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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 10, 2019
BY ROSE ADAMS
The Bensonhurst lawmaker
behind the suite of
animal rights bills approved
by City Council on Wednesday
once played guitar in a
hardcore death metal band
— which was fronted by two
pitbulls!
Vegetarian Councilman
Justin Brannan formerly
shredded with a New York
City grindcore band, called
Caninus, which featured
four-legged vocalists Basil
and Budgie, and he attributes
his activist leanings
in part to his furry band
mates
“The hardcore scene in
the ‘90s was a lot of people
talking about social issues
and animal rights,” said
Brannan. “I really got my
start as a teenaged animal
rights activist, and that’s
something that has never
left me.”
Brannan introduced two
bills included in a package
of animal welfare legislation
that passed Council on
Oct. 30, the fi rst of which
requires the formation of a
new city agency, called the
Offi ce of Animal Welfare,
which will oversee animal
regulations, propose animal
friendly legislation, and
host educational programs
on the humane treatment of
animals.
The second bill calls on
legislators up in Albany
to ban puppy mills from
operating throughout the
state, while legislation introduced
by other council
members, but approved
alongside Brannan’s, included
laws that ban horsedrawn
carriages on hot or
humid days, prevent people
from capturing pigeons and
other wild birds, and forbid
the sale of foie gras — a luxury
dish of fatty goose liver
— among others. Brannan
voted in favor of all the bills,
which he called “a long time
coming.”
“We’ve been talking
about doing this forever,”
said Brannan.
Brannan, a Bay Ridge
native, has long been a vocal
supporter of animal rights.
In the early 2000s, he and
members of his successful
hardcore punk bands Indecision
and Most Precious
Blood, which mostly sang
about animal welfare and
human rights, formed a
spin-off group called Caninus,
whose two vocalists
were rescued pitbulls.
The human-animal ensemble
PUPPY PUNK: Councilman Justin Brannan (right) founded a death metal band, Caninus, that starred
two pitbull vocalists.
released songs including
“New Yorkie Crew
(Loyal Like a Stone),” “Bite
the Hand That Breeds You,”
and “F--- the American Kennel
Club.”
The group enjoyed some
success — one song, “No
Dogs, No Masters,” has
racked up over 700,000 views
on Youtube.
According to Brannan,
he and his bandmates wrote
actual lyrics for their various
tracks — but they were
all sung by dogs!
“We pretended like they
were singing the lyrics,”
Brannan said.
Caninus disbanded in
2011, but Brannan’s animal
activism is still going
strong. Two months ago, the
vegetarian councilman and
his wife adopted two greyhounds
that used to be race
dogs named Fiorello and
Luna.
“These dogs were basically
disposed of once their
racing career was over,”
Brannan said. “We kind of
fell in love.”
Mosh pittie!
Brooklyn lawmaker behind animal rights bills played in
metal band with pitbull vocalists
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