Animal Rebellion

Animal Rebellion is an animal and climate justice movement with the stated aim of compelling government action towards a plant-based food system. Their justification for the introduction of such a system is the impact of animal agriculture on climate change, species extinction and ecosystem breakdown. It has around 100 organisers and was founded in London in June 2019 by 12 people, including Daniel Kidby, Dora Hargitai, and Alex Lockwood of the University of Sunderland.[1][2]

Animal Rebellion
FormationJune 2019 (2019-06)
Founded atLondon
PurposeClimate change mitigation, plant-based food system
HeadquartersLondon
AffiliationsExtinction Rebellion
Volunteers
100 organisers
Websiteanimalrebellion.org
Animal Rebellion sticker referencing zoonotic disease, Ireland.

Animal Rebellion use civil disobedience methods that has resulted in its members being arrested. These include graffiti, destruction of property, blockading and preventing food distribution, trespassing onto livestock industry premises, and blockading streets. The movement states on its website that it is nonviolent and focuses its actions on systems, not individuals.[3]

Demands

Animal Rebellion make two demands of the UK Government:[4]

  • The UK Government supports farmers and fishing communities to move away from animal farming and fishing as part of an urgent and immediate transition to a plant-based food system
  • The UK Government commits to rewild the freed-up land and ocean as part of a broader programme of wildlife restoration and carbon drawdown

Protests

2019

From 7 October 2019 to 19 October, Animal Rebellion organised a wave of civil disobedience in London and Berlin, in parallel to Extinction Rebellion protests. Animal Rebellion protested in front of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture,[5] at Smithfield meat market,[6][7] the largest UK meat market, and Billingsgate Fish Market,[8] and at an abattoir in Farnborough, Hampshire, leading to several dozen arrests for obstruction of traffic and "obstruction or disruption of a person engaged in lawful activity".[8][9] They reported that the abattoir protest was to highlight the role the farming industry plays in the climate crisis, as well as animal welfare issues and the conditions for abattoir workers.[10]

2020

In 2020, Animal Rebellion staged protests in the UK, Ireland and the Czech Republic in September.[11][12][13][14][15][16] In London, they vandalised the Trafalgar Square fountain by dying the water red, resulting in two arrests and a bill for the council to clean the water.[17] In October, Animal Rebellion protested in Berlin (Germany) and Auckland (New Zealand).[18][19]

2021
An Animal Rebellion protest in Berlin, Germany.

Animal Rebellion protesters blocked the entrance of a Tnuva dairy logistics centre in Petah Tikva, Israel, in February 2021.[20] Similarly, Animal Rebellion blocked the entrances of four McDonald's UK distribution centres in May 2021, demanding the fast-food chain go entirely plant-based by 2025. An Animal Rebellion spokesperson said that what others call sustainable meat is insufficient to mitigate the climate crisis.[21][22] In July 2021, the group blocked the entrance to OSI Food Solutions, in Scunthorpe.[23] They incorrectly claimed that the factory is the "only UK factory that makes McDonald’s burgers."[24] This is despite the fact that McDonalds burgers are made in multiple factories across the UK with separate regional distribution for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Like the protest in May, they demanded the chain change their menu to entirely plant-based food by 2025. [25] On 28 August 2021, they coordinated a protest with Camp Beagle at Smithfield Market in London.[26] During that month they also held a 'McSitin' at Leicester Square, dyed the fountain in front of Buckingham Palace red and blocked the trucks of Arla's biggest UK dairy processing plant which is in Aylesbury. [27] [28] [29] In October 2021, protesters climbed the Home Office building.[30]

2022
Animal Rebellion protesters at the September 2019 climate strikes in San Francisco.

On 2 June 2022, protesters disrupted the trooping the colour parade, running into the Mall and throwing themselves in front of the procession.[31] Two days later, six female protesters ran onto the course of the Epsom Derby horse race before its start. The action was on the anniversary of Emily Davison's famous protest at the same derby 109 years earlier. In both cases the activists were removed by police officers and were arrested.[32]

On 8 August 2022, the protesters stormed the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and occupied the national headquarters. They refused to leave the building, blocking the front doors and hosting impromptu workshops until the RSPCA agreed to declare its support for transitioning to a fully plant-based food system.[33]

In June 2022, a group of protesters stormed Harrods and another store in London. They took cartons of milk and emptied them in the stores.[34]

In early September 2022, Animal Rebellion declared it would disrupt dairy supplies during September. On 3 September, activists blocked access to milk at supermarkets in four cities. On 4 September, activists disrupted fresh milk supplies at four Müller and Arla distribution centres.[35][36][37] [38]

In mid October 2022, activists from Animal Rebellion held protests by pouring milk on the floor in various stores and supermarkets across Britain, including Harrods, Marks and Spencer, Waitrose and Fortnum & Mason.[39]

In November 2022 Animal Rebellion members joined Just Stop Oil in a protest on the M25 motorway in the UK.[40]

Also in November 2022, they occupied Gordon Ramsay's three-star Michelin restaurant in Chelsea, London.[41][42]

