs to matter to us as a society. We need to take animal cruelty seriously and provide the resources needed to enforce the existing laws related to this. Please support this bill.
Sincerely,
Name
Address
Phone number
Thank you to everyone for your heart, your passion for animals, and for being on this long journey. We’re getting closer to the finish line! Your voice is critically important!
Update
The senate voted in favor of SB 153. This bill was amended while being in the senate in regards to defining what a law student is. Now that the senate has voted in favor of, it will be sent back to the house before it is sent to the governor to sign it into law.
URGENT: Final Vote for Braveheart’s Law on Tuesday, 5/11-Please sign the witness slip TODAY!
SB 153 (Braveheart’s Law-to give cats and dogs a volunteer lawyer in criminal cases of cruelty) will be heard in the House Judiciary Criminal Committee Tuesday, May 11, at 5 p.m. We need organizations and individuals signing witness slips as proponents asap. This is the last vote! If it passes here, the only thing left is for the governor to sign it.
Fortunately, the process has been simplified. Here is a direct link to the witness slip for SB 153:
https://my.ilga.gov/WitnessSlip/Create/129165?committeeHearingId=18499&LegislationId=129165&LegislationDocumentId=162764&HCommittees5%2F13%2F2021-page=1&committeeid=0&chamber=H&nodays=7&_=1620342694728
Please copy and send this link to everyone you know in Illinois who will support this bill! You can check the box for record of appearance only. All the Senate bills have to be out of Committee by Friday of next week. This is end of session rush, so it is incredibly important we get people slipping in. This is the best way for individuals to express their support.
The AKC has sent an alert out in opposition, so they are busy having their members creating witness slips to oppose. This is another reason we need all possible who are in support slipping in as a proponent.
As you reach out to your network, do not ask them to call or email their reps, but instead ask them to slip in through the witness slip system.
Please slip in yourselves, and please get the word out to everyone in support!!
Update
Thank you for your ongoing support with trying to pass Braveheart’s Law. Unfortunately, it did not pass in the senate this past session. It moved through the house very easily, which is progress, but it fell apart in the senate. Seems there was not enough time to educate the congress people on it. There will be efforts this summer to prepare the senate with any information that might be useful for understanding the bill. This means we will be trying again next session. In all of the years that we’ve been working on this, this is the best progress we have seen so far. It’s encouraging to see movement and interest in the bill! We will reach out to you when we need to submit witness slips or reach out to members of the house and senate. Thank you all for your continued support! The bill wouldn’t be getting the attention it’s getting without YOU! We will see this bill eventually become Braveheart’s Law! Hope you all have a wonderful summer!
Warm regards
UPDATE
People are currently working to reintroduce Braveheart’s Law in the Illinois Congress. We will let you know once it is introduced so we can start helping this bill become Braveheart’s Law. Here is the new copy were are going to be using.
Compassion for Farm Animals
To help us spread the message of compassion, we would be grateful if you would post a link of this website to your social media pages:
The Urban Art Retreat Animal Welfare program has participated in actions led by other animal rights organizations.
On August 24, 2019, Urban Art Retreat participated at Chicago Animal Rights March and Anonymous for the Voiceless led by Cube of Truth in downtown Chicago.
On November 15, 2019, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protested vegan milk surcharge at the world’s largest Starbucks in downtown Chicago.
UPDATE
On June 15, 2022, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) protested vegan milk surcharge at the Starbucks in downtown Chicago. You can learn more about this event here,
Slaughter-free Chicago and Animal Rebellion Chicago
On Thursday, November 7, 2019, animal rights activists gathered in the middle of the lobby on the first floor at City Hall in Chicago. People started to gather and organize at 3:30 p.m. After that, we went to meet with one of the representatives of Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, outside her office. Activists showed their signs and sung chants in support of animal liberation. Two activist groups Slaughter Free Chicago and Animal Rebellion worked together that day. After meeting with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, we went to meet with two city officials in charge of overseeing city zoning laws. Again, the activists gathered holding signs and singing chants in support of the cause. The activists also met with an official the city council on a different floor. After that, activists protested outside City Hall.
