Someone, Not Something (Moscow)
Activists all over the world joined in our last day of action: Someone, Not Something. From the frigid cold of Moscow to the desert heat of Phoenix, we set out to places of violence to show the world that every animal killed by the profiteers of animal slaughter, was a unique person -- a someone -- with a face, feelings, and a family. A someone with a story that was brutally cut short by violent traditions that have no place in a good or peaceful world.
Two days ago, we shared an inspiring video from Chicago, where a mere three activists charged into a Chipotle delivering the message of animal liberation and were met with an ovation by the customers. Yesterday, we shared media from an inspiring protest in Vancouver, Canada, where students at the University of British Columbia delivered a strong message for animals in a simple and peaceful protest -- that notwithstanding corporate marketing, killing animals for food is always violence.
Today, however, we share a just as powerful story from across the world. In Russia and Eastern Europe, anonymous activists took things into their own hands, and shut down dozens of animal killing establishments in the dark of night, and left, in their stead, images of a better world. A world where every animal -- black or white, gay or straight, dog or cat, human or rat -- is treated as someone, and not something.
Action report below:
On the night of 17 November 2013 animal liberation activists held action named "Shut 'Em Down" by closing several meat restaurants and other enterprises, that get profit of animal suffering, in cities of Russia, Georgia and Armenia. They used extra strong glue to shut the door locks or bicycle locks to block the doors.
"There is no place for animal cruelty in a civilized society, especially in such a horrifying numbers and conditions, as it it exists in the enterprises of intensive animal farming. The practice of murdering, tortures and all forms of animal exploitation must be put to an end, as well as the practice of using of child labor in Europe, labor of the slaves in America and labor of the prisoners on the territories occupied by Nazi Germany were stopped.
Nowadays, when we know that animals are not mechanisms or "natural sources", but sensible beings, capable of feeling not only physical pain and discomfort, but also all the variety of emotions available for humans, we do not have any right to treat them as stocks and stones, regardless of whether this exploitation benefits the humankind or does harm to him.
But even if we look at the situation from the perspective of human health and environmental condition, we will find that animal products only harm human health (inflicting cancer, heart diseases, diabetes and many other health problems) whilst doing irreparable harm to the environment, destroying it by intensive animal farming.
Animal exploitation as a whole does good only to the people who get financial profit of it. That is why we must put all our efforts to make the functioning of such enterprises extremely unprofitable.
Until all cages are empty."