Schlagwort: animals

Fellow animal liberators, I come to you right now—as an exhausted Black man—asking for help working against systemic racism that threatens Black lives. I know personally how motivated you all are, as I am, in pushing for real change. We need to show that energy right now.

Those of us who are active in the animal rights movement have a reason for being powerful allies. If we truly believe in empathy and compassion for all living beings, we can show it today.

Those involved in the animal rights movement know all too well how frustrating it is for people to scoff at our message, even when we’re armed with evidence of blatant injustice.

Think how infuriating it is when videos of mother cows crying out for their stolen calves fall on deaf ears. Think of the frustration we feel when individuals try to justify the abuse when workers punch and mutilate sheep for wool. Or when vile commenters laugh when farmers slit the throats of conscious animals on farms. I feel it, too.

Recognize our aggravation as Black people when the powers that be try to avoid or twist the narrative around the killing of Black people by racists. Just as we know it’s indefensible to use and abuse animals, the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and the near countless other Black lives taken because of violent bigotry are completely unjustifiable.

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This is especially true when these atrocities are recorded for all the world to see. Both the animal rights movement and the Black Lives Matter movement include activists who know that horrible violence takes place off camera daily. But when people view the footage for themselves, they can no longer declare ignorance, only apathy. That’s why we must stand—and march—together.

We know the unfair justice system well. The deck is stacked against anyone working to end oppression.

Both movements also realize that even recorded evidence often isn’t enough to secure a conviction in the U.S. The demonstrations taking place right now are bigger than the four officers who murdered George Floyd on camera. Racists, whether or not they wear a badge, often go unpunished for killing Black Americans.

How many times have we seen obvious cruelty go unpunished in the animal rights movement? Let’s remember that hurt—that grief over the failure of the judicial system—and use it to relate to the events of the Black Lives Matter movement.

There are Black police officers, and there are good police officers of all colors. But people are now marching globally against acts of barbarism that are systemic in many police departments.

The marchers today are demanding the same thing that animal rights activists are demanding: accountability.

The Black Lives Matter movement calls for “an end to the systemic racism that allows this culture of corruption to go unchecked and our lives to be taken.”

This call for an end to unjust oppression is a message that should resonate with every single person pushing for animal rights. Numerous folks at PETA and other animal rights activists know what it’s like to be arrested and detained simply for demonstrating against injustice. All the while, vile perpetrators get off scot-free.

Both of our movements want sweeping, reformative legislation that would help lead to convictions. We all want more transparency in investigations. We want prosecutors and attorney generals who will go to bat for us when we expose cruelty.

Animal rights activists want justice always, so they can understand the importance of defunding militarized police forces that kill Black people. PETA is on the front lines pushing for the defunding of federal and state institutions that funnel money into cruel experiments on animals and that use and often kill animals for entertainment. We know these institutions speak one language fluently, and that’s the language of money.

At the end of the day, we all want to see more funds channeled into positive projects: hospitals, schools, and social programs that help build our communities.

Please, resist detracting from the thrust of these demonstrations with an “all lives matter” perspective.

The idea comes from a compassionate heart—and the idea is true—but this phrase has been weaponized to delegitimize the Black Lives Matter movement.

As an animal rights supporter, you know how frustrating it is when someone says, “How can you care about animals when children are going hungry?” It is not either/or. But when you’re demonstrating against acts like scalding pigs to death in boiling water inside slaughterhouses or running dogs to death in the Iditarod, you’re talking about very specific lives. That focus needs to be maintained.

Right now, Black activists like me are asking people of all colors to listen to our demands and our needs.

Please hear us. Just as PETA wants the world to pay attention to the plight of animals suffering in laboratories, on farms, and in roadside zoos and to educate themselves on the plight of animals under human supremacy, the Black Lives Matter movement wants people to learn as much as they can about systemic racism.

This isn’t the time for “whataboutism.” This is a time to stand with our brothers and sisters against the same cruel system that wouldn’t think twice about throwing you facedown in the dirt at your own protest.

Fellow animal liberators, we know the power of protesting and demonstrating. Use it now.

As a Black vegan, I don’t tiptoe between two identities—I embrace the solidarity of these two worlds. Many others do, too, as African Americans are the fastest-growing population of vegans in the country. Living vegan is as much a lifesaver for animals as it is a political statement against an unjust status quo.

I only ask that my fellow animal rights activists make their voices heard and show solidarity with Black people now, for this is the moment to do so. Everyone has a moral responsibly to stand against hate and unequivocal violence, no matter who the victims may be. Your voice could very well save my life.

The post Why Animal Rights Activists Must Stand Up for Black Lives appeared first on PETA.

You may see the ads on television or receive a glossy catalog in the mail: a plea from an international charity to send money to “gift” animals to families in marginalized communities, ostensibly to fight world hunger. The appeals are filled with colorful images of families frolicking with goats or gleefully holding chickens. The marketing tactic plays on people’s desire to do good.

But sending farmed animals to families in impoverished countries can exacerbate financial and environmental strain while also causing significant animal suffering. Charity assessor GiveWell advises against the practice of giving animals to impoverished people, because if a family is struggling to provide for itself, how can it properly provide animals with housing, nutrition and medical care?

While the charities spin the outcome as one in which the animals are living in idyllic circumstances, the grim reality is that “gifted” farmed animals in developing countries can face deplorable conditions. They may go without shelter or shade in the burning heat and lack sufficient food and water. Since many recipient nations have few to no animal protection laws, animals may not receive veterinary care for even major injuries and illnesses. In fact, an impact analysis of a Heifer International operation in the Philippines revealed that nearly 92% of “gifted” animals who got sick ended up dying—likely as a result of inadequate preventative care.

In 2018, a PETA and Sentient observer traveled to Rajasthan, India, to see how animals were cared for in areas where the Heifer International “goat-gifting” program operated. What they found is deeply disturbing and upends the illusion that promotional materials lead donors to believe.

The eyewitness saw goats housed in extremely crowded pens, goats tied up so tightly that they could barely move, baby goats with sticks jammed in their mouths to prevent them from drinking their mothers’ milk (which is taken away for human consumption) and male goats pinned down and castrated without the use of anesthesia. Goats were seen suffering from conditions including an infected udder, a fractured limb and a maggot-filled wound—none of which were properly treated.

Raising and killing animals for food does not improve the human condition—it harms it. According to the United Nations, raising animals for food is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” A study detailed in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences found that raising animals for food uses one-third of the world’s fresh water. And the traditionally animal “product”–heavy Western diet has been linked to a higher risk of suffering from diabetes, heart disease, obesity and cancer.

It’s evident that the best way to provide hungry people with relief while benefiting their overall health is to promote vegan eating. Feeding people plant-derived foods instead of meat, eggs and dairy is a far more efficient and productive way to meet the nutritional needs of a community. The human body can obtain all necessary proteins, minerals and complex carbohydrates from sustainable crops of vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts and fruits. The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation points out that planting fruitful trees and plants not only serves communities for generations but also helps improve the surrounding air, soil and water.

It’s clear that poverty, hunger and environmental degradation are urgent global problems that require viable, long-lasting solutions. “Animal-gifting” charities must shift their focus to sustainable practices that genuinely empower communities, instead of promoting cruelty and wastefulness.

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