Animal Liberation

This text was originally published in Italian as the first chapter (Dérive #1) of Marco Reggio’s book Cospirazione Animale. Tra azione diretta e intersezionalità [Animal Conspiracy: Between Direct Action and Intersectionality]. Additional footnotes have been provided by the author for this English translation, with some information on the Italian context. The chapter deals with issues of species, gender, and coloniality that emerged in the praxis of the Italian anti-speciesist movement over the past fifteen years. In particular, Reggio gives an account of his experience as an activist and researcher facing the death of an Ethiopian woman, Agitu Ideo Gudeta, who fled her country under political persecution to open a goat farm in Italy, where she was assaulted and killed by a co-worker. Reggio interrogates the conflict between the privilege that entails being able to criticize and take distance from animal farming (which was hardly achievable from Gudeta’s standpoint), and the impossibility of endorsing and celebrating the “happy meat” paradox from an animal liberation perspective (like all farmers, Gudeta sent baby goats to the slaughter in order to be able to milk their mothers). Reggio articulates his reflection along the lines of Frantz Fanon’s notion of the “zone of non-being” and Judith Butler’s aporetic “embarassment” in the face of the inexhaustible plurality of identities that cloak the subject (potentially opening the doors to the more-than-human).

With reference to the book “18 Theses on Marxism and Animal Liberation”, published by the Alliance for Marxism and Animal Liberation, which aims to create a point of consensus between Marxism and the anti-speciesism struggle, this article discusses the solidarity and conflict between Marxism and the anti-speciesism movement under the titles “Why should anti-speciesism be Marxist?” and “Why should Marxism be anti-speciesist?”. While Marxists describe anti-speciesists as being insensitive to capitalism's exploitation of labor, pro-bourgeois, and idealistic with metaphysical and moralistic tendencies, anti-speciesists describe Marxists as incoherent for reproducing today's industrial animal exploitation through consumption relations within the capitalism they criticize. In 2014, the Alliance for Marxism and Animal Liberation, an association of animal liberation movement and communist left activists from Germany and Switzerland, suggested that for Marxists to abandon their incoherence, they should not be in a network of consumption relations that reproduce animal exploitation and should address the domination of capitalism over animals in their analysis while anti-speciesists should work with the historical materialist method to analyze the material conditions of speciesism. While these proposals seem to establish a point of compromise without making vital compromises on either side, as the discussion section of the article will show, there are many points ripe for debate. This article will both present this ground for compromise by summarizing the Alliance for Marxism and Animal Liberation's critique and open it up for discussion.

This work focuses primarily on animal rights in the United States within the context of the specific legal system existing in that country. It argues that animal rights as recognized by state law are limited, in the sense that enforcement can occur only through public prosecution. If horses and cows are beaten and mistreated at a local farm, or if greyhounds are forced to live in small cages, protection will come only if the prosecutor decides to provide it. However, as prosecutors have limited budgets, and animal protection is rarely a priority the result is that violations of state law occur every day. We contend that there is no good reason to accept the level of suffering that is now being experienced by millions of living creatures. Doubts have been raised about the radical idea that animals deserve to have "autonomy", understood as a right to be free from human control and use. In our view, the primary focus should instead be on animal welfare and suffering. While animals should not be treated merely as tools for human purposes, it is possible for humans to control them in ways that still allow animals to have decent lives. However, emphasis on minimizing suffering and ensuring decent lives for animals has significant implications. It is appropriate to consider human interests in this equation, because most times human interests take precedence over those of animals. Adopting the conversational method of inquiry, we claim that often the interests of animals are entirely disregarded, and if they were considered, many of our current practices would be indefensible.

The current global political atmosphere is steeped in fear of, and intense rhetoric about, political violence and" terrorism." Amidst this turbulent environment, it is clear that scholars and practitioners need to get beyond the manufactured fear and the hysterical rhetoric, peddled by what we call the corporate-state-military-media complex (or simply, the" power complex"), and instead seek a deeper understanding of political groups that defend or deploy the tactics of economic sabotage (property destruction) or armed struggle in order ...

