World Animal Liberation Feature Archive

The six defendants in the second SHAC trial were hammered with vicious sentences this week. The harshest sentence was the six years handed down to 53 year old Sarah Whitehead. Sentences for the other defendants Tom Harris. Nicole Vosper, Jason Mullan, Nicola Tapping and Alfie Fitzpatrick ranged from a two year suspended sentence for the youngest, Alfie, to three and a half years for Nicole Vosper. All the defendants also copped lengthy ASBOs, which will prevent them from any further participation in animal rights activism.

On the Newswire:

In SchNEWS: 581 | 586 | 616 | 630 | 652 | 660 | 663 | 666 | 667 | 688 | 738

Links: www.shac.net | www.schac7.com |

"Not only do we have to fight criminal operations and cruelty to animals on the high seas but also take responsibility and direct action to help those who are imprisoned in concrete pools, doomed to entertain us."

Palawas, Nando, Kite and Rocko. Those are the given names to four bottlenose dolphins who are currently performing at the dolphinarium in Münster, Germany. Built in 1974 as part of the local zoo, the dolphinarium remains one of the last three of its kind in Germany. From the original nine facilities keeping dolphins in captivity, only Nürnberg, Duisburg and Münster are still blocking and ignoring concerns of animal welfare groups, conservationists, politicians and the public.

Links: The Black Fish | Save Japan Dolphins

Banged up Sea Shepherd campaigner Pete Bethune is facing a long prison sentence after boarding a Japanese whaling ship during protests in the Southern Ocean in February. Operation Waltzing Matilda was the most successful Sea Shepherd campaign yet against illegal Japanese whaling (see SchNEWS 713), but it wasn't without a cost for Sea Shepherd after their £2 million boat the Ady Gil was rammed and sunk by a whaler on January 6th.

On the Newswire: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

In SchNEWS: 713 | 705

Barry Horne was an animal liberationist who died in a UK prison hospital on November 5th 2001. He had been sentenced to 18 years in prison for a campaign of economic sabotage, carrying out criminal damage and arson attacks against companies involved in the vivisection, leather and fur industries. His actions were allegedly claimed in the name of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and sometimes the Animal Rights Militia (ARM), taking place in Bristol and the Isle of Wight

In prison he went on hunger strike several times in protest against government support for the vivisection industry, and their broken pre-election promises about animal experiments. The third of these hunger strikes lasted 68 days, and Barry never fully recovered. From this protest he generated worldwide publicity, and initiated a huge uprising of animal liberation activity, the effects of which are still being felt even today - eight years since his death.

His memory has been remembered every November, for being an inspiration to the movement and giving his life to animal liberation. This year actions have been dedicated to Barry from as far afield as Latin America, with dozens of deer returned to freedom by the ALF in Spain, 17 rabbits freed from a university in Uruguay (Video), four sheep rescued from a farm by the Igualdad Animal's Open Rescue Team in Spain (Pictures) and a Max & Co fur shop and leather shop painted red by the ALF in Italy and Chile. The Mexican ALF also rescued four ducks and two hens from a breeding farm (Pictures) and caused dirsruption to Novartis with a bomb hoax in the capital for Barry. There was also a protest outside HLS in rememberance of Barry in Occold, Suffolk by SHAC campaigners.

Related Articles: Fitwatch Press Release on AR raids | New Animal Liberation Prisoner (Europe) | Corporate Watch on Sean Kirtley's Release | Fight Speciesism! #7 - In memory of Barry Horne | Mexico: Alleged ELF Anarchist Arrested | Butane is in the eye of the bomb-holder | Wave of Anarchist Bombings | Emergence of an Unexpected Threat

Links: Bary Horne Memorial | Remember Barry | Barry Horne: ALF Tribute | Bite Back Magazine

With fur back in season so is the resistance to it. From raids at farms to sabotage of shops, this autumn has so far been another round of biting back. In the last two months farms imprisoning mink have been closed down in Germany by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and found abandoned in Italy by the Animal Liberation Investigation Unit (ALIU), while various shops selling fur have given up the cruel trade.

