Here is information about an upcoming conference MORE

The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to PETA by Norm Phelps came out in 2007. Worth a look. In a brisk, readable narrative, The Longest Struggle traces the campaigns of animal rights pioneers like Henry Spira, Alex Hershaft, and Ingrid Newkirk, as well as leaders who have come more recently on the scene like Heidi Prescott, Karen Davis, and Bruce Friedrich. MORE

Heartening as these developments are, there is also strong resistance from the food industry and from fake consumer-advocacy groups that are shilling for it. MORE

My self-appointed job in this blog is to think critically about how our human lives intersect with those of sentient nonhumans, in action and thought. Yesterday I received an e-mail alert from the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) regarding " a coin operated game that uses live lobsters at the Royal Palm Ale House in Royal Palm Beach. In this game, the object is to pluck live lobsters out of the water with a joystick-controlled crane." MORE

The advocacy component of old speciesism isn't the campaign to end that exploitation, however. In contrast to old-speciesist and new-speciesist advocacy, nonspeciesist advocacy advances the goal of emancipating all sentient beings from human abuse. I realize that in writing about "old speciesism" I failed to define this term that Dunayer uses. I think of "old speciesism" as analogous to racism and sexism in that it is exploitation based on species. MORE

CAF takes a distinctive approach to animal advocacy: it is the only all-volunteer organization exclusively dedicated to fostering intellectual and artistic expression aimed at furthering awareness of animal rights. Yesterday, the world lost its most powerful voice for animal rights, Tom Regan. MORE

Grey2K is a greyhound advocacy group. Here is the link to the video showing kennel conditions. They had professional investigators there last summer. greyhounds tucson arizona MORE

We support two ocean protection organizations: People for Puget Sound (local) and the Ocean Conservancy. I was reading Ocean Conservancy's magazine today. For the past couple of issues I've read, it has had a "sustainable seafood recipe." I understand that they are trying to encourage people to eat fish and other marine life that are not part of a collapsing fishery. The purpose is to protect ocean species as a whole. I'm not sure how this fits into my support of animal rights though. MORE

Filed under: Animal Rights Tagged: animal advocacy , conversations with non-vegans , dogs , eating habits , Factory Farming , Farmed Animals , humans , make a difference , pictures , questions about veganism. MORE

Visit the ASPCA Advocacy Center online to send an email to your U.S. I wanted to share this email I received recently from the ASPCA. It concerns the Happy Act, which would be a great benefit for pet owners. Dear Animal Advocates, Introduced by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, H.R. 3501—known as the Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (“HAPPY”) Act—is a federal bill that would reward responsible pet parents by allowing them to keep more money in their pockets come tax time. MORE

Tagged: animal advocacy, Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights, animal suffering, companion animals, dogs, dolphins, get involved, horses, humans, Michael Vick, The Cove. MORE

Brad Goldberg President, Animal Welfare Advocacy Mamaroneck, N.Y., To the Editor: Re “ To Revive Hunting, States Turn to the Classroom ” (front page, March 8): Shame on West Virginia if it approves a bill that allows hunting education classes in public schools to become law. We should not use public schools to try to reverse the inexorable decline in the “sport” of hunting. MORE

Over at Animal Rights and AntiOppression , we’ve been discussing tactics and sharing our thoughts and experiences about what works and doesn’t work when it comes to advocacy. MORE

1, 2015 The writer is director of advocacy and policy for Farm Sanctuary, a national farm animal protection group To the Editor: As Mark Bittman rightly notes, California’s new farm animal welfare law presages what is coming for all farm animal industries nationally (“ Hens, Unbound ,” column, Jan. The tiny cages and crates that confine about 90 percent of laying hens and more than 80 percent of gestating sows are both physically and mentally tormenting for the animals involved. MORE

Tags: activism feral cats donations advocacy nonprofits MORE

Humane Society University is the first institution in the nation to offer bachelor degree programs in animal studies and the first in the world to offer a bachelor's degree in animal policy and advocacy. Undergraduate degrees and graduate certificates in animal studies, animal policy and advocacy, and humane leadership will begin in fall of 2009. Very cool! I've been looking for something like this for a long time. From the Humane Society's press release. MORE

