2007 has come to a close and Animal Defense League-Los Angeles is asking that each one of you right now sitting at your computer reading this make a RENEWED COMMITMENT to the animals being tortured and killed, by coming out and participating in legal pickets during 2008. However, if you cannot come out to pickets and participate in that very important SPOKE IN THE WHEEL FOR ANIMAL LIBERATION, then we ask that you consider donating to ADL-LA in order to help cover the costs for printing the thousands of leaflets activists hand out, producing the graphic and compelling posters activists carry during protests, and to help pay for some of the legal expenses incurred because the City regularly takes ADL-LA board members to court in an attempt to silence their exposure of Ed Boks and the needless slaughter going on inside LAAS.

Our forefathers fought and died to give us the ability to seek "redress of our grievances". Home demonstrations in America began as early as the colonists who picketed the Boston homes of the English delegates who were taxing them without adequate representation. The strategy of picketing is nothing new and ADL-LA is one of the grass roots groups in Los Angeles to currently exercise this country's hard won constitutional right to do just that. Grass roots activists like those in ADL-LA picket not once or twice a year (which does little to help animals,) but regularly; and this has helped bring much needed exposure and attention to what is happening inside the six city animal Death Camp. Furthermore, not one but two incredibly inept and incompetent employees at LAAS decided to leave in 2007- David Diliberto and Heidi Hubner. ADL-LA cannot take the credit for this, however, it is a typical result of what happens when those who are responsible and complicit in animal abuse and death are exposed, and ADL-LA certainly plays a role in exposing those perpetrators -- ANIMAL ABUSE CAN'T STAND THE SPOTLIGHT!

Of course the city has always hated and persecuted activists who bring the abuse and the abusers into the spot light; and Ed Boks, Jimmy Blackman and others have been doing their best to cover up what goes on inside LAAS. Boks's current mission in order to keep his $165,000.00 per year appointment is to focus on confusing the public and the city by lying about kill numbers, cooking the books and announcing progress and programs at LAAS that are non-existent. But at least now, most people in the humane community know that he's used these very same shady schemes in both Arizona and NYC and ended up having to leave both places after his "schtick" was discovered and those in power wised up!

A lot of concerned individuals are still sitting in front of their computers hoping that letters to their representatives and complaining about animals killed by posting to Craig's list will result in the drastic changes needed to save animals. But as history has proven many times over, this alone will never attain the goals the animals deserve. It also seems apparent that today, many in our society are just too comfortable and privileged to risk being hassled at a picket or to put in the time, effort and expense to travel and participate in protests regularly. They appreciate those who do, but they just can't bring themselves to actually participate themselves. Add to this the police repression activists have experienced in LA over the past several years which has resulted in many actually being afraid to come out to pickets! One silver lining however, is that underground actions on behalf of animals has gone up; perhaps some of those individuals choosing not to participate in above ground legal pickets are doing so not out of fear, but out of wanting to ratchet the animal liberation movement up a notch by doing the most important work for the animals underground.

Whatever YOUR reason for not coming out to protests on behalf of the animals and fulfilling your basic constitutional right of freedom of speech and the right to protest, we beg that you at least consider helping out by providing the necessary funds for those activists who do make the effort and travel long distances with little to no money; as well as all the other expenses we as unpaid ADL-LA volunteers incur.

Let's hope that in 2008 true experts will be brought in to consult and make sure that humane No Kill programs, protocols and policies are implemented at LAAS, so that ADL-LA can move on and begin to expose the cruelty of pet shops and breeders.

Please don't wait! Help activists take to the streets and achieve our goals of animal liberation by sending a contribution right now to:

ADL-LA at 171 Pier Ave. #453 Santa Monica, CA, 90405. You can also use PayPal your donation by going to www.animaldefense.com/Donate.html and clicking on the PayPal icon. Since ADL-LA is a 501(c)3, you can get a tax write-off as well!

Thanks for your support,
Animal Defense League-LA