I ntellectual debates over morality are one thing; policy formation is another. Sometimes there are clear correlations between law or policy and ethics, but that is the exception rather than the rule. Policy represents a response to pressure, interest, and public opinion as much as—if not more than—a deposit of community moral wisdom. Or is this dichotomy so clear? Perhaps a policy can be both politically pragmatic and morally wise. US policy and ethics concerning uses of animals in research illustrate the separation and complex connections among these levels of normative thought. This article will trace a selective and brief history of the movement to improve the treatment of animals involved in research, explain why that movement was largely ignored throughout most of the biomedical ethics revival of the last decades, and show the convergence of these currents in the development of US policy and regulations—although not in bioethics as a whole—over the past 25 yr.

This article presents the idea of animal rights as perceived by a Polish philosopher and ethicist, Dorota Probucka. It is divided into three sections that delve into the development and significance of animal rights from the perspectives of both proponents and critics of the idea. The first section provides an overview of the turning points in the history and evolution of animal rights, referring to the main thinkers who had the fundamental impact on their development. The second part defines the concept of animal rights and explains why extending fundamental rights to at least some non-human beings is important from both moral and legal perspectives. The third part compares the arguments of the proponents and opponents of the idea of granting basic rights to animals. The philosophers' positions presented by Probucka prove that beings capable of suffering, regardless of their intellectual abilities, deserve moral consideration. This stance is supported by numerous arguments from various fields of science, demonstrating the degree of awareness and emotional complexity of animals. These arguments should contribute to the recognition of animal rights within a moral and legal context. The article also emphasizes the need for legal reforms, including the need to introduce formal legal structures, such as the appointment of the so-called Animal Rights Ombudsman, who could represent animals at an institutional level. Considering the growing bioethical and biocentric awareness, the article emphasizes the need to redefine our attitude towards animals. It also postulates the necessity of implementing legal reforms that will make animals full participants of the moral community, which is of key importance for the future of both people and animals on our planet.

This discussion focuses on the rationales employed by animal rights activists to explain their involvement in, and support of, protest tactics that are controversial both inside and outside the animal rights movement. The paper centers on the use of residential picketing ("home demos") in a campaign against a private, multinational animal testing firm. Using ethnographic data and semistructured interviews with activists, the discussion demonstrates that these activists are aware of the marginality of their tactics. Despite some ambivalence, however, activists accept full responsibility for their actions and justify their behavior by utilizing supportive rationales that stress the perceived efficacy of home demos. Specifically, they appeal to the immediate and longterm psychological and direct and indirect material impacts on protest targets. These narratives are explored as constructions that are shaped and disseminated within the context of the state's preoccupation with "ecoterrorism" and the movement's internal debates regarding acceptable protest tactics.

Reincantare uno spazio di relazione Le api e l'umano tra cura trasformativa e performance multispecie Non ci sono nomi a scadenza della terra. Teodora Mastrototaro Un nuovo tipo di responsabilità: agency più-che-umana e zoopolitica Cosa fare quando l'agency viene estesa al non-umano? Che tipo di responsabilità (come response-ability, capacità di dare risposte) emerge, e da quali soggettività, nel momento in cui il potere, ma soprattutto l'influenza sul mondo, non è prerogativa dell'umano? La capacità di agire, evidenzia Richie Nimmo 1 , è relazionale, e non propria di corpi individuati. Non si detiene l'agency, attitudine temporanea che si acquisisce di volta in volta, a ogni incontro diversamente, per ogni circostanza in maniera nuovamente anomala, a partire da un campo di forze di corpi e dei loro assemblaggi 2. Immaginare un nuovo tipo di responsabilità, che non includa solo la presenza dell'essere umano, presuppone ripensare anche le istanze politiche in gioco. Come reagiscono, in un'ottica più-che-umana, il concetto di cura e le pratiche a esso associate? Cosa significa prendersi

