Arson and animal rights

[Guest guest]

On 2/20/07, Merritt Clifton <anmlpepl wrote:

>

> >(No animal rights activist has ever killed to further their cause).

> As a firefighter long ago, I did room-to-room crawls beneath

> the smoke on hands and knees with a water pack, searching for

> possible victims, aware that at any moment a floor or roof might

> collapse.

>

> From that perspective, when I hear someone defending arson

> in the name of life, I know first hand that I am listening to

> someone who has no real respect for life at all, & is really just

> looking for a pretext to vent sociopathy.

>

>

 

 

(Whilst there is no doubt that arson has concomitant risks, it was used

> as an effective tool by the African National Congress during the anti

> apartheid struggle. The ANC leadership consisting of Nelson Mandela and

> Steve Biko amongst others deliberated long and hard before deciding on the

> usage of arson as a tool to forward their political goals(Details in 'Biko'

> written by renegade South African journalist Donald Woods.. Arson was also

> used in the Indian freedom struggle. I recognise that even after considering

> all associated risks, militancy can yield benefits and historically it

> has. Whether people like Mandela and Biko had respect for life or were

> venting sociopathy is an open question. Indeed the use of arson was one

> reason why Amnesty International refused to endorse Mandela as a 'prisoner

> of conscience' since Amnesty did not support armed revolution and Mandela

> had called for armed revolution. Does support of arson take away from

> Mandela's stature? In the film, Rod Coronado says that for every act of

> arson that has been undertaken there have been many more that have been

> rejected for security and safety reasons. In the attached interview,

> Melanie Arnold, an arsonist who has served prison sentence for firebombing a

> slaughterhouse, presents her views. The interviewer is Rod Coronado himself.

> Again I emphasise although one may disagree with the means, it is important

> to give these people a platform to speak. I have done so once and I will do

> it again. As the saying goes, 'Don't shoot the messenger.')

>

 

*http://www.nocompromise.org/issues/05flames_mel.html*

**

*The Flames of Victory: An Interview with Convicted A.L.F. Activist Melanie

Arnold*

from *No Compromise* Issue 5

 

*By Rod Coronado*

 

No Compromise: Hi ya Mel! Many of our readers are not familiar with the UK

Animal Liberation movement and the highly successful campaigns of the A.L.F.

so I thought it would be interesting to introduce you to them. Currently,

you're serving a three and a half year sentence for arson related charges

due to your participation in A.L.F. raids. What can you tell us about your

case?

 

Melanie Arnold: Well, the BSE crisis had hit Britain like a ten-ton sledge

hammer. It hadn't quite filtered through to the public to the level it would

subsequently reach, and the media, as usual, were keeping tight-lipped for

the present, only releasing snippets of information in order to break the

public in lightly. But we knew about it and what lay in store. The meat

industry was to be hit right where it hurt ( i.e. -- the pocket) by its own

gratuitous greed karma; and in anticipation of many smaller meat depots

going bust, we decided to help one of the larger slaughterhouses, that may

have otherwise only tottered on the brink of downfall, to go well and truly

over the edge.

 

Ensors abattoir sat in Gloucestershire, a safe targeting distance from

houses or the neighboring wildlife habitat. We recced it several times to

monitor the late workers, patrol men, dog walkers, etc. just to establish a

typical night's activity around the area we intended to torch. Having

satisfied ourselves that this was a 'safe' venture, we went on to gain entry

to the building to ascertain what we would need before dissolving into the

night -- leaving no trace of our presence.

 

Two weeks later we had bought, made and improvised all that we would need,

and on the 10th June 1995, we made our way back, just the two of us. We

entered the compound, broke the side windows of every van, refrigerated

lorry and car and then withdrew to see if attention had been generated by

the noise. It had not. We collected our cache of incendiary devices and

placed this cocktail of potassium nitrate and sucrose with modified fuse,

through each window and onto the upholstery of each vehicle.

 

We then got into the abattoir building and began trashing the upstairs

kitchen, dining area and locker rooms and we decided to cover the whole

place in petrol, leading a fuse of inflammable material down the stairs and

into the main slaughter hall. Again, we doused machinery in the surrounding

area with copious amounts of petrol and set 20 incendiary devices by the

main apparatus, including accompanying bags of the explosive mixture (and

boy does it explode!). We then triggered off some fires manually and lit the

devices to add to the inferno later. We lit the lorry devices last as these

obviously are more noticeable and may bring attention when the building,

burning away from the windowless interior, had only just got going.

