Submitted by Animal Defense League – Southern California:
On December 19, Animal Defense League Southern California conducted a demonstration against Saks Fifth Avenue. We had announced the event on Facebook, and in response Saks hired a private army of thirty security guards, with at least four blocking every door, turning away pedestrians and bringing to mind the image of a bunker in wartime.
Comically, Saks thinks throwing away this money can intimidate us out of exercising our First Amendment rights to speak up for the animals they torture. On the contrary, we love watching them dig themselves further into debt, while their building is already set to be auctioned off due to defaulting on their lease. Their parent company recently went private to enrich a small collection of shareholders, selling assets and sequestering the proceeds in a Bermuda shell company, then losing a lawsuit to their creditors.
Of course, we had studied the ridiculous rent-a-cop charade prior to our meetup, and thought it best to show up an hour later than expected and spend only five minutes outside the store. The joke is on you, Saks. You tried to pressure us, but it seems that you were the ones feeling the pressure.
Saks worries that we may breach their entrances and engage in an in-store disruption, as other activists have in the past. What they do not understand is that the beauty of the international campaign against them is its diversity of tactics. We spent five minutes this time; we may spend two hours the next. Even if we don’t bother showing up, when they squander extravagant sums on personnel like they did today, we win automatically.
It is time for Saks to follow in the footsteps of their competitors and go fur-free.