The Ideology of Animal Liberation and the “Guilt” of Christianity
Part I: Is Speciesism So Bad? Abstract: The purpose of the article is to offer a critical analysis of the thesis about the responsibility
of Christianity for the oppression of animals in the West developed
by the ideologists of their liberation: Peter Singer and his associates. Since the historical connection of this religion with the ideas about the moral status of animals and the practices of their use is confusing, changeable and multifaceted, the analysis is limited to the study of the concept of speciesism, fundamental in this thesis. Singer and other liberationists interpret speciesism as a form of unjustified discrimination based on species and liken it to racism and sexism. Revealing the falsity of this analogy, the author proves that such discrimination can be both justified (and then speciesism is not reprehensible) and unjustified
(and then, for the sake of terminological clarity, it is better to use another, purely negative, concept of human chauvinism). It is also concluded that justified speciesism has not been determined directly and primarily by the religion. The Christian idea of the sanctity of human life itself was derived from the belief in the uniqueness of man, which nourishes speciesism and rests on self-evident grounds that do not depend on the religion. Serving as an innate perspective inherent in all conscious beings, in which they perceive the world around them, speciesism does not necessarily lead to the oppression of animals. The suffering we inflict on them mostly has other, more obvious, causes.

iscourse about the use of animals in biomedical research usually focuses on two issues. The first, which I will refer to as the "necessity issue," is empirical and asks whether the use of nonhumans in experiments is required in order to gather statistically valid information that will contribute in a significant way to improving human health. The second, which I will refer to as the "justification issue," is moral and asks whether the use of nonhumans in biomedical research, if necessary as an empirical matter, can be defended as a matter of ethical theory. If it is not necessary as an empirical matter to use animals in research, then there is no need to inquire about moral justification. Therefore, I examine the necessity issue first. The argument that it is necessary to use nonhumans in biomedical research, though flawed, is at least plausible, unlike our necessity arguments for other animal uses. I then discuss the justification issue and conclude that we cannot morally justify using nonhuman animals in research.

Traditional zoos have long faced scrutiny for their ethical implications and limitations in animal welfare. In response, the 'Unzoo' concept has emerged as a potential practice. This study seeks to explore how Unzoos deviate from traditional zoo practices, how they prioritize naturalistic habitats and animal welfare by immersing educational experiences. It also analyzes benefits and challenges. Additionally, this paper also delves into the ethical considerations, challenges and ethos in dealing with animals and wildlife conservation. It began with discussion on western philosophical approaches in animal welfare. Architects, conservationists and ethicists and advocators of this field are being studied. Islamic perspectives as well as organizations and initiatives are also discussed future development of a better design farmwork. This paper intends to offer a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges of the Unzoo concept in modern wildlife management and conservation efforts.

Veterinarians play an important role in preserving the human animal bond throughout the lives of animals and their owners. Although this bond is frequently discussed in the veterinary field, the discourse is typically from a scientific point of view. The authors propose that reading and discussing literary works allows veterinarians to more fully understand the depth and importance of the bond to the well-being of their patients and clients. The objective of this study is to present a model for a course in veterinary medicine and literature for veterinary students.

"On the man-made trail that runs along the walled west coast route of old San Juan, from the city gate on Paseo de la Princesa to behind the San Felipe del Morro castle; there, in a small paved section at the foot of the old fortifications of the capital city, lying between rows of immense rocks serving as breakwaters and provisional brakes to the impact of natural erosion and its future; a native colony of free-ranging felines faces a death threat from a federal government agency…" (GS 2022)

La obra integra -desde una perspectiva crítica-reflexiva- la historia de la cultura de crueldad contra primates no-humanos en Puerto Rico; documenta y analiza las legislaciones y políticas estatales de matanzas de especies estigmatizadas como “invasivas”, “dañinas” y “peligrosas”; y, de manera paralela, presenta evidencia documentada y argumentos críticos sobre el negocio fraudulento, sospechoso y cruel de las prácticas experimentales “biomédicas” con primates no-humanos en Puerto Rico (1936-2012)... El análisis histórico revela, al mismo tiempo, los vínculos de complicidad y encubrimiento del gobierno insular, el cuerpo legislativo, sus instituciones universitarias y la rama judicial. Asimismo, evidencia la complicidad generalizada en la cobertura mediática, que ha fungido históricamente como vocero corporativo y eco de las imposturas, ignorancias, prejuicios, violencias y crueldades contra animales no-humanos en Puerto Rico…

What do we have in common with animals, and what do these women have in common? We are Sister Species, if not sisters at all. Lisa Kemmerer invites us to realize that we are more alike than different and to become aware of what our animal brothers and especially sisters experience: the suffering they endure because of our absurd inconsistencies and oppositions - even within the animal rights movement, often unbeknownst to us. The goal: more effective discourse and action, educating us to the other in the face of a norm imposed by a power, a discourse of normalization in a white, patriarchal society. Ten years after its publication, this book is still as topical as ever. The issues raised have not been resolved and the fundamental problems outlined regarding the interconnection of oppressions are still very much present. It contains powerful narratives of life and humanity - in the broad and compassionate sense of the word. Sister Species, edited by Lisa Kemmerer, focuses on women, animals, and social justice.

