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Beginning January 1, 2021, the streets of Chicago are going to look a little more animal-friendly. Gone will be the horse-drawn carriage operators who have been plying their cruel trade in the Windy City for 150 years. On April 24, the Chicago City Council voted to ban them. Chicago joins other cities in banning horse-drawn carriages, including Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Salt Lake City, Utah; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Biloxi, Mississippi; Camden, New Jersey; and several cities in Florida. (Despite years of protesting, horse-drawn carriages still operate in New York City.)
Instrumental in getting the ban passed was the Chicago Alliance for Animals (CAA). For more than three years, this grassroots animal advocacy organization frequently documented horses being denied water and forced to pull carriages in heavy traffic through extreme heat, thunderstorms, and blizzards. They lobbied lawmakers to support the ban, and now that the ban has passed, they are liaising with reputable sanctuaries to arrange homes for the horses—if their owners choose to allow them the safe and peaceful retirement they deserve.
Jodie Wiederkehr, CAA’s executive director and founder of the Partnership to Ban Horse Carriages Worldwide, took some time to answer my questions about her work and the group’s remarkable campaign.
What inspired you to become an animal activist?
I’ve cared deeply about animals since I was very young. I remember at around the age of nine or 10, my father was yelling for me to come inside on Christmas Eve. I was sitting outside in the snow next to the kennel of our neighbor’s little terrier dog, who had nothing but a barren dog house and frozen water. I would bring him treats and fresh water.
While inside in our cozy finished basement with a roaring fire, we ate a big dinner and a lot of cookies and candy and then opened presents. All the while, I thought about Cinnamon all alone in the cold.
That love of animals stayed with me all through my childhood and through college when I started volunteering with my sister Jamie to ban the steel-jaw leghold trap in Illinois.
From then on, I’ve been working toward a path to liberate animals from suffering.
There are so many ways people exploit animals. What is it about the horse-carriage industry that makes you want to see it banned?
I care greatly about all animal issues, but whenever I see horses where every part of their being is controlled with straps and clasps and they’ve got all this metal junk in their mouth and when they can’t get flies off their legs, I get so incredibly sad. It’s just pure exploitation, and it’s so unnecessary!
And this whole notion that they were bred to do this work or that because they’ve been doing it since the dawn of time somehow makes it okay is a lousy excuse, as we all know that “tradition” does not equal “right.”
Can you walk us through the important steps you and CAA took to help get this ban passed?
We used a variety of methods, but the most important aspect of our work was to educate ourselves on Chicago’s laws regarding the horse-carriage trade, document the multiple violations on a regular basis, and then send that documentation to the agency tasked with monitoring and enforcing the laws as well as to the aldermen and mayor. We then submitted Freedom of Information Act requests for the results of our documentation and sent press releases to the media.
We also took action every day with our Daily Action Alerts—DAAs for short—where we contacted all the aldermen, the mayor, and tourist outlets in Chicago and informed them of the constant animal welfare violations, as well as those that impacted public safety.
We attended Aldermen’s Ward nights; testified at City Council almost every month for nearly two years; had monthly, peaceful educational outreach down by the carriage stand, where we held signs and a banner; asked people to sign our petition; urged everyone we spoke to to contact their alderman or, if they lived outside of Chicago, to please contact the mayor.
We also asked any businesses, legislators, animal advocacy organizations, celebrities, etc., to sign our Endorsement Pledge. In the end, we had more than 200 Endorsement Pledges representing millions of people who wanted a horse carriage ban in Chicago.
In addition, we fundraised last fall to deck out a pedicab urging people to say no to inhumane horse carriage rides.
What was the general reaction of the public when you were doing outreach?
When we first started our peaceful educational outreach in summer 2015, we would occasionally get some pushback and people claiming that horse carriages are not inhumane and that the horses are treated well, but as the years went on and we continued to educate the public on how often the horses were overworked, under-watered, and worked in extreme temperatures, the arguments nearly ceased. At times, we had groups of 10 or more people standing around us waiting to sign our petition.
Did you get any comments from horse-carriage operators during your campaign?
