News Release

July 22, 2001

Animal rights group opposes threats against Art System employees

Toronto - Freedom for Animals is opposed to the making of threats against Art System employees. Co-directors Jubal Brown and Daniel Borins have said they were threatened with being "scalped" by someone calling the Art System voice-mail box this week. This incident occurred after a newspaper article published Mr. Brown and Mr. Borins defending their accused friend Jessie Powers who is charged with skinning a cat alive.

Mr. Borins is quoted in media reports as suggesting that animal rights activists may be involved in these threats. There is no evidence that animal rights activists were involved in this.

Freedom for Animals is a no-compromise animal rights group committed to non-violence. We do not engage in or counsel any acts of violence against humans or other animals.

Freedom for Animals fully supports the boycott campaign of Art System due to the statements made by Mr. Brown and Mr. Borins about the Jessie Powers and Anthony Wennekers case that is before the courts. In one instance they say that they are against cruelty to animals and then in another that it is not for them to decide whether the video of a cat being skinned alive is art or not.

"Nothing will ever erase the torturing and murdering of this cat. Though people everywhere are angry, and not just animal rights activists, the releasing of anger with threats is only going to cause chaos and damage our chance of getting valid information and justice done. It seems that the focus is now on Jessie Powers and his friends at Art System and taken away from the victim, the cat. How is that? The animal rights community will never let this cat be forgotten," said Suzanne Lahaie, co-founder of Freedom for Animals.