Animal Person

MAY 23, 2009

I've used the term "animal activism" lately as an experiment. I notice that if I use "animal rights activist" or anything with the word "rights" in it, because it's loaded and misunderstood, my listener often has an immediate bias of some kind. First, note that now PeTA is an "animal advocacy group."

Animal Advocacy 100

Animal Advocacy PETA Animal Advocacy 100

Animal Person

APRIL 6, 2010

Riddle me this: Why would any human animal use as a default position that nonhuman animals do not have personalities as rich, distinct, obnoxious, obsequious and varied as human animals? Have they not ever observed nonhuman animals? Why is it surprising that nonhuman animals have personalities when human animals do?

Animal 100

Animal Pigs Human Animals Humane 100

Animal Ethics

APRIL 19, 2016

"There is no longer dispute among serious scientists that humans aren’t the only animals who have the capacity to suffer physically and mentally. Elephants, great apes, orcas, dogs, cats, and many other animals can experience depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and compulsive disorders.

For Animals 40

For Animals Apes Psychology Suffering 40

Critter News

JUNE 9, 2009

Animal Person , someone who is clearly smarter than me, has a great analysis about the recent "Pepper" series in Slate about animal research. At least he didn't try to make me feel happy or warm and fuzzy about animal research. Animal Person points out this comment made by Daniel Engber, the author.

Animal Research 100

Animal Research Research Humane Treatment Medical Research 100

Critter News

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Again, work by SAEN (Stop Animal Exploitation Now.) An Ohio-based animal rights organization has filed a complaint against Harvard Medical School, alleging that the school's New England Primate Research Center in Southborough did not properly report its experiments on animals. From the MetroWest Daily News.

Medical 100

Medical Animal Welfare Act Research Primates 100

Critter News

JANUARY 18, 2010

An experiment in which anesthetized pigs were buried alive in snow to learn how humans live or die in avalanches was halted today in Austria after animal-rights groups denounced the research as cruel and useless. The two-week experiment involving 29 pigs began Tuesday in the Western Austrian Alps. From USA Today.

Pigs 100

Pigs Austria Animal Research Research 100

Animal Person

APRIL 14, 2009

There is a profound difference between what Sea Shepherd does and what the Animal Liberation Front does, but there are also similarities, and those similarities increase in number if a direct action by the ALF (or anyone else) is an open rescue and therefore a direct defense of sentient nonhumans being attacked by humans. That's one result.

Animal Liberation Front 100

Animal Liberation Front UCLA Animal Liberation Primates 100

Animal Person

AUGUST 16, 2011

Hal Herzog’s “ Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat ” (Harper 2011), though fascinating, is ultimately depressing for vegans and animal rights activists. 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.

Vegan 100

Vegan Morals Animal Rights Advocacy 100

Animal Person

JUNE 16, 2010

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. Do animals have rights? Do human beings have duties toward them regardless of whether they have rights? What kind of souls do animals have?

Advocacy 100

Advocacy Vegan Ethics Animal Rights 100

Animal Person

MAY 28, 2009

One complaint many of us have with "liberals" and "progressives" is that they tend to leave veganism and animal rights out of their sphere of concern. Tags: Activism Current Affairs Ethics animal rights Animal welfare Nutrition The Goode Family Veganism Vegetarianism. Are Baby Boomers killing Facebook and Twitter?

Family 100

Family Vegan Vegetarian Animal Welfare 100

Critter News

NOVEMBER 29, 2009

Scores of abandoned dogs, cats and livestock from Utah animal shelters become subjects of laboratory research at the University of Utah each year. That's because of a little-known state law that requires government-run pounds to turn animals over to researchers if asked. Tags: animal research animal shelters strays.

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Utah Stray Shelters Research 100

Animal Person

FEBRUARY 26, 2010

I've been having a difficult time blogging both here and at Animal Rights & AntiOppression lately because I feel like my thoughts are like " Groundhog Day." Not the day, the film, where Bill Murray experiences the same day over and over again. There are few animal rights stories in the news. Feathers: animal.