Since the launch of the West Yorkshire Animal Rights Group (WYARG) in August Best Vintage, Room 7, Accent Clothing and TK Maxx have stopped selling fur and with Daniel Footwear promising to follow suit, focus is now on Next One Leather (the last fur shop in West Yorkshire), by targeting their store and associates (1 | 2 | 3). In the West Midlands, the Western Animal Rights Network (WARN) launched a campaign against Madeleine Ann, ensuing three shops going fur free, with demos lasting under a month (1 | 2 | 3 | Video) after products were eventually sent back to the suppliers, ending their sale of fur products (Video). On the same day Le Scarpe issued a fur-free statement leading to harassment from police and new targets established in Cheltenham, while in the capital protests have escalated as anti-fur activists locked onto the London Fur Company's stall at the London Fashion Weekend, causing the organisers to ask the company to pack up and leave (Videos: 1 | 2).

Update: After two houses of campaigners in Leeds were raided in connection with an ALF action against Next One Leather, the fur shop has gone fur-free.

Links: West Yorkshire Animal Rights Group (WYARG) | It's A Knock Out | Next One Leather Campaign | Western Animal Rights Network (WARN) | Bite Back Magazine | Animal Liberation Front (ALF) | Max Mara Campaign | Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT)

After a global campaign that lasted for six years, the Nepal government has decided to definitely halt the breeding of monkeys for biomedical research in the USA. A letter from the Ministry of Forestry will be sent to Pravesh Man Shrestha, who has been breeding monkeys for the past five years, asking him to release the 310 rhesus monkeys back into the wild. Last year Shrestha planned to sell 25 of the 300 monkeys to the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research Center, but following a temporary court injunction, the Nepalese Parliament banned the export.

The Nepalese government repeatedly claimed on numerous occasions that the monkey farms don't exist, that any monkey farms are illegal and that Nepal doesn't have a policy of breeding monkeys for export to American vivisection laboratories. This was later proven to be all lies when the farms were exposed in August 2008 (Photos | Video | Report).

Newswire: Victory! Nepalese monkeys saved from vivisection | Gateway To Hell Campaign Update | Nepalese Parliament Orders End To Monkey Exports | Situation Update Nepal -- G2H Demands Justice for the Monkeys | Week of action for Nepal's monkeys | It's Decision Time For Nepal's Monkeys | Nepal to Export 25 monkeys 'soon' | Nepalese Monkey Export Ban Under Threat | Footage of the Nepalese Monkey Farms Released | Export banned of Nepalese monkeys for vivisection | Protest against monkey export in Belgium | Demo against Nepal's plan to export monkeys | Stop The Monkey Business -- Photos of the Monkey Farms

Campaigns: Gateway To Hell | Stop Monkey Business

"Dealing with HLS means dealing with US." - MFAH Austria

In an act of direct action against top Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) customer Novartis, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Vasella had his hunting lodge in the town of Bach, in Tyrol, Austria, destroyed by fire (see photos). The Militant Forces Against HLS (MFAH) claimed responsibility for the arson in an anonymous communique, calling on Vasella to sever all ties with HLS. The activists reported that Vasella butchers animals at HLS, Europe's largest and most exposed vivisection laboratory, through contracts made with Novartis, as well as butchering animals in his own private hunting estate. A spokesperson for Novartis said he has now decided to sell the property that was burnt with 60 litres of petrol.

The MFAH formed in April this year and have targeted HLS customers in France, Germany, Belgium and now Austria. They are relatively unknown and adhere to no guidelines, although are affiliated with the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). In recent months the militant group have reportedly targeted Novartis in France, burning down a sports centre and in Germany, vandalising the Vice Chairman's cars and home, returning a month later to place incendiary devices under his two cars. They have also targeted HLS customers Sandoz, Sanofi-Aventis, Bayer, Schering Plough and Pfizer.

Related articles: Warning painted at Novartis subsidiary | Glaxo billboards cut down, painted over | After-hours visit to HLS supplier | Home visit for Pfizer executive | "Break with HLS" painted at Novartis | Cars destroyed at home of Novartis executive | Payback time for the animals inside HLS | Suprise for Schering Plough Director | Smear campaign against Novartis vivisectors | Arson attack on Novartis clubhouse | HLS customers targeted | ALF knock-and-run | Attacks against NYSE Euronext | Home visits for Novartis scum, and deer running free | Novartis worker visited at home | Bayer and Novartis criminals tracked down and attacked | More articles

"We came to Henningsvaer. We saw the Skarbakk. We sank the bastard" - Agenda 21

On the evening of April 23rd, the Norwegian whaling ship The Skarbakk was scuttled by environmentalists in the Lofoten islands, Norway, using the name of a 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment. The conference detailed action proposed for a sustainable 21st century, with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society promising Norway that if they did not comply with international conservation law, then they would sink their whaling ships.

