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Category: Social Justice

  • Bill restricting North Carolina cities and counties from adopting guaranteed income programs advances.

    Original article here.

    By: Greg Childress

    A bill barring North Carolina cities and counties from adopting or enforcing guaranteed income programs won approval in the state House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development on Tuesday.

    House Bill 859 is sponsored by Rep. Cody Honeycutt (R-Montgomery). It would prohibit the establishment of guaranteed income programs without express authorization of “general or local law” — something that would require approval from the General Assembly. It was referred to the House State and Local Government Committee without discussion.

    Guaranteed income programs provide individuals or families with cash payments generally with no strings attached. The cash payments may be used for necessities such as food, childcare expenses, medicine and transportation.

    The goal is to provide low-income families or individuals with a steady income to increase financial stability.

    Supporters see such programs as a way to help lift families and individuals out of poverty and to address income inequality. Meanwhile, critics argue that such programs create a disincentive for work, are expensive and will not reduce dependency on welfare programs as some supporters claim.

    Under HB 859, programs under which an individual is required to seek reemployment, perform work or attend training as a condition of a cash payment would be exempt from the law.

    In North Carolina, the City of Durham launched a guaranteed income pilot program for formerly incarcerated individuals in March 2022 titled Excel. The pilot ended in August 2024.

    Assistant Durham City Manager Karmisha Wallace told NC Newsline that the city council allocated $1 million this fiscal year to continue the program, which the city would manage. A nonprofit administered the pilot program.

    Wallace said the city has neither determined the amount of the monthly stipend under the new program nor the number of participants. Under the pilot, 109 formerly incarcerated individuals received $600 a month for one year.

    She said training for justice involved individuals is already available through other city-run programs in which they participate.

    “We already have programming in place now that help justice involved individuals get IDs, get jobs, secure medical support, transportation and that sort of thing,” Wallace said.

    Wallace said HB 859 could be problematic.

    “I think it’s safe to say the city is concerned about any legislation that restricts our abilities to meet the needs of our constituents,” Wallace said.

    According to the Durham County website, the county is launching a guaranteed income pilot program called DCo Thrives that will provide $750 per month for one year to 125 randomly selected low-income families. That program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and will be administered by Durham Children’s Initiative, according to the website. 

    Guaranteed income programs gained steam during the pandemic. Large cities such as Los Angeles and Atlanta are among those that launched pilot programs.

    Michael D. Tubbs, founder and chair or Mayors & Counties for a Guaranteed Income, said last summer in a letter defending a program in Harris County (home to the city of Houston) that was blocked by the Texas Supreme Court that there were more than 100 pilot programs nationwide in-process or having concluded with “great success.”

    Tubbs is a former Stockton, California mayor who helped launch one of the country’s first guaranteed income programs in 2019.

    The Harris County program is still on hold due to the legal challenge. Last week, the Texas Senate approved a bill to ban local governments from adopting such programs.

    This post was originally published on Basic Income Today.

  • Trump’s Education by Indoctrination Must Be Fought With Social Justice Unionism

    From the outset of his second term, President Donald Trump has fed the Constitution through a paper shredder. He has sought to strip away birthright citizenship — a constitutionally guaranteed right under the 14th Amendment — and declared, chillingly, “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” He defied a federal judge’s order to halt a deportation flight, sending immigrants to a…

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    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • This Valentine’s Day, Let’s Ditch Romance Myths and Seek Collective Liberation

    It’s the first Valentine’s Day in the second Trump presidency, and the speed-up of racist, ecocidal, patriarchal, wealth-concentrating terror is ploughing through, leaving devastation, despair and overwhelm in its wake. In courageous pursuit of love for our people, in profound solidarity with life on the planet, it’s time to shrug off the patriarchal romance myth and the ways it domesticates our…

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    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Who Not to Wear: Urge Coach to Stop Using Animals’ Skins in Clothes

    If you’re a fan of New York Fashion Week, you probably know what not to wear—but do you know who not to wear? See how PETA is reminding big brands that a look can kill without killing anyone.

    PETA Stormed Coach’s New York Fashion Week Runway Show

    With the words “Leather Kills” scrawled across her chest and “Turn Your Back on Leather” across her back, this PETA supporter stole the sidewalk stage outside of Coach’s show.

    Inside, a PETA runway rebel was dragged from Coach’s show yelling “Coach kills! Leather kills!” to make sure attendees heard his message.

    At slaughterhouses, workers sometimes skin and dismember cows for leather while they’re still conscious—after they’ve endured castration, tail-docking, and dehorning, often without any painkillers, on farms. A PETA exposé of the world’s largest leather processor—which has been linked to Coach—showed workers branding calves on the face, beating cows and bulls, and shocking them with electric prods.

    How You Can Help Animals During New York Fashion Week

    In addition to the horrific cruelty it inflicts on animals, the leather industry also contributes to the climate catastrophe, land devastation, pollution, and water contamination. Sustainable vegan leather made from apples, cork, corn, grapes, mushrooms, paper, and pineapples creates the same leather look without harming animals or the environment.

    YOU can help us push animal-friendly fashion during Fashion Week. Following pressure from PETA and our supporters, Coach and dozens of other brands have banned fur—now, it’s time for them to ditch leather made from the skins of tortured and slaughtered animals and embrace cruelty-free vegan leather. Let brands know you support animal-free fashion by flooding their comment sections on Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) with polite comments.

    Add an Animal-Friendly Comment to Coach’s Instagram Posts

    The post Who Not to Wear: Urge Coach to Stop Using Animals’ Skins in Clothes appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • 5 Ways Trump’s FDA Can Advance Human Health With Non-Animal Tests

    In response to years of scientific and public demand, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated a commitment to loosen its ties with flawed tests on animals in favor of reliable and human-relevant non-animal tests. The new administration has the opportunity to take decisive action to adopt modern, non-animal test methods that will improve human health and save animals.

