Since I left the Buffalo Nations camp last month, 13
bison have been captured and
sent to the slaughterhouse. Eleven were males which means there was no
chance they could have been infectious carriers of the disease
brucellosis which
is the state of Montana's excuse for killing the bison.
The only risk posed to Montana's cattle is from
infectious pregnant female bison
since the bacteria is transmitted by contaminated abortion tissue. (And
this risk
is zero since cattle aren't allowed to graze near Yellowstone Park until
June.)
Nevertheless, the government of Montana continues to kill bison who
wander on
public land in the Gallatin National Forest. Five members of the
activist group
Buffalo Nations have been arrested for trying to prevent the capture and
kill
process, on such charges as trespass and interfering with government
officials.
We at Animal Rights Online believe that civil
disobedience is sometimes justified
by the commission of a greater wrong such as what the state of Montana
is doing
to the bison. AROnline would never encourage its readers to throw fake
blood on
a fur coat nor urge you to throw a pie in the face of someone like, oh,
say,
Governor Marc Racicot of Montana.
But there is a legal virtual sit in tomorrow, Monday,
Feb. 8 at 12 noon until 6pm
EST that you can join if you feel this issue merits it. The decision is
up to you.
Tomorrow a new web site promoting the state of Montana goes active
online. A
Virtual sit-in is planned, by bison rescuers, to protest Montana's
killing of the
bison. If this one goes well, it will continue on Tuesday, and so on
until a clear
statement has been made about the 15 bison killed so far.
This action will not cause any damage to Montana state
official's computers nor
in any other way disrupt the state's business. What it will do is make
the
Montana state website overcrowded and unavailable for other people to
visit. The
webmasters know of this planned action and know that this is a protest
of their
cruel and unnecessary policies of killing the buffalo of Yellowstone.
Here is how you can participate if you are so inclined.
The following sites have a cgi (Java) program that will automatically
"reload" a
targeted web site about 20/30 times a minute. With a few hundred people
doing
this, it essentially overloads the web site and makes it "unavailable".
On Monday at Noon EST, go to one of these sites and
click on "Begin Flooding"
at the bottom of the page. (Be sure to follow the set up instructions
first, which
instruct you to turn off your Java script, if you are using Internet
explorer choose
view, then options, then advanced, then click There are also
instructions for
turning off your temporary internet files):
http://www.geocities.com/rainforest/jungle/1097/ddkfoyer.htm
http://www.geocities.com/athens/rhodes/3876/ddkfoyer.htm
http://www.geocities.com/broadway/wing/6318/ddkfoyer.htm
Go to the site early to read the instructions. If you
leave the ddkfoyer.htm off of
the url address you go to a directory where you can find more
information about
the site.
Another thing that makes your protest efforts more
effective is for you to open a
"New Navigator Window" and have all three sites going at once on three
different
Navigator Windows. This is like visiting three favorite places at the
same time.
The browser will be doing the work automatically. It won't interfere
with any other
work you are doing.
By taking part in this virtual sit-in you are not
causing any real damage, but you
are helping to send a message to the state of Montana that the
unnecessary
killing of the Yellowstone buffalo must end.
Remember that this is not a game, but is like going to a
real protest, so look to
your own conscience for guidance.
If you would rather use email or snail mail to protest
Montana's policies, please
go to the Buffalo Nations website for the addresses of the involved
parties.
Just say NO! Your words make a difference!!!
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo/field989/contacts.html
For the latest news on the bison visit the following
website frequently:
http://www.wildrockies.org/buffalo
Go on to
725 Reasons
Return to 7 February 1999 Issue
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