Some of us gathered at a vegan restaurant after this event. We came out with some questions from our conversations. How much influence can one of the representatives of the Mayor have? Why did the city zoning laws officials express a “what can we do attitude” regarding the current slaughterhouses in Chicago? And what can be done when the horse-pulled carriage business has influenced a city council official with money?
On December 19, 2019, PETA led an action in downtown Chicago outside of the Farmers Market event to sing Christmas carols to help sheeps abused for wool.
You can learn more about this event here,
On Saturday, March 12, 2022 we had West Side of Chicago Blues Historian Bonnie MacKeown talk about this music style that used to be a hotbed in this part of the city and how we can regain this treasured art form. As part of this she taught us how to turn a PETA vegan Christmas Carol song into a Blues one with “PETA on the plate”. You can watch that here,
Action Event at Chicago City Council Meeting
On February 19, 2020, Slaughter Free Chicago and Animal Rebellion Chicago joined efforts to raise awareness of animal agriculture being a direct contributor to the emergency of climate change. They attended the Chicago City Council meeting at City Hall.
The Plight of Slaughterhouses in Chicago
Slaughter Free Chicago and Animal Rebellion Chicago have been active in raising awareness of how the coronavirus pandemic and other zoonotic pandemics are linked to wet markets. They have been active in raising awareness of slaughterhouses in Chicago.
Update
CUARC Animal Welfare program volunteers, Cesar and Aline, attended the Animal Rights Activism Mentorship Convergence Chicago Day of Action event.
On Monday, July 26, 2021 we volunteers were at the Day of Action organized by Slaughter Free Chicago, Free from Harm. This day of action included a 10am event outside Aden Poultry slaughter house located at 2731 W Lawrence in Chicago.
We were there to reach out to residents in the area to raise awareness that this type 2 slaughter house should be shut down immediately. It has been violating several Illinois Department of Agriculture laws that prohibit them from selling wholesale. All the remaining 13 slaughter houses in the city should be shut down immediately for the same reason.
Activists held signs with the message “Can Costello” meaning that the current IDA director, Mr Costello, doesn’t care what the community thinks about the issue and therefore he should resign or get fired by governor Pritzker.
Activists also voiced the following chants:
Call: What do we want?
Response: Aden shutdown!
Call: Hey Aden, what do you say?
Response: How many animals have you killed today?
Call: Aden is a public nuisance,
Response: Department of Ag is to blame!
Call: When abusers say get back,
Response: We say fight back!
Call: Humane slaughter is a lie
Response: Animals do not want to die!
Call: When animals are under attack, what do we do?
Response: Act up fight back!
Call: There’s no excuse,
Response: for animal abuse
Call: Freedom from harm is their right
Response: Freedom for animals is our fight!
Here is the facebook link to this event:
Later on we met with other animal rights activists at a park to plan the afternoon protest event outside the governor’s mansion.
Activists walked together and lined up along a public sidewalk right in front of the governor’s mansion while holding signs with the words “Can Costello” and “shut down slaughter houses”
With megaphones, activists voiced their concerns about the laws not being enforced in the state of Illinois that would shut down slaughter houses immediately.
An activist spoke up about animal agriculture & that governor Pritzker and his associates meet behind closed doors and bend the laws instead of following up with the laws. A 16 year old voiced her concern about the future of the Earth and therefore about her future as animal agriculture continues to destroy the planet.
Activists also voiced the following chants:
Call: Governor Pritzker
Response: Costello must go!
Call: Slaughter is a nuisance,
Response: Department of Ag is to blame!
Call: What do we want?
Response: Slaughterhouses shut down!
Call: When do we want it?
Response: Right now!
