(And a shout out to bc in Rochester, too)
Posted on 02/03/2003 9:31:20 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
AUBURN - With a Bible in his left hand, Bill Atkinson quoted scripture Sunday to explain why he thought it was wrong to participate in this past weekend's controversial crow hunt.
Wearing a black fedora and a long coat, Atkinson, 51, a member of the First Love Ministries in Auburn, said it doesn't take going any further than the Ten Commandments to show his disdain of the two-day event that downed 380 crows - "Thou shall not kill."
"It's incredibly shameful that they are killing these birds. It's got to come to an end," he said. "Personally, I'm glad the crows are here. So what, they mess on sidewalks."
Atkinson was among 60 crow supporters and animal rights activists in front of Memorial City Hall Sunday afternoon who protested the crow shoot. Many were college students from Rochester and Ithaca who came to Auburn after hearing two local businessmen were organizing the county-wide crow hunt.
A few of the demonstrators were members or represented state and national groups - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, The Fund for Animals, People for Animal Rights and Animal Rights Advocates of Upstate New York. Members of the local group, Save the Crows, organized the demonstration.
They carried signs that read "Guns, Gomers, Blood and Beer in Auburn, N.Y.," "Shoot Pool, Not Crows" and "Live and Let Live: Stop the Slaughter." They all had the same message - crows shouldn't be hunted. Some handed out pamphlets that espoused arguments for people to become vegetarian.
Kara Timmons of Skaneateles brought her 19-month-old son, Keith, who was bundled up and sat quietly in his stroller as speeches were made and protesters talked among themselves about why they were against the crow shoot.
"I love crows. What does this teach our children? When we have a problem, we bring out guns. We're doing that all over the world," she said, referring to the pending war against Iraq.
Some commented how they were there letting people know peacefully how they stand, while the hunters were at Spinouts Tavern, where they were celebrating the kill.
"Yes, crows were killed here this weekend," said Save the Crows founder Steve Johnson. "Even as we stand here, the contestants are a few blocks away counting dead crows, getting drunk and bragging to each other and the press about how great hunters they are to have killed so many little birds.
"Do not be disheartened. These birds did not die in vain, and even though we did not stop the shoot altogether, our efforts were not wasted. We have been successful," Johnson said.
Every so often, the protesters were acknowledged by motorists beeping their car horns as they drove by the South Street building. At one point, a teen-ager hung out of a passenger window of a speeding red car yelling, "We're going to kill crows."
Other than that, the protest and the party at Spinouts Tavern went on without an incident. But earlier in the day, four animal rights activists were arrested for trespassing on a Scipio farm, where some of the crow hunting was taking place.
State police arrested Bryan W. Pease, 24, of Liverpool; Aashish Chetan Bhimani, 23, of Burk, Va.; Dawn Marie Ratcliff, 30, of Tacoma Park, Md.; and Catherine Ellen Rogers, 18, of Chicago, Ill. They were arraigned before Niles Town Justice Richard Winters. Bhimani, Ratcliff and Rogers were committed to the Cayuga County jail on $200 bail, while Pease, who was also arrested Saturday, had his bail set at $400.
All four were released after posting bail later in the day.
At the rally at City Hall, Kim Gorall, a longtime animal rights activist from Victor, asked the demonstrators to contribute to "their legal defense fund" that would be used to bail them out, she said.
Hunter Brian Camp, whose team bagged nine crows over the two days, said he had the four arrested because they were on his property in Scipio and wouldn't leave.
"They stopped by the side of the road and I asked them what they wanted," Camp said. "They said they wanted to save innocent lives."
During the protest, Auburn city police drove by to make sure the event was peaceful. Police Chief Gary Giannotta stopped by before and during the protest to see how things were going.
"It's quiet. I really didn't expect any problems," he said.
It was also a quiet weekend for animal rehabilitator Trudy Gaertner, who waited for any wounded birds to be brought to her center in Springport. None were dropped off. But that doesn't mean there won't be. Injured birds might be discovered in the days to come, she said.
"They suffer in silence. You could be right next to one and not know it," she said.
Rita Sarnicola, who helped organize the protest, said the group's work is not finished. She said she hopes to network with the state and national animal rights activists, do more research and find out more of the legal aspects of the issue, "so this never happens again."
It's amazing. Simply amazing.
(And a shout out to bc in Rochester, too)
"Yes, crows were killed here this weekend," said Save the Crows founder Steve Johnson. "Even as we stand here, the contestants are a few blocks away counting dead crows, getting drunk and bragging to each other and the press about how great hunters they are to have killed so many little birds.
Dang it - I never get invited to the good parties...
Oh, shooting the OTHER crow...
Puh-leeze.
Its getting stranger over there by the minute.
A great site for those who are really into hunting those "rats with wings".
The Hebrew is "Thou shalt not MURDER." Killing is approved of in war, animal husbandry and farming. Imagine all the earthworms annihilated by the plow.
To be true to their cause, enviro wackos must commit suicide. For even hunter gatherers ingest the odd bug, and trample mosquitoe larvae.
Hey Liberal, loosen up!!
ROTFLOL
Stop yer killing me here!!
Yeah, I guess it's too much to expect them to mention why there was a crow hunt to begin with. That having been said, the local farmer where I grew up would to pay us a buck a crow to shoot them in his fields.
Thanks for the tip on the cool site. It's illegal to shoot crows in WA -- darnnit! :^(
You beat me to it.
That is a magpie not a crow.
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