    A white rat being held by someone's hand

    Before new chemicals, medical devices, or drugs are brought to market, regulatory agencies such as the FDA require various tests to assess their potential toxicity. For years, PETA scientists have encouraged the FDA to embrace human-relevant testing methods that don’t use animals. Here are five regulatory actions the FDA can immediately take to advance efficient and human-relevant animal-free testing methods:

    1. Instead of insisting that manufacturers test sunscreens using unreliable animal tests, embrace modern tools, such as the use of existing human information and non-animal test methods.
    2. Replace the decades-old test on animals for assessing fluoride’s ability to fight cavities and bacteria in toothpastes with established non-animal methods.
    3. Enact a policy to accept human tissue models to assess the skin irritation potential of medical devices, joining scientists from around the world in replacing the test on rabbits.
    4. Ditch testing on animals to identify toxins in shellfish, and replace them with well-established non-animal methods that can better protect human health.
    5. Accept the use of human tissue models to evaluate personal lubricant products, instead of the outdated rabbit vaginal irritation test.

    From implementing the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, to its Predictive Toxicology Roadmap and approving lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines years faster than the vaccine approval process normally takes, the FDA has started to move away from flawed and misleading tests on animals. The new administration can and must take action to fully embrace modern non-animal technology.

    What You Can Do

    No matter who holds office, PETA scientists will continue to push for policies that are best for all living beings. Right now, you can join in as we urge the FDA to do right by animals and millions of consumers— tell the FDA to stop pushing companies to conduct tests on animals for sunscreens that have been safely on the market for decades.

    Save animals from the FDA’s sunscreen testing requirements!
    white mouse looking at camera resting in white latex looking gloved hands

    The post 5 Ways Trump’s FDA Can Advance Human Health With Non-Animal Tests appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Building a Better World in Trump’s Term Seems Difficult, But It’s Not Impossible

    With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, advocates for peace, social justice, racial and economic equality, fair immigration policies, climate renewal, trans rights, and other movements for change are bracing for hard times. The new administration will be doggedly opposed to so many of the values we hold dear, as well as programs that have helped keep millions of Americans above the…

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    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Standing for decency: The sermon the President didn’t want to hear

    COMMENTARY: By Nick Rockel

    People get ready
    There’s a train a-coming
    You don’t need no baggage
    You just get on board
    All you need is faith
    To hear the diesels humming
    Don’t need no ticket
    You just thank the Lord

    Songwriter: Curtis Mayfield

    You might have seen Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s speech at the National Prayer Service in the United States following Trump’s elevation to the highest worldly position, or perhaps read about it in the news.

    It’s well worth watching this short clip of her sermon if you haven’t, as the rest of this newsletter is about that and the reaction to it:


    ‘May I ask you to have mercy Mr President.’       Video: C-Span

    I found the sermon courageous, heartfelt, and, above all, decent. It felt like there was finally an adult in the room again. Predictably, Trump and his vile little Vice-President responded like naughty little boys being reprimanded, reacting with anger at being told off in front of all their little mates.

    That response will not have surprised the Bishop. As she prepared to deliver the end of her sermon, you could see her pause to collect her thoughts. She knew she would be criticised for what she was about to say, yet she had the courage to speak it regardless.

    What followed was heartfelt and compelling, as the Bishop talked of the fears of LGBT people and immigrants.

    Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde
    Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s speaking at the National Prayer Service. Image: C-Span screenshot

    She spoke of them as if they were human beings like the rest of us, saying they pay their taxes, are not criminals, and are good neighbours.

    The president did not want to hear her message. His anger was building as his snivelling sidekick looked toward him to see how the big chief would respond.

    The President didn't want to hear her message
    The President didn’t want to hear her message. Image: C-Span screenshot

    Vented on social media
    So, how did the leader of the free world react? Did he take it on the chin, appreciating that he now needed to show leadership for all, or did he call the person asking him to show compassion — “nasty”?

    That’s right, it was the second one. I’m afraid there’s no prize for that as you’re all excluded due to inside knowledge of that kind of behaviour from observing David Seymour. The ACT leader responds in pretty much the same way when someone more intelligent and human points out the flaws in his soul.

    Donald then went on his own Truth social media platform, which he set up before he’d tamed the Tech Oligarchs, and vented, “The so-called bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a radical left hard-line Trump hater”.

    Which isn’t very polite, but when you think about it, his response should be seen as a badge of honour. Especially for someone of the Christian faith because all those who follow the teachings of Christ ought to be “radical left hard-line Trump haters”, or else they’ve rather missed the point. Don’t you think?

    Certainly, pastor and activist John Pavlovitz thought so, saying, “Christians who voted for him, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Of course, if you were capable of shame, you’d never have voted for him to begin with.”

    Pastor and activist John Pavlovitz responds.
    Pastor and activist John Pavlovitz responds.
    “She brought her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart,” continued the President, like a schoolyard bully.

    I thought it was a bit rich for a man who has used the church and the bible in order to sell himself to false Christians who worship money, who has even claimed divine intervention from God, to then complain about the Bishop not staying in her lane.

    Speaking out against bigotry
    If religious leaders don’t speak out against bigotry, hatred, and threats to peaceful, decent human beings — then what’s the point?


    I admired Budde’s bravery. Just quietly, the church hasn’t always had the best record of speaking out against those who’ve said the sort of things that Trump is saying.

    If you’re unclear what I mean, I’m talking about Hitler, and it’s nice to see the church, or at least the Bishop, taking the other side this time around. Rather than offering compliance and collaboration, as they did then and as the political establishment in America is doing now.

    Aside from all that, it feels like a weird, topsy-turvy world when the church is asking the government to be more compassionate towards the LGBT community.

    El Douche hadn’t finished and said, “Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!”

    It’s like he just says the opposite of what is happening, and people are so stupid or full of hate that they accept it, even though it’s obviously false.

    So, the Bishop is derided as “nasty” when she is considerate and kind. She is called “Not Smart” when you only have to listen to her to know she is an intelligent, well-spoken person. She is called “Ungracious” when she is polite and respectful.