This was not an empty threat, with Captain Paul Watson supervising the sinking of two ships; the Nybraena in 1992 and the Senet in 1994. The anonymous and covert goup Agenda 21 then took over with the scuttling of the Elin-Toril in 1996. In a communique last week, the activists reported they flooded the engine room of The Skarbakk by using an adjustable spanner to open the salt-water intake valve; "to delay the killing season and to protest the continued illegal export of whale meat to Japan."

Related Features: The Whale Wars - Sea Shepherd Returns From Antarctica | Japan issues arrest warrant for Nottingham activist | Arrests As International Whaling Commission Fails To Protect Whales | Nottingham Activist Returns From Whale Saving Mission In Antartica | Sea Shepherd activists injured as Japanese military open fire | Activists Held Hostage By Japanese Whalers In Southern Ocean | Whalers use Public Relations to twist the truth

Just days before the SHAC global week of action kicked off and two weeks after Huntingdon Life Sciences' vivisection laboratories were exposed for the seventh time in ten years, revealing shocking undercover footage, HLS shareholders have sold 15% of the company (ticker symbol LSR). As a result the percentage of LSR stock held by institutions fell further from 20.1% to 17.7%, leaving them below the minimum listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange, a major target in the campaign to close down HLS.

Wells Fargo, who were one of LSR's top five institutional investors has sold all their 147,511 shares and the Bank of New York Mellon, previously third largest investor, sold most of their LSR stock dumping 149,157 shares. BNY Mellon now only have 26,634 remaining of the original 175,791 shares, with Turner Investment Partners Inc also selling their 56,880 stock.

The announcement was made the day before Animal Liberation Front (ALF) activists reported they had slashed car tryes at the home of BNY's Business Analyst in Hampshire, whilst other covert cells targeted HLS associates in solidarity with political prisoners, including the UK SHAC 7. Protests also took place at BNY and Wells Fargo's offices and executive's homes, as part of a three-month campaign based primarily in London [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ] (England) and New York City (USA) [ 1 | 2 ].

HLS have been suffering from a serious lack of investment since December 2007, with over a dozen corporations selling all their shares in LSR. Their share price as of February 25th is $5.78, the lowest since their high of nearly $40 in September 2008. With an unstable share price, activists continue to increase the pressure against HLS shareholders, particularly largest investor Barclays.

Videos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | More: 1 | 2 | 3

SHAC 7 Letters from Prison: 1 | 2 | 3 | More

For the seventh time in ten years Huntingdon Life Sciences have been infiltrated and exposed, revealing shocking cruelty and footage of animal experiments filmed inside HLS during 2007 and 2008. The investigation exposes the primate trade across three continents, including individuals captured in the wild and shipped over, enduring 30 hour journeys in small cages from as far as Vietnam.

An undercover worker inside a primate unit at HLS in Cambridgeshire filmed struggling monkeys strapped to chairs and forced to inhale products. Many were housed in one cubic metre cages and then taken out to be held down by workers as tubes are forced down their throats. 217 monkeys were killed in just five studies for customers including AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithkline and the Ministry of Defence. The company are a contract testing laboratory, testing any products, on any non-human animals, for any company; pharmaceuctical, household, beauty or otherwise.

In response to the horrific footage, the imprisonment of seven SHAC campaigners for 'conspiring to blackmail' the notorious vivisection laboratory and the business' falling share price, anti-vivisectionists will be taking to the streets of London on Friday 27th February during a global week of action against HLS' financials. The SHAC City Shakedown march and protest will be for the 70,000 animals imprisoned and abused inside the labs, targeting the financial institutions who profit from and delay the companies collapse.

As the value of Europe's largest and most exposed animal testing laboratory drops by over 80% in recent months, the New York Stock Exchange now have an extra reason to again kick the abusers off the exchange. Other reasons include the labs financial problems, serious debt, animal abuse, data falsification and scientific fraud.