 

We then disappeared into the night, even as the first of the lorries

exploded behind us. Technically, we got clear away with it. None of us were

known to that area and our planning was such that it was highly unlikely

that we would be caught on the job. The police and bomb squad didn't have a

clue who was responsible and went on fishing trips to local sanctuaries.

 

Unfortunately, my assisting activist also turned up at one of them to help

build fences and the police searched and nabbed everyone. The police -- not

knowing of Michael as an animal libber -- would never have searched his

cottage had not his unfortunate decision to work that morning transpired.

Michael confessed his guilt primarily to defend the two other suspects who

were entirely innocent of the attacks and had many animals in their charge,

one of whom was actually 'put down' by police. But the growing

circumstantial evidence had precipitated this decision anyway.

 

From neighboring sources my description was given, and the police knew of me

well enough to identify the description and to arrest me 3 days later at my

home in Northampton. I was interrogated on and off for several days and

nights during which the police used every tactic in the book to encourage me

to speak. They lied, they threatened, they cajoled, they pleaded, they

flirted and they failed. The police tried to convince me that Michael had

incriminated me in the making of the devices, and my response at this

predictability, led to one inspector shouting " it's no good you laughing,

Melanie. " Lies, all of it.

 

As far as I was concerned, either they had enough evidence, in which case

they could charge me; or they didn't, in which case I wasn't going to help

them find it. They charged us anyway under Section 2 of the Explosives Act

and sent us to prison to await trial.

 

Six months later, I was arrested and charged yet again by Cheshire

Constabulary for the firebomb attack against 36 large milk tankers which had

caused 2 million pounds worth of damage and had occurred two weeks before

the Ensors incident. Again, I remained silent and again I listened to the

same old threats.

 

The only thing I gave was my blood, quite literally -- a donation because I

didn't fancy being held down and forcibly syringed. Fifteen months later, we

were forcibly brought to trial and both of us pled guilty and arranged for

mitigation.

 

Being caught is bad enough, but we have two obligations to fill when that

happens. One is to ensure we say nothing to our interrogators and two is to

ensure we get back out to the struggle as soon as possible. In any event,

having expected a minimum of 6 years each - Michael received 5 and I was

left with only three and one half years.

 

NC: So what led you to the crossroads where you began to question the

effectiveness of legal reform and began to participate in illegal

activities?

 

MA: I began to 'politically' campaign on behalf of animals from the age of

13 and, during the following years, I wrote endless letters, attended

endless meetings and demos, and then questioned endlessly the validity of my

endeavors -- what exactly was I achieving? Did I hear of results? Could I

see it? Was it tangible enough to feel, to hold? Was I being listened to at

all?

 

After months of alternating nightmares and insomnia, of emotional turmoil

and debate, I finally decided that I either was going to help animals, which

meant doing it in a way that worked, and doing it for life or I should put

the torment out of my mind and get on with my own. I chose the animals for

life. From that turning point came the necessity to embrace non-violent

direct action. It was blatantly clear to me that the government didn't have

any intention of giving away what it couldn't afford to lose and that by

bargaining for extra inches, less pain, and one form of suffering for

another, we were accepting compromise, accepting disempowerment, accepting

defeat.

 

If the parliamentary system worked, if the law makers took notice of

majority opinion, there would be equal pay for women, the health service

would be adequately funded, hunting would be banned, fur would be outlawed,

live exports abolished, vivisection banished to the annals of history....

It's simply not going to happen. Why? Because the exploitation of animals is

big business and the food, pharmaceutical and petro-chemical industries upon

which the national purse relies, are the foundations -- physically,

emotionally, and economically -- of the wider societal abuses we all suffer.

 

 

In high profile campaigns, the A.L.F. were seen to be stepping directly

in-between the torture and the tortured; they were going for the economic

jugular, causing abusers more trouble than it was worth, perhaps subjecting

them to the same fear they so enjoy causing themselves and more importantly

-- it worked.

 

The results were valid, they were tangible, and when I first held the

whimpering form of a damaged but rescued being, felt her heart beat against

mine as I ran with her to freedom, I knew that I could do more in my

lifetime as an A.L.F. activist on my own than a thousand people could do by

the accepted legal channels, and then some.

 

NC: Here in the States, I remember hearing about live animal liberations and

daylight raids in England in the early and mid 80's, all of which were

incredibly inspiring. By the late 80's the A.L.F. served to focus more on

maximum economic damage and arson actions. Could you tell us a little about

the choice of tactics the UK A.L.F. use and why they choose them?

