Successful movements fight the shadow with the power of light. Direct action, such as open rescue, shines light on the abuse. In the context of open rescue, that light is literal, as we move into dark places with our cameras and headlamps.
WAYNE HSIUNG: Nearly 20 years ago, Adam Durand was convicted and given a near-maximum sentence (6 months) for openly rescuing animals from an egg factory farm in upstate New York. The conviction and sentence were a shock. Experienced criminal defense lawyers advised Adam that there was no chance he would be charged and convicted; after all, he was exposing the abuses of a corporate giant, Wegmans, that would surely be too ashamed to pursue charges.
The birds Adam rescued, moreover, were grotesquely twisted into cage wire; partially buried in filth and feces; and on the brink of death. Even if convicted, sentencing a first-time offender with severe punishment was (and is) unheard of, especially for a crime that caused no financial harm to the “victim.”
Yet that is exactly what happened: Adam received a six-month sentence for taking dying birds to the vet. The statement to the animal rights movement was clear: Cross us, and we will go after you. Not with our own lawyers, but with the power of the American government, which so often is controlled by the same corporate titans who abuse animals in factory farms. “Just as we brutalize the animals, we will brutalize you,” the industry was saying. “Beware.”
And, sadly, the movement heard that warning loud and clear. The prosecution of Adam Durand, along with the convictions of other nonviolent animal rights advocates from the same era, placed a chill on the grassroots movement for animal rights…
Today,… the animal rights movement is facing an eerily similar situation. Activists across the globe are being charged and prosecuted, and sometimes convicted, for merely giving aid to sick and dying animals. A woman in upstate New York was charged with felony grand larceny for giving food, water, and shelter to two stray calves who wandered onto her property. Two activists in Vancouver were convicted and sentenced for merely documenting the abuses in a pig farm…
But, unlike what happened in the early 2000s, the grassroots animal rights movement is not being crushed. To the contrary, we are stronger than we have ever been. Just in the last few weeks, we have seen two major exposés of animal abuse in the national media (WIRED and the New York Times) triggered by grassroots activism. Another national media report in Vox recently showcased the corruption of the veterinary industry by corporate influences in Big Ag, inspired by the work of a grassroots veterinary organization, Our Honor…
Even in agricultural strongholds like Utah, industry efforts to criminalize aid to “sick” and “injured” animals are facing unprecedented pushback, with a state Senate committee nearly rejecting the bill despite universal industry support. So what has changed? In a word, the grassroots animal rights movement is ready for the fight… But perhaps most importantly, we are ready for this fight because we understand that the only way to fight a shadow is with the power of light.
For too long, the animal rights movement has been focused on what happens in the dark. To be sure, showcasing the horror of animal abuse remains an important part of what we do. There are more animals being tortured, as we sit here today, than all the human beings who have lived on this planet in the earth’s history. And the torment they endure is almost unfathomable…
But successful movements must not relegate themselves to the shadows. Successful movements fight the shadow with the power of light… Direct action, such as open rescue, shines light on the abuse. In the context of open rescue, that light is literal, as we move into dark places with our cameras and headlamps. Whether with nonviolent sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement, or mass protests for climate justice, direct action brings attention to an issue that has been ignored…
The power of light does not depend on me. It depends on you. On us… Because only when we all see this power in us — the light within each of us, as activists, but also the light in the living beings we defend, which inspires us — can we cast out the shadow. SOURCE…
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