Primate Trade Exposed: Full Documentary | HLS Footage | Photos | Reports: PDF | HTML | SHAC PDF

Demo Resources: SHAC City Shakedown Webpage | Why HLS? | The Protest | Download resources

Related Newswire: Bayer (HLS customer) painted in solidarity with imprisoned activists | Vegan Prisoners Updates; Greg, Gavin, Sarah & Dan W | Home visits for top barclays executives | Barclays has more demos in Birmingham | HLS Electronic Sit In: Make Friday the 13 bad luck for HLS Affiliates | HLS - new expose! | Solidarity from UC Berkeley Students | More Barclays cashpoints disabled | Suspicious package at Barclays | Is Recent Jailing of Anti-HLS Activists a Call to Action? | Barclays Demos in Birmingham | Financial Protests in the City | Pfizer Acquires Wyeth & Double Amount of Demos | South Wales Anarchists stand in solidarity with the SHAC 7 | UK SHAC 7 Heather Nicholson Speaks Out | Barclays cashpoints put out of action | Hackers target HLS suppliers | Letter from Shactivist/Veganarchist Prisoner Dan Wadham | Bayer Day of Action: West London / Hampshire | New York City | Cambridge | Chile | Sweden | Netherlands | More demos | More articles

The flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the M/Y Steve Irwin, is heading back from the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary where it has been on patrol to enforce international conservation regulations in protection of the area's great whales. Since its departure from Brisbane, Australia on December 4th, the ship and its crew have been involved in various confrontations with a Japanese Whaling Fleet, which continues to operate a commercial whale hunt in the area illegally.

On December 26th, the Steve Irwin confronted the Japanese vessel Kaiko Maru. The ships collided and Sea Shepherd crew deployed butyric acid on its decks. From 1st February the whaling operation was shut down for 8 days straight with both sides of the conflict accusing each other of dangerous manoeuvres and tactics. On February 6th, the Steve Irwin collided with a harpoon ship twice, when it tried to block the ship from offloading a dead whale onto the factory ship Nisshin Maru. As part of an international crew of volunteers, 3 activists from the UK worked onboard the Sea Shepherd vessel during the campaign which was dubbed operation Musashi.

Photos: Photo Report – Onboard Sea Shepherd Operation Musashi | Videos: Ramming the Japanese whaling ship - Sea Shepherd | Sea Shepherd collides with whaling harpoon ship (Indybay)

On The Newswire: Sea Shepherd Forced To Leave Killing Grounds In Antarctica | Ramming the Japanese whaling ship, onboard the Steve Irwin | Sea Shepherd blames acoustic weapon attack for Ramming Whaling ship | Japanese Whalers Playing Dangerous Games in the Ross Sea | Sound weapons used against protestors | Whalers harassed by Sea Shepherd in Australian Antarctic waters | Whalers flee Sea Shepherd in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary

Previous Features: Japan issues arrest warrant for Nottingham activist | Arrests As International Whaling Commission Fails To Protect Whales | Nottingham Activist Returns From Whale Saving Mission In Antartica | Sea Shepherd activists injured as Japanese military open fire | Activists Held Hostage By Japanese Whalers In Southern Ocean | Whalers use Public Relations to twist the truth

Links: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Institute For Cetacean Research (Japanese pro-whaling PR) | Ocean Defence Topic page

Anti-HLS campaigners this week have gained another major victory in closing down Europe's largest and most exposed vivisection laboratory Huntingdon Life Sciences, known also as Life Sciences Research, ticker symbol LSR.

The labs largest investor, Eagle Asset Finance, has sold all HLS shares worth £7,074,059, more than 4% of the company. Raymond James Financial, their parent company, made the announcement within a month of a full-scale campaign in the UK and USA including email alerts, office and home demonstrations against both companies.

Since December 2007 HLS has suffered from a serious lack of investment, with companies last year eventually selling all their shares. Shareholders included; TransAmerica Investment, Frontier Capital, SAC Capital, Axa, Wachovia, Alternative Investment Partners, Rathbone Brothers, Dresdner Bank, Deutsche Bank, La Grange Capital, Robeco Investment Management, Fairfield Greenwich Associates & BNP Paribas [1 | 2 | 3].

Newswire: RJF Statement | Operation IX3 In NYC Continues | Eagle Asset Dumps All HLS Shares | Raymond James Protest after SHAC march | Protests at HLS Financial Allies & AstraZeneca | WAR Launches Operation IX3 - HLS Investor Insanity | SHAC Financial & Supplier Demos Continue

Previous features: SHAC Prepares For National March & Rally | Victory for animal rights campaigners | Activist Imprisoned for Shouting | Fisher Scientific Embarrassed Over Links with HLS | SHAC World Day for Lab Animals | Asahi Glass Protesters Harassed by Police | "March Against the Murderers"

Links: SHAC | Win Animal Rights | Close HLS | Indymedia UK SHAC topic page

There is good news for campaigners on the proposed EU ban on the import on seal products from Canada. The EU's Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas has just announced to EU ministers that legislation for a trade ban on all seal products from Canada will come into force in a matter of weeks.