Call: Costello is a shame,
Response: Pritzker is to blame!
Call: Costello/Pritzker has blood on his hands,
Response: So much blood on his hands.
Call: Costello is corrupt,
Response: Shut down Big Ag!
Here is the facebook link to this event:
https://www.facebook.com/sfchicagonow
https://www.facebook.com/AnimalRebellionChicago
Establishing Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights
Establishing Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights is a worldwide action event that takes place in the Fall. It is about asking local legislators to establish Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights. In honor of Rose, a chicken that was rescued from an animal farm. Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights includes:
- The right to be free- not owned- or to have a guardian acting in their best interest.
- The right to not be exploited, abused, or killed by humans.
- The right to have their interest represented in court and protected by law.
- The right to a protected home, habitat, or ecosystem.
- The right to be rescued from situations of distress and exploitation.
Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights says to support legislation like SB 0153 Braveheart’s Law in Illinois. Urban Art Retreat asks local legislators to establish Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights.
Rose’s Law Week of Action event is coming up in Chicago September 27-October 4, 2020 and is a collaboration between Animal Rebellion Chicago, DXE Chicago, Slaughter Free Chicago, and more.
You can read more about Rose’s Law here: https://www.roseslaw.org/
You can read more about Braveheart’s Law here: https://www.braveheartslaw.com
Art by Cesar Quiroz, a volunteer at CUARC
The phrase “For Illinois” represents an appeal to establish Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights in the State of Illinois.
Rose is portrayed with her right wing back and her left wing forward meaning she is moving forward. Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights recognizes the rights of animals and says to support legislation that is for the good of animals and their interests such as SB 0153 Braveheart’s Law in Illinois.
This artwork is made with watercolor paper, watercolor, acrylics, color pencils, crayons and other paints. It is inspired by the logo of Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights. It represents Rose, a chicken that was rescued from an animal farm in California. The rose in the painting is because of this chicken’s name. The yellow color represents Rose as a hen being rescued. The black color is one of the colors found in Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights logo. The white, red and blue colors represent the colors found in the flag of the City of Chicago and in the flag of the State of Illinois. The number 2020 represents Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights Week of Action Event that will take place in September 2020
Rose recently passed away.
This is what happened at Chicago’s Rose’s Law: Animal Bill of Rights Week of Action event September 27-October 2, 2020
24-hour vigil, Sunday, September 27-28, 2020.
Animal Rights activists conducted a 24-hour vigil starting Sunday, September 27 at 11am and ending with a last action the next day about the same time.
During this time, activists conducted vigils outside the 15 slaughter houses that are located in Chicago.
Activists would enter a slaughter house and try to persuade the workers to release an animal for rescue. If the workers were not persuaded to do this, then activists would protest outside the slaughter house.
Activists engaged in an action named Sound the Alarm that is about people putting on hazmat suits and some people would wear a gas mask. A sound system would play a recording of a person alarming about the emergency of being a pandemic away from collapse because of animal agriculture.
There were reports of activists being assaulted during this vigil.
This day of action concluded the next day Monday, October 28, 2020 with a banner drop outside the construction of a meat packing plant on the south side of the city.
WTTW News covered the first day of Rose’s Law Week of Action event.
Plant-based teach-in at Water Tower Plaza in Chicago, Tuesday, September 29, 2020.
Activists gathered at Water Tower Plaza in Chicago to educate people about Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights and their demands to the city: Shut-down all slaughter houses immediately, divest from animal agriculture interests, adopt a plant based system and implement an animal bill of rights named Rose’s Law.
