Leading influence on rise of animal rights movement Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 1929-1968, in whose honor we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, never had any visible direct involvement with animals or animal issues––but he is justly remembered among the greatest influences on the animal rights movement of our time, and the many […]
More Than A Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality
by Karen Davis, Ph.D. Lantern Books (One Union Square West, Suite 201, New York, NY 10003), 2001. 192 pages, paperback. $14.95 c/o https://www.upc-online.org/merchandise/book.html Reviewed by Merritt Clifton Looking back nearly 30 years to 1990, the two most significant animal advocacy events of the year were––as expected––the first March […]
Are kosher & halal slaughter bans anti-Semitic & Islamophobic?
Animal advocacy, religious teaching, & cultural insecurity collide in Belgium BRUSSELS, Belgium––Is Belgium moving rapidly to ban slaughter without pre-stunning out of concern for animals, or are prohibitions of the traditional kosher and halal slaughter methods rooted in latent anti-Semitism and Islamophobia? Slaughter without pre-stunning becomes illegal Whatever the political truth is, legal reality […]
Why did the ASPCA pres get $852,231, while we got $9.70 an hour?
An $8.00-a-month donor prompted us to ask the question This is an exposé (and appeal) that Beth & I really did not want to have to write, but one of our faithful & reliable donors of $8.00 per month persuaded us that we had to –– because donors like her, for the most part, are […]
Timothy J. Walker, 73, exposed slaughterhouse cruelty
by Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator, Humane Farming Association Timothy J. Walker, 73, died on September 10, 2018 in Naples, Florida, a little known hero for animals sent to slaughter. After graduating from St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis, Walker at age 17 joined his two first cousins in the U.S. Navy. Disaster relief Initially stationed […]
The Animal Shelter by Patricia Curtis
Lodestar Books (c/o E.P. Dutton), 1984. 164 pages, hardcover. $13.95 original price. Reviewed by Merritt Clifton The Animal Shelter, by Patricia Curtis, introduced a generation of young people to humane work. “I wrote The Animal Shelter 28 years ago, so it is badly out-of-date,” Curtis told me in May 2011, seemingly surprised to be looked […]
Tom Regan, 78, made the case for animal rights
Evolved from butcher to leading advocate of vegan philosophy RALEIGH, North Carolina–– Animal rights philosopher Tom Regan, 78, died on the morning of February 17, 2017. “He had taken pneumonia last week,” longtime family friend Bernard Unti told ANIMALS 24-7. “The family was all with him,” including Nancy, Regan’s wife of more than 50 years, […]
Fierce critics Ann Cottrell Free & Henry Spira goaded HSUS to mature
Part III of The five muckrakes whose ideas built the Humane Society of the U.S.; see also Did Cleveland Amory write to Ann Landers? Yes! Very likely no president of the Humane Society of the U.S. ever looked forward to telephone calls from either Ann Cottrell Free or Henry Spira, nine years younger, who emerged as a […]
The five muckrakes whose ideas built the Humane Society of the U.S.
How five journalists helped to shape the world’s largest animal charity (First of a 3-part series. See also Did Cleveland Amory write to Ann Landers? Yes! and Fierce critics Ann Cottrell Free & Henry Spira goaded HSUS to mature.) WASHINGTON D.C.––Celebrating the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Humane Society of the U.S. […]
Did Holocaust imagery convince my vegan rabbi?
by Barbara Kay Activism in a noble “rights” cause has its satisfactions and its frustrations. It feels good to join in solidarity with like-minded people in spreading a righteous message, but it is difficult to accept the frequent reality that most people aren’t paying attention to it. Urgency & shock tactics When the cause is […]