WEEKLY WEGMANS WEDNESDAY WHAMMY!

Each city working on the campaign for the Wegmans hens (www.WegmansCruelty.com) is assigned a different day of the week to generate calls to Wegmans, and Wednesdays belong to Baltimore!

Wegmans is still keeping hens in tiny battery cages without enough room to spread their wings. The company has refused to set up a meeting with activists, and has not responded to two letters from the Humane Society of the United States offering to help them eliminate battery cages. Wegmans needs to be called on this behavior!!

So if everyone could please take a few minutes each Wednesday to call Wegmans, that would be a huge help. Please use a few minutes of your lunch break or coffee break to call Wegmans and speak out for the hens:

To reach Wegmans call 1-800-WEGMANS. Press 1 to enter an extension. Enter 4760 and the # key for Consumer Affairs. You can give your comments to a Consumer Affairs representative, or ask to speak with CEO Danny Wegman. Consumer Affairs representatives are no longer saying they will take messages for Danny Wegman, however there is still no harm in asking to do so.

Comments can be brief and to the point , for example: "Please follow the lead of several of your competitors and eliminate battery cages from your egg farm. Until Wegmans stops keeping hens in battery cages, I will buy eggs elsewhere[if you buy eggs]." The fact that Wegmans sells some eggs from cage-free farms is no excuse for keeping 750,000 birds cramped in tiny battery cages on its own farm. You may also let Wegmans know that you want them to meet with the Humane Society of the United States about improving conditions on the farm. Thanks!

For anyone who is new to the Wegmans campaign, the effort to eliminate battery cages from Wegmans Egg Farm was initiated by Rochester, NY-based Compassionate Consumers (CC). The Baltimore Animal Rights Coalition (BARC) joined the campaign when a Wegmans grocery store opened in Hunt Valley, Maryland in October 2005. Over the past months we have worked closely with Compassionate Consumers as part of a multi-city effort for the hens on Wegmans Egg Farm. CC Activist and filmmaker Adam Durand was sentenced to a six month jail sentence for his part in filming conditions on Wegmans Egg Farm; he is currently free pending his appeal. Compassionate Consumers' film Wegmans Cruelty can be viewed at www.wegmanscruelty.com. Please visit http://wegmanscruelty.blogspot.com/ for the latest news on the campaign and Adam.

Adam's case continues to garner a great deal of media attention for the factory farm conditions he exposed. Defense funds are sorely needed for his appeal; you can donate via PayPal at www.wegmanscruelty.com or send checks to:

Compassionate Consumers
PO Box 18552
Rochester, NY 14618

UPCOMING EVENTS

THIS WEEKEND: WEGMANS DEMONSTRATION

DEMAND THAT WEGMANS GO CAGE-FREE
WHERE: Intersection in front of Wegmans of Hunt Valley (median strips)
122 Shawan Road, Hunt Valley, MD (Near York and Shawan Road)
WHEN: To be announced. Please contact BARCtivist Stew at stewlyons@aol.com for the details.

Signs and literature provided. BARC events are open to everyone, regardless of whether you've come out before, so new people please feel welcome to attend. Thank you!

Wegmans Cruelty on YouTube

Wegmans: Food You Can Feel Good About?

Wegmans protest Sunday July 30!

WEGMANS PROTEST Sunday July 30, 3-4 PM.

Corner of Rt. 29 and Monument Dr. in Fairfax.

(This is right down the street from this Sunday's 1:00-2:30 Petland protest, so you can come to both!)

Hey everybody! There is a weekly protest at Wegmans in Fairfax (see wegmanscruelty.com for more info). We are able to hand literature to people who didn't even know about battery cages before. It is normally on Sundays from 2:30 - 3:30 or 4 PM, but it has only been a couple of protesters each week, so if there is another time that works better for you please email Hannah at hshaw709@yahoo.com or Lisa at lisasaction@rcn.com because we could change the time if enough people respond. But until you hear differently please remember you can come any Sunday. If only one person is there the protest will be canceled, so to be sure you could call Hannah to double check, 571-338-9589, before coming.