The Canadian slaughter of over 350.000 baby harp seals takes place each year around March/April off the east coast of Canada in Newfoundland. The 'hunt' has been widely condemned around the world, but the Canadian government is ademend in its continued support. The new announcement is seen as a big victory for campaigners.

Audio: Interview With Captain Onboard Sea Shepherd Ship On Current Seal Hunt

Previous feature: Armed Canadian Coast Guard Storms Conservation Vessel

On the newswire: Sea Shepherd Moves In On Canadian Seal Slaughter | Seal Slaughter: contacts to protest | Canadian Seal Hunt: New attack by Brigitte Bardot and Franz Weber | Stop Canada's Seal Hunt | Biggest Seal Hunt in 50 Years Draws Protest | Stop Seal Hunt - Hunters Allowed To Kill 350,000 Young Seals This Year

Links: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Canadian Seal Hunt | Harpseals.org | Wikipedia on Seal Hunt | Ocean Defence Topic Page

Fifteen people were arrested by police at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), held this year in Santiago, Chile. The protesters were supposedly trying to 'storm' the meeting but other reports state that the mere presence of people in front of the meeting's venue was seen as a 'security threat'.

The IWC meets annually to regulate the whaling industry and make decisions on conservation of whale populations. So far the meeting hasn't reached any agreements and the commission continues to be strongly devided between the pro- and anti-whaling nations. Skye Bortoli, an activist from Teens Against Whaling described the meeting this year as 'pathetic', saying "this body will be known in the future as a small group of ecologically arrogant people who are condemning the world’s whales to agony and oblivion for petty politics and a few lousy bucks."

Related Audio: Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson Talks in London | Interview With Nottingham Activist On Return From Whale Saving Mission

Related Newswire: Sea Shepherd Announces New Whale Defense Campaign: Operation Musashi | Iceland Defies Moratorium On Commercial Whaling - Whale Hunt Started | Norway Starts Whale Hunting Season

Previous Features: Armed Canadian Coast Guard Storms Conservation Vessel | Nottingham Activist Returns From Whale Saving Mission In Antartica | Injured Among Sea Shepherd Crew As Japanese Military Open Fire | Activists Held Hostage By Japanese Whalers In Southern Ocean

Links: IWC official website | Wikipedia on IWC | Teens Against Whaling | Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Greenpeace | Santiago Indymedia | Indymedia Ocean Defence

Ten animal rights campaigners have been held since the 21th May after police raided twenty-three homes and offices in Austria charging individuals with 31 different offences related to the campaign against the the fur-promoting fashion company Kleider Bauer, but most significantly of forming a criminal organisation under Section 278a of Austrian law. One of the prisoners, Martin Balluch has been on hunger strike since the arrests against the violation of his human rights and the state attacks on legitimate campaigning organisations. He is now becoming very weak and was recently moved to a prison hospital after suffering from dizzyness, blurred vision, and stomach pains. Dr Balluch, Chairman of the Association against Animal Factories (VGT) in Austria has asked for "...everyone who cares about animal protection and human rights to take action now to prevent this crime. This kind of police arbitrariness against NPOs is something we might recognize in dictatorships, but not in a democracy. Please stand up strong; stand against this outrageous injustice. My life depends on it." Chair of the Austrian Vegan Society, Felix Hnat and other members have even been remanded, although no charges have been made against any members of the board.

Newswire: Human Rights Scandal | About the prisoners | Message from Prisoners; Felix, Elmar & Chris | Message from Prisoner Martin Balluch | Statement by Martin Balluch | Activists remanded in custody 4 more weeks! | VGT Chairman Dr Martin Balluch Phd. On Hunger Strike

Global solidarity actions: 1 | 2 | New York City

Legal support: 1 | 2 | 3

Press releases: Vegan Society | VGT (Association against Animal Factories) | Amnesty International | die tierbefeier e.v. | EVANA | TBF

Links: Antirep2008 (Legal support) | tierbefreier.de (English solidarity website) | Indymedia Austria

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel Farley Mowat was attacked by armed officers from the Canadian Coast Guard on 12th April. The 1st officer and the captain of the ship have been arrested and will be brought before a court in Canada charged with offences related to coming too close to the seal hunt. One woman allegedly sustained a head injury when was roughed up and received a blow to the head by an officer. The ship has been impounded and is currently being towed to a nearby port.

