Friday, January 29, 2010

The ultiate sacrifice to fight animal cruelty

Father: Son who burned himself alive was a troubled genius

Warren Shaull, the father of Daniel Shaull, 26, talked to KATU News shortly after hearing about his son’s death.

“Because of the way that he thinks, maybe he thought that was the only way out,” Warren Shaull said. He added that Daniel may have become convinced “that nothing was ever going to change and there was nothing he could do about it."

According to witnesses, Daniel Shaull doused himself with gasoline and then lit the fuel while he stood outside the Portland furrier Nicholas Ungar Furs, located in downtown Portland.

The business has been the target of protests by animal rights groups for the past several years.

Man Sets Himself on Fire at Portland Fur Store

Jan 28th, 2010 by Peter Young

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.

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.

A news report, which aired prior to Shaull being announced dead, can be viewed here.

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 as to the man’s true motives, 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. 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.

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.

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

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.

“If this is what the world has made of us, then let it live with the consequences”.

-Peter Young

Contact: info@voiceofthevoiceless.org or email VOV here.
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Portland fur shop to pay fine of $40,000
Nicholas Ungar Furs is accused of selling coats and other items made from pelts of endangered or banned species

Thursday, September 15, 2005
NOELLE CROMBIE

Nicholas Ungar Furs to Pay Fine of $40,000

author: IDA reposted by beagle

Resulting in a tip to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife by In Defense of Animals, Nicholas Unger Furs is fined for at least $40,000 for selling coats and other items made from pelts of endangered or banned species. What a Victory! You can read part of the article below and get the link to the entire article.

It just goes to prove that working, In Defense of Animals, does have its payoffs!

Thanks for all you do for the animals! It's working!

www.furkills.com
www.furisdead.org

In March, James Stinebaugh walked into Nicholas Ungar Furs and asked the boutique owner for help selecting a fur for his wife.

Stinebaugh told Horst Grimm that he was in town on business, according to documents filed in federal court. He said he was shopping for an anniversary present and wanted something "exotic." Grimm, the shop owner, showed him a leopard coat. When Stinebaugh asked to see something made from seal fur, Grimm reached for a $4,500 coat hanging on a rack.

Stinebaugh, it turns out, was a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on an undercover assignment to see if Nicholas Ungar Furs was peddling fur coats made from illicit animal pelts.

To read the entire article visit