Animal Rights Activism & Protests

Despite animal rights being largely overlooked by advertiser-based mainstream media, the animal rights movement is growing exponentially around the world, particularly in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

Along with the many established animal rights organizations working to end animal exploitation in factory farming, laboratories, fur farms, and entertainment (PETA, HSUS, Mercy for Animals, The Humane League, Animal Outlook, Animal Equality, Last Chance for Animals, and In Defense of Animals, to name a few), innovative grassroots AR movements are also gaining strength. One of them is The Save Movement. Founded by Toronto-based Ph.D. Anita Krajnc, The Save Movement holds vigils outside slaughterhouses to give water and love to cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats, and lambs headed to their deaths. Their mission is to have a vigil outside every slaughterhouse in the world. So far, there are more than 700 vigils and the campaign is growing rapidly. The largest such vigil is at a pig slaughterhouse near downtown Los Angeles, where many celebrities, include actor Joaquin Phoenix, have appeared to comfort the doomed animals. Those events are run by Los Angeles Animal Save and Animal Alliance Network!

Another rapidly expanding grassroots movement is Anonymous for the Voiceless, which holds Cubes of Truth in public squares and other high-traffic areas around the world. A Cube of Truth involves a minimum of several people, each wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, standing silently in a square formation while holding laptops or video monitors showing animal abuse occurring in factory farms, slaughterhouses, and laboratories. Some of the cubes have included hundreds of people. The visually dramatic events draw people into discussions about how badly animals are treated in our world. Many people, seeing the videos with their own eyes, go vegan on the spot.

Another grassroots campaign that has attracted a lot of attention is National Animal Rights Day. Held simultaneously in cities around the world on the first Sunday in June, this ceremony involves a memorial service for the many billions of animals killed by humans every year. The actual bodies of animals who’ve died in factory farms, labs, or slaughterhouses are often held by participants. After speeches and commemoration, the Declaration of Animal Rights is read and signed. Then, there are marches and celebrations to honor the joy of a violence-free lifestyle in food, clothing, and other consumer goods.