 

MA: The Animal Liberation League raids of the early 80's were certainly

effective in their time and did much to generate the type of sympathy and

interest that led to an increase in recruitment. These mass daylight raids

involving hoards of activists were much publicized and media depictions of

balaclaved warriors storming research facilities and bringing out animals

and files led to great feelings of empowerment.

 

But tactics must be fluid and interchangeable and those that will work

against one form of abuse or one company may not be entirely suited to

another. And, as the anti-fur campaigns grew in momentum alongside other

important issues, it gradually took over as the #1 winnable target -- much

as live exports is today -- and the A.L.F., grassroots organizations and

local groups engaged in a concerted effort against this disgusting 'trade.'

 

Arson has always been a valuable asset; it makes animal abuse unprofitable,

it is the ultimate pressure point. Fire removes the apparatus -- buildings

and vehicles of our hatred -- it means they cannot be used and insurance

premiums skyrocket, again adding to the overall financial burden.

 

These tactics worked exceptionally well against department stores whose shop

line was not exclusively furs; as the warning was enough to have them remove

any offending item, yet still be able to carry on a trade. [The same tactic

could potentially be used against Universities who only perform a tiny

percentage of the overall research (vivisection) going on. We must isolate

them and divide them within their own working community].

 

In other words, the potential and actual use of arson was a deterrent for

them and the economic disadvantages of such an attack far outweigh the

profit they were making by selling fur. Thus, it was an effective tactic and

one that was unlikely to have been equaled by any other. The risk of capture

was low, it was cheap, effective and an increasingly autonomous way of doing

actions without the necessity of knowing or involving others. To put it

bluntly -- anyone could, and did, do it!

 

NC: When I was in the UK, I noticed that many direct action activists were

often involved in many " different " political and ecological struggles. Some

were hunt sabs and anti-fascists and others were vegan and also very active

in community projects, working class alliances and women's issues. Are you

someone who sees a similarity between these struggles, and if so, why?

 

MA: Yes, I am someone who readily identifies with a diversity of struggles

and over the years I have moved from one to another myself. But many people

involved in other issues, especially ones relating to humans, are often

scornful of our work with animals, failing completely to see the connection

between animal and human abuse, the direct relation between animal testing

and the rapidly growing diseases in humans and the reliance upon the

exploitation of animals for everything from food, clothing, sport,

entertainment, amusement and so called " health. "

 

If we accept the wholesale carnage of defenseless creatures as " the norm " ,

then we have grown to accept that a superior attitude, providing that it in

some way benefits us physically or psychologically, is perfectly OK; and

that attitude lives towards people of " minority " races, people with

disabilities, and women to name but a few. There is correlation. Society, as

we know it, has been deliberately cut, molded and set into the hierarchical

pyramid structure of which we, along with all ordinary people, occupy the

lowest strata. And we have been brought up to accept that certain

institutions exist, such as government, the police, vivisection, etc. and

that without these institutions, " civilization " would disintegrate.

 

Let us assume that you had been reared from birth and told that without the

aid of crutches you could not walk. In spite of having two perfectly fit

legs, at that age, you would know no different. And you would grow up to

believe in your disability and the fear of falling should your crutches be

removed. This is what governments rely on -- the belief in its " subjects "

that they cannot act independently of and in spite of Government.

 

In the same way we have all been programmed with certain information,

reinforced by the ignorance of parents, of schools, of media and by a

lifetime of physical and moral habits. The most dangerous of these is

acceptance. People accept meat as a necessary part of their diet because

they've always eaten it and they're still here (I'll leave my CJD comments

for another time). They accept ready-made professions, dead-end jobs, low

wages, long hours, and powerlessness because a growing unemployment level

enhances their gratitude and their servitude. And, in their frantic attempts

at rung climbing in society's hierarchy, they're also willing to accept the

belief and perpetuate the belief that they are somehow " better " than their

female, black, gay counterparts.

 

The scramble to be on top of the pile encourages and reinforces base

rationalistic and prejudicial concepts and creates divisions between the

very people for whom the authorities show so much contempt. This can be

witnessed by a failing health and education system, failed housing, failed

control within the workplace, failing unemployment, and a general

despondency, inadequacy and poverty -- all the hallmarks of a great crime

incentive.

 

Animals inevitably fare even worse, and in a joint venture aimed at making

money and saving money, animals are used and discarded in such great numbers

and on such great levels and on such great pretenses, that not only is it

considered " normal " , but it is accepted without question.

