TheAnimal Defense & Anti-Vivisection Society of British Columbia (ADAV), established by a veterinary surgeon in 1927, is a peaceful, grassroots organization committed to the abolition of vivisection on moral, ethical and scientific grounds.
Animal Justice is in our opinion the best thing that’s happened to animal rights in Canada! They are making sure that animals have a legal voice with a team of lawyers and advocates.
The classic which is considered to be the beginning of animal liberation.
For centuries people have exploited, mutilated and abused animals in countless ways, oblivious of animal’s sentience. Today a new movement rising is questioning societies use and abuse of non-human animals.
This page is presently in construction.
This is the comprehensive ARVEG FAQ produced by KG which covers just about every imaginable attack against animal rights and vegan stances. It provides factual, effective and occasionally amusing responses.
Dr. David Sztybel chose to specialize in animal rights as a philosopher at a time when the movement was in its growing stages.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (Columbo 685)
No one is perfect. Everyone is open to criticism. Any individual or group can be examined and criticized where appropriate and fair. The misery and death perpetrated against nonhuman animals is an unfathomable catastrophic hell, and one should seek to improve the lives of victims whenever possible while pursuing an end to the practices. This is what we would do with a human rights situation and nonhumans deserve no less.
Human Exceptionalism is the latest term to buzz around to describe the phenomenon of human supremacy. It is a clever term I would say, as it doesn’t have the bigot aura that supremacist carries. But in essence it means the same thing even if its users deny it.
Jonathan Balcombe holds three biology degrees and specializes in the study of ethology with a PhD in this area of study. A leading animal behavior researcher he is also an author and speaker.
Marc Bekoff is Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. An internationally prominent lecturer on animal behavior, cognitive ethology and behavioral ecology, Marc has contributed immensely to these fields via original papers, books and even videos. Additionally, he was a competitive cyclist winning the Tour du Haut Var for his age group in 1986!
I think that there is a lot to be said in terms of how martial arts philosophy applies to life in general, and in regards to the animal righton movement it is especially pertinent and beneficial.
Many martial arts, such as Okinawan Karate and Capoeira, were developed and practiced so that oppressed people would have a means of defending themselves in lieu of access to arms.
The Golden Rule is the only moral principle that grounds itself in objective observation. The primary three systems of normative ethics: deontology, consequentialism, and virtue ethics, all share the common failure to conclusively answer the question “Why should I care?” when they make claims of how individuals ought to behave. The Golden Rule, however, does not even ask that we care about the principle at all, it simply explains that when we act in a manner toward others that is inconsistent with how we would like to be treated, then we are being hypocritical and unfair. This replaces opinion with fact, so that the desires of individuals cannot be held above it. However, the Golden Rule does have some loopholes that ought to be addressed in order to form a more solid basis for morality.
Scientists now have sophisticated, human-appropos methodologies for studying diseases such as
Advances in technology allow us finding ways to improve health care without inflicting harm on animals.
The foundation of the ethical arguments used to defend vivisection, the meat industry, and other forms of exploitation protested by animal righton campaigners is the belief in human supremacy. It is generally taken for granted by both sides of the issue and left unchallenged. Advocates would discover they can make a stronger case if they relied less on the three S words (suffering, sentience and speciesism), and more on common sense, clear language and a frontal assault on human pride. It shifts the energy of the debate from a defensive posture (an effort to persuade the listener to embrace compassion and/or respect for non human life forms) to one that forces the most hard line adversary into a choice - either accept nonhuman righton as a necessary condition of a fair ethical system or concede that their own belief would allow humans to discriminate against other humans in unpleasant ways.
Let us give a gift to the world,
a gift of joy and boundless peace.
Success is what the American Dream is all about. Many people are motivated by the promise of a better life, hence they chase dollar bills all their lives in the hopes of living out the American Dream - a fantasy which only money can buy. The American economic system is designed to meet the needs of the upper class, as it ignores problems of ethnic minorities.
All arguments are not created equal. There are differences in their intent and the degree to which they impact an audience’s psyche. If you wish to make the strongest case for justice and respect towards nonhuman beings, then destroying human arrogance is crucial and human nature is your greatest ally in the cause.
I was encouraged by a recent editorial denouncing whaling as cruel. I have also read that 70% of Canadians agree, including such local public figures as Reform MP, Gary Lunn. I wondered, though, if there is an inconsistency with the fact that most of us eat animals regularly. My first thought was that whales are killed in a cruel way, but that animals are raised for food in a humane manner.