Animal Liberation Press salutes suicide...

The man in the story below died:



I got an email from the ferret fetishists over at the "Animal Liberation Press," a sort of clearinghouse for the cowards who burn down research labs while under the impression that the universe is better off for their having existed.

Serious news.

A man set himself on fire Wednesday outside Ungar Furs in Portland, Oregon. After dousing himself with gasoline, he attempted to enter the store, shouting “There are animals dying! Animals dying!” After police extinguished the flames, he was taken to Legacy Emanuel Hospital where he later died.

Wait, so it wasn't just a suicide? He was attempting to burn down the building with him? With people in there? Keep that in mind.

The man was identified as 26-year-old Daniel Shaull from Kansas. Among the local activists I have spoken to, none are familiar with Shaull by name, nor recognized him as being a part of the active, long-running campaign against Ungar Furs. Yet the location and witness reports strongly indicate this man sacrificed himself to bring attention to the horrific treatment of animals on fur farms.

[...]

Ungar Furs is a retail fur store in Portland which has been the target of a prolific campaign by local activists. Ungar became a target after frequent protests successfully closed another Portland fur store, Schumacher Furs. The owners of Schumacher Furs gave animal rights activists full credit for shutting them down in 2007.

Amidst a range of speculation, I think it is important to assume this is a genuine action by a person driven to make the ultimate sacrifice by the severity of animal suffering.

Assume nothing. According to KATU news:

The father of a man who set himself on fire Wednesday in downtown Portland and died from the subsequent injuries said his son had mental issues and had tried suicide before.

Hey, but when life gives you turds, animal liberationists make turd pies! I don't know what "genuine action" is supposed to mean, but a mentally ill, suicidal man's immolation-o-gram can't possibly be anything but very, very sad. He was not in control of himself. But let's give you guys the benefit of the doubt and say that he was sane. Then he tried to set a store on fire with people inside it. He would rather people die than raccoons. (What, you think they are using high quality fur?) There is no way that this guy can be justifiably raised to "martyr" status.

When every legal channel to affect change is closed, people will increasingly be driven to actions which bring both attention to the plight of animals, and a disruptive effect to those who kill them.

Please set yourself on fire, Jerry Vlasik. Please, please, please, please.

Shaull is not the first to give his life in the U.S. animal liberation struggle. This is a time to remember William Rodgers, who took his life in an Arizona jail in 2005 while being held for numerous Animal Liberation Front actions. It is also a time to remember Alex Slack, who took his life while awaiting trial for the A.L.F. bombing of the Utah Fur Breeder’s Agricultural Cooperative in 1999.

Criminals who were about to face the music for what they had done? If I had done what they had done, I'd be in prison too and I'd deserve to be. I thought that was the whole point for you people. You aren't doing anything daring, or at least not making a protest that is worth a damn, unless you have something to sacrifice. And they wanted out? Should have thought about that before joining the militant wing of the ASPCA!

If anyone knows Daniel Shaull, please contact Voice of the Voiceless, so that we can make the full story of this action known.

"We would like to exploit the mentally ill for our own purposes!" Seriously. His father even said he WASN'T AN ANIMAL RIGHTS NUT. Your glorying in the death of a sick person and wearing the mantle of their suffering is at least as sick as wearing a fur coat.

To those who claim the animal rights movement is “violent”, this action should be yet another reminder that every casualty to date has fallen on our side. Daniel Shaull is just the latest victim.

EVERY SINGLE PERSON YOU MENTIONED KILLED HIMSELF! It's self-inflicted violence, which is actually a metaphor for certain segments of the animal rights movement, as you are looking to shut down industries that greatly enhance human life. This was not a sacrifice; there is nothing redemptive about a sick man's suicide.

HJ