 

What we have then, is a system of rules, a set of beliefs and an accepted

way of thinking/behaving which encourages and perpetuates disunion between

sexes, races and species, and which exists, and only exists, because we

accept they do.

 

We need to alter people's whole perception of the world around them, to

encourage free thought, free speech, self determination, equality and

autonomy of action. We need to link up with other grassroots organizations

to share solidarity and support, ideas and tactics, and to dissolve the

man-made boundaries between us. Working class, animal liberation, anarchist,

feminist, environmental, indigenous, etc. struggles are one and the same

because the enemy is common to us all, and only our undivided unity will be

strong enough to defeat it.

 

The more humans take control of and act responsibly for their lives, the

more the balance of the human psyche will be restored, their spirituality

repaired and nature and her kingdoms will be respected as a different, but

equal, partner in the vast fabric of life on Earth.

 

NC: So would you say that, here in America, we should strive to build

solidarity with other struggles against oppression be it animal, earth or

human?

 

MA: The ecological and spiritual balance of the planet and her inhabitants

depends on it. Certainly, the link between animals and the environment is

indistinguishable, as the one cannot exist without the other. Nature and

evolution perfected the ecosystems that best supported life on Earth and

man's interference and theft has sabotaged millions of years of fine tuning

that not only destroys the habitat of animals, but of indigenous tribes the

world over, depleting oxygen supplies and potent cures from deep, lush

forests.

 

Any spanner in the works of nature herself, will and has, backfired in

immeasurable ways on human kind. If charity begins at home, then maybe we

should start looking at our home -- not the brick edifice within which we

barricade ourselves -- but the planet upon which we truly live.

 

NC: Here in America the federal government has really created an atmosphere

of repression against any who fight their power outside of the legal system.

In the UK you have the Animal Rights National Index (ARNI) of Scotland Yard

and M15 who have long compared the A.L.F. to groups like the IRA. What words

do you have for activists who might be afraid to participate in A.L.F.

actions due to their being labeled domestic terrorists? And do activists in

the UK live in fear of what their beliefs could cost them?

 

MA: The level of intervention in our activities by the police and M15 is

only indicative of the amount of genuine threat we represent. This then,

would seem to suggest that we have been successful in ways only partly

recognized by us.

 

Our inevitable response to their overt and covert monitoring of us is just

to go deeper underground, surrounded in secrecy, and to operate likewise.

The increase in Environmental activism had led to a dilution of police

activity geared 100% against " us " , which allows us greater freedom to act,

but by and large, those activists prepared to break the law for the higher

moral one, are still breaking the law in spite of the threat of lengthy

prison sentences and the increase in informers whose job is to lead us

there. We realize that one cannot possibly see any punishment meted out to

an activist as being comparable to that which inflicts the animals we

represent.

 

No struggle has ever been won without personal sacrifice and I can say, on

my own behalf, that I will take the prison option time and time again than

ever live with the guilt and cowardice and selfishness of inaction.

 

UK activists just take more precautions these days. Few attend demos,

meetings and CD's. No one will speak of anything sensitive in a car, house

or over a phone and they generally keep themselves out of the limelight and

stick with their own trusted comrades. New activists especially, can get

away with so much, simply by the virtue of the fact that they will be

unknown to police so surveillance is unlikely and conspiracy via others the

same.

 

Very rarely do activists get caught " on the job " and those that have were

under surveillance anyway. There is nothing to fear. Don't ever

underestimate your faith or the power you have inside you to conquer your

uncertainty and enter the empowering world of Earth activism.

 

NC: Here in the States, I'm the first A.L.F. member to do prison time, do

you find the capture of A.L.F. activists leads to less A.L.F. actions or

more? Why?

 

MA: There's no evidence to suggest that A.L.F. actions are on the decrease

and there are now 14 warriors in the UK imprisoned to date. I think the

general attitude amongst our free sisters and brothers is that the more

activists inside, the more they will act on our behalf and that means

encouraging others to act also.

 

The level of support shown for activists Keith Mann and Dave Callendar with

their 11 and 10 years respectively, seen at the Courts of appeal and on

Justice demos etc., demonstrates just how much people care; and outrage over

the ridiculously high sentencing of prisoners has led to people getting more

involved in our struggle.

 

A.L.F. is all-encompassing and never-ceasing. The fact that a 16 year old

school child may decide to smash Cancer Research Shop windows one night and

a 65 year old gentleman may decide to take a few of his neighboring battery

hens and so on and so forth, all under the banner of A.L.F. and without it

necessarily breaking headlines, means that the essential work goes on. We

may not always hear about it, but it is going on and the police are fully

and painfully conscious of that fact.