See Campaigns page at www.RPAforAll.org. RPA's position statement opposing violence and other antisocial behavior in association with animal advocacy is available at www.RPAforAll.org or by request. Donations to RPA are tax deductible as allowed by law and may be made at the above address or www.RPAforAll.org. Responsible Policies for Animals Members & Friends! MORE

Animal advocacy groups have been lobbying for this for a while. Today, more than 40 animal advocacy organizations across Canada praised Air Canada for its recent decision to stop shipping non-human primates into the country for use in research laboratories. Excellent news! Thank you Air Canada! The announcement below comes verbatim from the Pacific Free Press.they still need approval from the Canadian Transportation Agency though. MORE

Vegan education/advocacy for animals is easiest for me when I know my audience. I was going in a different direction with this post when I read Deb's " Effective Images in Advocacy: Do We Know What Works? MORE

The rest of the animal advocacy community, which is the vast majority, who call themselves abolitionists, are abolitionists. Being featured on ARZone's worldwide Live Guest Chat has reinvigorated my thinking about a couple of topics ( here 's the transcript). And then I read the "OMG!!!!!OED!!!!!LOL!!!!!" OED!!!!!LOL!!!!!" LOL!!!!!" in today's New York Times, and I couldn't resist posting. MORE

The author is Nick Cooney and he's the Director of The Humane League, an animal advocacy non-profit with offices in Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington DC. Tags: advocacy We received an email about a new book being released by Lantern Books. It's called "Change Of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change." MORE

If I'm speaking with an atheist I might use my personal thought process in my vegan advocacy, but if someone wants to believe there is a god, and that belief is helpful to them, and they're not hurting anyone because of that belief, I have no problem with that. When it comes to believers, I agree with Phelps that all religious traditions have some kind of basis for mercy or compassion or relieving suffering that we can use in our advocacy. MORE

Showing people what goes on at "free-range" farms, for me, has always been a powerful part of my vegan advocacy efforts because that's always the fall-back position of the person I'm speaking with. (As You may know Jose Valle of the International Organization for the Abolition of Animal Slavery, AnimalEquality. He recently wrote me: We are an abolitionist group and our approach is "Educate, Investigate & Liberate". MORE

Proceeds from the show will be used to further Up For Pups animal advocacy efforts. After Kyla Duffy’s first Don’t Kill Bill performance at Blogpaws in September, the Blogosphere was abuzz with videos and reviews. MORE

The animal advocacy group Compassion Over Killing has created a new website to bring attention to the fact that Morningstar Farms continues to use "battery eggs" from caged birds in their products. Hey Keith, I wanted to drop you a line on this because I thought it would be up your alley. Here is the link. The site specifically names Gardenburger as a company that does not used caged chickens to get the eggs for their products and links to Gardenburger's statement on the practice. MORE

chimpanzees animal rescue advocacy MORE

puppy mills Missouri dogs advocacyThis is infuriating. Here's a link to the full story. Months after Missouri voters approved a measure that cracks down on what animal advocates say are some of the nation’s most notorious puppy mills, lawmakers are poised to repeal much of the law, saying the rules are too costly and punish legitimate dog-breeders who generate an estimated $1 billion annually in the state. MORE

This compilation is particularly important for people who believe in God and whose advocacy has religion or faith or spirituality as a component. " Creature Quotes: Advancing Toward Freedom For All Species ," compiled and edited by SBH Clay, is now available. From the Introduction : "Humans are fascinated by animals. For all our devotion, though, we sometimes seem not to recognize the needs and wants of animals. MORE

And it's especially the case in animal rights advocacy. The combination is a powerful weapon for advocacy. Tags: animal rights advocacy There's always a dilemma in debating any issue as to whether one should rely on emotion or reason to advance one's argument. You'll find this dilemma surrounding issues such as the death penalty, abortion and gay marriage. Many people say that PETA relies too heavily on emotion to argue its position. MORE

Brad Goldberg President Animal Welfare Advocacy Mamaroneck, N.Y., To the Editor: An addendum should be made to your editorial ’s point that all horses deserve the “generosity of conscience” that was expended to save Barbaro. Just days before Barbaro was humanely put down, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act was reintroduced in Congress. MORE

