|
 |
Tiger Truck's Free Speech Threatened |  |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dear Friends, The appearance of the Tiger video truck in Los Angeles apparently hit the Duff camp very hard. That's understandable. The images of animals brutally treated in rodeos, and bleeding out in bullrings, with a website connecting Hilary Duff to the carnage, undoubtedly hit her public relations people very hard. Monday, we received a civil citation from the city of West Hollywood claiming that we violated a ban on advertising via mobile billboards.
This is interesting, since the Tiger has been in
West
Hollywood on many campaigns in the past five
years,
spending multiple nights in the area each time, and
we have never been cited before. Could it
be that the Tiger has passed notice previously?
Hardly. SHARK alerts every media outlet in the LA
area when we arrive and the Tiger passes police
vehicles every night. But this story gets better. The citation accurately notes that this is the first citation issued to us. The citation form includes three options. The recipient may receive a warning, an order to remedy, or an order to pay. Code Compliance Officer Dave Williams chose to mark the to "Order to Pay Box", with a penalty of $1,050.00. That's right folks “one thousand and fifty dollars"! Someone in West Hollywood really doesn't like us, and although we'll probably never be able to prove this, I think I smell some Duff stuff here. The Tiger has been in West Hollywood too many times without incident, and then just as the National Enquirer article comes out exposing Hilary Duff, we are cited, not in person when we were there for 7 nights in a row, but by mail, as if someone called the City of West Hollywood afterwards to apply pressure. We were given a ticket in spite of the fact that the truck clearly does not fit the ordinance's description, and in spite of no previous violation, a heavy fine is imposed. I knew the Tiger would catch the Duff campaign's attention, that's why it was there. Apparently it worked even better than we had hoped! A quick Google search of "West Hollywood Hilary Duff" produced numerous news and entertainment articles about Hilary Duff making appearances in West Hollywood. The girl apparently likes to hang out there, just as we anticipated, and so she doesn't want the people in her stomping ground to know what she is all about. SHARK will obviously fight this ridiculous attempt to intimidate us and chill our First Amendment rights. We will keep you updated on the developments of this story. Now I can't wait to get back to the Tiger, and specifically to back to West Hollywood!
No entertainer should perform and support events where animals are dragged off to certain death.
This is Hilary Duff's opportunity to get herself out of
a
jam, and to actually be the first to take a
"Compassionate Performer Pledge" that
other performers will be asked to take if we find
they are involved in promoting animal abuse.
I pledge not to promote, perform at, or participate in any event that involves physical harm to animals. This includes, but is not limited to rodeos, bullfights, and circuses. I further pledge that I will not perform at any facility whose stated purpose promotes inflicting harm on animals. This includes but is not limited to bullrings. SHARK expects that soon enough compassionate fans around the globe will urge Hilary, and other entertainers, to be among the first to take the Pledge!
There are three important updates regarding our website exposing Hilary Duff. First, we changed the official name to: HilaryDuffisCruel.com.DumpDuff.com still works, and simply takes you to the newly named site. The name change is designed to be less confusing to people viewing the Tiger video screens. We want people to know exactly who we are talking about, and to give them an idea of what the problem is. The second website update is that we now have a comment section where you can post your thoughts about Hilary Duff's promotion of animal abuse. I invite and encourage everyone receiving this update to weigh in on the Hilary Duff controversy. The third website addition is that we have included the list of humane organizations that have signed their opposition to rodeo animal abuse, so that Ms. Duff can see for herself that the condemnation by people who care about animals is universal.
The final and perhaps most important website update
is that we now have the same video played on
the
Tiger
Truck on our website, so you can see what
people on
the streets of LA saw, and will be seeing, when I
return to LA (especially West Hollywood) in about
three weeks. Be warned that this is a sad and
gruesome video.
No more days at the rodeo for animals in Vancouver! Vancouver Humane Society says decision should send message: "Vancouver City Council's decision to ban rodeo events in the city, the first of its kind in Canada, is a victory for the humane treatment of animals," says the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS). The council voted at its May 16 meeting to prohibit a number of inhumane rodeo activities, which, in effect, will prevent rodeos from ever taking place in Vancouver. "This decision enhances Vancouver's reputation as a progressive city with heart," said VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker. "It shows that Vancouver will no longer tolerate the abuse of animals for entertainment." "VHS hopes the ban will send a message to other communities that rodeo is no longer acceptable in modern society. We hope Surrey City Council will follow Vancouver's lead and phase out the Cloverdale Rodeo," said Fricker. VHS has proposed to Surrey council that the rodeo be replacedwith a country music festival � a proposal backed by the BC SPCA. Rodeo last took place in Vancouver in 1997, but VHS was concerned that the rodeo industry might attempt to use the 2010 Winter Olympics as an opportunity to showcase itself. Rodeo was featured in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City as one of the cultural events, despite protests from the public and animal protection groups. "Rodeo is based on animals' reactions to pain, fear and stress," said Fricker. "It's animal abuse, plain and simple. We're glad it will never happen in Vancouver again." Now if we can just get the rest of Canada to ban the seal slaughter...
Please send your donation to support SHARK's vital work on our current campaigns and to help fight this outrageous $1,050 bogus fine and violation of our First Amendment rights. Every dollar is needed and appreciated!
Kindest Regards,
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