    Willing wretches
    As is the case with bullies, there are always wretches willing to support them and act similarly to win favour, even as many see them for what they are.

    Mike Collins, a Republican House representative, tweeted, “The person giving this sermon should be added to the deportation list.”

    Isn’t that disgusting? An elected politician saying that someone should be deported for daring to challenge the person at the top, even when it is so clearly needed.

    Fox News host Sean Hannity said, “Instead of offering a benediction for our country, for our president, she goes on the far-left, woke tirade in front of Donald Trump and JD Vance, their families, their young children. She made the service about her very own deranged political beliefs with a disgraceful prayer full of fear-mongering and division.”

    Perhaps most despicably, Robert Jeffress, the pastor of Dallas’s First Baptist Church, tweeted this sycophantic garbage:


    Those cronies of Trump seem weak and dishonest to me compared to the words of Bishop Budde herself, who said the following after her sermon:

    “I wanted to say there is room for mercy, there’s room for a broader compassion. We don’t need to portray with a broadcloth in the harshest of terms some of the most vulnerable people in our society, who are, in fact, our neighbours, our friends, our children, our friends, children, and so forth.”

    Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde.
    Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde a courageous stand. Image: https://cathedral.org/about/leadership/the-rt-rev-mariann-edgar-budde/
    Speaking up or silent?
    Over the next four years, many Americans will have to choose between speaking up on issues they believe in or remaining silent and nodding in agreement.

    The Republican party has made its pact with the Donald, and the Tech Bros have fallen over each other in their desire to kiss his ass; it will be a dark time for many regular people, no doubt, to stand up for what they believe in even as those with power and privilege fall in line behind the tyrant.

    Decoding symbolism in Lord of the Flies
    Decoding symbolism in Lord of the Flies. Image: https://wr1ter.com/decoding-symbolism-in-lord-of-the-flies
    So, although I am not Christian, I am glad to see the Church stand up for those under attack, show courage in the face of the bully, and be the adult in the room when so many bow at the feet of the child with the conch shell.

    In my view Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde is a hero, and she does herself great credit with this courageous, compassionate, Christian stand

    First published by Nick’s Kōrero and republished with permission. For more of Nick Rockel’s articles or to subscribe to his blog, click here.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Declaration Of The International Conference Cuba 2024

    From December 9th to the 13th, the 240 delegates, coming from 30 nations from four continents, gathered for the International Conference “Cuba 2024 Decade for People of African Descent. Equality – Equity – Social Justice”, that took place in the cities of Havana and Matanzas.

    Attended by 103 delegates from Cuba and 137 from the following geographical áreas:

    From the Americas: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, United States, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico and Panama.

    From the African continent: Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Comoros, Ghana, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Togo and Kenya.

    The post Declaration Of The International Conference Cuba 2024 appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Who’s Funding ‘Newspaper’ Mailed To Potential Jurors In Greenpeace’s Trial?

    In early September, fossil fuel executive and Donald Trump megadonor Kelcy Warren quietly made a large donation to a political action committee few people have ever heard of. Warren is CEO of Energy Transfer, the company behind the infamous Dakota Access Pipeline, which in 2016 faced thousands of protesters including members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other opponents.

    The timing is potentially significant because Warren made his $5 million donation to the super PAC called Turnout for America while his company pushed forward with a lawsuit against the nonprofit Greenpeace related to the Standing Rock protests.

    The post Who’s Funding ‘Newspaper’ Mailed To Potential Jurors In Greenpeace’s Trial? appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • It’s Not Just Butterball: Find Out Where Else PETA Caught Workers Sexually Abusing Animals

    It’s not just Butterball: Sexual abuse of animals is widespread in the farming industry. Turkeys and pigs raised for their flesh and cows used for their milk are all sexually abused by workers. See what our undercover investigators have documented and how you can make a difference for animals.

    Turkeys Sexually Abused at Butterball and Plainville Farms

    When PETA’s undercover footage of workers mimicking sex acts and beating turkeys at Butterball resurfaced, the company claimed that the footage was no longer relevant since it had become accredited by American Humane—but accreditations like this are just humane-washing schemes. The true purpose of these bogus certifications is to hoodwink the public into paying more for the same cruelty. Accreditations mean nothing to the animals who still face extreme suffering.

    Does this seem humane?

    Plainville Farms was certified by the Global Animal Partnership when PETA’s investigator documented the following:

    • Workers attacked birds to instill fear, vent their frustration, or relieve their boredom.
    • A worker picked up a turkey with a neck injury and put her between his legs. Holding her by her injured neck, he mimicked masturbation, then dropped her on the floor, kicked her, and left her to die. A few nights later, the same worker put another hen between his legs and thrust his pelvis back and forth.

    Even after PETA investigations revealed abuse on 12 “animal welfare certified” farms—leading to 141 charges of criminal cruelty to animals being filed against a dozen now-former Plainville Farms workers and numerous convictions—representatives of the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), and Compassion in World Farming still sit on Global Animal Partnership’s board of directors.

    Take Action

    Workers Sexually Assaulted and Beat Pigs at a Hormel Supplier

    For more than three months, PETA went undercover on an Iowa pig factory farm, which supplied piglets who were raised and killed for Hormel products. Our investigators found rampant cruelty to animals committed by workers and supervisors.

    The following are just some of the abuses that were documented:

    • A supervisor shoved a cane into a sow’s vagina, struck her on the back about 17 times, and then struck another sow.
    • A supervisor kicked a young pig in the face, abdomen, and genitals to make her move and told one of PETA’s investigators, “You gotta beat on the bitch. Make her cry.”
    • A worker hit a young pig in the face four times with the edge of a herding board, and investigators witnessed dozens of similar incidents involving this worker and 11 other ones.
    • Two men, including a supervisor, were witnessed jabbing clothespins into pigs’ faces. A supervisor also poked two animals in the eyes with his fingers.