We never spoke to or communicated with the carriage operators or passengers. Our goal was to document the violations and abject cruelty and educate the public, not engage with those who have no empathy for and who profit off the voiceless.
You also worked on a successful campaign to ban greyhound racing in Massachusetts, which went into effect in 2010. Do you see any similarities in these two campaigns?
Yes, definitely! With both campaigns, we exposed the animal exploiters’ constant flouting of the law. And as the statewide volunteer coordinator on the greyhound campaign, I was responsible for calling my volunteer coordinators each Monday and asking them if they called their volunteers. It was not easy, as many didn’t want to talk to me. That made me realize if we really want a more humane world, we must be willing to give a little of our time to this very important cause. So now, when I put out my DAAs, I expect people to take action, and I explain to my volunteers that complaining about animal abuse and sad emojis will not ban horse carriages or help animals in any way.
How can people support the Chicago Alliance for Animals?
Please join our Facebook page and take one minute to do our DAAs. Follow us on social media, and if they are able to financially support us in any way—even $1 a month will help—that would be greatly appreciated! We passed this ban in the third-largest city in the U.S., without a horse collapsing in the street or a serious or deadly accident, in less than three years without any paid staff.
What advice do you give to activists who want to help ban the exploitation of horses?
I would urge them to join the Partnership to Ban Horse Carriages Worldwide and the Chicago Alliance for Animals (CAA) on Facebook and Twitter (here and here, and here and here), participate in our daily actions and communicate with me and activists around the world on a regular basis so we can work together to ban this archaic relic worldwide.
And, most importantly, never give up!
To make a donation to CAA, click here.
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Because I have readers around the world, I generally try to make this blog appealing and useful to all. But there is an issue in my home state of California right now that concerns me a great deal, so I will make this post brief and to the point.
Last December, Assemblymember Laura Friedman introduced AB 44, which would prohibit the sale and manufacture of new fur products throughout the state. This is encouraging, but there is a wrinkle: another assemblymember, Marc Levine, has North Bay constituents who make a living killing rabbits for food, and they’ve asked Levine to create an exemption for rabbits, so the fur of these animals can be sold after slaughter. Sadly, it seems Assemblymember Friedman is considering an amendment that would exclude rabbits, as this article explains. (Note: The article is accompanied by an image of rabbits in cages.)
The bill has been working its way through the legislative process and is currently with the Appropriations Committee. If your assemblymember is on this committee, please call them and ask them to support AB 44—and to support it without any amendment that exempts rabbits. As you may know, rabbits are used in countless fur products—from pet toys and glove trimmings to hats and coats—and to exclude them from a ban would be heartbreaking. Please join me in advocating for them.
The fur industry is lobbying hard against this bill, so every voice of support helps. Calling legislators is very simple and nothing to be nervous about. Your call will be answered by an aide, and you just say, “I am calling to ask the assemblymember to support AB 44 and to not support any amendment that would exempt rabbits from the bill.” The aide will ask where you live and possibly your name, and that’s it.
Step 1: Find your representative here: http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/
Step 2: See if they are on the Appropriations Committee here: https://apro.assembly.ca.gov/membersstaff
Step 3: If they are on the committee, please call them today!
(If your representative is not on the committee, you can call them later in the legislative process, when every assemblymember’s support will be important!)
And if you do not live in California but know someone who does, please forward this post to them.
Thank you!
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Using dogs to hunt small mammals—most notably foxes, who are often considered “pests”—has been an unfortunate part of British society for hundreds of years. As red-coated hunters on horseback follow, trained dogs with a keen sense of smell chase the scent of a fox through the countryside until they catch and kill their prey. A law banning the blood sport, known as the Hunting Act, came into force in February of 2005, making it illegal to hunt foxes, hares, minks, and deer with hounds in England and Wales. (A similar ban had been passed in Scotland in 2002.)
But many—many—hunters refuse to give up on this cruel activity and have sought loopholes and other means to continue. One such solution was their creation of a sort of hybrid pastime called “trail hunting,” in which the dogs and hunters ostensibly only follow a scent (often fox urine) laid by a hunt enthusiast, and no prey animal is killed. At least that’s how it works in theory. Dogs don’t often follow the rules, however, and they frequently come upon foxes and chase and kill them. When this happens, the hunt organizers inevitably call it “an accident.”
