The Past and Future of the Animal Rights Movement
The animal rights movement is often considered to have been an outgrowth of the environmental movement, but
it actually preceded the environmental movement by about 100 years. It was part of a movement that began
just after the Civil War, both in England and in the United States, for the protection of children and
animals.
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The Sad Slaughter of Elephants for their Tusks
A massacre of the world's elephants is going on right now. One hundred thousand African elephants were been
killed by poachers between 2010-2012 and the total population of elephants in Africa has declined 64% in a
decade.
This slaughter is occurring because elephants are killed for their tusks. Ivory has long been a
status symbol in Asia and increased prosperity in China and southeast Asia has allowed a newly created
middle class to purchase ivory on the black market.
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The Wildlands Project
Anybody who loves animals will be interested in this visionary project that will protect North America's
wildlife. It is called the WILDLANDS PROJECT and it is about the creation of safe corridors for animals
throughout the continent. There are four proposed corridors (wildways??) three of them running North-South
and one going East-West.
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The Importance of Predators
We have inherited an earth in danger and that danger is particularly apparent in the war on predators that
we have waged for centuries. Predators are essential to any ecosystem because they keep the prey species in
balance with what the ecosystem can support.
Predators and prey will always come to a balance because
if there are too many predators (e.g. wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bears) the prey species will decline
in numbers.
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Antibiotics in Animal Feed Endangers Our Health
One of the greatest health hazards facing the world today is the looming prospect of a world without
effective antibiotics. We rely on them to nurse us back to health in a variety of situations where, in
pre-antibiotic times, infections formerly endangered and killed millions of people.
The usefulness of
antibiotics is now facing a critical challenge. Dr. Margaret Chan, the Director-General of the World Health
Organization, warned in 2011 that "in the absence of urgent corrective and protective actions, the world is
heading toward a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once
again, kill unabated..."
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The Realities of Pig Farming
Pigs are highly intelligent animals and many experts believe that their intelligence is equal to, or greater
than, that of dogs. As well as intelligence they have sensitivity to their living conditions. Like us, they
need food, shelter, exercise, stimulation and love.
One pig who has been taken into a home is the
famous pig, "Esther". She lives in Canada with two humans who adopted her and then became vegans because of
their love for her.
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Effective Voir Dire in Animal Cases
How to pick a jury in animal cases is a subject that has not been explored extensively. Most civil cases
involving animals are settled; criminal cases are usually negotiated. However, if a case goes to trial, you
will have an extensive examination of the jury panel, and I want to suggest some ideas you can use in
selecting the jury.
Picking a jury begins with a process called voir dire, which means "to speak the
truth;" however, that is hardly an accurate appraisal of what goes on in a jury selection process.
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What Are "Ag-Gag" Laws?
Ag-Gag is the term used to describe a series of anti-whistleblower laws in the U.S. Though they vary in
details, the essence of these laws is that they criminalize the taking of undercover videos of abusive
practices in the animal agriculture industry. Some of these laws criminalize the taking of videos
documenting inhumane factory farming practices without the owner's consent, while others criminalize the
application for employment in factory farms without disclosing the applicant's links to the press or to
organizations concerned with animal welfare. A third variant, which pretends to help the animals, requires
that any evidence of abuse be turned over to authorities in a very short period of time, usually 24 or 48
hours.
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Anti-Cruelty Laws
All fifty states have anti-cruelty laws. Some list animal cruelty as a felony, carrying a possible prison
term, while others have kept it as a misdemeanor. Each state divides cruelty into various degrees, such as
intentional or aggravated, which raise the level of the offense and carry a higher degree of punishment. The
anti-cruelty laws are an uneven patchwork of local and state laws which vary dramatically from jurisdiction
to jurisdiction. To determine your own state's regulations, each state's anti-cruelty laws are summarized in
the following website.
