Various animal protection organisations and pro-animal bloggers throughout the world are proclaiming success in that the British government has banned wild animals in circuses. This is not true. Further, to repeat this claim is to give credit where none is due. The commitment made is the intent to ban wild animals in circuses. Meanwhile, the government… Read More
Martin Lacey from the Great British Circus spoke out in support of animals performing in circuses but refused access to the BBC to film the animals in his care. A move which could be seen to be audacious or naive (or both) given that the House of Commons was about to debate a motion calling… Read More
Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, Robert Flello, is promoting a Private Members Bill, Use of Wild Animals in Circuses, in the House of Commons in the British Parliament. The chances of this bill becoming law are not good. Generally, Private Members Bill do not become law unless they have the Government’s support. The Conservative-led British Government opposes a ban… Read More
Remember in April I commented on press reports that the Conservative-led coalition government was set to ban wild animals from performing in circuses? I expressed reservation that this, indeed, would be the case. Well, it turns out I was correct or, at least, will be proved to be correct, if the latest press report is… Read More
Animal activists across the world via the Web are rushing to report the UK government will ban animals in circuses following on from a report in the Daily Express, which says Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has been persuaded that forcing elephants, tigers, lions, camels and other exotic creatures to perform tricks for audiences is wrong… Read More
Shocking new ADI cruelty exposé shames UK circus industry from Animal Defenders on Vimeo.… Read More
One example of the Labour Government’s action on animal welfare which can be described as a “dollar short and a day late” is its policy on wild animals in circuses. It is, of course, to be welcomed that Jim Fitzpatrick MP, Minister of State for Food, Farming and Environment (DEFRA), stated on March 25, 2010.… Read More
A Tourette’s-afflicted woman is suing her brother for kicking her out of a shiva service in 2007, but her brother claims she had to be ejected after saying “F–k the rabbi.” Karen Feld filed a $110 million federal lawsuit against her brother—Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus boss Kenneth Feld—after her sibling allegedly had… Read More
In an excellent essay in Zooicide: Seeing Cruelty, Demanding Abolition (AK Press; 2018), Stephen Eisenman describes zooicide as a history of cruelty to animals in zoos. “Animals were thus robbed of their souls and their social being;” he writes, “they symbolized nothing but their biological selves-their genus and species-and were exhibited as entertainments or trophies in zoos all over the world.”… 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
It seems to me that there are two approaches to take when writing fiction in which nonhuman animals are the characters and the world imagined is theirs. First, to write about animals and their world in such a way that there is some familiarity or resemblance to ourselves and the world as experienced by ourselves. Examples in this category may include Black Beauty by Anna Sewell and Watership Down by Richard Adams. Second, to write fiction that imagines the world that’s inhabited by the animals who are the principal characters and describe them and their world through their own unique set of imaginations and experiences.… Read More
Would you say that you’re an ‘animal lover’? It isn’t difficult to find people who say that they are. Many of us have cats or dogs, or both – in the United Kingdom, for example, almost half of households have pets. Very often these animals are thought of as family members. And a lot of us enjoy watching television programmes, like David Attenborough’s, that bring the wonders of the natural world into our homes. Yet most of those who call themselves ‘animal lovers’ knowingly participate in animal cruelty – by eating meat, for example. Children easily appreciate the inconsistency here, but most adults still make excuses for their behaviour.… Read More
I first read Topsy by Michael Daly when it was published in 2013 but failed to write a review for reasons I now don’t recall. A second reading just completed gives me the opportunity to now do so. The reason for the rereading is because Topsy’s tragic life fascinates me.… Read More
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to remove from its website information about animal welfare is an assault on the democratic rights of citizens who care about animals. It signals to commercial and other interests that their use of animals are even more protected from public scrutiny and accountability.… Read More
Mark Hawthorne wrote Bleating Hearts because he wanted to ‘examine animal exploitation that does not get enough (or any) attention.’ (4) As you might expect, this is a book that is a catalog of our inhumanity to animals. It’s not an easy read but each chapter concludes with a ‘What You Can Do’ section. … Read More
Mark Hawthorne wrote Bleating Hearts because he wanted to ‘examine animal exploitation that does not get enough (or any) attention.’ (4) As you might expect, this is a book that is a catalog of our inhumanity to animals. It’s not an easy read but each chapter concludes with a ‘What You Can Do’ section. The… Read More
There were many fine books about animal rights and related matters published in 2013. So many, in fact, that I’ve had to devise two lists: my five favourites and four noble mentions. So, let’s deal with the latter group first. I’m cheating a bit with the noble mentions. I’m reading them or they’re on my to read… Read More
Animal advocates know the spectacle of exhibiting animals in a zoo or in any other form of display is an affront to the animals’ welfare and their intrinsic value as individual sentient beings with moral and legal rights. Zoos, aquariums, roadside attractions, etc., are examples of institutionalised speciesism in which we (the human animal) exert… Read More
In praise of undercover investigations by animal rights advocates, including the latest by Animal Equality in a pig farm in England this weekend. One of the strongest characteristics of the animal rights movement is our relentless commitment to expose animal cruelty hidden by the animal industrial complex which profits mightily by its exploitation of animals.… Read More
Further to my post two days ago which detailed the UK government’s ideological agenda determining that it would be too much regulation to prohibit animals from performing in circuses, respected environmentalist Jonathon Porritt writes on his blog that It is, I’m afraid, unavoidably depressing to see just how rapidly things have gone backwards since May 2010… Read More