Once again Win Animal Rights exhibited and presented at AR2007 which was held this year in Los Angeles, California. Special thanks go out to Wilson, Teresa, Assaf, Michal and a very big thank you to Peter who staffed the Prisoner Support table.

WAR Exhibit

Despite the challenge of getting exhibit materials to the West Coast, WAR’s exhibit looked great. Stumpy and bunny were featured. By special arrangement we made available copies of Keith Mann’s recently released book From Dusk ‘til Dawn. This awesome book chronicles Keith’s exploits as a former member of the Animal Liberation Front. We had 12 copies of the book and sold most of them on the first day of the conference. Look for announcements soon about purchasing a copy by mail order.

Giant bolt cutters, ammo boxes and urban camo enhanced the look and feel of the WAR exhibit. Merchandise sold included t-shirts and tank tops, bandannas, balaclavas/ski masks, camo hats, books, buttons and vintage ALF air fresheners. Our DVD screen continuously screened videos of “The Truth”, Time for Action and Strike Back. Countless thousands of flyers were distributed to over 800 conference participants.

Prisoner Support

Win Animal Rights sponsored a table where activists could actually sit and write a letter to a political prisoner. Lots of letters were written and collected. A collection jar for donations allowed us to pay the postage costs. We also had a poster available where anyone could write a general message of support. We will be sending a picture of this poster to all political prisoners both in the USA and abroad, along with some pictures of conference attendees.

WAR Contributes to Panels

WAR’s Camille Hankins spoke on a number of AR2007 panels including “Running Campaigns”, “Engaging Business”, Hankins also presented the conference campaign report on the campaign to stop the cruelty at Huntingdon Life Sciences.

Paths to Liberation Plenary

Hankins addressed the full conference at the Friday evening plenary session on a panel entitled “Paths to Liberation”. Most speakers took a “pollyanna approach” speaking about the need for education and outreach while at the same time speaking out against direct action. Speakers repeated told the audience that they had “the answer” and could tell us how to save millions of animals every year. They all neglected to tell us how to accomplish these lofty goals.

Hankins of WAR spoke in defense of direct action and the animal liberation underground, while at the same time indicating the need for continued outreach, education and legislative efforts. She was joined by AR2007 Conference Chair, Alex Hershaft, who spoke eloquently about the need for militant activists in the animal rights movement.

Hankins’ pro-direct action presentation is available on YouTube. Check it out here: