Only in California: butcher agrees to display anti-meat sign

Yahoo – AFP, Veronique DUPONT, August 7, 2017

"The Local Butcher Shop" in Berkeley, California, shown in this handout photo from
Direct Action Everywhere, was besieged by anti-meat demonstrators for months (AFP
Photo/Matt JOHNSON)

Los Angeles (AFP) - It was perhaps only a matter of time in ultra-progressive California, but a luxury butcher's shop is surprising patrons with a sign warning about the cruelty of eating meat.

"Attention: Animals' lives are their right. Killing them is violent and unjust, no matter how it's done," reads the notice greeting patrons of The Local Butcher Shop in Berkeley.

The business stuck the sign in its window as part of a "peace treaty" with animal rights activists in the left-leaning university town who have been picketing the store for the last four months.

Every Sunday as it opened for butchery lessons, it was besieged by demonstrators from rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DXE) -- sometimes naked, dripping with fake blood and wrapped in cellophane.

Monica Rocchino, co-owner of The Local Butcher Shop with her husband Aaron, was at her wits' end and decided to meet with the activists.

"They said they wanted Berkeley to become a meat-free city and they were ready to shut down our business," said Monica.

"We asked for actions we could do. And they said they'd think about it, but they kept protesting for 10 weeks. They made our neighbors mad, our neighborhood businesses were losing customers."

Finally, DXE laid down its conditions for burying the hatchet.

Ideal meat

"Either we had to become a vegan butchery or we had to stop giving these classes, or put up a sign saying that animals have rights," Monica told AFP.

She says the sign hasn't impacted custom.

"We go to great lengths to make sure our meat is from local ranches, is raised as humanely as possible, free of antibiotics. We want... this to be the ideal meat. Our customers know this and support us."

She acknowledges, however that the sign will not placate DXE, for whom the issue is black-and-white.

"For them, you kill animals or you don't. I understand that belief but it's another thing to force your ideas on other people," says Monica.

Berkeley, the cradle of the US universities' free speech movement, has been the scene of regular demonstrations from the days of the anti-Vietnam War campaign to recent protests against visiting right-wing speakers.

Recently it has been criticized for chilling free speech after canceling an appearances by firebrand pundit Ann Coulter and right-wing provocateur and former Brietbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos.

Berkeley also happens to be the epicenter of America's organic food industry, its reputation for being green sent up in the TV series "Portlandia," in which restaurateurs provide photographic evidence that their meat is from ethically-raised animals.

DXE organizer Matt Johnson says one of the group's activists felt his blood chill as he saw "an advertisement for these courses where people are taught how to properly dismember the body of an animal."

In line with the better-known Peta animal welfare association, DXE directs its protests "everywhere where violence against animals is normalized -- rodeo, circuses, restaurants, the butchers."

"We dont have any ill will against any individual, no hate for butchers -- only love for animals," says Johnson.

"But we cannot accept small businesses misleading people, saying this is just fine, to be promoting a better brand of violence."

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Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.