The North American Animal Liberation Press Office

Self- Immolation in Front of Oregon Fur Store; Pain and Suffering of Millions of Fur-Bearing Animals Highlighted in Lethal Protest: Jan 28. A man set himself on fire after pouring gasoline on himself outside Nicholas Ungar Furs at 12th and Yamhill Wednesday morning before police used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. He later died from his injuries at the hospital, police said. The man was identified as 26-year-old Daniel Shaull from Kansas, according to the Multnomah County medical examiner. It was not immediately clear whether Shaull was protesting against the store, which has had problem with animal rights activists in the past , but witnesses said he was screaming about the treatment of animals. “There are animals dying! Animals dying!” witnesses said Shaull was screaming as flames engulfed his body and shot above his head. (read more)

Third Person Subpoenaed for Iowa Grand Jury Investigating 2004 ALF Raid; Attorney Leane Stormont Becomes Latest Victim of Repression: Jan 22. A University of Iowa College of Law graduate is the latest person subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Davenport regarding a 2004 animal-rights related break-in and vandalism at the university, according to an activist Web site. Leana Stormont, a barred attorney and graduate of the Iowa law school, was called to testify about the Iowa raid. The Iowa alumni directory lists Stormont as living in Norfolk, Va. Activists claiming affiliation with the Animal Liberation Front, an underground animal-rights group, said they were responsible for the damage to lab equipment and the release of more than 400 rodents used in Iowa psychology department experiments. The break-in at Spence Laboratories and Seashore Hall was designated as domestic terrorism; university officials estimated damage in excess of $450,000. (read more)

Press Officer Jason Miller Arrested in Blatant Affront to Free Speech in Kansas: Jan 22. Press Officer Jason Miller has been arrested near his home in Kansas as authorities try and stop his legal activism and squelch his rights to free speech. In addition to his Animal Liberation Press Office activities, Jason recently spearheaded a campaign to stop the slaughter of deer in Kansas. A local official obtained a restraining order against him, in itself illegal, then charged him with violating it. (read more)

Mexican Repression Observed as ALF/ELF Activists Arrested: Jan 18. Lately there have been a number of arrests in Mexico related to charges of ELF and other anarchist activity. The following information comes via the Earth Liberation Prisoners (ELP) Information Bulletin, which Denver ABC has edited somewhat for clarity.Mexican activists are facing serious repression while the actions there are taking harder and harder. By now there are several vegan prisoners of the ELF raids. There are also some individuals who are on the run. Others are waiting for trials. I have found all the info in this web site: http://liberaciontotal.entodaspartes.net/ but I also have contact with the person who takes care of the magazine Rabia y Acción (Anger and action), which mostly deals with the ALF. (read more)

Announcing the Release of the Largest Update of Fur Farm Addresses in Nearly 15 Years: Dec 24, After five months of research and investigation, VoiceoftheVoiceless announces the release of a landmark document: The Blueprint - the largest update of fur farm addresses in nearly 15 years. The Blueprint: Fur Farm Intelligence Project Report is the product of a two-month, 13,000-mile investigation of over 75% of the fur farms in the country. It represents the largest collection of fur industry intelligence to date. Get your copy here.

Mexico Links Animal Activists to car Fires: Dec 16, (AP) Investigators have found evidence linking an animal rights group to homemade bombs that burned seven vehicles in Mexico City, a prosecutor said Wednesday. The symbol of a local version of the Animal Liberation Front was found painted near the attacks in a residential neighborhood on the city's south side, assistant city prosecutor Luis Genaro Vasquez told the Televisa news network. An anarchist symbol was also found. (read more)

Jeff Leurs Released from Prison: Dec 16, in Portland, Oregon, Jeff walked out of prison a free man. A press release of information is available here: http://www.freejeffluers.org/assets/pdfs/JeffReleased.pdf But there's really not much else to say because we are too busy celebrating! Join us in the celebration! You helped make this possible, you helped Jeff make it through the most difficult time in his life. And now, he can start a new life and finally see the sunrise and sunset, hold hands, and hike in the forest, among everything else we take for granted.

Quote of the week, by Vivisector Dario Ringach: Dec 7, Nature Magazine. Although few institutions have policies that prohibit primate research, not many are keen to establish new primate programmes, says Dario Ringach, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who stopped working on primates because of pressure from activists. "It [action by animal rights activists] is changing the kind of work people will do in the future," he says. "If students come to me interested in primate research, I would tell them to think about other things." (read more)

Statistics prove prescription drugs are 16,400% more deadly than terrorists Dec 5(Reprint): America was rudely awakened to a new kind of danger on September 11, 2001: Terrorism. The attacks that day left 2,996 people dead, including the passengers on the four commercial airliners that were used as weapons. Many feel it was the most tragic day in U.S. history. Four commercial jets crashed that day. But what if six jumbo jets crashed every day in the United States, claiming the lives of 783,936 people every year? That would certainly qualify as a massive tragedy, wouldn't it? Well, forget "what if." The tragedy is happening right now. Over 750,000 people actually do die in the United States every year, although not from plane crashes. They die from something far more common and rarely perceived by the public as dangerous: modern medicine. (read more)

Activist Scott DeMuth Released from Jail Over FBI Objections Dec 1: Against FBI recommendations, a federal judge in Iowa ordered the release of indicted University of Minnesota graduate student Scott Demuth on Monday. The indictment came Nov. 18 after a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa subpoenaed DeMuth and fellow activist Carrie Feldman in relation to vandalism at the University of Iowa in 2004. The group Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for breaking into the University of Iowa's psychology department, doing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and destroying research, as well as freeing rats and mice, according to the group's Web site. (read more) Read Scott's statement here.