The Sea Shepherd has been documenting the Canadian seal hunt since the middle of March. On the 30th March, the Coast Guard rammed the Sea Shepherd ship twice, in an attempt to keep it away from the seal hunt. On 5th April, the ship was attacked by a mob of 30-40 angry seal hunters while anchored in the French island of St. Pierre. The crew of the Farley Mowat has been documenting violations of the humane regulations and gathering proof that seals are still being killed in an inhumane manner. The EU Parliament will be voting on an import ban on seal products later this year. The Canadian goverment has been actively lobbying to show that the hunt has become 'humane and sustainable'.

On the newswire: Sea Shepherd Sets Conditions for Canada to Release seized Ship | Armed Canadian Coast Guard Storms Sea Shepherd Ship and Arrests Crew | Canada To Charge Sea Shepherd Crew For Documenting Seal Hunt | Sea Shepherd Crew Attacked By Mob Of Seal Hunters | Interview With Captain Onboard Sea Shepherd Ship On Current Seal Hunt | Canadian Coast Guard Rams Sea Shepherd Ship (twice) | Sea Shepherd Moves In On Canadian Seal Slaughter

Previous features: Nottingham Activist Returns From Whale Saving Mission In Antartica | Injured Among Sea Shepherd Crew As Japanese Military Open Fire | Activists Held Hostage By Japanese Whalers In Southern Ocean

Links: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Canadian Seal Hunt | Harpseals.org | Wikipedia on Seal Hunt

A clash between the crew of the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin, who is in the Southern Ocean to fight the ongoing Japanese whaling slaughter near the Antarctic, turned violent when the Japanese Coast Guard began to throw flash grenades at its crew. Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd ship was struck by a bullet in the chest. Fortunately, the bullet was stopped by his Kevlar vest.

Other injuries were sustained by crewmembers Australian Ashley Dunn and Ralph Lowe. Dunn suffered a hip injury as he tried to get out of the way of the exploding grenades. Lowe received bruises to his back when one of the flash grenades exploded behind him. Japan is denying that any bullets have been fired, saying "warning devices" were thrown after their ship was attacked. According to the Japanese foreign ministry their coastguard on board on of the whaling ships had thrown a "baseball-sized device, which exploded near the activists' ship emitting a loud noise". However, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has posted a video on their website, clearly showing devices being thrown from the whaling ship exploding and a bullet being recovered from Paul Watson's jacket. One UK activist (from Nottingham) is also onboard the ship, but it has not been reported he suffered any injuries.

Video: Of the incident, made by the Sea Shepherd

On the newswire: Japanese Officials Caught Lying on Firearm Use against Sea Shepherd | Sea Shepherd: Japanese Scramble to Spin Shooting Story | Japanese Open Fire on Sea Shepherd Crew: Three Injured | Japanese Whaling Fleet Confronted By Sea Shepherd | Sea Shepherd Aussie Crew Prepared to Be Taken as Prisoners to Japan | Interview With Nottingham Activist In Southern Ocean On Board Sea Shepherd Ship | Sea Shepherd Receives Message From the Australian Government | Sea Shepherd Finds Japanese Whaling Fleet: They Are On the Run Again

Previous feature articles: Activists Held Hostage By Japanese Whalers In Southern Ocean | Japanese Whaling Ship rams Greenpeace vessel

