(UPDATE: Nov. 18 @ 1 pm) - Eight animal rights activists who chained themselves to the front doors of Interior Savings Credit Union over have been arrested and charged with mischief. The protesters took issue with Interior Savings sponsorship of RibFest.
(Original story: Nov. 18 @ 11:15 am) - A group of animal rights and environmental activists have chained themselves to the front doors of Interior Savings Credit Union in protest over their sponsorship of RibFest.
Bike locks have blocked access to the front doors of both Interior Savings Credit Union and Interior Savings Insurance. Spokesperson Amy Soranno said they won't leave until the company agrees to stop supporting the event.
"Festivals like these cannot happen without sponsors donating money," she said, "therefore we are calling on Interior Savings to stop supporting a festival that destroys our environment and supports farms that have been proven to conduct criminal animal cruelty."
Three protestors are chained to the doors of the insurance offices and four more are chained to the doors of the credit union. The RCMP are on scene but there were no immediate plans to remove the protesters this morning. "We'll open-up lines of communication between them and the people in the bank," said Sgt. Greg Woodcox, "and that's probably the best way to solve this matter."
Inside Interior Savings, a management group was huddled in a boardroom discussing their options, while their doors remained chained.
The protesters have made it clear, they are willing to be arrested to make their point.
"Arrests may come in the future and they may not," added Woodcox. "Hopefully we can just resolve this and people can get their point across."
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