Demo Reports
9-03-05

Saturday, September 3, 2005

WAR Returns to Dennis Basso Fur Salon

Our first stop on Saturday, September 3, 2005 was our old pal,
scumbag Dennis Basso. As always, Basso's windows and racks were
dripping with the skins of tortured and mutilated animals. Somehow
Basso has managed to take what was once the beautiful fur of a living
being and transform it into "fashion" that could make the most
attractive woman on earth look like a woolly mammoth or aging alpaca
shedding his coat.

The protest was loud and energetic and business at Basso's was as
slow as can be. For the entire time of our first protest (two
hours), only three shoppers ventured into their store. WAR's
aggressive stance and demeanor at the store's doorway ensures that
business will be slow. Activists left with a loud chorus of "We'll
be back…..We'll be back…..We'll be back". Basso's employees breathed
a noticeable sigh of relief as the group moved the protest up Madison
Avenue to the Joseph store.

WAR Returns to Joseph's Madison Avenue Store

Saturday, September 5, 2005 activists from Win Animal Rights (WAR)
returned to the Joseph store on New York City's fashionable Madison
Avenue. This time, activists set up a fur literature table to
educate passersby about the evil and cruelty inherent in the fur
trade to compliment the protest. Although New York City is
traditionally quiet on holiday weekends, protesters were pleased by
the high level of foot traffic on Madison Avenue.

New posters revealed the gruesome and bloody "Face of Fur". Anyone
either going into the store or coming out of it was met with the loud
voices of protesters, chanting….."Your Money, Your Fault"….."Your
Greed, Your Fault"……."Your Vanity, Your Fault". Potential fur buyers
cringed as accusatory fingers were pointed in their direction. Not a
single shopper made a purchase while we were there!

WAR's message this weekend to Joseph:. We hold both buyers and
sellers accountable for their fashion choices. Caveat Emptor…..Let
the buyer beware. Even more important Caveat Venditor…..Let the
seller beware. WAR will keep on coming until Joseph stops selling
fur!!!

WAR Returns to Dennis Basso Fur Salon AGAIN!!!

With our tired police escort safely moving back toward the precinct,
we headed back to Dennis Basso's Salon where we found the employees
rolling down the store shutters. We can only surmise that they were
trying to scoot out early and high tail it out of town for the
holiday weekend without letting their boss, Basso, know. We were
pleased that we foiled their plans. The irate employees immediately
rang up the NYPD who sent multiple cruisers to answer the complaint.

NYPD officers blustered about demanding our protest permit. A
spokesperson for the group patiently explained to the officer that
protest permits were not required. The police insisted that they
were right and that we must break up the protest.

After making a few phone calls and after several trips in and out of
the store to talk to the distraught employees, it seems that the
police figured out that we were right about the permit issue.
Activists were told that they had "permission" to continue. Police
were told that their permission was not required as long as we still
had a Constitution and the right to exercise our freedom of speech

Meanwhile the flagging energy of the protesters was transformed into
a new higher level of intensity. Loud chanting continued and
protesters had no plans of giving in. Basso employees finally threw
in the towel and closed the store 2 hours ahead of schedule.
Hopefully they got the message. Just because the protest is
technically over, doesn't mean that we won't be back….sometimes a lot
sooner than expected and a lot more often too. We will be back
Dennis Basso!

P.S. for Dennis Basso……we hear you are looking to open a Chicago
store. Luckily we have lots of friends in Chicago. WAR will follow
you to hell, Dennis Basso.