Links: Sea Shepherd Convervation Society | Wikipedia on Japanese Whaling

During the early hours of this morning, two crew members of the Sea Shepherd vessel, 'Steve Irwin', have been taken hostage by the Japanese harpoon vessel 'Yushin Maru No. 2'. Benjamin Potts 28, an Australian citizen and Giles Lane, 35, a British citizen, are being held onboard the whaling vessel which is currently on the run. Both men boarded the vessel to deliver a letter to the Japanese captain stating that the whalers were in violation of international conservation law by targeting endangered species in an established whale sanctuary and in violation of a global moratorium on commercial whaling. They also notified the captain that Australia had just passed a court ruling barring Japanese whalers from the Australian Antarctic Economic Exclusion Zone. Once they boarded the vessel they were assaulted and tied to the railings of the whaler. They were then moved and tied to a radar mast. The Japanese vessel has not responded to messages in English or Japanese from the Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson to release the hostages.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship 'Steve Irwin' has been in full pursuit of five vessels of the Japanese whaling fleet including the Japanese supply vessel 'Oriental Bluebird' since this morning. The Japanese factory ship 'Nisshin Maru' has fled over 700 miles to the northwest and is heading towards South Africa accompanied by the Greenpeace ship Esperanza. The entire whaling fleet is on the run. According to the Sea Shepherd no whales have been able to be slaughtered for the last four days and it does not look as if the whaling operations are going to begin again for another week at least, and not at all if the vessels are prevented from regrouping. Crew members from the Sea Shepherd ship 'Steve Irwin' point out they have a "good supply of fuel and can remain in the area for some time and will continue to police the illegal whaling operations by the Japanese fleet".

Solidarity Protest Reports: DC Protest For Sea Shepherd Hostages Video | Sea Shepherd Solidarity Protest at Japanese Embassy, Berlin | Sea Shepherd demo, Barcelona | NYC Protest for Sea Shepherd Hostages | Hostage Release Demonstration, London

Recent Updates: Sea Shepherd Hostages Return Back to Steve Irwin | Whalers Hands Activists Over To Australia's Ship | Whalers threaten to take activists to Japan | Sea Shepherd Crew Remain Hostages On The Japanese Whaling Ship | Whalers Make Demands Over Hostages | Sea Shepherd considering rescue mission

Previous feature: Japanese Whaling Ship rams Greenpeace vessel

On the newswire: Video of Sea Shepherd Activists Taken Hostage | Sea Shepherd volunteers 'detained' by Japanese whalers | URGENT - protestors held hostage by Japanese wailing ship | British Sea Shepherd activist held hostage on Japanese whaler | Japanese whalers take Sea Shepherds hostage | Call out for solidarity demonstration

Links: Sea Shepherd Convervation Society | Greenpeace campaign against whaling | Wikipedia on Japanese Whaling

Japanese whalers have hired a New Zealand Public Relations firm to smear anti-whaling protestors. Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd are both campaigning seperately against the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Images used in a media release by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) "is deliberate, manipulative, misinformation designed to feed the idea that the two groups work together" said Jon Sumby. [Full Story]

Off the Mawson coast in the Australian Antarctic Territory, 2000 nautical miles south-west of Perth, Canadian Greenpeace anti-whaling activist, Texas Joe Constantine, was dragged overboard into the freezing Antarctic waters after the whaling harpoon was fired over his inflatable and the harpoon rope became entangled in the craft.

Paul Watson for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has said the Japanese whaling fleet is a criminal operation and Intends to Ram and Disable Pirate Whalers but has offered to withdraw from the current campaign against the Japanese whaling fleet if either the Australian or New Zealand Government agrees to take Japan to court over the whaling issue. In New Zealand Maritime workers have blackbaned the whaling fleet.

More Information:

• Protest fax and mail against Japanese whaling in the Antarctica
• Greenpeace Ocean Defenders Blog
• Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
• Melbourne Indymedia Ecology Features

After three days of obstructing the whale hunt by placing inflatable zodiacs between whales and the harpoon, the Nisshin Maru rammed the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise. The whalers are counter claiming their ship was rammed by Greenpeace. The collision ocurred in the Australian Antarctic Territory in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Nisshin Maru has continued north at full speed, with three conservationists ships in pursuit, including the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel, the Farley Mowat.

Article with more photos: Japanese Whaling Ship rams Greenpeace vessel in Southern Whale Sanctuary

Links: Previous feature article on Global Indymedia | Melbourne Indymedia | Sea Shepherd website | Greenpeace website | Video of Greenpeace statement | Sea Shepherd News Release

Maastricht - The University of Maastricht cancelled the building of a primate vivisection lab because it is too expensive and they are afraid of actions against the primate centre by animal rights activists.

The request to build a new primate centre was initially presented by neuro-psychologist P. de Weerd. He recently received a subsidy of 1.25 million euros for research into the influence of genes and the nervous system and sense perception/learning. One part of this reasearch is taking tissue samples of the brains of Rhesus monkeys.

Report