Chickens 100

Chickens Slaughter Slaughtered Animal Rights 100

Critter News

MAY 11, 2009

And it's especially the case in animal rights advocacy. But in my experience, it usually backfires, particularly with men. 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. I can pack an emotional punch as well.

Emotional 100

Emotional Advocacy Animal Rights PETA 100

Critter News

APRIL 26, 2009

I not only learned about Harvey Milk, but about the early stages of the gay rights movement (which is ongoing today when one looks at all the right-wing flutterings over gay marriage.) It made me think though about the animal rights movement. Are we really a social movement like gay rights and civil rights?

Animal Rights Movement 100

Animal Rights Movement Factory Farm Factory Farming Animal Rights 100

Critter News

JULY 10, 2010

the tape {from an undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals,) Conklin is shown kicking a cow that is lying down. The Union County sheriff's office said it had four veterinarians with experience in large-animal care review the tape. Attorney's Office for possible charges under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

Farming 100

Farming AETA Columbus Animal Welfare 100

Animal Person

AUGUST 5, 2009

Twice in the past 24 hours (once here and once on Stephanie's blog, in the comments )I have come across the following statement: "[insert animal here] are safe from predators, get fed regularly, and are better off on farms than if they were in 'the wild.'" The animals on farms are created for the sole purpose of human consumption.

Gazelles 100

Gazelles Slaughter Slaughtered Deer 100

Animal Ethics

JULY 24, 2012

The initial attractiveness of utilitarianism as a moral theory on which to rest the call for the better treatment of animals was noted in an earlier context. Because animals are sentient (i.e., Because animals are sentient (i.e., To secure the philosophical foundation for animal rights requires abandoning utilitarianism. (

Los Angeles 40

Los Angeles Animal Rights Movement Factory Farm Factory Farming 40

Animal Person

MARCH 24, 2010

I printed pages of information about petting zoos from the Internet, mostly about health risks but also about animal treatment. Of course none of them come close to the most important reason for my objection: that we have no right to use animals for entertainment or other reasons that are not necessary.

Zoos 100

Zoos Ponies Pets Vegan 100

Animal Person

AUGUST 12, 2009

They don't have collars made from animals. But they also haven't made a moral choice to not use animals. animals in research, in schools or as food). And they concentrate on the health aspects of removing animals from your diet. If more people stop eating animals and still wear leather or wool, they haven't done nothing.

Vegan 100

Vegan Campaign Advocacy Vegetarian 100

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 25, 2016

When philosophy helps us to live our lives in conformity with our most deeply held values, it becomes a transformative experience. By subjecting our beliefs, attitudes, and practices to critical scrutiny, we learn what our most deeply held values are—an essential first step toward acting in accordance with those values.

Abandon 40

Abandon Abandoning Abandonment New York 40

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

Then there are the myriad entry points to thinking about how we use animals and the impact that has on the animals, the planet, our bodies and our consciences. Who needs to eat animals when you can have delicious, low fat, high fiber, nutritious meals that are light on carbon footprint and don't involve killing anybody?

Vegan 100

Vegan Factory Farm Factory Farming Slaughter 100

Animal Person

OCTOBER 18, 2009

I've been out of every loop I used to be in because my work outside of veganism and animal rights came a-calling in a most critical way. And it doesn't seem to matter as there is a cadre of new bloggers and writers, including several who analyze the mainstream news as it relates to animals and also religion.

Vegan 100

Vegan Morals Chickens Animal 100

Animal Person

JUNE 8, 2009

Beloved family pet Dalmatian, Pepper, is stolen, and after several weeks of searching is discovered to have been experimented on at a hospital and died on the table when researchers tried to implant her with an experimental cardiac pacemaker. You can buy some extra time by presoaking the animal in a basin of ice water.)"