Two bills introduced in the Nebraska Legislature are drawing fire from the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. From the Lexington Clipper-Herald. click here for the full article. Newcomer to the Legislature Sen. Tyson Larson introduced LB 305 on Wednesday, which would create a state meat inspection program, which would in turn allow horse meat to be transported across state lines. He also introduced LB 306, otherwise known as the Livestock Animal Welfare Act. MORE

Though the health argument isn't ironclad and I wouldn't want to make it the center of my advocacy, I have to remember who the messenger is here and what the context is. My dogs eat vegan dog food. They don't have collars made from animals. But they also haven't made a moral choice to not use animals. To say they are vegans is odd to me, though I have done that as the distinction is lost on most people and for the sake of a swift message it does the job. MORE

No amount of advocacy for environmental or animal welfare issues advocacy can make up for his support of Palin/McCain. Seems that the guy that wrote Sarah Palin's convention speech was none other then noted conservative and alleged animal rights supporter Matthew Scully. The Palin-Scully pairing is anything but a guaranteed fit, though. Palin is known as an avid hunter; Scully is best known for his vigorous defense of animal rights. MORE

Tags: Animal Welfare animal advocacy companion animals dogs pictures MORE

Meanwhile, animal welfare and consumer advocacy groups in Washington are urging the US to look into options outside the global trade body for resolving the trade row. From the Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest. The long-running dispute between the US and Mexico over Washington’s ‘dolphin safe’ labelling practice for tuna products is likely to see a WTO appeal, after the two parties together asked for an extension of the appeals deadline. MORE

Well, uh, I really don't know WHAT to say. Weird. Excerpted from the Toronto Sun. The fur is flying over plans by the People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals to run a porn site in the group’s fight against animal abuse. Peta.xxx will have sexually explicit content and address animal rights issues. Combining porn and images of abused animals is “repulsive,” insisted Gwen Landolt with Real Women of Canada. This exploits women and is an abuse of people. They have lost all sense of balance. MORE

The two parties settled in a lawsuit filed by the advocacy group four years ago after the group were unable to obtain information they requested. This would be awesome. Now, I know it doesn't solve everything, but it's another chink in the armor. I worry it won't pass the DC district court for some wacky reason. I don't like to celebrate until I'm sure of something. From the LA Times. MORE

Is a vegan's efforts at advocacy worth more than a vegetarian's or even a meat eater's if they happen to agree on the same issue? This post is inspired by a thought-provoking piece on the Provoked blog (clearly a good name for a blog!) I believe that we have to be inclusive in the animal rights movement and attack the system using all kinds of methods in all sorts of fields. Economics, science, literature, film, politics, law, etc. MORE

With more than 2 million members across the globe, PETA is the largest animal advocacy group and comparable in size to the human rights organization, Amnesty International. First, note that now PeTA is an "animal advocacy group." The tactics have made PeTA "the largest animal advocacy group" "with more than 2 million members across the globe." I've used the term "animal activism" lately as an experiment. I'm trying to gauge people's receptivity to what I'm about to say. MORE

Interesting article on anti-animal research advocacy in Madison, WI. Madison is a key battleground because it is one of only 8 cities with primate centers in the country. MORE

Two political parties in Quebec are speaking out about the ritual slaughter of animals, but a Jewish advocacy group is confident that kashrut is not being targeted. Quebec is not known for its animal welfare concerns or laws. I think the issue stems from this being an Islamic practice and the fear of contaminated meat, not concern for the animals. From JTA, the Global News Service of the Jewish People. MORE

Here's a group I've never heard of. I found a link to them on ANIMAL's blog (ANIMAL is a Portuguese animal rights group.) These scientists are NOT an animal rights group. They do support some animal-based studies (which sucks); HOWEVER, they acknowledge that much animal research is useless. Remember animal research doesn't just create reports, it creates CAREERS as well.) I'll let them describe their positions in their own words. MORE

A key reason RPA's 10,000 Years Is Enough campaign to get our universities out of the meat industry "exemplifies animal rights advocacy" -- as scholar & author Joan Dunayer put it her important book Speciesism -- is that people cannot understand basic autonomy rights applied to nonhuman animals without a critical perceptual shift, and it is universities' responsibility to provide the knowledge that makes basic change possible. MORE