Activists offered vegan food to the public and there were speakers that shared their knowledge and facts about these issues with others at an open mic. You can learn more about this event here,
You can listen to Adam Henry’s speech here,
You can listen to Robert Grillo’s speech here,
You can listen to Cesar Quiroz’s speech here,
You can listen to Maria Leonardi’s speech here,
You can listen to Shanonn Blair’s, Madhuri Pydisetty’s, Esther Chavira’s and Anastasia Lindsey Roger’s speech here,
Madhuri Pydisetty delivered a livestream talk on the ethical, health, and environmental concerns related to dairy consumption on April 25, 2021 for the Vegan World Convergence Conference. You can watch that here,
You can listen to Illir Sulemani’s speech here,
Slaughter-Free Chicago’s Day of Action, Wednesday, September 30, 2020.
Activists gathered early in the morning in front of the home of Chicago Department of Health Commissioner Allison Arwardy.
Activists spoke up about the fact that the Commissioner is not enforcing the laws of her department in regards to the 15 slaughter houses currently operating in the city.
According to the activists, all of these slaughter houses have been violating Chicago city laws for years. Activists also participated in the action named Sound the Alarm at this location.
Activists later gathered outside the office of the Chicago Department of Public Health downtown. They picked up litter at Pritzkerpark across from this location before visiting this office. Activists put hazmat suits and some were wearing gas masks. They were also holding signs. They were speaking to the fact that they had been trying to schedule an appointment with the Commissioner for two years without success.
Commissioner Arwardy came to talk to the activists after they waited for one hour. Commissioner Arwardy told the activists that from all their demands, adopting a plant-based system was an area she could work with them. The Chicago Department of Health is already telling people they should eat only plant-based foods and not eat animal products and it is already promoting adopting a plant-based system in the city, in its dietary guidelines online. You can read more about this day of action here,
Update
Slaughter Free Chicago’s Rally to End Illegal Slaughter event. Friday, October 22, 2021.
A volunteer from our animal welfare program gathered with other activists at Pritzker Park in the morning near noon to debrief and then to walk together to the lobby of the Chicago Department of Public Health to demand commissioner Arwardy to immediately revoke the licenses of slaughter houses which have been violating the Food Code rule.
While there, we showed images and sounds of the conditions of birds who are being transported to the slaughter houses. We asked for commissioner Arwardy to come to the lobby to let her know that Slaughter Free Chicago had obtained incriminating evidence of the slaughter houses and that she needs to revoke their licenses immediately.
One activist among us mentioned that an investigation by the Illinois Inspector General revealed insufficient inspections conducted by the Chicago Department of Public Health to the slaughter houses. We also held signs with messages and voiced chants.
We waited for commissioner Arwardy to come to the lobby for over an hour until we were informed that she was going to be attending conference calls for the rest of the day and therefore she was not going to be able to come to the lobby to address our concerns regarding slaughter houses. We decided we were going to continue to address her failure to enforce her own laws regarding slaughter houses and then we walked together to Pritzker Park to debrief.
Rally Chants:
Call: Slaughter houses are a shame,
Response: Allison Arwardy is to blame!
Call: Polluting the air, polluting the water,
Response: Profiting off of animal slaughter!
Call: Commissioner Arwardy,
Response: Do your job!
Call: When abusers say get back,
Response: We way fight back!
Call: There’s no excuse,
Response: For animal abuse!
Call: Enforcing the law is a must,
Response: Killing them is killing us!
Call: What do we want?
Response: Slaughter house shut down!
Call: When do we want it?
Response: Now!
Call: Arwardy has blood on her hands,
Response: So much blood on her hands!
Call: Blood and feces everywhere!
Response: Commissioner Arwardy doesn’t care!
You can read more about this rally here,
You can watch a highlight video of this event here,
Update
Slaughter Free Chicago’s Speak Out action event. Saturday, November 6, 2021.
One of our volunteers from our animal welfare program attended this Speak Out action event organized by Slaughter Free Chicago.
In the afternoon our activist volunteer from our animal welfare program gathered with other activists at a gas station near the home of the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health Allison Arwardy. Later we all walked together to her home that is a block away to communicate to her our alarming concerns for not enforcing her own laws regarding slaughter houses which would get them shut down immediately.
