About the moral and legal status of animals.
Forty years ago today in 1982, 6,000 animal rights campaigners marched six miles from Salisbury, Wiltshire to Porton Down, the government’s warfare research laboratory where animals are used as research tools to manufacture war. That day, as is today, April 24, is designated World Day for Laboratory Animals. In 1982 I was Campaigns Officer at… Read More
After The British Library acquired 36 boxes of research materials in 2020 to form the Kim Stallwood Archive, there was still a considerable amount of animal rights stuff in my office. I needed to find a permanent home for it. This included an audiovisual archive, a collection of 200 plus leaflets from the 19th and… Read More
Anna Malia of the North East Animal Rights (NEAR) in the UK recently interviewed me about my animal rights work. Click here on this Facebook link. On Friday, 6 May, I will be speaking about ‘The Martin Bicentenary: An opportunity to look back and imagine the future’ at the British Animal Studies Network at the… Read More
I don’t think the British statesman Winston Churchill had animal rights in mind when he wrote, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” But this pithy observation contains a general truth that’s true for the many individuals and organisations who collectively form the social justice movement for nonhuman animals. Regardless… Read More
I recognise that I’m not the demographic who will go into a KFC to eat vegan Beyond Chicken. One of the reasons why I’m a vegan is because I find the visceral experience of eating the charred remains of dead animal parts—and their counterfeits—revolting. I like fresh ingredients simply cooked. Indian food is, of course,… Read More
Today, January 4, 119 years ago, a female, wild-caught Asian elephant called Topsy is killed in front of 1,000 plus people at Lunar Park, one of America’s first amusement parks, on Coney Island, New York. She is fed carrots laced with 460 grams of potassium cyanide. Then, 6,600 volts of electricity are shot through her… Read More
Nancy Regan, who co-founded the Culture and Animals Foundation (CAF) with her husband Tom, died in Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday, October 20, aged 83. With Tom’s passing in 2017, this is, for me, the end of an era in animal rights. They were among the few of the movement’s founders whose philosophical and artistic… Read More
Yesterday was the first day back in my office since June 17, when I collapsed unconscious in the street from a faulty heart valve I was born with and didn’t know existed. Open heart surgery and three hospitals stay later, I’m at last getting well enough to return full-time to my vegan, animal rights work.… Read More
Everywhere around the world insects are under threat. These threats take many forms not least from the global use of chemicals in support of mono cropping to grow food to feed to animals intensively raised in industrial farms. The plight of insects was featured in Insectageddon produced by Writers Rebel and the second in their… Read More
Join me at Insectageddon: On the Brink II from Writers Rebel hosted by novelist Laline Paull on Monday, May 24 at 6pm GMT/7pm BST. With Terry Tempest Williams, Isabella Rossellini, Professor Dave Goulson, Rebel Jay Griffiths, novelist Chloe Aridjis, Dr Erica McAlister, filmmaker Eva Aridjis, and poet Daisy Lafarge. Live at https://xrlivestream.tv/insectageddon/ … Read More
Jamie Woodhouse of the project, Sentientism: Evidence, reason and compassion, recently interviewed me for its podcast. This is a wide-ranging conversation in which Jamie asked me to describe my personal philosophy and beliefs that ground my animal rights work and keep me motivated.… Read More
On January 4, 1903, a female Asian elephant called Topsy was electrocuted to death on Coney Island, New York. I first learned about Topsy in the 1990s. I was working with the talented film-maker Jayne Loader on her outstanding documentary about animals. Jayne’s film was composed of pre-existing footage from many sources woven together to… Read More
Knowing Animals is a regular 30 minutes podcast about all things related to animals and ethics; animals and the law; animals and politics; and animal advocacy. It features interviews with academic and animal advocates. Episode 155 features an interview with yours truly. Host Josh Milburn invited me to discuss two topics. First, my chapter, ‘A… Read More
Notwithstanding those who say to the contrary, authors appreciate reviews, particularly when they’re positive. Recently, I discovered an enthusiastic review of my book, Growl, posted anonymously on Amazon. The author then contacted me and my delight in the review was enhanced when I discovered who it was. It’s for these reasons that I want to… Read More
The Kim Stallwood Archive of research material documenting the history of the animal rights movement will become part of the British Library’s permanent holdings starting in autumn 2020. The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and provides information services to academic, business, research, and scientific communities. My unique archive chronicle the animal… Read More
Animal advocates often moan about politicians because they don’t care about animals. They also complain about how existing legislation for animals is often biased in favour of those abusing animals. I share these frustrations. I also believe there’s a way forward for the animal rights movement to ensure our elected representatives and governments do care about animals and act effectively on their behalf. I advocate a strategy to put animals into politics.… Read More
Tired of living in a world where animals have no value. Wherever you look, they’re treated like garbage. Fine to export them across oceans even though thousands of them die en route. OK to let them burn alive trapped in cages in factory farms because they’re not worth anything—not even a water sprinkler system or… Read More
Topsy was in her late twenties when she was murdered at Luna Park on Coney Island in New York on January 4, 1903. The murder scene is one of America’s first theme parks at a time when the United States emerges as an industrial world leader. My use of the word “murder” rather than “killed” is deliberate. Her life and death represent the fate of many animals—not just elephants and not just in the entertainment industry. Even though some thought her guilty, I felt she was innocent.… Read More
The U.K. General Election of 2019 will most likely go down in the record books as the Brexit Election. But, to their great credit, many politicians, political parties, some parts of the media, and campaign groups, such as Extinction Rebellion, have turned it into the Climate Election. The political parties themselves, particularly the Conservatives… Read More
I will be a speaker at the MANCEPT Workshops, which is an annual conference in political theory organised under the auspices of the Manchester Centre for Political Theory. My presentation, Putting Animals into Politics, will be part of the workshop series called “Just Animals? The Future of the Political Turn in Animal Ethics.” The Mancept… Read More