Animal Liberation Conference 2023
My thoughts and takeaways on ALC 2023
The Animal Liberation Conference hosted by Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is not so much a conference but more of an animal liberationist boot camp.
While I have not been to another animal rights conference before, I find it hard to imagine any organization compared to DxE’s high-energy, action-oriented culture. We did not just listen to talks and meet folks for dinner. We marched. We gathered signatures. We rescued sick and injured chickens. The energy was constant, inspirational, and intoxicating. Even the talks are action-oriented with group activities. There was a real expectation one would take what was taught to us and bring it back to our respective cities and use that knowledge.
I went alone and so did several others. I was consistently baffled by how involved and dedicated to the cause every “loner” was. The random person sitting alone could easily talk for an hour about all the campaigns they are involved in back home. This meant lots of great minds to connect with and get ideas about my own campaigns. Despite the number of people going to ALC alone, there was a strong feeling of solidarity among the activists. I never felt so connected to total strangers before.
An Emotional Time
I was brought to tears three times, which if you don’t know me, I do not cry. First was the very beginning during Alimra’s introduction to the conference. I was overwhelmed by being surrounded by hundreds of people taking time out of their lives to fight for the most oppressed community who have no method of fighting back except us. The second time was during the animal liberation march through San Francisco. We turned a corner and DxE had a large banner drop off a bridge high in the air that said “Animal Liberation”. So much thought and care went into the march that I was once again overwhelmed by the beauty of us being there in that moment.
The last instance of me crying was at the very end. We got in a big circle in the People’s Park (maybe a little less than one hundred of us?). Someone would make a statement, and if the answer was “yes”, we were to step into the circle. We would recognize who stepped and then reset for the next statement. It started out harmless enough with questions about food or music, but by the end the statements were about self-harm, living in poverty, and not feeling like we were doing enough for the animals. This was an amazing exercise to see people being vulnerable and witness that we all have struggles. We must help one another so that we may continue our struggle for animal liberation.
Heard Wayne Hsiung talk in person for the first time. I attended his workshop on Open Rescue (also called Right to Rescue). The strategy is to go into places where animals are suffering and rescue them. A simple concept with lots of details. The main problem I ended up having is what I’ve heard about Wayne is completely true: he is extremely charismatic! So is the right to rescue truly an amazing tactic or am I buying into his charisma? Could he have sold me on any tactic? I suspect a little of both. It probably takes a charismatic person to push an idea like Open Rescue given what is involved with it. If I had to present and sell people on the idea, the right to rescue would have far fewer supporters.
The second difficult part of open rescue is the legal side. Finding a team, target, medical care for the animals, etc. all seems intuitive, but what are the legal ramifications? How can we have a mass open rescue movement without enough legal representation to go around? I hope Wayne and his team are working to get more lawyer support for those wishing to take action.
The next big source of inspiration is all the organizers. Someone would give a presentation or speech and then immediately go back to their laptop to help organize the next thing. I call those core DxE organizers a term I do not use lightly: Revolutionaries. They live and breathe this work. They deserve endless praise and support, so if you ever met one, fist bump, high-five, or bear hug them (with consent first!).
The Big Action - Golden Gate Fields
Monday late morning we went around collecting signatures to put a city ordinance on the ballot to ban factory farming in Berkeley. As a group, we collected half of the three thousand required signatures giving DxE a big jump start. What I love about this action is that half of the people involved (including myself) have never done this. We were forced to go out there and talk to people to get signatures. This hands-on learning is invaluable to raise everyone’s confidence so that they can do this in their hometown.
The only factory farm in Berkeley is a horse racing stable called Golden Gate Fields. Later at 11 pm (yes, PM), we met up on a bridge overlooking a major highway for a banner drop that said “Shut Down Golden Gate Fields.” We had headlamps on to illuminate the banner from behind. During this time, folks were invited to come speak into a microphone to share stories and thoughts on Golden Gate Fields. However, this was all to keep us busy and buy other activists time.
The Bigger Action - Petaluma Slaughterhouse
Activists dressed as slaughterhouse workers went into a slaughterhouse in Sonoma County California to get chickens that were in line to be slaughtered. Other activists went into the slaughterhouse to meet them for the handoff with the chickens. After everyone was safe, those of us on top of the highway bridge descended onto the slaughterhouse holding an all-night protest and vigil outside. There was a surprisingly large amount of traffic between 2 am-8 am! During that time, more activists went inside for more chickens. Workers rerouted the trucks due to our presence which led to other activists seizing an opportunity to grab more chickens off the back of a truck. In total 18 chickens were saved. DxE has press lined for the next day to publish: https://theintercept.com/2023/06/13/perdue-chicken-slaughterhouse-animal-cruelty-dxe/. There is a fundraiser to help with medical costs here: https://dxe.io/petaluma18.
