Animal Activists of Alachua

It’s Primate Liberation Week, so let’s get out there and liberate some primates!

Although primates are exploited in circuses/zoos and as pets, the focus of our week will be primates in animal experimentation.  Many animals are abused in labs across the country, including rats, mice, pigeons, and (of course) primates.  Humans and non-human primates are very closely related, sharing most of the same genes.  Some experimenters use this as an excuse to test on them: if they’re so closely related to us, then experiments done on them will tell us more about humans than if we used rats.  I feel that the fact that they are so like us means we need to give them the same respect we would give to a human.  In labs, primates are deprived of food, kept in cages, deprived of mental stimulation (they, like humans, get bored easily and need entertainment), and undergo stressful experiments.  Here’s some great info on primate testing at UF: http://news.health.ufl.edu/news/story.aspx?ID=4159.  So you can see that even here at UF primates are harmed and exploited.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, AAA will be tabling at the Reitz from 10:00 – 2:00.  Come hang out with us as we educate passerby on primate explotation.

On Thursday, Kari Bagnall, the owner of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary, will be giving a presentation at 7:30 in CSE E220.  CSE is the building between the Hub and Marston Science Library.

Then, to finish off the week with some fun, we will be volunteering at Jungle Friends.  Contact me if you’re interested for more info.

There are tons of great events planned for this year.  If you want to get involved in any of these events, or any other event you can think of, let us know and we’ll get you involved.

October has several important things going on.  We’ll start out on Oct. 10th with a protest against the Hawthorne Hog Fest’s pig chase.  Then there’ll be a general meeting on the 15th and some sort of social event (more info TBA) on the 16th.  The socials are just a fun way for us to all get together and have some fun in a non-business setting.  We will be having game nights, movie nights, potlucks, and other fun stuff.  

Oct. 17th – 24th is National Primate Liberation Week.  We will be tabling, protesting, having Kari from Jungle Frinds come out to speak, and going to volunteer at Jungle Friends.

On Oct. 28th we have two important events going on.  First of all, we will be tabling in the Plaza of the Americas.  Then, at 7:00 we are joining with enVeg to host speaker Brendan Brizier to talk about veganism from the health perspective.

We conclude this month with a general meeting on the 29th and possibly (more info TBA) a Halloween social on the 30th.

November and December will feature two volunteer days, an animal rights film festival, some more socials and meetings, and an event on animal rights and vegetarianism from a religious point of view.

Feel 100% free to come out to any of our meetings or events, or to contact any of us for more information!

Hi everyone,

The new semester just started and I hope you all are ready for some fun-filled animal activist events.  Our first meeting of the semester will be on Thursday, September 3rd at 7:30 pm.  It will be in Reitz Union room 346. 

We will be talking about what type of events we plan to have this year and where we want to have our first volunteer day.  Everyone is welcome, so be sure to attend.  See you there!

On May 8, 2009, The Gainesville Sun published an article titled “City of Ocala Plans to Kill 200 Ducks.” Please read the story at > http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090508/ARTICLES/905089968/0/archive

Ocala Wild Life Sanctuary (OWLS) has agreed to take the ducks, but it is still important that everyone call/e-mail the people in charge and let them know that you are against the murder of ducks.

Here’s a list of contact numbers and e-mails of people who need to know how you feel about this issue:

John Zobler, Public Works Director, City of Ocala jzobler@ocalafl.org. 352-351-6730.

Julie Johnson, Enforcement Manager for Parks & Recreation and Officer of Ocala Animal Control johnson@ocalafl.us. 352-368-5550.

City of Ocala website is www.ocalafl.org. You can write each commissioner individually or email Interim City Clerk Angel B. Jacobs, clerk@ocala.fl 352-629-8408 and ask her to DISTRIBUTE TO ALL COMMISSIONERS.

Bruce Fischelow, Director of the Marion County Humane Society,352-854-8230 brufish1018@yahoo.com. The Humane Society of the United States has a fully developed “Wild Neighbors” program and they should be called in by the City of Ocala to set up a program of tolerance, exclusion and other harmless methods.

We need to make sure the City of Ocala does not try to do this, or anything like this, again.

This past year has been amazing.  Animal Activists of Alachua had so many great events.  We served and educated over 1,000 people at VegFest.  We hosted two vegan dorm cooking demos at Graham and Broward and had an animal rights film festival.  We brought ecofeminist speaker Carol Adams to campus for a speech on “The Sexual Politics of Meat” which had an attendancerate of over 200 people.  W went to a couple of protests, had many potlucks and social events, and lots of volunteering at Rooterville and Jungle Friends.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the events and meetings.  We hope to see all of you again next year.

Congratulations to all of our graduating members.  We know you’ll continue to advocate for animal rights in the future.

And an extra special congrats to our 3 graduating officers: Our president, Tommasina.  Our treasurer, Amanda.  And our promotions officer, Torren.  Good luck in everything you do and remember to visit us.

It’s the end of the school year, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t AAA activities going on.

Tonight (Friday) we will be having a potluck at Tommasina’s house (call for info on location).