 

NC: Is it true that most fur shops and now many butcher shops have steel

shutters over their windows because of repeated attacks by animal

liberationists?

 

MA: Yes, it is true that a vast amount of butcher shops and all remaining

fur shops have steel shutters across the windows after repeated window

smashing attacks nationwide; especially from ball bearings shot from a

catapult (wrist rocket/sling shot) in a slow passing vehicle. As well as the

added expense this entails, it has been known for activists to use power

tools and even ram-raiding vehicles with which to damage these also.

 

No security measure by them is invincible; with initiative we can counter

their paltry attempts to hide from us and, quite literally, make them pay!

 

NC: Can you tell us about one of the most satisfying actions you ever

participated in and how it helped you strengthen your faith in direct

action?

 

MA: Not so much an action as a campaign. And that was against live exports

at Coventry airport, which we got stopped after only a few months of

intensive campaigning.

 

What was so good about this issue was the combination of people from all

walks of life determined to put the plight of the calves above all else.

What really brought us all together in action was physically seeing the long

line of animal transporters slowly parading past us with calves, little baby

calves staring sorrowfully through the slats at us. I swear they could pick

me out in a crowd to focus and stare at me, almost accusingly. It was

heart-wrenching.

 

But we fought and we gave it our all. Jill Phipps even gave her life on a

concrete curb outside the gates, a lorry full of heaving calves above her.

We fought back; by day we held the vigil, gave radio interviews, spoke to

passing motorists to join us who'd stop to give us food and warm clothing;

we turned people vegan; we smashed the trucks; we stopped them.

 

By night, we crept onto the airport and sabotaged its property, its security

fencing, its landing lights, set fires along the strip and essentially cost

them a hell of a lot of money. We all got arrested and charged at some point

and banned for one mile around the airport, but we just returned at night

and, on one occasion, I physically battled with two patrol men who had

caught me scaling the fences, a wake of destruction beside me.

 

We turned one firm's security against the other, both operational at the

airport and we got information on what was happening behind the scenes.

People stormed the police cordon to chain themselves to the aircraft's

wheels and plans were under way to do much more sabotage. This infuriated

the police beyond belief and they had an informer in our protest camp

outside who got me arrested when I exposed him.

 

That time, the police dragged me off and put me alone in a van and drove it

to where I could see the calves being loaded onto the plane -- electric

stunners were used; they were kicked and they all were picked up and thrown

inside. The police vowed to break both my legs once they got me to the

cells. It was working!

 

Combined with the exorbitant rate the security and police pressure cost the

airport, we were also personally targeting the director of Phoenix Aviation,

responsible for the flights. He employed bodyguards to surround his house at

night and he installed trip wires and fireworks in his gardens; he even shot

one of us. It didn't stop his windows from being smashed, his jeep from

being smashed and the psychological torment of not knowing what was going to

happen next.

 

We unearthed his affair, his dealings with gun runners, his criminal past,

his criminal present. His bodyguards would creep to our tents at night and

leave freshly slaughtered calves dripping over our banners and we would run

riot in his village causing all mayhem to break loose. He became a damaged

man, financially ruined, a nervous wreck and with his marriage in pieces,

even as I write, he is up for various charges of assault.

 

Live exports at Coventry Airports ceased. The last remaining protesters

stood huddled in the rain around the flowers, placed where Jill had been

felled. There were to be no more trucks. And as they turned to leave, there

in the middle of the road, quietly contemplating them, stood a beautiful

female fox. Out of absolutely nowhere, she had appeared and she shimmered in

the fading dusk. She studied them all carefully and made her way away from

the airport and past the huddled mourners into the surrounding fields. Jill,

an active hunt saboteur, undoubtedly joined her. The battle had been won.

 

NC: What is the level of importance of media attention for the UK animal lib

movement and is it something that influences activism in Britain?

 

MA: Over the years, the continuous arresting and imprisoning of the UK Press

Officers and spokespersons led many an activist cell to simply not make a

publicity issue out of their actions. This, and the combination of the

government's own " D " notice (media suppression) allotted to many of our

activities simply meant that operations went ahead with little or no

resultant publicity.

 

The important thing was that the abusers knew we had been busy and why, and

the abusers grapevine was red hot with gossip, whether the public knew or

not was of little consequence, and news always filtered through to the

animal lib/environmental press anyway and this generated our own publicity.

