AR2007 SUMMARY REPORT
More
than a thousand participants and visitors from throughout
the U.S. and ten other countries attended
the Animal
Rights 2007 National Conference on July 19-23 in Los Angeles. In addition, an unprecedented
number of visitors responded to our extensive local advertising to partake of free
exhibits and one free session.
A record-breaking 97 speakers from 70 groups presented
in 120 sessions. Nearly 90
organizations exhibited their literature
and merchandise. More than 50 documentaries of
animal abuse and protective actions were screened,
including three premiere showings.
Highlights included:
 Workshops on countering Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act- Global Warming panels on saving wildlife and reducing emissions with vegan diets
- Paul Watson's eyewitness account
of Sea Shepherd's confrontation with
Japanese whalers in the Antarctic
- Celebrity
Animal Advocate awards to BOSTON's
Tom Scholz and Goldfinger's John Feldmann
- U.S.
Animal Rights Hall of Fame awards
to James LaVeck & Jenny
Stein (Tribe of Heart) and
 Kevin
Kjonaas (SHAC USA)
- The newly named Henry
Spira Grassroots Activist Award to
Saurabh Dalal (Vegetarian Society
of DC)
- Live phone Q&A
session with vegan presidential candidate
Dennis Kucinich
- Presentation
on animals in politics by the world's
first national legislator elected on an
animal rights platform (in the Netherlands)
- Creation of a new People of Color Caucus - click here for details
Get More with the AR2007
Audio Recordings, YouTube
Videos, and Photo
Gallery.
AR2007 Awards
U.S.
Animal Rights Hall of Fame Awards
 James
LaVeck & Jenny Stein and Kevin
Kjonaas were elected to the prestigious U.S.
Animal Rights Hall of Fame by AR2007
speakers.
James and Jenny began producing animal rights documentaries
when they met Eddie Lama
at AR1997. The resulting
award-winning documentary "The Witness" chronicled
Eddie's transformation
into an animal rights activist. They have since produced "Peaceable
Kingdom" addressing the tragedy of animal  agriculture.
Kevin founded and led
SHAC USA, devoted to exposing and stopping
animal cruelty at New Jersey's Huntington
Life Sciences Laboratory. He is currently
serving a six-year prison sentence, under
the Animal
Enterprise Protection Act, along with five colleagues,
for posting anti-HLS information on their
website. The sentence is under appeal.
Current members of the Hall of Fame include Cleveland Amory, Peter Singer, Henry Spira, Paul Watson, Howard Lyman, Ingrid Newkirk, Alex Pacheco, Bruce Friedrich, Alex Hershaft, Elliot Katz, and Gretchen Wyler.
Henry Spira Grassroots
Activist Award
Vegetarian
Society of DC president Saurabh Dalal received
the newly renamed Henry Spira Grassroots Activist
Award. Henry Spira, who died in 1998, was our movement's pioneer grassroots activist.
Saurabh was cited for
his transformation of a sleepy local vegetarian
group into one of the world's largest and
most active vegetarian societies and for
volunteer consulting for several national
animal rights organizations.
Celebrity Animal
Advocate Awards
Musicians Tom Scholz and John
Feldmann received the Celebrity Animal
 Advocates Awards.
Tom
Scholz founded the famed rock
band BOSTON in
1976, after a recording he cut in his basement
studio became the highest selling debut
album ever. He has been vegetarian
for 25 years and is currently vegan. In 1986, he urged his
fans to support FARM and formed a charitable
foundation that raised millions for animal
rights, children, homeless shelters, and
food banks. His foundation
has donated several  million dollars to
those causes.
John Feldmann,
lead singer and guitarist of the band Goldfinger, is a vegan animal rights activist.
With a strong voice for the animals, John
incorporates the vegan message into his music
with songs such as Free Me,
which speaks of the treatment of animals
raised for food, accompanied by a video
of slaughterhouse footage. A supporter of
SHAC, he performs at benefit concerts for Kevin Kjonaas.
Thanks to our Sponsors, Donors, Exhibitors
Generous Conference
Sponsors:
Special Snack-Time Food
Donors:
Exhibitors Galore!
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FARM
(Farm Animal Reform Movement)