    “When I get pissed or get hurt or the fucking bitch won’t move, I grab one of those rods and I jam it in her asshole.”

    All Cow’s Milk Is a Product of Sexual Assault

    Female cows produce milk only when they’re pregnant or nursing. They make milk for the same reason humans do—to feed their babies. In the dairy industry, workers forcibly restrain and artificially inseminate female cows by thrusting their hands inside them so that they can create milk, cheese, and other dairy products—no matter if they’re labeled “organic,” “raw,” “antibiotic-free,” “humane,” or anything else. Cows often bellow and try to escape, but they’re held fast, sometimes with a “twitch,” a cruel means of causing pain to their nostrils in order to make them afraid to move.

    The bond between mother cow and calf is strong, but baby cows are often separated from their mothers just hours after birth on dairy farms. Mother cows have been known to try hiding their babies and often frantically chase after and call for them after they’ve been taken.

    Every Animal Is Someone: Go Vegan for Them

    The meat, egg, and dairy industries are built on the subjugation and exploitation of female animals. Every animal is someone. We can all feel pain and fear and experience love and joy. We’re all the same in the ways that matter most.

    All of us can help end abuse like what was shown in the Butterball footage by going vegan and taking action against humane-washing schemes.

    Urge Humane Orgs to Drop G.A.P.

    Take PETA’s 3-Week Vegan Challenge

    The post It’s Not Just Butterball: Find Out Where Else PETA Caught Workers Sexually Abusing Animals appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • The Right Has a 150-Page Battle Plan to Shut Down Progressive Civil Society

    In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, after a campaign in which Trump threatened the press, the left and “the enemy within,” 204 Republicans and 15 Democrats in the House of Representatives decided to hand a gift to his incoming administration — one that could be used to squash any kind of dissent. The dangerous gift, HR 9495, is known as the “nonprofit killer bill” because it would…

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    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Movement Media Organizations Are Coming Together to Build Power

    Last November, 25 media-makers from 15 independent U.S.-based organizations came together around a long table at Chicago’s Haymarket House to talk about the future of media and how we might build it together. Although our organizations differed in focus, audience, size, perspective and origin, we all believed in the power of media to inform and fuel social movements that transform the world.

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Take a ‘Tint’! PETA U.K. Urges Farrow & Ball to Ditch ‘Dead Salmon,’ ‘Tallow,’ and Other Anti-Animal Paint Names

    British paint manufacturer Farrow & Ball is known for crafting eccentric pigment names, but its use of colorful language isn’t always so coy. Some of the company’s color labels—like Dead Salmon, Tallow, Au Lait, Smoked Trout, and Potted Shrimp—are just plain speciesist. No shade, but it seems like Farrow & Ball is fishing for attention with these anti-animal names—and it’s time to go back to the drawing board.

    Take a Tint! Cruelty Isn’t Creative

    PETA U.K. sent a letter to Farrow & Ball’s color curator urging her to use only animal-friendly terms that don’t promote suffering:

    “Renaming animal product–monikered paints would be a fun way to appeal to more conscious consumers. Dead Salmon could become Magic Mushroom, Au Lait could become Lait de Coco, and Potted Shrimp—well, you’re the expert, but you get the idea!”

    PETA U.K. Vice President of Corporate Projects Yvonne Taylor

    Many great artists understand that the intricate, multifaceted lives of our fellow animals can be a boundless source of inspiration. Some species of fish tend to their gardens, whereas others sing or create artworks to impress potential partners. Cows form long-term friendships within their herds and mourn for their lost loved ones.

    Every animal is an individual who can feel pain and fear. Fish endure likely agonizing deaths when massive nets tear them from their ocean homes, often crushing them or causing them to suffocate. Protective mother cows may cry out for days when dairy farms take their precious babies from them shortly after birth.

    As PETA U.K. noted, a compassionate change in tone would be a savvy move for Farrow & Ball. By some estimates, going vegan can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint by up to 73%. Sending a vegan-friendly message would show thoughtful consumers that the company is as committed to sustainability as it claims to be.

    Paint a Picture of Kindness—Go Vegan

    You can show respect and empathy to our fellow animals by not eating them, wearing them, or buying products that were tested on them. Order PETA’s free vegan starter kit to make the compassionate switch today:

    Please, Go Vegan!

    The post Take a ‘Tint’! PETA U.K. Urges Farrow & Ball to Ditch ‘Dead Salmon,’ ‘Tallow,’ and Other Anti-Animal Paint Names appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Why Were 2 Employees Fired for Protecting Animals? Ask Best Friends Animal Society

    How did Best Friends Animal Society’s recommended policies lead to the firing of two employees from the city’s animal shelter because of their efforts to protect animals? According to media reports, two Indianapolis Animal Care Services employees were fired for screening potential adopters to ensure that animals weren’t being released to individuals who had been convicted of certain violent crimes in the past three years, including the following:

    • Domestic battery
    • Neglect of a dependent
    • Sexual violence
    • Murder

    Find out how Best Friends Animal Society and similar groups promote policies, such as banning criminal background checks, that put animals in harm’s way:

    Indianapolis Animal Care Services Required Background Checks Until Best Friends Recommended Otherwise

    According to reports, one of the former employees said that she had recently become alarmed when she “learned a dog, named Champagne, [had been] adopted out to a couple with five animal cruelty or abandonment violations on MyCase. The dogs had also been previously adopted by the same couple and later confiscated before the two came back into Animal Care Services to re-adopt them.”

    After the firing, Indianapolis Animal Care Services reportedly released a statement saying that, although screening had been implemented after the facility adopted another dog, named Deron, to an individual who tortured him to death, it had stopped screening at the behest of Best Friends Animal Society, with which the agency started partnering earlier this year, in order to increase “open adoptions”—that is, giving animals away for free to anyone who will take them without any effort to ensure that they’re offering a good, responsible, and safe home.

