Exported Eco-Terrorist Yourofsky Sentenced on Testimony of Others

American citizen and Animal Liberation Front (ALF) "activist" Gary Yourofsky, 28, of Michigan, pled innocent but has been found guilty and sentenced to 6 months in jail plus $34,000 in restitution for his involvement in a March 30, 1997 Chatham, Ontario, Canada fur farm raid.

Yourofsky is the last of the five American ALFers to be sentenced in the raid. The others, Robyn Weiner, 25, Alan Hoffman, 47, Hilma Ruby, 60, and Patricia Dodson, 48, all cooperated to some extent with the court. Hoffman, Yourofsky's uncle, even testified against his nephew, involving Yourofsky in planning and placing him on the farm during the raid.

Ruby and Dodson were sentenced to 90 days in jail with restitution orders for C$34,000 each. Alan Hoffman signed over his C$10,000 bail to the farm, was ordered to pay C$34,000 in restitution plus a C$5,000 fine to the court. Hoffman avoided jail time but has three years' probation. Weiner pled guilty to destroying breeding records at the farm and was sentenced to two years less a day. She will serve her sentence performing 400 hours of community service.

The judge for the Hoffman/Yourofsky trial stated, "This whole thing is stupid. I suppose at a future date someone will decide it's not right to kill vegetables and we will have to eat air." Taking the concept of "eating air" literally, Yourofsky announced he was starting a hunger strike.

Lest We Forget
As every farmer knows, April is springtime, and released in the 1997 Ebert's Fur Farm raid were over 1,500 mink, mostly pregnant females. All but 60 were recovered, but almost 500 died of injuries and stress. Additionally, about 300 breeding cards were destroyed.

A 1997 Detroit News article quoted 20-year mink farmer Tom McLellan, "We recaptured about 1,100 minks, but we have at least 300 animals which have died from pneumonia, fighting other minks or were hit by cars. ... The worst part is that many of the dead animals were pregnant females." McLellan explained to the reporter how the animals were aborting due to the stress. He then popped the lid on a nesting cage. The article continues, "A sluggish mink with filmy eyes stared up, unmoving. 'Ordinarily, minks are very quick,' McLellan said, gently poking the animal. '... this one has pneumonia. You can hear him pulling for air. He'll be dead pretty soon'."

Yourofsky, on the other hand, stated, "of the 1,000 recaptured mink, the best news is that 70 to 80 percent were pregnant and were expected to abort or miscarry their fetuses. The animals rights community does not want animals bred into enslavement for profit. A miscarriage is 10,000 times more dignified and humane than a lifetime of imprisonment, horror, and eventual murder."

"It's not about loving animals," Yourofsky has explained. "It's about fighting injustice. My whole goal is for humans to have as little contact as possible with animals."

During the lengthy court process, fundraising pleas were made by North American A.L.F. Supporters Group, Ontario, Canada.

"However, the judge is somewhat of a blockhead and he might convict me on Hoffman's testimony alone. Liberation. Revolution. Freedom." -- Gary Yourofsky

Yourofsky's Synopsis: Day 2 of the Trial

"On March 30, 1997, the lives of all our family members, employees and our farm community were drastically changed. Five Americans planned and executed an attack to destroy our family business in an illegal and brutal manner. Believing that they had the rights of animals as a cause, they released mink, destroyed pens and boxes and records of breeding information.

"This nightmare did not end on March 30, We have experienced threatening messages via the Internet. Our family has lived in fear. We, as livestock producers, should not have to lay awake at night worrying about the lives of our animals and family members.

"Today we speak on behalf of every farmer who has raised animals to assist the well-being of the human race. This kind of criminal destruction must come to an end. No one has the right to inflict the pain and suffering that these individuals have inflicted. We need this Canadian court system, that we have always believed was fair and equitable, to bring justice."

From a statement submitted to the Court by Bill and Tom McLellan of Ebert's Fur Farm, April 1999.

For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, 826 Orange Avenue, #506, Coronado, CA 92118 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.

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