FURRIERS, MEAT-EATERS CAN’T STAND THE HEAT IN CALIF., PA., UTAH

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1999:

Last Chance For Animals on
January 11 notified 195 store managers at the
Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego that the
mall is under boycott in response to a suit the
mall management brought against LCA and
1,000 mostly unnamed individual activists,
seeking a permanent injunction which would
in effect prohibit anti-fur protests at the mall.
LCA towed a billboard in the vicinity for several
hours to publicize the boycott. LCA
director Eric Mindel told ANIMAL PEOP
LE that “Defendant Andrea Lindsey h a s
already filed her response to the case, alleging
civil rights violations. LCA will argue against
the complaint and put forth that Fashion
Valley Mall’s permit process for expressive
activity is constitutionally deficient due to
restrictions that are not content-neutral.

Defendant In Defense of Animals has settled
out of court with the plaintiff, and has agreed
to an injunction in exchange for being dropped
from the suit. John Doe #1 in the case has
been identified as Eric Mindel, which is interesting
considering that the lawsuit is based
upon a complaint of trespass, and I’ve never
set foot on the mall property. As director of
LCA,” Mindel added, “I’m not concerned
about our liability, for there’s not going to be
much in the way of evidence demonstrating
that LCA had an official presence in any demo
involving trespass.” LCA is fighting the case,
Mindel said, because “It’s LCA’s position
that if we encourage people to be active and
take a stand against cruelty, we need to stick
alongside them if they face a bit of trouble.”
The mall is owned by the Equitable Life
Assurance Society of the U.S., and run by
LaSalle Partnership Management Services Inc.
The Utah Animal Rights Coalition
is reportedly considering legal action against
the Jordan Board of Education for suspending
Bingham High School student S p e n c e r
M e r k e l y on February 2 because he wore a
sweat shirt with the word “vegan” printed on
the back. District spokesperson M e l i n d a
Rock claimed the term “vegan” is “gang-related,”
using definitions provided by the S a l t
Lake City Gang Project. Rock told Jennifer
K. Nii of the Salt Lake City Deseret News that
although members of four animal rights
groups testified to the school board that “the
vegans are not a gang, they are,” because
according to the Gang Project, “vegans are
considered a faction of the Straight Edge
movement,” a violent element associated with
numerous arsons, bombings, and fur farm
break-ins around Utah in recent years.
However, the term “vegan” was popularized
in the U.S. and is still most closely associated
with the diet totally eschewing animal products
advanced since 1974 by the A m e r i c a n
Vegan Society, founded and still led by advocates
of Gandhian non-violence Jay and
Freya Dinshah. Merkely told media that he
has no association with the Straight Edgers,
many of whom are now in jail.
PETA on January 27 sued the
Granite School District, the Salt Lake
County Sheriff’s Department, and
Eisenhower Junior High School principal
Lori Gardner for alleged civil rights violations,
after police responding to Gardner’s
complaint reportedly threatened to arrest
PETA members Sean Diener and B a r r y
P l a t i s for passing out pro-vegetarian leaflets,
but according to Diener and Platis took no
action against a student group called M e a t
Eaters Thankful for Animals, whose members
held a counter-demo. Diener and Platis
from January 7 until January 27 demonstrated
against Gardner’s decision to fly a
M c D o n a l d ’ s restaurant flag on the school
pole, in thanks for sponsorship of school programs.
The flag was finally removed.
Lackawanna Trail Elementary
S c h o o l third grader Amanda WalkerS
e r r a n o, age 8, of Factoryville, Pennsylvania,
collected signatures from a third of her
class on a petition against a scheduled April 7
field trip to see the Shriners Circus. Principal
Nancy Simon then forbade further circulation
of the petition, even at recess, said Ohioans
for Animal Rights director David Sickles.
Added Sickles, “School board president
Donald Leonard is himself a Shriner.” Lynn
Manheim of Letters for Animals is rallying
support for Walker-Serrano c/o POB 29,
Factoryville, PA 18419; 570-945-5312; fax
570-945-3471; >>Lmanheim@aol.com<<.