    “I personally could not send an animal home with somebody like that [convicted of cruelty to animals] and be able to sleep at night. If you know that animal’s not going to be treated well, and I couldn’t live with that and it’s not fair to the animals to put them into that situation just because they [shelter leadership] want their numbers to look good. That’s so immoral.”

    —Kylee Fox, recently fired former Indianapolis Animal Care Services employee

    According to the podcast featuring the former Indianapolis Animal Care Services employees, animals at the shelter were routinely warehoused and kept confined to crates up to 23.5 hours a day. They were deprived of necessary veterinary care, and maggots and feces were in and around kennels and crates.

    kennel stress… these animals lose their minds.

    Posted by Kylee Fox on Sunday, August 11, 2024

    What’s Wrong With the ‘No-Kill’ Policies Best Friends Animal Society Pushes For?

    The dangerous policies pushed by groups like Best Friends shamelessly sacrifice quality of life in exchange for meaningless “live release rates” and marketing slogans that deceive the public under the pretext that they “save” animals. They don’t. The group leads a national effort to target and vilify open-admission shelters for having to euthanize some animals.

    Best Friends Animal Society and similar groups promote policies that aren’t in the best interests of animals or the public. Instead, they encourage the following:

    • Turning away unwanted or even stray animals as well as stopping field services and cruelty investigations
    • Warehousing animals for months or years
    • Keeping animals for long periods in cramped cages and kennels designed only for temporary housing
    • Keeping animals in crates and other inhumane makeshift quarters when regular cages and kennels are full, sometimes in areas of a facility not designed to hold animals—e.g., hallways, offices, garages, and even bathrooms

    “No-kill” policies also harm and endanger residents. It was recently reported that the wife of a man killed by roaming dogs in Detroit is suing the city and its animal control department because complaints about the animals before the fatal attack had allegedly gone unaddressed. According to the report, “The lawsuit suggests that attempts by [a] nonprofit and [the] city to avoid euthanasia have created a dangerous environment for Detroiters. The no-kill model is ‘utterly ineffective, reckless, and deadly,’ the lawsuit argues.” According to Best Friends Animal Society’s website, “Detroit Animal Services is a partner of Best Friends.”

    Make Sure You Aren’t Part of the Turn-Away Sheltering Crisis

    Shelters should serve as safe havens for animals. There should be no waiting lists, no surrender fees, and no excuses. Dogs and cats are more than numbers on a balance sheet—they’re vulnerable, sensitive beings who need and deserve our protection.

    Please contact Indianapolis’ elected officials today to demand an investigation into conditions and policies at the facility, call for the reinstatement and strengthening of its adoption screening processes immediately, and urge it to rehire the two employees who were fired for trying to prevent animals from being neglected or abused.

    Take Action

    If your local shelter has harmful policies and restricts or turns away animals, please speak up and encourage humane, responsible “socially conscious sheltering.” The basic steps are simple: Document your experiences, gather support, and make your case. Your involvement can make a world of difference to the companion animals in your community who need you the most. Click the link below to learn how you can help, and follow the links in each section for useful sample statements and letters.

    What to Do When a Shelter Is Refusing Animals

    The post Why Were 2 Employees Fired for Protecting Animals? Ask Best Friends Animal Society appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Beam Me Up! PETA’s Brand-New Virtual Reality Experience Has Launched

    PETA just launched our newest virtual reality experience, When They Came For Us. Players lift off into an extraterrestrial encounter in which persuasion is the key to their survival and freedom.

    We’re proud to offer our first gamified, immersive role-playing experience. It uses artificial intelligence to provide new opportunities to develop understanding and empathy for our fellow Earthlings.

    Navigating When They Came For Us

    PETA’s latest virtual reality experience requires players to persuade a powerful alien life form not to exploit them. They’re given seven minutes to explain why they should be left in peace to live free from harm—and then the massive being renders a verdict. The situation is tense and dramatic, as time is ticking for the human attempting to prove their case. This project was developed in collaboration with the German digital agency Demodern using artificial intelligence through OpenAI.

    This immersive experience is controlled exclusively by players’ voices during a conversation with the alien, whose replies are based on the latest artificial intelligence technology, allowing the extraterrestrial to formulate a wide variety of complex responses.

    By requiring humans to argue convincingly for their right to exist, When They Came For Us helps us reflect on why exploiting other animals is cruel and unnecessary. This interactive presentation of the concept of speciesism is similar to PETA’s Abduction experience in that it’s a virtual journey that urges players to consider why every animal is someone and respect other species.

    When They Came For Us, which took flight on August 5, is a free experience available through the Meta store for anyone with a Quest 2, 3 or Pro headset.

    Virtual Reality vs. Real Cruelty

    Boarding the spaceship of a virtual reality experience is a start, but remember: Cruelty to animals is no artificial scenario—it’s terrifyingly real for countless living, feeling individuals every day, worldwide. They’re burned, blinded, poisoned, and cut up alive in the name of science; mutilated and confined to tiny cages to be killed and eaten; electrocuted, strangled, and skinned alive so that folks can parade around in their skin, fur, and feathers; and chained, beaten, and forced to perform for entertainment.

    Since most people aren’t open to seeing such suffering in real life (which also means they’re not fully aware of it), PETA is always seeking new ways, like virtual reality, to get everyone to consider how they think about and treat other animals.

    Our everyday choices—such as what we eat for lunch and the kind of shampoo we buy—may directly support some of this abuse. And although it’s difficult to watch and comprehend the suffering inflicted on animals, we can’t end it if we look away and pretend it isn’t happening.

    The good news is that there are tools to help anyone unlock their compassion for our fellow animals and make kind choices. PETA has been using virtual reality for a decade to help generate empathy for animals, and we hope our first OpenAI collaboration, When They Came For Us, will open your heart and that this virtual experience will launch your concern for the other species we share this planet with.

