Brittany Michelson - Voices for Animal Liberation: Inspirational Accounts by Animal Rights Activists

Copyright 2020 by Brittany Michelson

Illustrations copyright 2020 by Corey J. Rowland unless otherwise noted

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Daniel Brount

Cover illustrations by Corey J. Rowland

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-5126-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-5128-6

Printed in China

This book is dedicated to all of the exploited animals, whose liberation is my greatest dream, and to the humans who are working hard to make this dream a reality.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

If you are wondering whether to read this book, it must mean you are curious about animal liberation: You arent exactly sure what it means, perhaps, or you are moved by the plight of animals and wish to explore further. Im certain you will find a lot in here that will impact and motivate you, such as the reasons why those of us who advocate for animals rights see the link to other movements as absolute and undeniable. For anyone who is already an activist or who has decided to become one, you are sure to find inspiration, thoughts that might not have occurred to you before, ideas that you can adopt or adapt, and words to cherish.

Brittany Michelson has collected a splendid set of narratives from people who, for myriad reasons, found themselves, often unexpectedly, embracing the idea of animal liberation. It dawned on each of them at some point in their lives that the concept of injustice couldnt rightly, logically, or reasonably be limited to the human animal. They realized that injustice occurs when we fail to connect the dots between ourselves and those who were not born in exactly the same physical form as ours.

The writers ethical evolutions often began with a question. Alexandra Paul found herself wondering at the absurdity of ranking kittens over hamsters, and hamsters over frogs, and asked herself why this was any different from assigning degrees of value to human beings who are often considered lower on the societal rung. Brittany Peet loved Smokey, a bear she often visited at a roadside zoo as a child. Later, she pondered how, back then, she could have been so oblivious to his loneliness and the desolation of his confinement to a barren cage. Jasmine Afshar questioned how people could empathize with the torment she experienced when she was sexually violated, yet dismiss the torment inherent in the routine assault of female animals whose bodies are exploited for meat and milk. Dani Rukin came out for animals, casting aside her leather jacket, long after coming out as a lesbian because, after initially mocking vegans, she began to wonder how diversity could rightly be limited to a single species.

Sometimes the animals themselves asked the questions, simply by being present or with an expression. Karen Daviss beloved parrot, Jasmin Singers waifish cat, the monkey spotted by Jo-Anne McArthur chained to a windowsill high in the Andesall seemed to nudge them in the direction of animal liberation. Was it recognizing the universal look of despair or hope or sadness in the face of a desperately thirsty pig, seen through the metal slats of a truck in the blistering heat, that changed Anita Krajncs life? Or was that suffering pig, one among many, who was about to pass through the slaughterhouse gates, someoneand I mean some one she already understood? After all, she was trying to live, and teach her students to live, as Tolstoy advised: When the suffering of another creature causes you to feel pain, do not submit to the initial desire to flee from the suffering one, but on the contrary, come closer, as close as you can to he who suffers, and try to help him. Anita was charged with criminal mischief for rushing to that pig and offering water, but from her compassionate action, many others came to see that animal liberation is something to work for.

Some writers, like Kathy Stevens and Gene Baur, started sanctuaries, taking in animals with nowhere else to find safety and comfort. Wayne Hsiung left his legal career to start a group that challenges the lack of legal protections for other-than-human beings. Shaun Monson became a filmmaker, whose epic film Earthlings has opened more eyes and minds and hearts to the reality of animal exploitation than perhaps any other.

At the end of this book, the individual writers experiences seem to be summed up in a verse from Sean Hills poem:

As alone as you may feel sometimes

you are never alone

we are all in this together

the vision to transform the world,

elevate everyones innate potential

by teaching sacred respect for all life forms

Please read this book. Pass it on to others. And take its lessons to heart, because the Golden Rule requires each of us to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. And that is the message of animal liberation.

Ingrid Newkirk

founder and president of PETA

Jo-Anne McArthur

INTRODUCTION

Animal rights: the rights of animals, claimed on ethical grounds, to the same humane treatment and protection from exploitation and abuse that are accorded to humans

Activism: the use of direct and noticeable action to achieve a result, usually a political or social one

Animal rights are not a gift we give to animals. They are a birthright we have taken from them.

Ryan Phillips

Animals have qualities we find important to the legal rights of humanslike self-awareness, the need for sovereignty, and the capacity for suffering, love, and empathy. We will never fully dismantle the injustices humans suffer without deconstructing the same problems that lead to animal suffering.

Marc Bekoff

As an animal rights activist, it is common to hear remarks such as:

What about human rights?

Dont you care about humans?

There are so many human problems in the world; lets solve those first.

Theres a widespread view that our own issues should be solved before animal issues are addressed, as if we need to demonstrate loyalty to our own species before advocating on behalf of others. This promotes the ideology of human superiority and reinforces a disconnect between humans and nonhumans. What we should be acknowledging is our interconnectedness: the fact that all beings have the capacity for love, joy, pain, and fear. Animal rights and human rights are inextricably connected. For example, there are multiple human and environmental issues that stem from animal issues. If we want to create a peaceful world, we must pay close attention to the ways in which human and nonhuman issues are related and honor the interdependence between our species and others.