The successful prosecution of two stag hunters who were found guilty of hunting under the Hunting Act 2004 is testimony to its effectiveness. The League Against Cruel Sports brought the prosecution using its Hunt Crimewatch Campaign and Prosecution Unit.
It’s a Miracle!
Nearly five weeks after we landed in Southampton on The Queen Mary 2, we have settled into a 8.5 feet wide, 4-storey, Georgian terrace (American: row) house in Hastings Old Town. And, at last, we have continuous wireless Internet access and a landline to make cheap phone calls from. We discovered our cell (American: mobile) phones do not work well in the buildings in the Old Town because it’s set in a valley. So, we join with others in standing in the street to make and receive calls. Anyway, and more importantly, all this means that normal blogging will be resumed.
Let’s Go to Paris Now!
Apparently, the Paris Regional Tourism Committee is using this photo to attract Londoners to go to Paris. I’ve booked my ticket. Have you?
A Quick Update from Hastings
Reestablishing oneself in another country, albeit the country of one’s birth, is a process that can best be described as three steps and two steps back. The two greatest challenges have been sporadic access to the Internet and the UK credit companies failing to recognize our excellent US credit ratings. In this day and age of globalization you would think that the latter wouldn’t be an issue but it is. My UK credit rating is more like someone who is nineteen than someone of my mature years. Apparently, I have to establish three months of UK credit before I’m allowed to do anything. And this impacts the ability to access the Internet. Before the Grumpy Vegan even arrived in Southampton on the Queen Mary 2 I knew that I would obtain a Blackberry straight away so that I could email and call people internationally. But my juvenile UK credit history did me in. I’m making do with a cheap phone that allows me to only make expensive calls within the UK. So frustrating.
But there’s good news. This weekend the Grumpy Vegan and his human and feline companions move into our new home–a 9 foot wide, centuries old house in the middle of Hastings Old Town. Heavenly, it’s midway between a pub with excellent vegan food and an extensive, well-organized used bookstore. What more could one want? Well, actually, there’s the launderette across the street and further down the road an organic market and bakery. We take occupancy of our new office space on August 1. Slowly but surely, the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle of life are being put together to make a picture of a new life in Hastings.
Meanwhile, we’ve taken some time out to do some quintessentially English things. For example, we went to the Hampton Court Flower Show on the River Thames just outside London. It was packed with people and exhibits from azaleas to zinnias and much else besides. There were complete gardens as exhibits and displays of vegetables. It what seemed like a dream we came across a corner of the show whose perimeter consisted of various food stalls while in the middle, surrounded by happy gardeners clustered in groups on the tables and chairs eating, on a small raised gazebo a male singer in an evening jacket serenaded us with ballads normally heard sung by the likes of Frank Sinatra.
We also went to a recording of BBC’s Just a Minute, a radio quiz show that’s been running for some 40 years. The contestants, who are usually comics but are sometimes actors and politicians, have to speak for 60 seconds on a given subject without hesitation, deviation and repetition. It was a lot of fun and I’m sorry to say such entertainment could only happen in Britain. If only the world were as silly as we are.
A Friend and Mentor
Throughout the 30 plus years I’ve worked in the UK and US animal rights movements, I’ve had the good fortune to work with some of the most inspirational people I’ve been lucky to meet. One of them is Ken Shapiro, who is my colleague and mentor at the Animals and Society Institute (ASI).
Our first opportunity to work closely together was in 1993 when I became the editor in chief of The Animals’ Agenda and Ken was the president of the board of its not-for-profit publisher, the Animal Rights Network.
To say that the magazine and the organization were seriously challenged back then is to significantly understate the situation. The previous regime had left Agenda financially and programmatically bankrupt. I inherited the Herculean task of publishing every two months a quality publication with minimal resources. Ken stood by me as I struggled to raise funds to keep the magazine in production and listened patiently as I moaned about these circumstances.
But even more importantly, he inspired me to aspire toward the highest journalistic standards we could attain. And, when I fell short, he gently and appropriately guided me to understand how the magazine could be even better.
I went to Agenda shortly after leaving People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals as their first executive director. I recall how some in the movement thought I would turn Agenda into a platform to showcase PETA and its programs. I’m pleased to say that we proved them wrong. Our focus was always on the issue of how animals are treated and what the reader could do about it. If we showcased anything it was the “Unsung Heroes” in the movement and the “Happy Endings,” the heart-warming stories of rescued animals. Inevitably, we were to upset someone. This goes with the turf of publishing a magazine. You simply cannot please all of the people all of the time. Ken always stood by us and helped us greatly during these (thankfully rare) trying periods.
More importantly, however, is Ken’s work with the emerging academic field of Human Animal Studies. As far as I’m concerned he leads the way in this pioneering and innovative academic endeavor. As editor of Society & Animals and the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, Ken provides the platform for students, scholars and policy makers to explore how we figure in the lives of animals and they in ours. This summer, Ken is leading ASI’s first summer scholarship program at the North Carolina State University, which is home to the Tom Regan Animal Rights Archive. Thanks to Ken, we see increasing numbers of scholars in the social sciences and humanities speaking with authority about the moral and legal status of animals.
The Friday before we left to return to England, Ken and I and our partners got together in the vegetarian cafe, Liquid Earth, in Fells Point, Baltimore for a farewell lunch. There may be more miles between us now than ever before but I’m so very proud to say that Ken will be always a close friend and esteemed colleague.
A Fortnight In Hastings
The end of our first two weeks in Hastings. At last it feels as if we’re making progress. We found a centuries-old house to rent in the Old Town to live in and converted stables, which is home to artists, artisans and small businesses, to open our office. We’re scheduled to take occupancy of them later this month. There’s still much to do, however. But I look forward to getting back to work with a new routine.
We’ve met some entertaining, intriguing and talented people in Hastings. The town continues to fascinate. The weather does not, however. It’s been raining for days and the forecast for the rest of the week is heavy showers. Mmmmm.
This week, We look forward to seeing a recording of BBC Radio’s Just a Minute, which is the game show where the contestants have to speak for 60 seconds on a given subject without hesitation, repetition and deviation. Attending this hilariously silly show will confirm that, yes, we’re living in Britain again.
I’m reading Andrew Marr’s A History of Modern Britain to reframe myself from the US to the UK. So far, it’s a great read and informative. Which is also how I would describe Al Gore’s The Assault on Truth.
On lighter but equally serious matters, we’ve found three drinking holes to cherish. The first is “Pour Boys” and is run by Andy, who says he’s an “American married to a European.” It’s a small bar in what must have been a storefront. Only two types of beer are offered: Kirin Ichiban and Staropramen (spelling may not be correct!). We idly watch the locals some of whom drop by for a quick with their dog and bags of shopping from the supermarket opposite. This is bar is clearly a favorite with local artists and musicians. Then, in the Old Town, there’s the Jenny Lind with excellent vegan meals and First In Last Out, which offers delicious beer brewed on its premises.