    How You Can Help Defend Other Animals

    Please, pledge to go vegan, and boost your awareness of animal rights by playing When They Came For Us—then share it with your family and friends:

    check out ‘when they came for us’

    Note: Your safety comes first. Please ensure that the area in which you participate in the experience is clear of humans, other animals, and objects that you might bump into, trip on, or fall over. For some folks unfamiliar with virtual reality or prone to dizziness, motion sickness may occur, in which case the application should be discontinued immediately. A certain percentage of people may experience epileptic seizures when exposed to specific light patterns or flashing lights. For folks with no history of seizures or epilepsy, this application may trigger seizures or previously undetected epileptic symptoms. If you or a member of your family are known to have epilepsy or experience seizures, please consult a physician before participating.

    The post Beam Me Up! PETA’s Brand-New Virtual Reality Experience Has Launched appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • PETA Calls for Use of K-9s to be Phased Out Amid Rising Abuse, Deaths

    In the wake of a recent viral video showing a Fayetteville, North Carolina, police officer punching his dog in the face repeatedly, another video went viral for capturing the moment a Dayton, Ohio, police officer struck his K-9 partner in the face. Both police departments attempted to justify the incidents as acceptable treatment/“correction” of these intelligent, sensitive dogs. In addition to addressing these agencies directly, PETA—which had supported the use of K-9s since its inception—has written to the top five law-enforcement organizations in the U.S. declaring that the time has come to encourage their members to phase out the use of dogs altogether. Find out how PETA is speaking out for dogs used by law enforcement:

    Police officer holding up a dog by the collar

    Why Should the Use of Dogs in Law Enforcement Be Phased Out?

    PETA is calling for an end to the use of police dogs due to the fast-growing, dramatic uptick in reported cases of officers violently abusing their K-9 partners and of dogs used in law enforcement dying painfully from overheating or in other horrific ways. In addition to the Fayetteville and Dayton incidents, the group’s letters were prompted by the following cases, which all occurred in just two months:

    Do Police Forces Need K-9s in 2024? No!

    PETA frequently collaborates with law-enforcement agencies across the nation to investigate, charge, and prosecute animal abusers and previously responded to such incidents by calling on agencies to employ humane K-9 training and handling methods, install devices in patrol cars that notify officers if the temperature rises, and retire K-9s subject to abuse. But due to the growing epidemic of cruelty to and deaths of these dogs, PETA is now calling for K-9s to be replaced with modern policing technology, such as tactical robots. Several police departments across the country—including the New York Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Houston Police Department—already use tactical robots, which can be deployed in situations that could otherwise result in serious injury or death for K-9s and human officers.

    Call for Action in Police Dog Cruelty

    The post PETA Calls for Use of K-9s to be Phased Out Amid Rising Abuse, Deaths appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • The Worst Part of the ‘House of the Dragon’ Finale Might Surprise You

    HBO’s House of the Dragon may transport viewers to a world of fantasy and medieval customs, but the use of a macaque monkey as a set decoration in the poorly received season two finale is a regrettable reminder of an outdated era. PETA rushed off a letter to HBO’s chair and CEO and the show’s producers urging them to recut the episode to remove the primate from the scene and to enact a wild-animal ban ahead of future productions.

    The exploitation of a monkey in an HBO show is a huge disappointment to the animal rights movement and primatologists. These experts are working to help the public understand the similarities between these animals and humans, as well as their capacity to suffer—a topic explored in depth in HBO’s own “Chimp Crazy.”

    The Dance of the HBO Shows: Chimp Crazy Teaser Airs Ahead of House of the Dragon Finale

    House of the Dragon’s exploitative monkey scene in the finale was viewable just six minutes after HBO aired a teaser for Chimp Crazy, an upcoming docuseries that examines a PETA lawsuit over the exploitation and abuse of chimpanzees for entertainment and in the pet trade.

    Thanks to PETA and other animal rights advocates, there are no more chimpanzees being used in Hollywood. Great strides have also been made to end the exploitation of all primates in the entertainment industry, but the use of a monkey in shows like House of the Dragon harm that progress and cause immense suffering to the animals shown on screen.

    HBO can lead the way by immediately enacting a ban on the use of primates and other wild animals, ensuring that none of these animals will ever be made to suffer again for its productions.

    What Happens to Animals Used for TV and Film?

    A PETA undercover investigation into Atlanta Film Animals—a business that trains and provides animals for the film, television, and advertising industries—revealed that behind the scenes, workers denied cats and other animals food using antiquated training methods, deprived elderly pigs of veterinary care, kept monkeys in waste-strewn enclosures, and warehoused dogs in cold, barren kennels.

    The lives of monkeys exploited for TV are similarly tragic. Many of them suffer from debilitating loneliness and depression, as their complex physical and psychological needs can’t be met at training compounds or on television sets. Most are taken away from their mothers as infants—a practice that denies them the maternal care and nurturing that they need for normal development. In nature, macaques explore and forage in the tropical rainforests or temperate mountain ranges of Asia in large family groups. Denying these primates everything that’s natural and important to them and forcing them into close proximity to humans—a species they naturally avoid––causes them constant stress.

    It’s no wonder that on the set of House of the Dragon, the monkey’s handler reportedly told actor Jefferson Hall, “If you look her in the eye, she’ll bite you in the face.”

    Macaques can be unpredictable, and it’s within monkeys’ nature to solve problems with aggression, so they can and will attack and even bite humans. Their teeth are sharp, their jaws are strong, and their bites are often severe. Macaques commonly carry the herpes B virus, which can be deadly to humans, so keeping them in the vicinity of humans risks public health.

    Forget Team Green and Black—Join Team Animal Rights!

    If you want to help monkeys like the one used in the House of the Dragon finale, comment on HBO’s social media pages with messages urging it to cut the monkey business and help pave the way for change by enacting a ban on the use of primates and other wild animals. You should also set a reminder to watch Chimp Crazy when it premieres on August 18 to learn more about what happens to primates behind the scenes in the entertainment and pet industries.

