What is getting to be a familiar scene unfolded at a playoff game Saturday night between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Memphis Grizzlies. A woman bolted onto the court shortly after the third quarter began before being quickly tackled by security, reports Sports Illustrated. A second woman in the stands who didn't make it onto the court also was arrested. (You can watch the scene here.) The protesters belong to the animal welfare group Direct Action Everywhere, and they accuse Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor of bad practices at an egg farm he owns in Iowa called Rembrandt Enterprises, reports the Commercial Appeal.
In the first game of the series, a woman chained herself to a basket stanchion, and in the Timberwolves' "play-in" game to reach the playoffs, a woman glued herself to the court. The activist group accuses Taylor's farm of violating animal-cruelty practices in its killing of more than 5 million chickens in March to contain an outbreak of avian flu, reports the Storm Lake Times Pilot. The farm used a practice sanctioned by the USDA in which barn ventilation is shut off and temperatures reach more than 100 degrees. The group, though, says it has video showing that at least a dozen chickens survived. The lack of a 100% mortality rate violates American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines, it says.
Taylor is not commenting on the situation, per CBS Sports. The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2, raising the possibility that more protests could surface in the near future. That probably won't be the case long term, however. Taylor is selling his majority ownership of the Timberwolves next year to a group led by former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and businessman Marc Lore. (More Minnesota Timberwolves stories.)
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