We activists gathered in front of her house while holding signs that read Poultry, Family , Pets Killed!, The WHO-CDC reports that Bird Flu will trigger the next pandemic.
We also held a long banner that read Commissioner Arwardy, Shutdown Slaugher Houses Before They Shut Us Down!
We also distributed flyers with information about 8 ways that slaughter houses are bad for everybody, how to file a 311 request, Killing Them is Killing Us, The WHO and CDC believe bird flu could trigger a pandemic 100 times worse than COVID-19, 70% of emerging new viruses come from our use and abuse of non-human animals.
These signs also revealed images of the conditions of these animals at the slaughter houses.
We also played a recording from a sound speaker for everybody to hear that revealed the distressful situations that animals at the slaughter houses are found in.
During the speak out, an activist said that despite the alarming statistics from the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control that reveal Bird Flu as the next pandemic which could be 100 times worse than COVID-19, commissioner Arwardy has not enforced her own laws, including the Food Code Rules, that would get these slaughter houses shut down immediately.
Another activist said that a department of health is about health which is wellness, advocating for, protecting from and is not discriminating against. However, we have a Chicago Department of Public Health that is dealing with slaughter houses which are animal cruelty and violence, both a disease. Therefore, the position of the CDPH should rather be against slaughter houses.
This activist also brought up the issue of discrimination by saying that commissioner Arwardy is not supposed to discriminate by law and yet she is making a statement that the animal victims involved are not important as she continues to provide services to the slaughter houses.
This activist also shared the very concerning and alarming fact that the CDPH is protecting our health while dealing with slaughter houses, who are the enemy that has brought us into this pandemic. It is a high emergency indeed that needs to be taken care of immediately and not be ignored at all. As a result, we do not allow the CDPH to be dealing with slaughter houses and never will.
A 16 year old activist also voiced her concern for commissioner Arwardy not enforcing her own laws and ignoring the problem.
Another activist also voiced his upset to commissioner Arwardy for not seeming to pay attention to this problem at all.
We activists also voiced chants.
We concluded after being in front of the home of commissioner Arwardy for over an hour and then we all walked together.
You can watch a highlight video of this event here,
UPDATE
Slaughter Free Chicago protest in front of the condo building of the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health Allison Arwardy. Jan.13, 2022.
A volunteer with the animal welfare program at Chicago Urban Art Retreat attended this protest organized by Slaughter Free Chicago, Free from Harm. This activist gathered with others at a gas station near the condo to protest the commissioner for ignoring demands to shut down slaughter houses that have been violating all of her own health laws including the Food Code Rules.
In the evening, protesters gathered along a public sidewalk in front of the condo and held signs with images of conditions of rabbits in slaughter houses. The goal was to raise awareness that rabbits, who are animal companions, are also being killed in slaughter houses. Activists also held a banner that read –Arwardy, Shut Down Wet Markets Before They Shut Us Down, along with red lights to highlight these words.
Protesters played sounds of the animals being caught at the slaughter houses so the commissioner could see and hear for herself this animal cruelty. One activist spoke up about all the incidences of animal cruelty these animals endure at slaughter houses. A 16 year old activist voiced her frustration with the commissioner ignoring their concerns about these animals enduring animal cruelty at the slaughter houses and not enforcing her own health laws that would get them shut down immediately.
Protesters reached out to the neighbors in the area with flyers while explaining to them the reason they were protesting to the commissioner of the Chicago department of public health Allison Arwardy. Activists concluded by debriefing after the event.
You can watch a highlight video of this event here,
UPDATE
Slaughter Free Chicago protest in front of the condo building of the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health Allison Arwardy. Saturday January 29, 2022.
Slaughter Free Chicago, Free from Harm organized this protest in front of the condo building of the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health Allison Arwardy. You can learn more about this event here,
Update
Slaughter Free Chicago event at the Chicago Department of Public Health. Tuesday, February 22, 2022.