Oklahoma State University Rejects Primate Vivisection Nov 30: A project to test anthrax vaccines and treatment on baboons was quashed by Oklahoma State University administrators because the primates would be euthanized. Veterinary medicine researchers were told by e-mail last month that OSU President Burns Hargis wouldn't allow the National Institutes of Health-funded project, even though an internal faculty committee had spent more than a year setting out protocol for the care and use of the primates. Veterinary scientists say the decision was sudden and arbitrary, and now they fear the president may call for ending other projects involving animal research. OSU administrators declined to comment for this story, but released a statement through OSU spokesman Gary Shutt stating "this research was not in the best interest of the university. The testing of lethal pathogens on primates would be a new area for OSU that is controversial and is outside our current research programs.” (read more)

Fujitive Justin Solondz Jailed in China on Drug Charges Nov 28: A Randolph man who has been running from the F.B.I. for close to a decade was sentenced in China this week on illegal drug charges, officials said yesterday. Justin Franchi Solondz, 30, was sentenced to three years in prison by an intermediate court in Dali City, Yunnan province. The FBI alleges that Solondz was part of an environmental activist group called the Earth Liberation Front, or "The Family." In May 2001, the group took credit for the early morning Seattle fire as well as simultaneous fires in Clatskanie, Ore., all started by "timed improvised incendiary devices," according to the FBI. In October of the same year, Solondz is believed to have been involved in an animal release carried out by the Animal Liberation Front, where investigators say they discovered similar devices. (read more)

University of Utah Vivisectors Targeted Nov 23: Received Anonymously- "Although it may be cold and snowy outside, University of Utah staff will be in for a warm surprise when they start their vehicles this morning. This evening we placed dozens of surprises deep within the tailpipes of faculty vehicles and shuttles near the Animal Research Center. The same Animal Research Center that unnecessarily tests on a large variety of animals ranging from mice, rats, rabbits and non-human primates to homeless dogs and cats purchased from nearby shelters." (read more)

Minnesota Activist Charged with Conspiracy in 2004 Iowa Laboratory Animal Liberation Nov 19: Scott DeMuth, the Minnesota activist who refused to testify earlier this week before a federal grand jury in Davenport, is now charged with conspiracy for an act of “animal enterprise terrorism” — believed to be a 2004 animal-rights vandalism act at the University of Iowa. DeMuth was already in custody for contempt of court because of his refusal to testify. Fellow activist Carrie Feldman, who at one time dated DeMuth, also refused to testify and is in custody. (read more)

Hundreds of Mink Liberated from Oregon Fur Farm Nov 13: The National Animal Interest Alliance (a front group and industry funded lobbying organization for animal commerce and agribusiness) has reported that 50 mink were released from cages at a fur farm in Richmond, Minnesota on September 6th, before liberators were chased off the farm. There is one known fur farm in Richmond: Lang's Mink Farm, 19013 225th Street, Richmond, MN 56368 Phone: (320) 597-3400

HLS Customer Novartis Bombed Nov 04: A bomb inside a suitcase was left outside the gates of the Novartis pharmaceutical company, in an area where no camera could catch us. We evaded their security systems once again, demonstrating that the government in Mexico City that spends so much on security systems (from companies like Seguritech and Telmex) and their officials are useless and that they will never be able to stop the chaos and the destruction of the established order. Whenever the opportunity arises we will attack; it may be from behind, in front of your noses or from afar. A message was also left inside the suitcase, which said: 'Novartis cut your ties with HLS!' and 'FLA'. (read more)

Mexican Rodeo Cancelled After Bomb Hoax Nov 03: During the evening of Saturday, October 31, we, from the cell against animal domination (F.L.A-C.C.D.A), armed with an incendiary device and a fake bomb, went to a rodeo which was set to happen in the contreras borough[Mexico].An incendiary device was placed in a tire of a truck belonging to civil protection and a message was left in it warning that more devices had been left elsewhere on the property; among these devices a bomb was found which was placed between a trailer that transported equipment used in the ring. The truck burned where we placed the incendiary device and the 'show' was cancelled in order to search for the other devices. (read more)

Hundreds of Mink Liberated from Oregon Fur Farm Oct 25: On October 5, The Daily Astorian newspaper reported, "At 1:23 a.m. Sunday, a resident of the 92600 block of Simonsen Road reported terrorists are releasing her mink. A Clatsop County Sheriff's deputy is investigating." According to Fur Commission USA, 300 mink were released from cages at the Ylipelto Fur Farm (92659 Simonsen Loop Road) in Astoria, Oregon. The farm was the target of a raid in October 2008.

Updated January 28, 2010