When we turn down a visit to the circus because
elephants are forced to balance on balls, and whips are cracked to make
tigers leap through flaming hoops, or once-proud horses are made to look
ridiculous as they dance wearing plumage stolen from ostriches;
When we say "No!" to eating the charred corpses of
chickens, turkeys, ducks, cows, calves, pigs, and sheep, or refuse to
let our bodies be compromised by the consumption of eggs, milk, and
cheese because they are the "hidden" products of the slaughterhouse;
When we dispute scientists' self-appointed privilege of
seizing every animal imaginable to use as a tool for research,
deliberately inflicting pain and suffering without any sincere and
meaningful regard for their victims' psychological and physical
well-being;
When we challenge the legal status of animals as
property, which gives license to unlimited numbers of heinous acts of
cruelty by individuals and legitimizes the institutionalized commercial
exploitation of animals everywhere;
When we affirm that animals are sentient individuals
with their own inherent rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness;
This is when we become the leadership of the animal
advocacy movement.
WE ALL LEAD THE ANIMAL ADVOCACY MOVEMENT
Every time we speak up for animal liberation and speak
out against cruelty, we are leaders of the animal advocacy movement.
Every time we act for animals we become their representatives, and
everyone will judge our commitment to animals and the sincerity of our
convictions based upon our actions, behavior, language, and appearance.
Every time we act as cruelty-free consumers or as
vegetarians, or better still, as vegans, we are leaders of the animal
advocacy movement. Every time we act for animals by demonstrating
outside a restaurant, rescuing a stray dog from traffic, writing a
letter to the newspaper, visiting an elected representative,
participating in a state ballot initiative, reading a book about animal
rights, making a donation to an organization, watching a video, and
volunteering at the local shelter, we show leadership for the animals.
As leaders of a social justice movement that champions
the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves, we have a
particularly heavy responsibility. This duty is singularly burdensome
when we remember the individuality of the billions of animals abused,
exploited, neglected, and killed by members of our species.
THE CHALLENGE OF LEADERSHIP
We need to foster a movement-wide collective leadership
that embraces grassroots, national, and international action;
effectively utilizes the different strategic advantages of direct action
and working within the legal and political establishment; and mobilizes
public opinion through creative use of the mainstream media, academia,
the church, and other public institutions that constitute society.
As the movements' leadership, we ultimately bear the
responsibility of success and failure in our efforts to free animals
from human oppression. This is why it is so important for us to learn
how to accommodate any differences we may have on ideology, strategy,
and tactics.
The animal advocacy movement is a complex and diverse
community of individuals and organizations that share a vision of a
cruelty-free society but come from different starting points and
different directions. The true test of movement in leadership is to let
our diversity be our strength and to not invest our future successes in
any one ideology; organization, or individual.
THE LAST WORD
Let us celebrate each and every one of our individual
efforts to break free from a society that is largely blind to animal
exploitation. Let us acknowledge our efforts to come out of the closet
of cruelty and make a new world that humans and animals can enjoy
equally.
Go on to Shark Fin
Ban is Signed by Governor in Hawaii
Return to 25 June 2000 Issue
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