LSP Environmental Studies Community Event Reports

On October 29, 2008, I attended an event where Peter Young, an animal rights’ activist, told the story about his trial and imprisonment for his activism. This event was hosted in Vanderbilt Hall at N.Y.U. School of Law and was sponsored by the Environmental Law Society. It was an educational event for the general public, to raise awareness about the terrible acts committed against animals. Peter Young related all the details of his discovery of slaughterhouses in his hometown when he was young, the actions he took after this discovery, and the unjust repercussions he suffered for carrying out these actions. He was imprisoned for standing up for himself and his beliefs.
Before Young started his story, he presented a couple of slides showing the aftermaths of different animals that had been tortured and mutilated. These were extremely disturbing images. The two that stuck out the most was a monkey with several wires stuck into its brain, and a cat lying on a table with its stomach bleeding and its intestines spilling out. When Young flipped through these slides, everyone reacted with expressions and sounds of shock, disgust, and hurt. Many people gasped, including me. These images automatically made me feel angry at whoever was responsible for the torture of these animals.
Young began with his discovery of the chicken slaughterhouse in Seattle in 1997. His friend had been walking on the street when he stumbled across one, and he told Young. Young and his friend then both planned to break into this slaughterhouse. They saw chickens being grabbed and hung by their feet on a conveyor built, then slit at the throat. Young gathered a group of people, who were also activists, and broke into that slaughterhouse. They did not vandalize that slaughterhouse, rather, they removed and discarded all the tools in it that were used to kill the animals. Young and his friend also found other slaughterhouses. He stated that they could even smell rats, dogs, and rabbits from the outside of these slaughterhouses. From that day on, Young and his friends felt that they had an obligation to find out where the trucks that dropped off these animals to the slaughterhouses had come from. Young and his friend followed these trucks in their car to downtown Seattle, where they discovered several fur farms. Young and his group released at least 8,000 minks and foxes from these fur farms.
However, in 1998, when Young and his friend were in Young’s car, they were pulled over by the police. The police received a search warrant and searched their car. They found evidence that showed Young and his friend were responsible for the release of those minks. Following the search, Young was charged with four counts of extortion and two counts of animal rights enterprise terrorism. Young fled, though, and was in hiding for seven years. Young stated that the government considered him a federal fugitive. However, in 2005, Young was found and arrested. He was sent to two years of federal prison. After he had served his two years, he was released.
Young ended his story with the emotions he felt after being released from prison. He said that while he was in prison, he did the math on how many mink he had saved, and how of those minks he released had been recaptured. He saved at least 8,000 minks. The way he looked at the whole situation was: for every mink he saved, he served ten hours of prison for it. He felt honored to “have given so little to get so much.” By “so much,” he meant that he received the feeling of happiness and pride for having saved so many minks. He looked at his rescue mission as something that he would never take back. Young stressed that when he saw five or six chickens packed into small cages in filth and darkness and pigs that could not even turn around in their metal crates, he knew that he wanted to act quickly. Young told us that there are numerous labs and slaughterhouses in the nation, even in NYC, that are all in secrecy. The people working in these places know that what they are doing is wrong, hence their decision to keep these places in secrecy.
Young concluded on a personal note. He stated that he is disappointed by the lack of human care for animal rights. He said that even though people know that animals are being tortured and tested inhumanely daily, no one does anything about it. People may write essays and letters concerning this topic, but that does not compare to actually going out and lobbying. The difference between fighting on paper and fighting in reality is that when one investigate in person, he or she actually sees what he is fighting for. He advises activists to not just know what they are fighting for, but to see it first-hand. What he had seen in the past motivated all his efforts. In his conclusion, he also told us that we should consider turning vegan, as he has been vegan for fourteen years. At least by doing so, we would not be the reason for the mass-slaughtering of animals.
The part I liked best was the ways in which Peter advised people to become active about animal rights. He said that if you are dedicated to what you are fighting for, you need to win in mass numbers. He encouraged people to encourage others to show a sense of concern and care. He said that although it is cliché, “one person can make a difference.” It only takes one person to record what goes on in a lab or slaughterhouse and expose it to the media. He finally said, “don’t just get upset when you see photos, get angry and do something.”
Overall, I enjoyed listening to Peter Young’s story since I am also an animal-lover. I learned the elaborate details on a story about a young man who actively fought for animal rights, something is passionate about. What Young did amazed me; I never even realized just how possible it was for one person to free so many minks. I am now interested in participating in a one-day project that helps or allows people to interact with animals. I know this event definitely touched the audience, since it touched me. I am sure at least one person in the audience must have also felt inspired to engage in some kind of beneficial act towards animals after attending this event. Attending this event was a worthwhile experience.