Animal Welfare 100

Animal Welfare Monkeys Animal Welfare Act Vivisection 100

Animal Person

MARCH 30, 2009

Many vegans and animal rights activists "have a book in them" but soon discover, despite their well-crafted book proposal and sample chapters, that most mainstream publishers aren't interested. In my experience, what holds back most authors from self-publishing is one word: ego.

Animal Rights 100

Animal Rights Vegan New York Rights 100

Animal Person

MAY 26, 2010

My random number of 20 Lessons Learned From 4 Years of Blogging at Animal Person (for the others go to #1-6 , #7-10 and #11 & 12 ) ends today with #13-20, which is far longer than I thought it would be. The design of Animal Person is probably as uninviting as it could possibly be. Big fail here for Animal Person.

Vegan 100

Vegan Suffering Free Range Animal 100

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Masson traces the history of our relationship with dogs, and sprinkles in stories from various cultures that love as well as despise them, and concludes that dogs are more significant to humans than any other animal (39). This includes horses, cats and cows. And he details why. There's never a claw in sight and she's very patient).

Dogs 100

Dogs Pit Bulls Greyhounds Kennels 100

Animal Person

JULY 23, 2009

I have an unusual number of e-mails from individuals who have written, are writing, or would like to write a book about animals and asked about various steps in the publishing process. How successful they are at creating new vegans or animal rights advocates depends on many factors. . Wrong answer (though that might be true).

Vegan 100

Vegan Advocacy Animal Rights Research 100

Animal Ethics

DECEMBER 18, 2006

Keith has not only been my favorite Philosophy professor that I have studied under during the course of my college experience, but my favorite professor in general. My personal perspective regarding Animal Ethics is not fully formed, which is one of the reasons why Keith and I felt it would be a good idea for me to post on here.

Factory Farm 40

Factory Farm Factory Farming Morals Factory 40

Animal Ethics

JANUARY 20, 2008

Ethical vegetarianism is the thesis that killing and eating animals is morally wrong whenever equally nutritious plant-based alternatives are available. Virtually everyone agrees that: (1) It is wrong to cause a conscious sentient animal to suffer for no good reason. Animal abuse is a crime in all fifty states, and rightly so.

Vegetarian 40

Vegetarian Meat Lacto-Ovo Ethics 40

Animal Person

OCTOBER 26, 2009

I immensely enjoyed "EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED" (even on the big screen) and eagerly anticipated "EATING ANIMALS" by Jonathan Safran Foer. Finally, if you know someone who gravitates toward the philosophical issues around our use of animals, this is a good book. Ever, in fact. Not great, but good. Imagine being served a plate of sushi.

Factory Farm 100

Factory Farm Factory Farming Animal Vegan 100

Animal Person

MARCH 29, 2009

There is no philosophical continuum, but there is a psychological continuum, as evidenced by everyone at the workshop taking steps back or forward, denoting their increase in animal use (including no meat to meat, or backsliding, like I did a decade ago), or their decrease (such as when vegetarians go vegan).

Psychology 100

Psychology Campaign Animal Rights Movement Suffering 100

Animal Person

AUGUST 10, 2010

Families, so the commercials go, don't engage in untoward aspects of animal husbandry that might hurt the cows. Families are just as capable of horrendous policies toward animals as anyone else. Their goal is to make a profit from the breeding and slaughter of animals. The cows' tails swing in the breeze.

Family 100

Family Factory Farm Factory Farming Cows 100

Animal Ethics

FEBRUARY 15, 2009

Most moral vegetarians list fish and fowl as animals one should not eat. First, it may be argued that only animals who can feel pain are not to be eaten. KBJ: Nobody in the animal-rights or animal-liberation movement views intelligence as a morally significant property, at least intrinsically. If not, why not?

Morals 40

Morals Vegetarian Meat Killing 40