    The post The Worst Part of the ‘House of the Dragon’ Finale Might Surprise You appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • BOYCOTT SANOFI: Six Cruelty-Free Products to Use Instead 

    When you’re shopping for personal-health products, avoiding items sold by Sanofi can help make sure that cruelty to animals doesn’t end up on your receipt.

    Sanofi rejects modern science by clinging to the forced swim test—a scientifically worthless experiment that nearly every leading pharmaceutical company abandoned after hearing from PETA.

    In this cruel test, experimenters drop mice, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, or gerbils into containers full of water. The panicked animals paddle furiously, desperately trying not to drown. They try to escape by attempting to climb up the sides of the beakers and even dive underwater in search of an exit.

    PETA has written to Sanofi leadership, protested against this cruelty outside company gatherings, and questioned leadership at shareholder meetings. But the pharmaceutical giant is anchored to its dead-in-the-water, archaic experiments.

    Now we’re asking you to please show Sanofi what you think of its abusive tests by not buying its over-the-counter products until the company drops the forced swim test. Instead, shop for vegan and cruelty-free products included in PETA’s Beauty Without Bunnies program:

    Instead ofTry
    Gold Bond creamsAlchimie Forever’s Soothing Body Lotion
    Pacifica’s Vegan Ceramide Duo
    Nasacort 24HR Allergy Nasal SprayClearly BREATHE by Isabella’s Clearly
    Selsun Blue shampooAvalon Organics Anti-Dandruff Shampoo
    ACT oral health productsHello Products
    Arthritis Hot Pain Relief CremeBack To Normal products
    Aromalief products
    Capzasin productsWellinhand Action Remedies

    Looking For More Ways to Help?

    Please TAKE ACTION by letting Sanofi leadership know that you won’t buy its over-the-counter products until the company stops tormenting animals in the cruel and worthless forced swim test:

    Tell Sanofi to End Near-Drowning Tests
    PETA UK supporters demand that the Home Office abolish the forced swim test.

    The post BOYCOTT SANOFI: Six Cruelty-Free Products to Use Instead  appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • How former Greens MP Keith Locke often became a voice for the Pacific

    OBITUARY: By Philip Cass of Kaniva Tonga

    A New Zealand politician and human rights activist with a strong connection to Tonga’s Democracy movement and other Pacific activism has been farewelled after dying last week aged 80.

    Keith Locke served as a former Green MP from 1999 to 2011.

    While in Parliament, he was a notable critic of New Zealand’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan and the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, and advocated for refugee rights.

    He was appointed a Member of the NZ Order of Merit for services to human rights advocacy in 2021, received NZ Amnesty International’s Human Rights Defender award in 2012, and the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand’s Harmony Award in 2013.

    Locke was often a voice for the Pacific in the New Zealand Parliament.

    In 2000, he spoke out on the plight of overstayers who were facing deportation under the National Party government.

    As the Green Party’s then immigration spokesperson, he supported calls for a review of the overstayer legislation.

    Links to Pohiva
    “We are a Polynesian nation, and we increasingly celebrate the Samoan and Tongan part of our national identity,” Locke said at the time.

    “How can we claim as our own the Jonah Lomus and Beatrice Faumuinas while we are prepared to toss their relations out of the country at a moment’s notice?”

    Locke had links to Tonga through his relationship with Democracy campaigner and later Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva, who died in 2019.

    Tongan Prime Minister 'Akilisi Pōhiva
    The late Tongan Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva … defended by Keith Locke in 1996 when Pohiva and two colleagues had been jailed for comments in their pro-democracy newspaper Kele’a. Image: Kalino Lātū/Kaniva News

    Locke defended Pohiva in 1996 when he was a spokesperson for the Alliance Party. He said he was horrified that Pohiva and two colleagues had been jailed for comments in their pro-democracy newspaper Kele’a.

    He criticised the New Zealand government for keeping silent about what he described as a “gross abuse of human rights.”

    In 2004, Locke called on the New Zealand government to speak out about what he called the suppression of the press in Tonga.

    Locke, who was then the Greens foreign affairs spokesman, said several publications had been denied licences, including an offshoot of the New Zealand-produced Taimi ‘o Tonga newspaper.


    Tribute by Asia Pacific Report editor David Robie.

    ‘Speak out as Pacific neighbour’
    “We owe it to the Tongan people to support them in their hour of need.  We should speak out as a Pacific neighbour,” he said.

    In 2007, ‘Akilisi was again charged with sedition, along with four other pro-democracy MPs, for allegedly being responsible for the rioting that took place following a mass pro-democracy march in Nuku’alofa.

    Flags of the countries of some of the many causes Keith Locke supported
    Flags of the countries of some of the many causes Keith Locke supported at the memorial service in Mount Eden this week. Image: David Robie/APR

    “As the Greens’ foreign affairs spokesperson I went up to Tonga to support ‘Akilisi and his colleagues fight these trumped-up charges. I was shocked to find that the New Zealand government was going along with these sedition charges against five sitting MPs,” Locke said in an interview.

    “I was in Tonga not long before the 2010 elections with a cross-party group of New Zealand MPs. We were helping Tongan candidates understand the intricacies of a parliamentary system.

    “At the time I remember ‘Akilisi being worried that the block of nine ‘noble’ MPs could frustrate the desires of what were to be 17 directly-elected MPs. And so it turned out.

    “Despite winning 12 of the popularly-elected 17 seats in 2010, the pro-democracy MPs were outvoted 14 to 12 when the votes of the nine nobles MPs were put into the equation.

    “However, in the two subsequent elections (2014 and 2017) the Democrats predominated and ‘Akilisi took over as Prime Minister. I am not qualified to judge his record on domestic issues, except to say it couldn’t have been an easy job because of the fractious nature of Tongan politics.

    “And ‘Akilisi has been in poor health.