Criminal activity against this slaughterhouse has been repeatedly reported to all levels of authority multiple times only to be met with silence. And the crimes are not what animal rights advocates think should be illegal, but real animal cruelty laws have been broken. Hence DxE’s right to rescue these animals. The animals have no one left to help, so we must do what authorities fail to do, which is to investigate the facility and save these animals.
At 8 am, we went to pay Sonoma County DA a visit to once again report criminal neglect. DxE was met with a closed door. Speeches were given, we chanted, and even had a random person not a part of our protest join us. People do not want to see animals suffer. We left after 10 am which made for an almost 12-hour action.
The next day after a long sleep we marched down the streets of Berkeley to Trader Joe’s. At Trader Joe’s, the chickens they sell have a number on them. That number corresponds to what slaughterhouse that chicken came from. The Berkeley Trader Joe’s just so happens to purchase their chicken’s bodies from the same slaughterhouse we visited. We painted a large Rose’s Law emblem, chanted, sang songs, and gave speeches outside of Trader Joe’s. We were going to do a die-in (where people act like they die and we throw red ribbons on them to symbolize blood), but like the DA’s office, Trader Joe’s locked their doors to us. Which honestly… I don’t know how it would have worked because there were hundreds of us trying to go inside a tiny Trader Joe’s. Would have been fun to see!
I typed these actions out in far less detail than I could because the biggest takeaway from these is how connected everything was. The right to rescue and Rose’s Law were supported by openly rescuing animals at a facility that the DA should be investigating while we went to the end consumer to tell them they should not be buying chickens from this place. We did not do random events. There were no aimless tactics. We disrupted and challenged multiple levels of the industry. When thinking about activism and targets, we need to think broadly and consider more than one pillar of the industry.
Practical Takeaways
DxE has a razor-sharp focus on optics. There were people constantly taking pictures and videos. This gives DxE hundreds of photos to select from. Chants and speakouts were constant. We sang songs, used smoked flares for drama, and even danced while a drone captured the scene overhead. We were never silent or casually walking. Something was always happening.
The police, slaughterhouse workers, and hecklers are all at different stages of their life. They might be doing bad things, but that does not mean we should do anything else than be kind and compassionate. For we must encompass the world with the values we wish to live in which includes kindness to all human animals.
Lots of roles can be had at marches and protests: police liaison, safety marshal and safety members, chanters in rotation, leaf letters handing out flyers, camera/video/social media live streamers, press liaison, and medics. Give people roles to be prepared for anything.
Even if I feel alone or with only a few comrades in NC, I have to remember there are thousands of others out there tirelessly fighting for the animals. Remembering those other activists will keep me focused and diligent.
Awesome blog! Agree with what you said -DXE crushed it with this conference
Here's some info that might interest your readers on federal laws to outlaw animal activist.
Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) of 2006 is a United States federal law that prohibits any person from engaging in certain conduct "for the purpose of damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise.
The law amends the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992 and gives the U.S. Department of Justice greater authority to target animal rights activists. The AETA does so by broadening the definition of "animal enterprise" to include academic and commercial enterprises that use or sell animals or animal products. It also increases the existing penalties, includes penalties based on the amount of economic damage caused, and allows animal enterprises to seek restitution.
The law was originally introduced in the 109th Congress by Jim Inhofe (R-OK). The final version of the bill was passed in the United States Senate on September 29, 2006, by unanimous consent, a Senate procedure that is used to expedite bills without an actual vote. On November 13, 2006, the House passed the bill under suspension of the rules, a procedure generally used to quickly pass non-controversial bills. The lone dissenting statement was made by Representative Dennis Kucinich, who said that the bill was "written in such a way as to have a chilling effect on the exercise of the constitutional rights of protest." Neither Rep. Kucinich nor any other members of the House of Representatives called for a recorded vote; the bill passed with a voice vote.
The bill was signed by President George W. Bush on November 27, 2006. The bill is described by the author as being intended to "provide the Department of Justice the necessary authority to apprehend, prosecute, and convict individuals committing animal enterprise terror."