Thank you.

Visit the Compassionate Consumers booth and hear Adam Durand speak at AR 2006!
August 10-14, Washington DC

July 30; FUNDRAISER PICNIC FOR ADAM DURAND

Saturday, 22 July 2006

TELL EVERYONE! On Sunday, July 30 the Green Party of Monroe County and Compassionate Consumers will be sponsoring a picnic fundraiser to help with the appeal of Adam Durand, who has risked his freedom to reveal the cruel conditions at Wegmans Egg Farm. There will be food, live music, and fun! Date: Sunday, July 30 Time: 12:00 noon – 5:00 pm Place: Genesee Valley Park, Rochester, NY – Canalside Pavilion Click here for more information on Genesee Valley Park. In 2004 Adam Durand and two others entered New York State's largest egg farm to document the egregious animal cruelty. His organization, Compassionate COnsumers, has since worked to educate the public about this cruelty and convince Wegmans, the farm's owners, to openly disclose and improve the conditions and practices there. Adam was convicted of trespassing for his open actions and has served one month of a six month jail sentence. His story has appeared in over 80 newspapers and TV news programs, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, and ABC "Primetime". Adam is currently out on appeal and needs your help to win his appeal. Please come to the fundraiser. Vegetarian BBQ donated by Soy Boy Music by Deborah Magone at 1:00 pm Music by Gregory Paul at 4:00 pm Bring an instrument to play! ALL THIS FOR $7 PER PERSON AND $3 FOR KIDS UNDER 12! BRING YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY, AND YOUR CHECKBOOK TO SUPPORT ADAM! Contact Ryan with any questions: ryan@compassionateconsumers.org

Barbecue to aid jailed activist

Supporters of a local animal rights activist in jail for trespassing at a Wegmans egg farm have scheduled a vegetarian barbecue to raise funds for his legal campaign.

Adam Durand has served a month in jail on a six-month sentence for trespassing.

Lunch, prepared by Soy Boy, will cost $7 for adults and $3 for children younger than 12. The event is scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Canalside Pavilion in Genesee Valley Park.

The Influence Peddler: Wegmans' Success Makes it a Target

Fortunately, some smart person responded to this guy ...

Kai's Weblog: What's Behind the $6.95 Pants and 3-Cent Eggs?

Wegmans Cruelty in Israel?

May 20, 2006 The Honorable Dennis M. Kehoe Wayne County Court Wayne County Hall of Justice, Rm. 106 54 Broad St. Lyons, NY 14489 Re: Sentencing of Adam Durand Dear Judge Kehoe: In passing sentence on Adam Durand of Compassionate Consumers, you stated that Mr. Durand, convicted for trespassing on Wegmans' Wolcott, New York egg farm in order to film conditions there, behaved in a manner that indicated he felt he was "above the law." It is difficult not to take this statement ironically: What else, one feels compelled to ask, could Mr. Durand have done in order to expose the truth? He requested to be given a tour of Wegmans' egg-laying facility; that request was denied. And while it's true that officials involved in this case (State Police Investigator Frank D'Aurizio and District Attorney Rick Healy, both of whom were instrumental in bringing charges against Mr. Durand) found no proof of animal cruelty, it is also true that chickens confined on egg-laying farms are excluded from protections offered by the Animal Welfare Act, and that the Animal Care Certified (ACC) program, whose seal Wegmans proudly displayed on its egg cartons, placed no prohibitions on the cruelest of standard industry practices. In fact, there is little to no protection afforded to battery-farmed hens, either under the law or by the egg industry itself; whatever is found to be "standard practice" is considered acceptable. The Better Business Bureau, on the other hand, ruled that the ACC certification program was deceptive to consumers. That a deception was being foisted upon the public by Wegmans, and by other owners of battery farms, is what Adam Durand set out to prove. The film Mr. Durand made at Wegmans' egg farm offers ample evidence as to the allegation of neglect; indeed, the evidence was so convincing that Investigator D'Aurizio himself was unable to deny it. It validated as well the charge that the "Animal Care Certified" seal used by Wegmans misled the public into believing that hens confined to egg-laying facilities are not subject to what would, were these not farmed animals, be considered abusive treatment. As to the fact that Wegmans has expressed doubt as to whether or not the entirety of Mr. Durand's video footage was taken at their property, charging him with trespassing based on that same footage hardly lends credence to their claim. Since Mr. Durand was found guilty of trespassing, you had no recourse but to levy punishment. However, the fact that you chose to make that punishment as severe as possible – six months in jail to be followed by a years probation, a $1,500 fine, and 100 hours of community service – indicates a clear moral choice to place property rights above the suffering of living, sentient beings. Indeed, you have done more even than that: for you have given Mr. Durand a more severe punishment than that normally meted out to those convicted of animal cruelty. I am writing you to protest this decision, and to ask that you consider reducing or commuting Mr. Durand's sentence. He has never before been convicted of a crime, and behaved as he did not because he believes himself to be "above the law," but because the law, in this case, not only condones but actively supports the inhumane treatment of nonhuman animals. Mr. Durand, in my opinion, is to be applauded for his actions, not condemned. Yours sincerely & etc. . . .