Slaughter Free Chicago, Free from Harm organized this event at the Chicago Department of Public Health.
One animal rights activist asked the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health Allison Arwardy to use her authority to ask the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection to revoke the licenses of the 13 slaughter houses in Chicago for violating all of her health laws, as she was exiting the building to attend her Facebook live stream to answer COVID related questions to the public.
Commissioner Arwardy responded that there are no slaughter houses in Chicago but rather butcher shops. This activist affirmed to her that there are actually 13 slaughter houses in Chicago left and that she is ignoring the problem. However, commissioner Arwardy reinstated that there are not.
Later on another animal rights activists participated in the commissioner Arwardy’s live stream asking her the reason for her response.
To this commissioner Arwardy responded that this question was not COVID related but answered the question by saying that Chicago has a long history of slaughter houses and meat packing plants. However she said that the 13 slaughter houses mentioned in this question are rather butcher shops who for religious reasons, in this case Halal, they offer a “fresh healthy chicken.”
She also said that her department of health inspects these butcher shops only from a food perspective and that animals are not her department’s concern but rather of the Illinois Department of Agriculture. She also said that she does not see there is reason to be alarmed from a public health risk perspective regarding these butcher shops.
To this the activist answered back to her by pointing out that pigs are transported daily every week on trucks to Park Packing slaughter house in the city of Chicago. She also thanked the commissioner for answering her question.
You can learn more about this event here,
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=323196913186375&set=a.228421385997262
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10158943329748111&set=a.58282793110
UPDATE
Slaughter Free LA campaign.
You can learn about the Slaughter Free LA campaign here,
UPDATE
Slaughter Free NYC campaign.
You can learn about the Slaughter Free NYC campaign here,
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10158977300053111&set=gm.1329527114225684
UPDATE
Slaughter-Free Chicago’s event at the Chicago Department of Public Health. Tuesday, May 4, 2022.
Slaughter-Free Chicago’s activists made their reasonable demand to the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health Allison Arwardy to recommend the Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer protection to revoke the licenses of the 13 remaining slaughter houses in Chicago for making a mockery of her department’s sanitary laws .
You can learn about this event here,
UPDATE
Slaughter-Free Chicago’s activists confront the commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health Allison Arwardy during a Board of Health meeting. Tuesday, May 17, 2022.
You can learn about this event here,
UPDATE
Slaughter-Free Network’s rally at Koch Foods Headquarters. Thursday, August 4, 2022.
At our August 4th rally at the headquarters of the 5th largest chicken meat supplier in the US, Koch Foods, we were met by police at the entry door. Our plan was to present our gift to CEO Joseph Grenyds, the gift of a beautiful rooster portrait symbolizing the warning of climate and animal crisis and the need to transition to a plant-based food system. The taxpayer-funded police played the role of their “receptionists,” informing us that they did not want our gift and that we were not welcome anywhere on the property. So, we assembled on the nearby public sidewalk, heard from seven rousing speakers and chanted our grievances and demands for about an hour. Our message was delivered loud and clear to the entire office building.
After a lovely picnic meal in a nearby forest preserve, our group of about 60 activists then headed to Grendys’ nearby home to see if he would receive our gift there. But there was no answer when we knocked on the door. We marched around the street in front of his house for about an hour, chanting and interacting with curious neighbors, all under the watchful eyes of the police. On August 4th, we made our presence known to Koch Foods and Joseph Grendys!
Our event kicked off a celebratory beginning to our campaign that will evolve and build over time. Stay tuned for what’s next! If you haven’t done so, please take our online action, supporting our demands of Koch Foods.
You can watch a highlight video of this event here,
Updates
https://www.facebook.com/reel/820317105919428
https://www.facebook.com/reel/556618189562073
PETA protests Canada Goose, Thursday, October 1, 2020.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals PETA organized this day of action.
