October 09 meeting minutes
First things first….
For updates, keep checking this blog
http://manchesteranimalaction.wordpress.com/
This is designed for anyone involved in MAA to contribute to, please do!
Join the facebook group called, you guessed it… Manchester Animal Action! Couldn’t be simpler!
Email us on: blah@manchesteranimalaction.org.uk
Join the email list by sending an email to manchesteranimalaction@lists.rbgi.net
Text us on:
07809 293370
1. November is National Vegan Month, we need to arrange a separate meeting to organise for Sunday 1st November free vegan food day. MAA have been given full use of Earth Café for this (basement of Manchester Buddhist Centre).
Action: Contact MVS and MVVS to see if they want to help with the day.
2. Continuation of the subgroup ‘Manchester Shark Action’ and the shark fin campaign. We succeeded last year in helping get shark cartilage off the shelves in Holland & Barrett and local health food shops in Manchester. Now we need to focus on convincing restaurants in Chinatown to stop selling it. Sea Shepherd use effective campaign tactics such as going into Chinese restaurants that sell fins and then openly showing their disgust and leaving. Also they collect signatures and send them to restaurants with a covering letter explaining the horrors of shark finning. This is having a big effect as it’s hitting them economically.
Action: Contact Sea Shepherd for literature.
Anyone interested to discuss this campaign, meeting Tuesday 3rd November 7pm, Font Bar, New Wakefield Street, just near Oxford Road train station.
3. Use of PR stunts to highlight issues e.g. previous successful ‘zombie dancing and samba’ style demos outside Kurt Geiger! Businesses hate the attention that such visual stuff brings. We need more ideas about how to enliven our demos!
4. Battery chickens and how to raise awareness about them.
Action: Start thread on email list to discuss pros and cons of urban henhouses for rescued chickens
5. Saturday 17th October Anti-Fur demo in London. Minibus will be booked so people definitely interested need to email the list to confirm. Will be leaving Piccadilly early morning, cost between £10-15.
Actions: Contact MVS to see if anyone is interested in coming, book minibus
(See CAFT.)
6. Anti-Fur campaigns.
Angela Beer in Bramhall continues to sell real fur. There will be a pre-demo residential leaflet drop on Thursday 8th October, meet at Piccadilly 7pm. Text MAA phone if interested.
Demo: Saturday 10th October, meet at Piccadilly 11am.
Afflecks Palace is now fur-free and this has been written into shop owners’ licenses by the owner of the building, fantastic!! Worth checking to see if the vintage shops are letting things slip through. (First floor café in Afflecks now sells vegan milkshakes!)
TK Maxx had some fur in recently and but took it off the shelves and apologised when they realised their mistake.
House of Fraser, same as above.
Belstaff still selling fur.
(See CAFT.)
7. It is Global Anti-McDonald’s day on Friday 16th October. Agreed to do evening flyering, Friday 23rd October 7-9pm, meeting outside the Oxford Road/Portland Street McD’s 7pm.
Action: Get flyers.
8. National SHAC march, Newcastle, Friday 9th October, meet at 12pm, Civic Centre. This is about Sanofi Aventis who are a customer of Huntingdon Life Sciences.
9. West Midlands Vegan Fair, Wolverhampton, 24th October 11am-5pm.
10. Bobby Roberts ‘super circus’ is back in town, in Farnworth, Bolton. Demo held on Friday and again on Saturday after the meeting! A good idea recently was to give away free tickets to the Moscow State Circus to families who we turned away from Bobby Roberts! (See CAPS.)
Action: We need more ideas of positive alternatives like this!
11. Tory Party conference anti-hunt demo, meet at 11am Monday 5th October, in front of the Town Hall, Albert Square. This has been organised by FACCT (Fight Against Cameron Cruelty Threat) as the Tory party plan to repeal the Hunting Act.
12. We need a working megaphone!
Action: Test old one, if it doesn’t work we will buy a new one!
13. Christmas is coming, time to plan a BIG turkey campaign. All agreed residential leaflet drops a great idea for November and December.
Also, need ideas for possible Christmas-style cards reflecting the reality of life for turkeys.
Action: Order Viva! Christmas leaflets.
15. Foie-gras. A number of restaurants are selling it in Manchester including the Lowry Hotel, Macdonald Hotel nr Piccadilly and the Park Inn on Cheetham Hill Road. There is a successful campaign against this up and running, with a thread on the MAA email list, plus possible demos planned.
16. Reminder about Belle Vue Greyhound Stadium. Greyhound Action are out there every week peacefully campaigning against this relic of a bygone era. MAA support them every 1st and 3rd Saturday of the month, handing out leaflets to the punters going in and talking to them about the cruelties involved in this industry, 6-7.30pm meet at entrance.
17. North West Hunt Sabs are going out every week and weekend now, effectively and peacefully stopping a load of mindless thugs savagely killing foxes and other wildlife. Email the list if you are interested in getting involved.