Statement Made by Judge Kehoe Upon Sentencing Adam Durand

For further information, please visit:

http://www.wegmanscruelty.com/

and

http://wegmanscruelty.blogspot.com/

---

Statement Made by Judge Kehoe Upon Sentencing Adam Durand

(May 16, 2006)

Mr. Durand, we live in a society where the rule of law means something. There are appropriate and inappropriate ways of making one's voice heard on issues that concern them. While the law allows you to picket a store on public sidewalks, it does not allow you to break into a company's hen house.

Breaking into someone else's property - whether it is to further one's own political agenda or not - is not just wrong, it is a crime. If we wish to continue to live in society that values the rule of law, and I do, as opposed to one where people pick and choose which laws they want to follow, there must be consequences from criminal acts.

I have always believed that criminal consequences should be more severe for those who refuse to take responsibility for their actions, and who continue to benefit from their criminal behavior.

In your case, you entered into your victim's hen house without permission or other lawful authority. You did this because you believed you were "above the law". You did not do this once, or even twice. You did this on three separate occasions. You did not make any of these unlawful intrusions on the spur of the moment, nor on a passing whim. You planned your criminal activity well in advance, and carried out a carefully orchestrated scheme.

Although the jury found that you were not proven guilty of the crimes of burglary in the third degree and petit larceny on any of those three occasions, the undisputed proof at trial is that you did knowingly trespass on Wegmans' property and take "personal property" on each of those occasions that did not belong to you, as evidenced by the fact that the first time two hens were removed in pillow cases, the second time two hens were removed in a card board box, and the third time seven hens were removed in a cage.

Your criminal acts were all thought out in advance. That is called, in legal parlance, "premeditation." I believe, from all that I have seen and heard in this case, that you are the "mastermind" behind the criminal activity involved here, and I believe you have a political agenda that results in your suffering from the erroneous delusion that your conviction is a "Red Badge of Courage", instead of "the Scarlet Letter" that it actually is. You now have on your criminal record, three separate criminal convictions. It is your co-defendants, however, who stepped forward and took responsibility for their actions, and as a result, they now have higher level criminal convictions than you.

During the trial, I noted that you testified that after entering the hen house illegally each time, you subsequently failed to contact any appropriate lawful authority about your concerns for the welfare of the hens at the Wegmans farm. Nor did you contact any lawful authority when your movie was produced or shown, or at any other time. Had you truly cared about the hens at the Wegmans' farm, you would have complained to local law enforcement, the District Attorney's Office, or the local affiliations for SPCA. You would have written to your Assemblymen, your State Senators, your U.S. Congressmen and your Federal Senators.