Recommended Citation
Lercier, Marine (2021) "Review of Lisa Kemmerer's Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice," Between the Species: Vol. 24: Iss. 1, Article 7.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bts/vol24/iss1/7

Dopo  aver  richiamato  gli  eventi  che  hanno  portato  allo  sgombero  del  presidio  al  rifugio  Cuori Liberi di Sairano (Pavia) con l’uccisione dei  maiali  lo  scorso  20  settembre,  ricostruiamo brevemente il contesto degli interessi economici  e  politici  in  cui  sono  maturati  i  fatti.  Successivamente,  esaminiamo  alcuni  punti  significativi delle successive mobilitazioni animaliste e antispeciste, per approfondire infine le caratteristiche principali e il ruolo dei rifugi per  animali  cosiddetti  “da  reddito”  nel  movimento  di  liberazione  animale  italiano  e  nelle  lotte per i diritti animali.

Nel 2023 lo zoo di Vienna ha adottato una nuova strategia comunicativa che consiste nel non dare più nomi agli animali, in quanto il nome “personalizza” troppo l’animale e lo “umanizza”, sviando l’attenzione del visitatore da quella che è l’autentica “missione” dello zoo, ossia la conservazione della specie. La nuova strategia dello zoo di Vienna rivela in modo a un tempo ingenuo e crudo la verità ontologica degli animali dello zoo: questi animali non sono individui ma solo rappresentanti (“ambasciatori”) delle loro specie. Questa mossa mette in evidenza tutti i difetti dalla cattiva personalizzazione e della cattiva spersonalizzazione degli animali dello zoo, che l’articolo esplora dalla prospettiva di un’ontologia dello zoo.

Generally, "Beauty Without Cruelty" is known in cruelty-free products. It may be defined to any products or practices that have not been tested on animals. So, any products that subjected to animal testing are not considered as a cruelty free since the tests frequently inflict pain and harm to the animals which leads to the suffering and death of thousand each year. This term is commonly used for cosmetics, personal care products, household items and

Bernard Rollin’s main concerns are domestic and research animals. Such animals have endured less suffering as a result of Rollin’s seminal work. Animals are of moral concern because they have conscious interests, or telos. Rollin’s use of telos is plausible though more specialized than usual. Rollin has theoretical or in-principle ideals that are unlikely to be accepted as current practice. In result he adopts more moderate moral principles. In the fair-contract, husbandry dimension of agriculture, the farmer takes care of the cows and pigs, recognizing their rights, and then eats them, or sells them to be eaten. He reaches a strange combination of kinship and chasm separating human and animal minds. Rollin’s account of any deeper environmental ethics for a biospheric Earth is unsatisfactory, any respect for life beyond sentience, especially his concepts of global ecosystems.

Poslednjih decenija u mnogim državama donose se zakoni koji se odnose na dobrobit životinja i koji sankcionišu okrutna ponašanja ljudi prema životinjama. U našem pravu, takva ponašanja sankcionisana su krivičnim delom ubijanje i zlostavljanje životinja iz čl. 269 Krivičnog zakonika. Međutim, zabrinjava činjenica da je u praksi prema izveštajima udruženja za zaštitu životinja u periodu od 2006-2018. godine počinjeno 6500 slučajeva ubijanja i zlostavljanja žvotinja, dok su sudovi u periodu 2006-2020. godine osudili svega 299 lica za navedeno krivično delo. U radu je najpre dat prikaz pravnog položaja životinja kroz istoriju, a zatim autor iznosi mišljenje na koji način životinjama treba pružiti pravnu zaštitu. Analizirana je praksa radi odgovora na pitanje – da li se zakonske norme koje štite životinje primenjuju u praksi i eventualno, koji je razlog neprimenjivanja zakona. Dat je i predlog određenih izmena zakonskih rešenja.

