It shouldn't surprise ADL-LA or any other grass roots animal rights group that many animal welfare organizations which are profit-driven, compromise and even sell out the very principles they are supposed to uphold. But being a witness to this type of behavior by certain organizations still saddens grass roots and independent activists whose true commitment is to the liberation of animals and NOT to profit, greed or political gain.

As we witnessed a month or so ago, HSUS and its president Wayne Pacelle invited and intended to honor Antonio Villaraigosa at the Genesis awards to presumably further Pacelle's political ambitions; and now we come to find out that Worldfest is selling out the animals for their own profit.

Rather than these so called animal welfare groups taking a stand on principle and disassociating themselves with individuals like Mayor Villaraigosa, they get into the same bed with him for their own self interests! Antonio Villaraigosa has caused the deaths of thousands of shelter animals by appointing the inept, incompetent fraud Ed Boks to be General Manager of LAAS (this was in exchange for a large campaign contribution to Villaraigosa's furture gubernatorial run.) In addition to this, he also went back on his campaign pledge to send Gita and two other LA Zoo elephants held captive for years to a sanctuary, so they could have lived out the rest of their lives in peace with other elephants.

A few months after Antonio Villaraigosa went back on his campaign pledge, the lovely Gita died alone and in misery on a cement slab floor at the LA Zoo; and in the first quarter of this year alone, shelter murders are up over 24% under his appointee, Ed Boks.

Worldfest began ten years ago as an event to celebrate, embrace and educate the public as to all the spokes in the wheel that make up the vegan/animal rights and environmental movements. The producers of the event accepted everyone who paid for a booth, from the most timid animal welfare groups to the most militant and passionate. The producers of Worldfest and members of the public who attended may not have agreed with the information being given out at all the booths, but no one could deny that each one was trying to do their part for animals. There will always be disagreements in the strategies used to fight for true animal liberation, as there were in all previous historical struggles and movements of the past. But those of us with a historical framework realize that all previous social struggles before us and surely those to follow, use many weapons in their arsenal of tactics. And even though we may not personally agree with some of those tactics, we must respect the fact that all are needed to win animal liberation.

Unfortunately the Worldfest board of directors and producers have turned the original idea of Worldfest into a profit-driven, narrow-minded corporate caricature of it's former self.

An animal rights booth was banned from this past Saturday's Worldfest event, even though the group had sent in their credit card number and contract months ago; furthermore, no one at Worldfest had the courtesy nor the professionalism to inform them they would be turned away from the event when they arrived Saturday morning to set up their booth. The reason given as to why they had been banned was this: Jill Hahn and Billy Hulting, co-producers of the event, along with the board of directors were upset that the WIFE of Jerry Vlasak had protested Antonio Villaraigosa two years ago at their Worldfest event. Therefore, the North American Animal Liberation Press Office (www.animalliberationpressoffice.org) was banned from Worldfest.

The irony is that the organization banned from having a booth at Saturday's Worldfest event is not a protesting organization and therefore had nothing to do with the protest of Villaraigosa, except for the fact that the wife of a press officer had been one of the participants in the protest against Villaraigosa two years ago.

This incident highlights the petty and retaliatory corporate mind-set that has become Worldfest, an organization willing to exclude animal advocates from their event simply because a family member of that group was unwilling to watch Worldfest honor the man who caused the premature death of Gita, prolonging her imprisonment alone without any stimulation on cement at the LA Zoo.

But a question we should all be asking ourselves now, is why would Worldfest organizers have invited someone who actually has caused harm and death to animals to speak at Worldfest in the first place? We believed before Saturday that it was a complete oversight and mistake two years ago and that Worldfest should be given the benefit of the doubt; but guess what we found out at the end of the day? Worldfest had invited Villaraigosa to speak AGAIN this year! Now we look at the banning of any and all animal rights groups as a badge of honor because what true animal rights organization would want a booth at an event who honors someone who they know is responsible for the harm and death of animals?

But as the righteous say "what goes around, comes around" and this seems to have come true for Worldfest. It seems this year most of the people who paid the ten dollars to go to the event were disappointed by everything from the music to the booths (which included Radio Disney, ING. Inc., the New York Times and the LA Times subscription booths) and said they will not be returning next year.

There is ONE silver lining for the animals however; a source who wants to remain nameless informed ADL-LA that Mayor Villaraigosa's office declined the offer to speak at Saturday's Worldfest event stating he had "other commitments!"