You chose not to do that. Rather, you chose to attack Wegmans by your video, your website, and verbal attacks in the press. Our society values the rule of law and we are a nation of laws. The legitimacy of the video, which you claim was completely filmed at the Wegmans facility, has never been substantiated. Nor has Wegmans had an opportunity to challenge the veracity of the film, because Wegmans was not on trial.

Society rejected vigilantism many years ago, and I believe we should not return there any time soon.

I believe you have a political agenda that clouds your thought process to such an extent that you believe you can violate the law with impunity and that you are justified in doing so. Not only did you violate the law, your conduct and that of your co-defendants demonstrated a total ignorance on your part and theirs of bio-security measures recommended by such government agencies at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and as implemented by Wegmans at their egg facility. I believe your inexcusable conduct placed the very birds you claim to be working to protect at risk for various diseases and death on a mammoth scale. Not only did you place the hens at great risk on three separate occasions, the economic loss to your victim, as well as the surrounding community could have been enormous as a result of bold, blatant, and careless premeditated illegal conduct.

You should not assume that the jury's not guilty verdicts as to the Burglary and Petit Larceny charges were an indication that they condoned illegal conduct. The jury, like I, took a solemn oath to follow the law and render a verdict based on the law and the proof at trial. They did not have the luxury of disregarding the law any more than you or I do, Mr. Durand. There should be no mistake here, in your mind or anybody else's mind.

The victim in this matter is Wegmans, whose reputation you sought to damage, both with the consumers and in the business world.

You have made arrogant and self-righteous statements of justification. You have demonstrated by word and action your obvious disdain for your victim and the laws of the State of New York.

I do have several regrets. I believe you are in possession of, and have disseminated to your followers, what I would best describe as contraband. I would like to be able to order you to recover and destroy all of your illegally obtained and perhaps inaccurate videos, but unlike you, I will follow the law. The Son of Sam law does not appear to apply to this case, and I could find no other authority for such an order. It is my hope that your state legislature will someday pass the necessary legislation to further deter criminal conduct such as yours. My other regret is that I cannot hold you and your companions financially responsible for the massive costs already incurred by Wegmans, and to be incurred by other industries as well, in order to protect themselves and society from your unlawful conduct.

I am concerned that any sentence imposed by me which does not include jail time, might be perceived by you as tacit approval by this Court of your clearly illegal conduct, now and in the future, as long as such conduct can be tied to some value that you, the law breaker, perceives as a higher law. If you believe that to be the case here sir, you are mistaken.

More demonstrations at Baltimore / DC area Wegmans.

Every week there have been demos at both the Hunt Valley, MD location and the Fairfax, VA location. This Saturday activists from Baltimore, DC, Syracuse and Fairfax met for a conference and held a large demonstration outside of the Hunt Valley Wegmans. There has been an increase in activists helping with the campaign in Fairfax, which has been really great! We're still always looking for people to come out, so if anyone is interested and is free from 2-3:30 on Sundays, please let me know! Thanks!

To help out, email Hannah! See below about more demo's run by her.

Wegmans Protest in Fairfax this Sunday, July 2, from 3-4:30!

Wegmans is a grocery store that gets its signature eggs from its own factory farm. Please visit http://www.wegmanscruelty.com/ for more information, including an important video.

Please join us for a peaceful protest this Sunday from 3-4:30p to help raise awareness about Wegmans’ Cruelty. If you are already attending the Petland protest, www.petstorecruelty.org , the Wegmans protest is 20 minutes away.

Everyone is welcome and appreciated in this effort. We are seeing more and more reports about consumer demand for less cruel farming and we get a lot of positive feedback from passersby. Please come and help spread the word.

The Fairfax Wegmans is at 11620 Monument Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030. It is between Lee Hwy and Government Center Pkwy.

If you need directions please contact Hannah at hshaw709@yahoo.com or Lisa at lisasaction@rcn.com

"Enter the Chicken Shed"