The small animal practitioner always has been the owners' initial contact for medical, nutritional, management, or behavioral advice about their pet. For millennium, castration has been used to alter the behavior of animals. Neutering still is probably the primary service most veterinary practitioners provide their clients for behavioral management of their pets. For decades, veterinarians have dispensed medication for •anxious pets, particularly to help control animals for handling procedures, transportation, and in fear-eliciting situations. These avenues of therapeutic intervention, however, only help owners in a limited set of circumstances. Nonetheless, the owner turns to the veterinarian for advice regarding all types of problems. The practitioner must make an initial differential diagnosis, provide information, or refer the client. Until recently, veterinarians or their staff members either reiterated commonly held beliefs about the best way to solve behavior problems, referred the client to someone in the community who shared these commonly held beliefs, or told the clients to take the dog to obedience school under the assumption that obedience school prevents and cures all behavioral problems. All of the above, however, are no longer considered state of the art. The veterinary practitioner still is the first person to whom pet owners turn for help regarding the behavior of their companion animal. Now, however, veterinarians have access to information that allows them to make better diagnoses, prescribe more specific treatments, or make the most appropriate referral to a specialist. Surveys conducted at the Veterinary

the western tradition of social and political thought is built on human "exceptionalism"-and a human/nature divide. Whereas nature is ruled by biological imperatives, humans are assumed to have the capacity to rise above nature and animality through reason, language, and culture. Humans make choices about how we want to live, and politics is the vehicle by which we exercise this supposedly unique human capacity for jointly and deliberately shaping the life of the community. As Aristotle put it, only humans are zoon politikon-animals capable of formulating and debating different visions of the good life and the good society. Human freedom and dignity, according to this tradition, are measured by how far humans have distanced themselves from, and risen above, animality. This human exceptionalist view of politics is increasingly challenged on both empirical and normative grounds. Many commentators argue that it has played an important role in perpetuating the ongoing moral catastrophe of human-animal relations and that living justly with animals requires bringing them into the political realm. But what does it mean to do politics with animals? We consider three recent developments that shed some light. These are (1) proposals for the institutional representation of animals' interests in human political decision-making processes; (2) growing ethological evidence for animals' own capacities for language, culture, and collective decision-making; and (3) new theoretical accounts of political

always being there with regard to the development of this study, I greatly appreciate his undying believe, intellectual engagement and motivation that this study will reach its completion. Furthermore I thank Professor Inge Kosch for being patient with me with regard to my regular questions about how to navigate the bureaucracy of the academic studies at a PHD level in order to begin, progress and complete the study. Mme, your intervention is greatly valued. Second I thank my parents (Sehlabo and 'Makose Monyakane) for the undying support throughout my studies with regard to funding my formative years at school, filling the monetary gaps at tertiary level, appreciating my progress in studies and motivation to aim higher. I thank Santrust in partnership with UNISA Research Department for offering me opportunity and funding to attend a pre-doctoral and proposal development programme. I also thank the Department of Education in the Free State for offering me a study leave to attend Santrust classes at the time. I further thank UNISA with postgraduate bursary and later the UNISA staff bursary. Furthermore UNISA offered me Academic Qualification Improvement Funding for study leave, thesis editing and other study materials-I humbly appreciate. In addition I thank NRF Thuthuka Trust Fund offered through UNISA Research Department. All of these people, institutions and others who contributed in many ways I say, "one stands tall because she is standing on the shoulders of a giant." Le ka moso, ha e nne e sise. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to My parents Sehlabo Lazarus and Blandina 'Makose Monyakane. My aunt

Tromjesečnik za hrvatsku i međunarodnu politiku Politika i neljudske životinje: držanje pasa na lancu Iva Martinić, mag. educ. phil. et philol. croat. doktorandica na studiju "Filozofija i suvremenost" na Filozofskom fakultetu Sveučilišta u Rijeci,

