Agricultural News
Hannah Thompson Weeman Talks Tactics of Groups Who Want Animal Ag Eliminated with Ron Hays
Thu, 17 Aug 2017 14:48:44 CDTThe Animal Agriculture Alliance released a report this week detailing observations from the Animal Rights National Conference, held August 3-6 in Alexandria, Va. The event was hosted by the Farm Animal Rights Movement and sponsored by Compassion Over Killing, Mercy for Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and The Humane League, along with other animal rights activist groups. According to conference organizers, nearly 2,000 individuals were present at the event, described as "dedicated to the vision that animals have the right to be free from all forms of human exploitation."
This podcast features a conversation between the Hannah Thompson-Weeman of the Animal Ag Alliance and Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays about the report and the conference that it summarized. Thompson-Weeman is the Vice President for Communications for the Animal Ag Alliance- and she tells Hays that "The speakers at this year's Animal Rights National Conference made their goals clear - ending all forms of animal agriculture, regardless of how well animals are cared for. Their persistent focus on pressure campaigns targeting restaurant, retail and foodservice brands is of great concern to the Alliance and our members."
Activists in attendance were encouraged to be as extreme as necessary to advance their goals. "Breaking the law can often be a good thing to do," said Zach Groff, Animal Liberation Collective. Groff spoke about the 'nature of confrontational activism' such as "protests, open rescues from farms without permission, vigils-" According to Groff, "this is a type of activism that can often upset people, it can rile people up."
A major focus of this year's conference was on pressuring restaurant, retail and foodservice brands to adopt certain policies, with the end goal of forcing them to stop selling animal products. In one session on "Engaging Institutions," a speaker from The Humane League said the group had "basically harassed" one national sandwich chain with a campaign. When an audience member commented about 'humane' policies not being as good as complete liberation, Krista Hiddema, Mercy for Animals (Canada), hinted at no animal products being sold as the end goal, stating "we're never going away." Hiddema also stated that "we are winning against the largest organizations in the world," and "they are terrified of us."
Click on the LISTEN BAR below to hear the complete conversation which includes some background on those participating in this conference, their tactics against animal agriculture facilities as well as against companies who market meat to consumers, the desire by activists to not just do away with large commercial sized farms but smaller operations as well and the efforts to demonize animal production as a detriment to the environment.
Ron Hays talks with Hannah Thompson Weeman about a recent meetings of Animal Rights Extremists
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