DENVER, CO – DECEMBER 29, 2013: Jordan Ezell, left, and co-founder of The Bunny Alliance, protests with others at Delta Airlines outside of the terminal at Denver International Airport in Denver CO on December 29, 2013. Members of The Bunny Alliance are on a nationwide protest tour to hold Delta Air Lines accountable for its role in the vivisection industry. The Bunny Alliance held their protest at Denver International Airport to call on Delta to stop Air FranceÕs transport of animals to labs and to educate holiday travelers about the animal cruelty that Delta supports. Primates, dogs, and other animals are flown to labs, and the journey is terrifying. They are often packed into wooden crates and locked away in the cargo holds of airplanes; some die of starvation and dehydration while in route. (Photo By Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post) (Helen H. Richardson, THE DENVER POST)
Animal rights activists demonstrated Sunday outside Delta Airlines’ ticket counters at Denver International Airport, urging travelers to boycott the company until its partner, Air France, stops transporting animals to research labs.
“They are involved in the transport of animals to laboratories where they are tortured,” said Amanda Schemkes, an organizer of the demonstration.
“While Delta has a strong partnership with Air France, we do not influence their decisions regarding the transportation of animals,” Delta spokeswoman Jennifer Martin said in an email.
Schemkes, 28, and Jordan Ezell, 23, formed the Bunny Alliance, a group that is traveling around the country protesting Delta.
The demonstrators held signs and chanted slogans like: “Hey there Delta, what do you say? How many animals have you killed today.”
Kathy Krob, 46, who was getting ready to board a Delta flight, said finding demonstrators chanting about the treatment of animals on the sidewalk outside DIA’s east terminal was “a little bit jarring.”
But “It certainly would make me want to do a little more research,” Krobe said. “If I found out it was true, it could have an impact” on whether she would pick Delta for a flight.
Leonelva Madigan, 64, who was flying on United on Sunday, questioned whether Delta would have enough influence to force a change on Air France.
Tyler Harris, 24, said he would look into the airlines’ connection with transporting animals to labs. “In a way, I stand with animals,” he said.
But Paula Ramsey, 57, said the demonstration seemed disruptive and ineffective. “I don’t know if this is the most effective way to make their point. It is more frightening than it is convincing to me,” she said.
A statement on Air France’s website says the carrier “scrupulously respects and complies with standards” of the International Air Transport Association, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, and the World Organization for Animal Health.
“Air France Cargo ensures that all biomedical research involving the use of animals in laboratories with which the airline works is fully in line with current legislation and the regulations drawn up by scientific organizations specializing in animal welfare,” according to the statement.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dpmcghee