This paper discusses the Indirect Duties View implying that, when our actions have no negative effects on humans, we can treat animals any way we wish. I offer several criticisms of this view. Subsequently, I explore some implications of rejecting this view that rise in the contexts of animal research and veterinarian ethics. Keywords Moral status of animals • Duties to animals • Indirect duties view • Aquinas • Kant • Research ethics • Veterinarian ethics Preliminaries: The Concept of Moral Standing Let us assume, for the sake of this paper, the following: (MS) A being has a moral standing (and thus is included into a sphere of morality) if and only if the moral status of our actions (i.e., whether or not they are obligatory, right, permissible, wrong, forbidden, and so on) intrinsically depends on how this being is affected. 1

Bernard Rollin’s main concerns are domestic and research animals. Such animals have endured less suffering as a result of Rollin’s seminal work. Animals are of moral concern because they have conscious interests, or telos. Rollin’s use of telos is plausible though more specialized than usual. Rollin has theoretical or in-principle ideals that are unlikely to be accepted as current practice. In result he adopts more moderate moral principles. In the fair-contract, husbandry dimension of agriculture, the farmer takes care of the cows and pigs, recognizing their rights, and then eats them, or sells them to be eaten. He reaches a strange combination of kinship and chasm separating human and animal minds. Rollin’s account of any deeper environmental ethics for a biospheric Earth is unsatisfactory, any respect for life beyond sentience, especially his concepts of global ecosystems.

ZNANSTVENI I STRUČ NI RADOVI Stručni rad Sažetak I ntenzivni sustavi proizvodnje rezultirali su brojnim problemima dobrobiti farmskih životinja, uključujući i svinje. U ovom su radu opisani neki od najvažnijih problema dobrobiti krmača i nazimica u intenzivnoj proizvodnji, s naglaskom na nemogućnost izražavanja vrsno svojstvenog ponašanja. Iako se mnogi od problema nastoje riješiti promjenama u načinu njihova držanja i upravljanja proizvodnjom, nužan je daljnji rad kako bi se u što većoj mjeri zadovoljile potrebe životinja s jedne i proizvodnje s druge strane.

With a focus on journalistic discourse, this paper argues for a re-envisioning of food-system communication that takes non-human animals into account as stakeholders in systems that commodify them. This is especially urgent in light of the global pandemic, which has laid bare the vulnerability to crisis inherent in animal-based food production. As a case study to illustrate the need for a just and non-human inclusive orientation to food-systems communication, the paper performs a qualitative rhetorical examination, me critical discourse analysis and critical animal studies, of a series of articles in major U.S. news sources in May of 2020, a few months into the economic shutdown in the U.S. in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, millions of pigs were brutally killed on U.S. farms due to the impossibility of killing them in slaughterhouses overrun with COVID-19 outbreaks. The analysis finds that media reporting legitimated violence against pigs by framing narratives from...

Throughout the ages, animals and humans have shared a remarkable and profound connection. This unique relationship has evolved over millions of years, shaped by various factors, including companionship, sustenance, labor, and even spirituality. The bond between animals and humans is multi-faceted, with both sides benefiting from each other's presence in ways that extend beyond mere survival. This article delves into the intricate dynamics of this enduring association, exploring the historical, cultural, and emotional dimensions that have bound us together.

always being there with regard to the development of this study, I greatly appreciate his undying believe, intellectual engagement and motivation that this study will reach its completion. Furthermore I thank Professor Inge Kosch for being patient with me with regard to my regular questions about how to navigate the bureaucracy of the academic studies at a PHD level in order to begin, progress and complete the study. Mme, your intervention is greatly valued. Second I thank my parents (Sehlabo and 'Makose Monyakane) for the undying support throughout my studies with regard to funding my formative years at school, filling the monetary gaps at tertiary level, appreciating my progress in studies and motivation to aim higher. I thank Santrust in partnership with UNISA Research Department for offering me opportunity and funding to attend a pre-doctoral and proposal development programme. I also thank the Department of Education in the Free State for offering me a study leave to attend Santrust classes at the time. I further thank UNISA with postgraduate bursary and later the UNISA staff bursary. Furthermore UNISA offered me Academic Qualification Improvement Funding for study leave, thesis editing and other study materials-I humbly appreciate. In addition I thank NRF Thuthuka Trust Fund offered through UNISA Research Department. All of these people, institutions and others who contributed in many ways I say, "one stands tall because she is standing on the shoulders of a giant." Le ka moso, ha e nne e sise. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to My parents Sehlabo Lazarus and Blandina 'Makose Monyakane. My aunt