Chai’s life was tragic and characterized by deprivation. As those who knew her in Seattle and beyond mourn her loss, we also hope that her story inspires others to continue the fight to phase out elephant programs in zoos, so that not one more elephant suffers or dies simply to entertain humans.
Questions about the way the fur trade affects Native peoples potentially place the animal rights movement in the awkward position of trying to help one oppressed class at the expense of another. In December 1988, The Animals’ Agenda hosted a roundtable discussion where both sides could meet face-to-face to explore their differences.
As I made clear in the TV interview, “This [cutting up of cats by high school students] engenders a lack of respect for companion animals, and that’s the complete opposite of what we should be telling our students.” My daughter Brynnan further drives home the point in the interview: “We can’t dissect these cats, they are our companions…they are what we love, what we come home to, what we care about.”
Consider what happened in one Oklahoma City classroom as a result of cat dissection in the classroom: “The disturbing footage posted to Facebook shows nine young students from the flagship charter school – which is rated among the best schools in the USA – making the cat corpses ‘dance’ to music in a school laboratory while being ‘conducted’ by another student.”
Wild horses.
Flowing manes
Exuberant screaming
Thundering over the plains
In an ecstasy of freedom…
Hounding the hunters is long overdue, but the fight will never be easy because speciesism cuts deep into the human psyche. Animal rights activists are employing a new set of tactics to thwart hunters from taking down wolves, bears, and other game.
Whether she silently took part in skinning and dissecting a companion animal—something that would cause her immense psychological pain—or stood against the practice and further alienated herself from the other students, she was facing trauma either way.
Of course, in the near future, it isn’t remotely likely leading presidential candidates will take an abolitionist position on animal exploitation. But we can’t even get welfarism, for which I imagine there is a wide base of support, on the agenda…
A few weeks ago, news broke that the U.S. government would retire all 50 chimpanzees it was holding in reserve “in case” of need for them in the future as research subjects. This victory comes as the result of a campaign spanning many years and which would not have been possible without the collaboration, cooperation, and joint advocacy of numerous animal protection groups, both small and large, nationwide.
“…it can be predicted that this land would almost certainly never be restored to the peaceful and beautiful countryside that the Sage Grouse and the other birds and animals now know as their home.”
Legal advancements for animals can often come at a painfully slow pace. But recently, we couldn’t help but notice how many wins and promising animal law-related news items kept coming in.
Continued from How long will the sage grouse dance? part one Erik Molvar commented,…