ANIMAL RIGHTS WATCH

ANIMALISM: Our animal nature is not something to rise above, but to honor

Some humans struggle to accept the fact that we are animals. Throughout history, many cultures and religions have expressed ambivalence and even hostility to the animal side of our nature. Some argue that we humans are mental and spiritual beings, in a way that animals can’t aspire to. But even our spiritual nature harks back to our animal nature. Two essential aspects of spirituality are presence and mental quietness. Animals live completely in the present and do not appear to experience the incessant mental activity that afflicts us. So, in a sense, spirituality also aligns with our animal nature. STEVE TAYLOR: […]

R.I.P. ‘Mad Cowboy’: Howard Lyman, former cattle rancher-turned-vegan activist is dead

For 20 years Howard Lyman raised both dairy and beef cattle, pigs, and chickens. Diagnosed with a spinal tumor in 1979, and facing the possibility of paralysis, Lyman turned to organic farming. By that time, Lyman had begun to investigate ‘mad cow disease,’ and again was suffering health issues. Lyman credited turning vegetarian, and later vegan, with his recovery. In 1998, Lyman wrote the foreword to Erik Marcus’s book ‘Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating’ and published his first book, ‘Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won’t Eat Meat’. According to PETA, ‘Howard Lyman set an example for […]

Invisible Activists: Marketing for a movement that can’t promise anything in return

When it comes to marketing ourselves, animal activism is in a challenging position compared to other social movements. Other movements directly help the people involved (women’s rights benefit women). With our animal activist campaigns, it seems we get nothing that improves personal lives. True, there are benefits like environmental impact and pandemic preparedness, but they lack the bite of personal motivation. Instead, we could be positioning ourselves as a small band of renegades taking on corrupt corporate giants. ‘Project Slingshot’ is already exploring this narrative angle to some success. Their campaigns spotlight the agricultural industry’s lies. Rather than making people feel […]