On the whole, the national media have always been poorly representative of

and biased against us and as such, show us in a negative and uninspiring

manner.

 

NC: Mel, in what ways can activists in America learn from their British

counterparts and what can we do to encourage greater recruitment and support

of direct action?

 

One of the things worth mentioning is the importance of solidarity and

support of each other. A strong prisoner support network is indispensable to

the morale of a direct action movement and by its very existence encourages

and publicizes this action.

 

The very least a potential/actual activist deserves to know is that in the

event of his/her capture they will be entitled to moral and financial

support. People will be very reluctant to act when they know all they'll get

is a kick in the teeth for their courage.

 

In my opinion, action begets action. The more successful a cell is, the more

confident it will become and the more it will act. We need to keep the

momentum going -- as things really do seem to be surging forward in North

America -- by distributing papers like No Compromise which keeps opinions of

the A.L.F. alive and shows just how much is going on and how everyone has a

part to play in that.

 

NC: Mel, you've seen a lot of your friends imprisoned for direct action,

some beaten and others who have lost their lives in defense of the

defenseless. What keeps you going? What gives you the spirit to fight on in

the face of ever-continuing violence and torture of our animal relations?

 

MA: I owe it to the millions of animals and millions of people who have died

as a result of the systematic abuse of sentient beings. I owe it to the

millions of animals and people who will go on to die as a result of that

abuse, and I owe it to absent friends.

 

When I got involved in the struggle, I vowed it would be a fight to the end

and I meant it. When I got imprisoned I renewed that pledge, having felt, at

first hand, just what it feels like to be taken from loved ones, isolated

from everything I care for and treated as inferior and worthless.

 

At one prison, I spent 8 months in a 6 foot by 6 foot cell -- a

claustrophobe's nightmare -- and it hit me like a steam train how all these

animals in cages must feel, whether waiting to be experimented on or waiting

to be bought or waiting to die, with absolutely no knowledge of a release

date, such as us prisoners have benefit of. The psychological prospect of a

life behind bars, let alone any physical suffering they may entail too, was,

in a very tiny way, imparted to me through my own experiences and this has

strengthened my resolve to fight on like never before.

 

Not only have I glimpsed the torment of their world, but I have overcome one

of the sturdiest of human barriers -- that of fear. It is the fear of what

may happen to us that prevents us from doing what is right. I had that fear,

like anyone else. Fear of the unknown is very potent, but I had to listen to

my conscience - I had seen too much to ever go back. I've come through the

worse that they can throw at me and I can honestly say " was that it? "

Without even knowing it, the powers that be have erased my last remaining

tie with their world and I am now truly free and in my power.

 

NC: Is there anything else that you would like to share with NC readers

about the future, hope, winning and all that?

 

MA: " Winning " is a state of mind. Every time we rescue an animal and

maintain a life -- that is winning. Real victory happens at every action for

us.

 

If all we think about is how ghastly the overall problem is and how

overwhelming it all seems and how pointless our own endeavors always appear

in the face of such evil, then we will have undoubtedly failed on every

level.

 

We are born as individuals and we die as individuals, and somewhere

in-between we get a little lost, a little insecure, a little dependent and

start blindly following a crowd or an ideal, using the same old worn out

tactics because everyone else is, and content in the knowledge that " others "

are taking care of the " hard stuff " . We lose sight of our own unique ability

to think, feel and act; to take initiative, to instigate campaigns and of

seeing our views through. It doesn't take great crowds of people and it

doesn't take any secret know-how. It shouldn't be left to just a few of us

to take all the risks, although we will.

 

We don't exist in a vacuum and neither do you. Let's unite and feel in

ourselves the power that stirs from within; let's harness that energy then

send burning arrows in the directions of our targets; arrows that illuminate

the way for others. For every time we act with purity and compassion, every

time we extend a healing hand to life around us, we win in ways too subtle

to be noticed, but too important to be ignored. Let's kick away our crutches

and fly!

 

NC: Mel, on behalf of No Compromise, I'd like to thank you not only for this

interview but for your selfless sacrifice for the animal people. I'm sure

we'll be seeing you back in the trenches soon.

 

 

 

--

> Merritt Clifton

> Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

> P.O. Box 960

> Clinton, WA 98236

>

> Telephone: 360-579-2505

> Fax: 360-579-2575

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> Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

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> [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing

> original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide,

> founded in 1992. Our readership of 30,000-plus includes the

> decision-makers at more than 10,000 animal protection organizations.

> We have no alignment or affiliation with any other entity. $24/year;

> for free sample, send address.]

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