Every Individual Matters: Wildlife conservation body just widened the circle of what it protects
Every Individual Matters: Wildlife conservation body just widened the circle of what it protects
Compassionate conservation developed from the refusal to accept the presumed conflict between protecting individual animals and protecting populations or ecosystems as inevitable. It didn’t dismiss extinction, it asked, instead, whether conservation had accepted harm too quickly, and whether populations and ecosystems could be protected without treating the individuals within them as disposable. Individuals matter. Remove them, and a population may remain numerically present but lacking in behavioral diversity, cultural knowledge and the capacity to adapt. The loss of the individual and the weakening of the whole go hand in hand. GOSIA BRYJA: For a long time, conservation and animal welfare were […]
Making a Killing: How the ‘pest’ control industry profits from lack of regulation
Making a Killing: How the ‘pest’ control industry profits from lack of regulation
There’s big money in poisons. It’s a little-known fact that the global ‘pest’ control market is valued at more than $25 billion. As it is, the go-to solution is to reach for the poison, regardless of the pain and suffering that rodenticides cause to target and non-target wildlife alike. The current routine used is a cruel, agonising death for the animal targeted, and potentially for other animals too – including foxes, badgers, otters, owls and other birds of prey – who either consume poisons directly or eat creatures who have eaten the baits. As animal rights advocates, we urgently need to […]
Ethical Veganism as Protected Belief: What the European Court of Human Rights just affirmed
Ethical Veganism as Protected Belief: What the European Court of Human Rights just affirmed
This ECHR judgment matters for vegan advocacy because it provides a legal foundation for veganism as a protected belief. It recognizes opposing the exploitation of animals is an ethical and lifelong commitment, which can be as deep and as identity-forming as any conviction. The judgment also underscores a broader truth: the EU states cannot use procedural barriers to avoid its obligations to those in its care, and that vegan nutritional constraints must be considered. EMILIA A. LEESE: In a first, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECHR”) has held ethical veganism meets the required level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and […]