Tomorrow (Saturday) will be the Ashley Creek clean-up from 9 am until noon (located at Ashley Creek, near Gainesville High School).

Thursday there will be AAA’s end-of-semester social.  Lots of food and fun.

And don’t forget to come out to ALL of our great meetings and events next semester.  Have a great summer!

Okay everyone,

Don’t forget that Carol Adams, the author of numerous books on ecofeminism, will be coming here to speak about one of her most famous books “The Sexual Politics of Meat.”

It should be a very interesting presentation followed by a book signing (with books available for sale) and a free vegan reception.

The speech starts at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, April 15th.  It will be in Keene-Flint 50.  (Here is a map of the campus).

See you all there!

Hey everyone,

It’s ELECTION time!

Next meeting (4/16, the day after Carol Adams speaks) we will be voting on out officers for next year.  An officer position is a really great opportunity to get more involved in animal rights and to gain ome valuable leadership experience.  If anyone is interested in a position, please contact us and let us know or just come to the meeting on 4/16.

Also, be sure to come listen to Carol Adams speak about ecofeminism Wednesday, April 15th at 7:00 in FLI 50.  Just in time for Earth Day!  Carol Adams will be speaking about her groundbreaking book “The Sexual Politics of Meat.”

Thanks to everyone who came out to VegFest.  It was a huge success with over 1,000 people being served free vegan food and being exposed to animal rights literature.  Robert Cheeke, our vegan bodybuilder speaker, spoke for an hour and then answered questions from the very interested audience for another hour.  We also saw a lot of people interested in the sanctuaries Rooterville and Jungle Friends who tabled with us, as well as the empathy station where people could learn what it’s like to be in a slaughter house.  Good job everyone!

Hi everyone,

Before I get to the minutes, in case you missed all the other emails: please join us this Thursday from 11-2 in the Plaza of the Americas for VegFest!  Robert Cheeke will be speaking at noon on vegan bodybuilding, but you can grab free food, stop by the empathy stations, check out some literature and talk to sanctuary owners/representatives anytime from 11-2.    Also, please post our poster everywhere you can (attached).  See you there!

Last Thursday’s meeting minutes:

Recap:
Film Festival- next year, advertise more, screen Sharkwater.
Powershift- lots of talk about animals in agriculture, make sure we continue to talk about the importance of protecting animals from a biodiversity and agricultural standpoint.  Stopping global climate change means getting rid of factory farms, and protecting wildlife. We’re all fighting for the same things!

Upcoming:
VegFest! We’ll be setting up at 9 in the Plaza, please come if you can!  Wear your AAA shirts too! We really need people around 10:45 to pick up donations at Jimmy John’s, Ben and Jerry’s and Burrito Bros. so let me know if you can do that.
Florida Humane Lobby Day: April 2 in Tallahassee from 10-whenever your lobbying is finished.  We’ll be carpooling- RSVP to me.
Look out for info regarding our upcoming Statewide Animal Activism Retreat- we’ll be camping in Ocala National Forest and planning our statewide veganize your cafeteria campaign!
Carol Adams is coming to speak April 15 at 8 PM in Keene Flint 50.  A vegan reception and book signing are to follow.  Mark your calendars now!!!!

Volunteer days at Jungle Friends:

Garage Sale- maybe at Farmer’s Market?
Coffee Shops discount days during exam weeks
Benefit Concert
Display Monkey art work at Art Walk
Let me or Erin know if you have any suggestions!  Thanks!

Community Announcements:
Chas-wants to know if we are interested in using his video van. Answer: YES! What about the vegan hot dog stand? Answer: sounds a little too complicated
Elizabeth- Two BEAUTIFUL affectionate torti cats need home! Their homeless owner left them, and now they are doubly homeless.  See attached picture (dramatization)
Zia- the first meeting of the Alachua County Animal Coalition was a success!  We’re bringing together everyone involved in animal advocacy- from rescue groups, shelters, sanctuaries and activists!  AAA has a delegate attending the meeting, so we’ll keep up with all the latest news.  The group will benefit everyone from allowing greater communication for event planning, fundraising, adopt-a-thons, etc.  (The vegan food at the meetings is delicious also).

Also, please start thinking if you’d like to run for an executive position for next year.  If you’re planning to go into animal advocacy work, our group is very well known in the field and the experience you’ll gain is invaluable!  I’ll be sending out the officer applications soon, they’ll be due on April 2 by email before our meeting that night at 7:30 PM in RU 355. Plan on making a short speech on your qualifications and goals for your desired position. Elections will be held April 16, at our last official meeting of the semester at 7:30 PM in RU 355.

Hope to see you all Thursday in the Plaza!!

Thanks for all you do for the animals,

Tommasina
President, Animal Activists of Alachua

Please post!

Two homeless Tortis need a home!

Hi everyone.  Welcome to the website of the UF student organization Animal Activists of Alachua.  We are so glad you decided to drop by.  We have many plans for the new semester, so please join us at our first meeting is on Thursday, January 15 at 7:30 in the Reitz Union room 347.  Hope to see everyone there!