Activists protested outside a Canada Goose store in downtown Chicago. The activists protested because this company is profiting from coyotes that are trapped and killed in the wild by hunters and then their fur is sold in Canada Goose jackets.
The activists held signs and some participated in a dramatization where they played the role of these coyotes. The activists in this dramatization were wearing jackets and fell to the floor and red paint was poured on them by other activists.
They were also wearing a dramatization of a trap in their hand or shoes. They behaved like these coyotes that are trapped in the wild.
People also wrote messages on the sidewalk outside this store. You can learn more about this day of action here,
https://facebook.com/events/s/chicago-protest-canada-goose/973796739755302/?ti=icl
Update
Victory! Canada Goose goes fur free!!! After protesting the store the last 3 years, they finally agreed to stop using coyote fur on their jackets! It’s thanks to all the hard work and sacrifice of all you amazing, dedicated, selfless activists that countless lives will be spared suffering and a terrifying death! Thank you!
March for Animal Liberation, Friday, October 2, 2020.
Activists gathered in the morning at Mary Bartel Park and then marched toward Chicago City Hall in downtown.
They stopped first at a fast-food restaurant named MacDonalds Hamburger University.
Activists described the abuses that cows, male and female, endure in the animal agriculture industry.
They fell to the floor to represent the animal victims in this industry.
Activists also participated in the Sound the Alarm action described here above.
Their signs read that people need to wake up because we are a pandemic away from collapse.
One activist pretended to be drinking from a carton of dairy milk. This carton was crafted to look like a real carton of dairy milk and was filled with red juice. The activist allowed this red juice to spill on his clothes to let people know the violence that is behind the production of a carton of dairy milk.
Activists then stopped at Tayson Company headquarters and blocked the road that led to this place.
They hold signs while doing this. One of these signs called on Governor Pritzker, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Commissioner Allison Arwardy to take action.
They placed a banner of Rose’s Law Animal Bill of Rights on the bridge right in front of Tayson headquarters.
The activists then stopped at another Tayson company location a block after. One resident came out to greet the activists and shared with them that she was vegan.
Activists then stopped at the intersection of LaSalle and Adams where a US Bank and Bank of America location are found.
One activist shared the fact that, from all over the world, these two locations are where animal agriculture is financed and that it would collapse without them.
The activists finally stopped in front of Chicago City Hall and spoke to the fact that Mayor Lori Lightfoof has not responded to their demands.
One activist raised awareness that people should not enjoy eating animal products. Activists concluded with a Sound Alarm described above action at this location. You can learn more about this day of action here,
https://facebook.com/events/s/march-for-animal-liberation-ro/359943831808275/?ti=icl
City of Chicago New 2022 Climate Action Plan
The city of Chicago is asking for feedback for the new 2022 climate action plan. There are two surveys you can take here,
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/sites/climate-action-plan/home/get-involved.html
There are a few ways people can help with the campaign. The signup links are below:
Twitter sign-up form: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=SfEtsxahUkaIwI0YOOwFGO4Pbd2DLzRFlSaDx-dmZLxUQTBCWVFLS1lPMlNUWUlHVjNZM0ZGRlFZOC4u
Sign up for future demonstrations: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SfEtsxahUkaIwI0YOOwFGJXdt1rZwCpJgFmjIXGikJJUOUpXMlBZWU84VzY3Tlk5RVg3RUlUODg3OC4u
Help us recruit college students for the campaign:https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SfEtsxahUkaIwI0YOOwFGJXdt1rZwCpJgFmjIXGikJJUM1BBQkcwVDNPNTBUVVhLMkFENVhLRDVHMC4u
Share your campaign ideas:https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=SfEtsxahUkaIwI0YOOwFGJXdt1rZwCpJgFmjIXGikJJUN0Q4RExPOFI4TFYwNE1XQk00U081U0tSRi4u
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