Brighton Animal Action

by Mike Nunn

We asked Mike Nunn, one of the co-founders of Brighton Animal Action, for a report on the successes of the newly found group, Brighton Animal Action. Here is that report for this issue.

Brighton Animal Action (BAA), was formed in November 2005, from a number of individual animal rights groups within Brighton . Some folk faded away within a few weeks of the amalgamation, unable to comply with the strictures of campaigning for animal rights based on business principles i.e. what profit for the animals will there be if, having taken up a particular campaign we stick with it until it is won, instead of shooting off wherever and whenever some new form of abuse was exposed? This is probably the main reason why the animal rights movement, as a whole, has made such little progress over the 150 years of its existence, compared with the massive and sustained input that has been made by thousands of dedicated folk.  

SHAC Demo in Oxford 25/02/2006

However, to return to the fortunes of BAA: Sure enough, proof of the value of installing and maintaining such a strict regime came only a few months after we began the campaign to stop the sale of all items of clothing bearing any element of real animal fur within the city limits of Brighton & Hove (B&H), when the last of nine Brighton retail outlets that sold such items previous to the instigation of the campaign, decided no longer to do so - Brighton is now a fur-free zone!

Regarding the Anti Brighton Sea-Life Centre campaign: As testimony to the level of the 'people's' concern over this issue was the fact that they signed our petition at an impressive rate of over hundred and forty, for every hour they had the opportunity to do so. Over four thousand people had signed our petition by the time it was eventually presented to the Brighton & Hove City Council, when they met to consider granting planning applications to build a pool for seals and another for otters at the Sea-Life complex.  

Born Free Speaker, Daniel Turner

Sadly, by the slender majority of 7 to 6 the council granted planning permission! In view of that blatant disregard for the B&H Animal Welfare charter, BAA are now directing the campaign against the council for that remiss as well raising a boycott campaign against Sea-Life.  

On the first day of this new campaign, May 18, three hundred and eighty three people exercised their power and signed the BAA new petition against the B&H Council!  

Regarding the Brighton Animal Action Legal Liberation Campaign:

During the week-end of January 7-8, 2006, dedicated BAA members, and other excellent folk from around the region, worked relentlessly to liberate laying hens from the horrors of transportation and slaughter. People from all over the Southern region, and beyond, took otherwise doomed animals, into their hearts and their homes. And during the aforementioned weekend, out of the killing fields of Sussex , over 4,000 (four thousand) sentient beings were given their freedom! Next year, we hope to liberate 13,500 laying hens - that is why the campaign is now at a nationwide level.  

To explain: The purpose of the Legal Liberation Campaign is, on a rotating 72 week cycle, to find homes for all the 13,500 free range laying hens that would otherwise be slaughtered at the age of about 19 months. The average hen will live up to eight years or more, and will continue laying her eggs, intermittently, throughout that period. A farmer in the Brighton area will allow us, at cost to himself, to legally liberate all 13,500, over a period of six days, after which time, any remaining birds will be slaughtered.  

The next opportunity to legally liberate the hens will be during April 2007.  

One of 4,000 Hens Liberated

We are currently building a data base of folk who wish to collect and foster, in factors of four, any set number of hens. This will be a unique opportunity for folk to participate in the actual liberation of animals, without fear of prosecution.

However, whilst friends in Australia will not be able to foster any of these 13,500 perfectly innocent animals, sentient beings no less than you and I, you can still contribute towards ensuring the success of the exercise, by making a donation towards the very heavy expenses involved. Please make cheques payable to Brighton Animal Action and forward to LLC, Lisa Gooch, 56 Scott Road , Tilgate, Crawley RH10 5DD , England  

And that is all I have time to report regarding the progress of Brighton Animal Action to date - I trust, Dear Reader, that you find the article of some small interest.  

Mike Nunn (an animal rights person)