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Proposed Denver Antibiotics Bill
PROPOSED LEGISLATION BANNING PURCHASE OF CHICKEN PRODUCTS PRODUCED WITH NONTHERAPEUTIC USE OF MEDICALLY
IMPORTANT ANTIMICROBIAL DRUGS
SECTION 1. Section ______is added to the Denver Revised Municipal Code to
read:
(a) Commencing January 1, 2016, all Denver City and County governmental agency personnel charged
with purchasing poultry products for human consumption by the City and County of Denver pursuant to Title
II, Revised Municipal Code, Chapter 20, Article IV Division 2, shall not purchase chicken products produced
with the nontherapeutic use of medically important antimicrobial drugs.
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How To Help Animals
The question I hear more than any other is “What can I do to help animals?” The number one thing you can do
to help animals (and your own health) is this: don’t eat them. By far the greatest amount of animal
suffering comes from the way animals are raised for food or dairy products.
The happy farms with green
grass that you see on the side of dairy products seldom exist anymore. It is far more likely that the pigs
you eat and the cows whose milk you drink were raised in terrible, cramped conditions.
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Our Food Choices Are the Largest Factor in Environmental Degradation And Climate Change
The question I hear more than any other is “What can I do to help animals?” The number one thing you can do
to help animals (and your own health) is this: don’t eat them. By far the greatest amount of animal
suffering comes from the way animals are raised for food or dairy products.
The happy farms with green
grass that you see on the side of dairy products seldom exist anymore. It is far more likely that the pigs
you eat and the cows whose milk you drink were raised in terrible, cramped conditions.
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The Kindness of Strangers
I have written so much about animal suffering that it feels right to relate the many stories of human
kindness. I believe people are basically good and if they only knew what goes on behind the scenes then most
would choose compassion over cruelty. That is why I write these short essays.
Millions of everyday
people, driving to work or home, go out of their way to do kind things. Here is an inspiring video about
people rescuing animals from dangerous situations, often at risk to themselves.
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Ecotourism
Ecotourism refers to travel that is consciously planned to support ecosystems and local cultures. The
International Ecotourism Society (TIES) states that ecotourism is "responsible travel to natural areas that
conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people". This intent distinguishes it from
most tourism because it emphasizes small scale, non-intrusive values and discourages the construction of
hotels, resorts and highways which would be destructive to the wildlife, land and local cultures in the long
run. Simply being out in nature or in a remote area of the world does not, by itself, constitute
environmentalism.
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Greenwashing
In any discussion of ecotourism the dangers of "greenwashing" must be explored. Greenwashing is the use of
misleading advertisements to suggest that an activity is good for the environment when objectively it is
not. Wildlife theme parks, underwater hotels and motorized tours into fragile ecosystems strive to portray
themselves as environmentally positive (or neutral) but they are not. True ecotourism builds environmental
awareness while emphasizing human rights and local control over resources and development. It is not solely
about animals but also about the humans who live there, and have lived there in the past, often for
thousands of years.
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Impressions
baby chicks go down the chute, of the grinder at the slaughterhouse on and on as i sit at this computer how
can we do this to our fellow beings? how can we sleep? it has been suggested more than once that I stand
trial with my clients. if i have to, i will for i too am guilty of eternal treblinka i bought their bodies
at Safeway and ate them and now i sit here with the news ends of factory farms spread upon my desk
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Environmentally Friendly Urban Backyards
Because so much of America’s wild lands have been lost to urbanization, there is a crisis of habitat for the
wildlife that used to live in those areas. Where are they to go and what are they to eat and drink?
Even
if our yards are small, we can each help to alleviate this problem by making them wildlife friendly.
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What Does A Good Animal Shelter Look Like?
What constitutes a good animal shelter? There are traditional benchmarks which are commonly used to describe
a good shelter, i.e. does it have a high adoption rate and a low euthanasia rate? But these do not begin to
answer the question of whether this is a good shelter because there are are so many factors that affect
these measures. For example, the shelter may be located in an area with extreme poverty so there will be
less money to advertise adoptions or support spay and neuter programs.
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