Sunday, February 4, 2007

WAR's Operation: Helter Skelter Continues

Demo #1 - Andrew Baker, CEO of HLS

Our first Baker demo of 2007 fell on the coldest day in the past 2 years. Temperatures in the teens with wind chill factors making it feel like single digits provided a challenge for the dauntless WAR activists. A dozen brave souls stood in the wind and raised their voices for all of Baker’s neighbors to hear. “500 animals died today”…they chanted….”Andrew Baker is to blame”.

Today’s protests were dedicated to Jake Conroy and Josh Harper, both of whom celebrated their birthdays behind bars. We hope that Baker gets the message. The animal rights movement supports it’s political prisoners. For every activist that you lock up, others will come forward to take their place. The New York Police Department had a total of 4 vehicles (3 of them vans with at least 4 officers in each van) there to monitor the protest. NYPD officers clearly outnumbered protesters and added dramatic effect heightened visibility to our event. Many Central Park West strollers stopped to ask why there were so many police officers in attendance.

Demo #2 - Nicole Brier, Sanofi Pasteur - Liaison

Just a short walk away, we stopped at the home of Nicole Brier of Sanofi Pasteur. Sanofi Pasteur is a subsidiary of Sanofi Aventis a major customer of Huntingdon Life Sciences. Nicole lives in a quaint brownstone. Her neighbors were anxious to hear about Sanofi’s ties to the killing of 500 animals every day by Huntingdon Life Sciences. Many stopped to asked questions and take literature detailing Sanofi’s relationship with HLS. One building resident spent time talking to us and reading our literature and asked many questions. She came back twice and after the second stop, she promised to knock on Nicole’s door to advocate for the HLS animals. The cold weather continued to take it’s toll, but still we moved on to our next stop.

Demo #3 - Dale Bernstein, Senior V.P. – NYSE

Despite the brutal cold, we trudged on to West End Avenue and 82nd Street, where we stopped at the luxury building of New York Stock Exchange Senior Vice President, Dale Bernstein. Many of Dale’s neighbors were out walking their dogs and most stopped to chat with us and to pick up a pamphlet about how the NYSE folded under pressure to list the notorious puppy killers of HLS on their Arca Exchange. We spoke to neighbors who told us that Dale is well known and disliked in the neighborhood because of her unpopular stand on community events and we were told that she has a history of working against human rights and community racial issues. Neighbors promised that if we sent them a supply of flyers, they would make sure they were posted everywhere in Dale’s neighborhood.

Demo #4 - Rachel Robbins, V. P. & General Counsel – NYSE

Our next stop was at the home of NYSE’s Chief Counsel, Rachel Robbins. Once again many of Rachel’s neighbors stopped to ask us why we were protesting at Rachel’s home. One sympathetic neighbor offered information as to where Rachel’s apartment was situated in the building, so that she could better hear our chanting. Literature was distributed and many promised to call the Exchange on Monday. No doubt we will come back to Rachel’s home on a regular basis as it is likely that she was a primary player in the legal negotiations which resulted in HLS being listed on the Arca Exchange. Apparently, not much thought was given to the investors who will be burned when HLS tanks….which is inevitable.

Demo #5 - Dorothy Watson, General Counsel – Novartis

By now, the intrepid WAR troops were thoroughly frozen by the frigid winter winds. But we trekked on saving the best for last. Previously, we had protested at the home of Novartis’ General Counsel, Dorothy Watson, which was in the Chelsea area of Manhattan. Several weeks ago, we were told be a sympathetic neighbor, that Dorothy had moved at least partially in an effort to shake her protest crew from WAR. It took some time, but we finally found her.

Click your heels three times, Dorothy, and you will find yourself in a penthouse apartment in “The Alexandria” on West 72nd Street and Broadway. Dorothy lives there with her husband (who owns a local liquor store) his dogs and her cats. This neighborhood is very animal friendly with a Vet Clinic and Pet Shop right across the street. We look forward to educating Dorothy’s new neighbors about the animal abuse and killing going on at Huntingdon Life Sciences contracted by their good customer, Novartis. Since this address is right by a major subway stop, this will be a popular location for our educational outreach efforts. As Dorothy already knows…….”WAR will be back!”.