Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct. Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit. The roots of cruelty, therefore, are not so much strong as widespread. But the time must come when inhumanity protected by custom and thoughtlessness will succumb before humanity championed by thought.
Dr. Albert Schweitzer
ACT – FW August 29, 2005 General Meeting Minutes
There were 14 members present.
Board members present approved the minutes of the last meeting as the first order of business.
1. The calendar of upcoming events was presented.
2. The last ACT – Dallas meeting was discussed which included an AR 2005 conference presentation by participants. Minutes for this meeting should be on the ACT website.
The kickoff KFC campaign demo in FW was a success with 24 activists in attendance.
3. KFC update – the upcoming Sep 3 Dallas demo will have a chicken on crutches. No press release will be done to save any possibility for media coverage for the Oct 2 demo which will be combined with World Farm Animals Day per PETA’s request. The strategy for this campaign was discussed which will include targeting the same two KFC locations for several months. The Dallas location will be the one chosen for Sep 3. The group was open to finding an alternative FW location with increased traffic and leafleting opportunities. The Oct KFC demo and WFAD was discussed briefly noting that press releases would be sent by both organizations. It was suggested the date be changed to Oct 1. Also discussed was the need for a volunteer to take digital photos at each demo and for consistency with posting the pictures. Using the ACT website for this will be researched.
IAMS update – the campaign coordinator is looking into the possibility of tabling at the upcoming Barktoberfest at Fort Woof in October. If this is possible 2 additional volunteers will be needed to table this event. It was suggested the Outreach Coordinator get involved once the opportunity has been determined. Concerning Central Market, a call has been placed to Candace Dagnan (buyer) to request a meeting to follow up on the letter sent earlier. Two members volunteered to accompany the campaign coordinator if this happens.
Red Lobster – The next big week of action will be leading up to the Sep 20 – 21 board/shareholder meeting for Darden group in Florida. Demos are being scheduled throughout the country and Canada. It was noted that no demo was to be organized due to the number of events already scheduled for Sep.
4. The campaign/coordinator list was discussed and passed around for any additional sign ups. It was noted there were couple slots which still needed to be filled. Also, a new College Campus campaign was discussed and agreed upon. This project will hopefully be completed by next meeting and will be posted to the website.
American Heart Walk Activities were discussed. A detailed packet was distributed which included campaign, sponsor, letter writing, media and location information. In addition, members were encouraged to take flyers to distribute and post anywhere and everywhere. Car pooling has been arranged from both cities. We are looking for a record turn out at this event.
5. It was suggested FW do a give away table event at the next meeting similar to what Dallas is doing at their next meeting. Members can unload and load up on books, t-shirts, buttons, etc.
Volunteers took the remaining copies of the Witness video to donate to their local library.
6. September has a lot going on. Participation is strongly encouraged!
