would you have done this?

i met up with an old friend the other day and she told me that she's recently become a vegetarian activist, which is absolutely fine.

but then she started to tell me about how she went to danier leather with her other activist friend, harassed an employee (he was about their age) about how they shouldn't sell leather and then proceeded to squirt bottles of shampoo over every pair of leather boots/shoes in the store.

i'm not a vegetarian, but i just wanted to know from you guys: would YOU have done that?

Was she arrested? What happened? Another example of this: in my old town, one of my favorite bookstores had all the windows smashed out of it and was vandalized. Someone even tried to set fire to it. The culprits: a youth group from the local megachurch. They were upset that the bookstore had an (off-limits) adult area. The kids deemed it "evil". Just sayin'!

well, she never got caught.

she did it after the employee had left.

That's just criminality.... totally unacceptable.  There are legitimate ways to protest and change opinion in a democracy.  Stooping to verbally abusing shop staff and criminal damage is a very ineffective & cowardly way to make a point.   It won't win many hearts and minds and may even have the opposite effect.   A particularly violent branch of the Animal Liberation Front here in the UK that (as part of a long and vicious hate campaign against a guinea pig farmer) dug up an old lady's long-dead corpse justifying it as 'activism', probably contributed most to the pro-vivisection cause than any scientist could have dreamt of.

I do hope you reported her to the police?  Criminals tend to be rather stupid and don't make good friends.....

Yeah, my sister is a vegan activist and she would NEVER do that.

She should have to pay for all that merchandise. No matter what you destroyed, you can't just destroy some company's merchandise!

I am totally disgusted by that. =(

Almost no animal rights activists do things like that.  I'm highly surprised your friend would and even more surprised that someone would not get caught. Sounds like a bunch of bs to me.  If your store were being harassed by confrontational group of people, would you leave the area unattended?  Perhaps she's making the whole thing up?

Perhaps she could learn a thing or two about effective forms of activism.  There are things like the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act that make property destruction a particularly unwise choice. 

One thing that has always confused me with situations like this or with PETA pouring red paint on people's leather/ fur...

Do they not realize that all they are accomplishing is that another animal will be killed to replace the coat or other item?????

I'm all for people standing up for what they believe in, but use a little logic!

Original Post by gi-jane:

That's just criminality.... totally unacceptable. There are legitimate ways to protest and change opinion in a democracy. Stooping to verbally abusing shop staff and criminal damage is a very ineffective & cowardly way to make a point. It won't win many hearts and minds and may even have the opposite effect. 

I agree.  It's harassment and criminal behaviour. 

I also think that mdmoks1 could be correct in thinking that your friend is making the whole situation up.  It's hard to believe that no one witnessed her doing this and that she's not going to have to face any consequences.

I was thinking the same thing as scooby316 about the ruining leather.  The animal is already dead; there's really nothing you can do about it at that point.  Why would you ruin something only to have more animals be killed to replace it?

It's childish, spiteful vandalism and comes with a jail term if the damage was great and they get caught.  I doubt the prison guards will be sympathetic to their dietary and clothing needs.

You may find some opinionated people on this site, but you won't find anyone who would condone, much less participate in, this type of behavior.  Tell your friend that she is setting a bad example for vegans and vegetarians.  There are some people who are "on the fence" of becoming veg*n, but they don't want to be labeled with a stereotype.

The more fanatics like your friend  do things like this, the more people are reluctant to move from omnivore to vegetarian... the more animals are killed to be eaten by those who might have become vegetarian.

Definitely not. That's absurd. You ruin something, it'll get replaced. So that really makes no sense.

I would never dream of doing something like that, it's incidents like that which give vegetarians and vegans a negative stereotype. I don't care about other peoples' choices, I have no problem with my boyfriend or friends eating meat or wearing leather, in my opinion it's their personal choice and just because I make a different one doesn't make me any better. I don't think people should try to convert others in any way, let alone by vandalism and violence!

No way!  Damaging the leather does not save the animals it came from.  The loudest statement her actions made is that she is an idiot.  If she wants to become involved in activism, there are more effective organizations she can join or start that address issues closer to their roots.

Apparently (according to others on this site) I'm a preachy, over the top vegan, and even I would never do something that dumb.

Throwing red paint on a model on a fashion runway of a well known designer is somewhat effective- the room is full of media and cameras so at least the issue will get some press, even if it is criminal/spiteful. (I dont know how much the fact that its illegal really matters, many illegal things can be morally right, many legal things such as killing and torturing animals can be morally wrong).

But who is this message getting out to? A couple Danier store employees? Its not reaching a mass audience or providing information, and unlike freeing animals, it doesnt do any tangible good. Like others above mentioned, the leather goods will just have to be replaced by the manufacturer, so it will only result in more deaths.

Original Post by sarahgordon:

Apparently (according to others on this site) I'm a preachy, over the top vegan, and even I would never do something that dumb.  

LMAO!!!!  Glad to hear some of the things said here are rubbing off on you.  Great response!

Ugh of course not!  I'm a big fan of the golden rule.  I really dislike it when carnivores try to tell me that not eating meat is wrong, harrass me, or try to slip meat into my food.  If I don't like them telling me what to eat, then how would they feel about me telling them what to eat?  The same thing goes for what to wear.  I am all for education all the way around, but this just sounds like harrassment.

At any rate, that girl's probably wearing clothes made in a sweatshop in China.  I'm pretty sure that wearing clothes made by a child under horrible conditions is sufficient to qualify her (and other people who do the same thing) as hypocrites.  Yes! Let's save the animals at the expense of the children!

That's too bad. When people behave badly in the name of a group or organization it only has a negative impact on the goals.

Destroying the product is the absolute worst way to try to prove your point.  Stop and think.  The store owners are going to have to replace the product in the store that was damaged.  When product is damaged, their insurance company gets a call.  The store gets paid/reimbursed to replace the product.  This means more animals are going to be harmed and sold.  The best way to protest the product is to not buy it and encourage others not to buy it as well.  It's basic supply and demand.

Umm....no. It's illegal. Destroying someone else's property is never a good way to get your point across. It just creates a criminal record and tons of lawyer fees. And that poor sales clerk! The guy is probably working for minimum wage and just trying to pay his bills. He certainly didn't need that kind of drama.

No.

What point was she trying to get across? That teenaged vegans with nothing to do are crazy? That teenagers in general have no respect for property and people around them?

Great way to spread the 'message' around.

Little jack a***