References
  1. Partos, Hannah (15 September 2019). "How Sunday lunch at nan's led to a vegan's battle against the climate crisis". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  2. "Alex Lockwood". University of Sunderland. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  3. "Strategy – Animal Rebellion". 31 January 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  4. "Why we're disrupting the supply of dairy: the climate crisis changes everything". Animal Rebellion. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
  5. "Klimaaktivisten blockieren Potsdamer Platz und Großen Stern". www.rbb24.de (in German). Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  6. Francis, Sam (8 October 2019). "Climate activists blockade Smithfield meat market". BBC. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  7. Taylor, Matthew (16 August 2019). "Animal Rebellion activists to blockade UK's biggest meat market". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  8. "Arrests after fish market protests". BBC News. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  9. "Three charged over Animal Rebellion abattoir demo". BBC. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  10. "Charges dropped over Animal Rebellion protest". BBC. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  11. Chiorando, Maria (September 2020). "U.K Government Told: 'Stop Ignoring Link Between Animal Farming And Climate Crisis'". Vegan News, Plant Based Living, Food, Health & more. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  12. "V úterý začíná rebelie Spolu za život hnutí Animal Rebellion. Uskuteční se hladovky i občanské neposlušnosti | 31. 8. 2020". Britské listy (in Czech). 31 August 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  13. "Animal activists stage protest at pig processing site". Farmers Weekly. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  14. "Extinction Rebellion: More than 300 arrested at London climate protests". BBC News. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  15. "'Animal Rebellion' stage a 'rooftop protest' at the Department of Agriculture". Irish Times. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  16. Crosson, Kayle (14 September 2020). "Affiliated Extinction Rebellion group call for a radical change to agriculture". Green News Ireland. GreenNews.ie. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  17. "Trafalgar Square fountains: Two arrested over red dye protest". BBC News. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  18. "Klimaaktivisten blockieren Potsdamer Platz und Großen Stern". www.rbb24.de (in German). Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  19. "Vegan activists protest outside Fonterra headquarters". Newshub. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
  20. Surkes, Sue. "Animal rights activists block logistics center of dairy giant Tnuva". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 8 April 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. "McDonald's: Animal rights group blockades depots, activists say". BBC News. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  22. "UK animal rights group blockades four McDonald's depots". The Guardian. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021. An Animal Rebellion spokesperson, James Ozden, said the action was aimed at calling out the animal agriculture industry for its part in the global climate crisis. "The meat and dairy industry is destroying our planet: causing huge amounts of rainforest deforestation, emitting immense quantities of greenhouse gases and killing billions of animals each year," he said. "The only sustainable and realistic way to feed 10 billion people is with a plant-based food system. Organic, free-range and 'sustainable' animal-based options simply aren't good enough."{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  23. "McDonald's blockade: Animal Rebellion protest at burger factory". BBC News. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  24. "Protesters blockade 'only factory in the UK that produces burgers for McDonald's'". LBC. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  25. "Animal Rebellion blockades McDonald's burger factory in Scunthorpe in climate crisis protest". Sky News. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  26. Phillips, Alexa (28 August 2021). "Animal Rebellion: Hundreds of animal rights protesters linked to Extinction Rebellion stop traffic in London". Sky News. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  27. "Police arrive as Animal Rebellion protesters take over McDonald's in Leicester Square and plan to stay until 6am". Newsflare. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  28. "Animal Rebellion paints Buckingham Palace fountain red". The Guardian. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  29. "Animal Rebellion protesters blockade UK's largest dairy factory". Independent. 31 August 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-05-07. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  30. "COP26: Animal Rebellion protesters climb Defra and Home Office building with message for world leaders". Sky News. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  31. Matthew Weaver (2 June 2022). "Animal Rebellion activists arrested after disrupting platinum jubilee event on Mall". The Guardian.
  32. PA Media (4 June 2022). "Animal Rebellion protesters run on to track before Epsom Derby". The Guardian.
  33. "Animal Rebellion Occupies RSPCA HQ - Animal Rebellion". 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  34. "Anti-dairy activists pour milk on Harrods floor after 'occupying' Waitrose cheese aisle".
  35. "Animal Rebellion activists vow to disrupt UK milk supplies". the Guardian. 2022-09-02. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  36. "Animal Rebellion activists block access to milk at supermarkets across the country". Yahoo News UK. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  37. "Animal Rebellion activists stop milk supply in parts of England". the Guardian. 2022-09-04. Retrieved 2022-09-06.
  38. "Animal Rebellion protesters pour milk onto shop floors in coordinated protest". The Indpendent.
  39. ""The world's best scientists are calling for transition to plant-based food" Protesters pour milk in shops across UK". www.scotsman.com. 2022-10-16. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  40. "Animal Rebellion activist joins Just Stop Oil in protest on M25 gantry". MSN. Retrieved 2022-11-09.
  41. "Gordon Ramsay's three-star Michelin restaurant occupied by activists". The Independent. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  42. "Animal Rebellion occupies Gordon Ramsay's three-star Michelin restaurant". The Guardian. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.