Working to keep the hunters honest—and animals alive—are campaigners who go into the countryside armed with video cameras to closely monitor and even disrupt the hunts, something they’ve been doing since long before the Hunting Act. It’s a form of direct action known as hunt sabotage, and the activists engaged in it are known as hunt saboteurs (or simply hunt sabs). The hunt sabs also sometimes use horns to confuse the dogs and Citronella spray to prevent them from getting onto the scent of the animals.
I recently spoke with Alfie Moon of the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA), one of the most active groups in the UK, about his work as a hunt sab.
Can you give us a little information on your background? How long have you been an activist and how did you get started?
I have been an activist for as long as I can remember. My mum and sisters were anti-apartheid campaigners. I remember putting ‘Don’t Buy Apartheid’ stickers on apples in supermarkets when I was a kid! By the time I was in my teens, I was heavily into CND [campaign for nuclear disarmament] and anti-racist stuff.
Do you remember the first time you went out hunt sabbing? What was your experience like?
I started sabbing when I was about 17 after running into a hunt on a country lane when I was out on my bike. I must have known that hunting existed, but it wasn’t high on my list of priorities until I met the arrogant bastards for the first time. I wasn’t part of any organised group, but I continued to disrupt hunts—probably to no real effect—every time I came across them. In 1996 I was introduced to the Croydon sab group. I was quickly shown how to effectively disrupt a hunt. The group was very welcoming, and I am still friends with many of them after all this time. I have sabbed almost every weekend since then.
What impact does hunt sabbing have on hunting? Is it a successful model of activism?
Hunt sabotage is very effective. In the days before the Hunting Act, hunts would kill four to six foxes every time they went out un-sabbed. If sabs were present, kills were rare. Since the Act, sabbed hunts have to be extremely cautious and many are now genuinely trail hunting when sabs are present. Hunt sabotage helped to keep hunting in the news, and undoubtedly contributed to the legislation.
Are there any special skills or physical abilities required to be a hunt saboteur?
There are many desirable skills for a hunt saboteur. Understanding how the hunt operates is crucial to disrupting it. It helps if you can run like the wind, navigate, and give clear, concise radio messages, and being able to blow a hunting horn correctly is a massive bonus. Not every sab will have all of the necessary skills, but effective teamwork overcomes that problem.
What’s a hunting horn?
The hunting horn is a small musical instrument used by the Huntsman to give instructions to the hounds. Different tunes have different meanings. Sabs learn to play the horn, usually blowing the ‘come back’ when hounds are chasing something. Sabs also use homemade whips to make a noise that tells the hounds they are doing the wrong thing when they are after live quarry. [Here’s a quick demonstration of the hunting horn.]
Besides the hunting horn, what are some of the tools and equipment hunt sabs use?
The key pieces of equipment for hunt sabs are a video camera, phone, GPS, OS [ordnance survey] map, gizmo [a loudspeaker playing a recording of hounds barking excitedly as the follow a scent], and Citronella spray.
What do you do with the video you record of the hunts?
The video cameras are mainly a deterrent, both against illegal hunting and hunt violence. They don’t always work! Unfortunately, the Hunting Act is so badly worded that the level of proof required for a conviction is incredibly high. Sabs will review video footage of the day and decide if it is worth passing to the authorities, but the police and CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] usually claim there is insufficient evidence for a prosecution. Most of the more damning sab video therefore ends up on social media, where, I suspect, we are predominantly preaching to the converted!
What is your best advice for activists who would like to participate in hunt sabs?
My advice to anyone who wants to become a sab is to get in touch with their local group, get out there, and see how it goes. Sabbing isn’t for everyone, but until you try it, you can’t know.
What keeps you going after all your years of activism?
What keeps me going after more than 30 years of activism is this quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Note: There is an HSA branch in the United States, where plenty of hunting activity is ripe for disruption. Click here for information.
You will find more information about hunt sabbing and many other forms of activism in the new, expanded edition of Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism, to be published in November.
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