    Political tee-shirts and mementoes from Keith Locke's campaign issues
    Political tee-shirts and mementoes from Keith Locke’s campaign issues at the memorial service in Mount Eden this week. Image: Del Abcede/APR

    ‘Admirable stand’
    “As Prime Minister he took an admirable stand on some important international issues, such as climate change. At the Pacific Island Forum he criticised those countries which stayed silent on the plight of the West Papuans.”

    Locke said that Tonga may not yet be fully democratic, but that great progress had been made under Pohiva’s “humble and self-sacrificing leadership.”

    Keith Locke was also an outspoken advocate for democracy and independence causes in Fiji, Kanaky New Caledonia, Palestine, Philippines, Tahiti, Tibet, Timor-Leste and West Papua and in many other countries.

    His remembrance service was held with whānau and supporters at a packed Mount Eden War memorial Hall on Tuesday.

    Philip Cass is an editorial adviser for Kaniva Tonga. Republished as a collaboration between KT and Asia Pacific Report.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Reform School Victims FINALLY Compensated In Fl & Dysfunctional Congress Causes Multiple Retirements

    For decades, teenagers were abused and sometimes even killed at a reform school in a small Florida town. Mike Papantonio is joined by attorney Troy Rafferty to explain what happened. Then, Republican Congressman Ken Buck made headlines by announcing his early retirement, blaming the fact that Congress has become completely dysfunctional. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more. Transcript: *This transcript was generated […]

    The post Reform School Victims FINALLY Compensated In Fl & Dysfunctional Congress Causes Multiple Retirements appeared first on The Ring of Fire Network.

    This post was originally published on The Ring of Fire.

  • The North American Peace Movement at an Inflection Point

    The North American peace movement is contesting ongoing US wars in Ukraine and Palestine and preparations for war with China. Out of the fog of these wars, a clear anti-imperialist focus is emerging. Giving peace a chance has never been more plainly understood as opposition to what Martin Luther King, Jr., referred to as “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world: my own government.”

    Palestinian, Muslim and Arab, and anti-Zionist Jewish groups have been in the forefront of the anti-imperialist peace movement. With strong youth components, they are not confused by either relying on sell-out liberal Democrats (e.g., anti-Iraq War) or by utopian calls for leaderless organizations without concrete demands (e.g., Occupy). Nor have been distracted by individualistic expressions of anger by trashing small businesses or in adventuristic confrontations with the police.

    The Palestinian resistance has radicalized millions worldwide. The popular demand for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine is leading to a still larger project to cease the US-led imperialist order.

    The overall consciousness of the resurgent peace movement reflects the normalization of anti-imperialism as a leading current; antiwar sentiment is becoming explicitly anti-imperialist.

    Evolving understanding of the Ukraine conflict

    The peace movement recognizes that, although Hamas’s action of October 7 came as a surprise, it did not simply erupt out of the blue. The uprising had a 75-year gestation starting with the Nakba of 1948 and the establishment of the settler colonialist State of Israel.

    Initially, there was less clarity regarding the events in Ukraine of February 24, 2022. With research and reflection, most of the movement came to understand the conflict did not begin that day. The supposedly “unprovoked” Russian intervention in Ukraine was sparked by NATO moving closer and closer to the Russian border, the 2014 Maidan coup, the sabotage of the Minsk agreements, etc.

    A consensus is maturing in the antiwar movement that Ukraine is a proxy war by the US and its NATO allies to weaken Russia. Even key corporate press and government officials now recognize the conflict as a “full proxy war” by the US designed to use the Ukrainian people to mortally disable Russia.

    Likewise, opinions are coalescing around recognizing that there is just one superpower with hundreds of foreign military bases, possession of the world’s reserve currency, and control of the SWIFT worldwide payment and transaction system. Simply reducing the conflict to one of contesting capitalists obscures the context of empire.

    The antiwar movement may differ on whether to call February 24 an invasion, an incursion, or a special military operation to protect ethnic Russian regions of Ukraine under attack. But unity has been forged that the solution to the conflict is a negotiated settlement and that the US/NATO project of “winning” the war is a threat to world peace. The outlier is the Ukraine Solidarity Network (USN).

    Still using the language of anti-imperialism, USN’s  left-leaning intellectuals and activists are opposed to a negotiated peace but champion a “victory” backed by the US and NATO. Further, they uphold the “right” of the US to fund what they personalize as a war against Putin. Their statement on the second anniversary of the war accuses Washington of having a “double standard” for supporting imperialism in Palestine but being on the side of justice in Ukraine. Other peace activists see USN’s opposition to the US involvement in Palestine, but not to its complicity in Ukraine, as a double standard.

    The USN’s call for a Ukraine victory is consonant with the Democratic Party’s. In contrast, for example, the United National Antiwar Coalition’s (UNAC) position on Ukraine is: “No to NATO’s proxy war and Biden’s $80 billion military aid to Ukraine! No to Ukraine’s joining NATO!” Similarly, the Peace in Ukraine Coalition demands: “”STOP the weapons! START the talks!”

    The emerging anti-imperialist peace movement sees the nature of US imperialism as systematic and not elective. The US empire is fundamentally imperialist; it is not a matter of choice.

    First major antiwar conference since the Covid pandemic

    In the first major antiwar conference since the Covid pandemic, UNAC brought together 400 activists in Saint Paul, MN, on April 5-7, under the banner of “decolonization and the fight against imperialism.”

    Among the some fifty groups participating were the Alliance for Global Justice, American Muslims for Palestine, Black Alliance for Peace, CodePink, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, US Palestinian Community Network, and Workers World Party. Local organizations included Students for Justice in Palestine, Twin Cities Students for a Democratic Society, and the venerable Women Against Military Madness, who have been protesting weekly in the streets since 1982.

    The immediacy of militant organizing was reported by Danaka Katovich of CodePink, Cody Urban of the Resist US Wars, Wyatt Miller of the Minneapolis Antiwar Committee, and a number of other youthful leaders.

    Palestinian liberation against colonialism was a major focal point of the conference. Mnar Adley, editor of MintPress News, movingly described her experience of living under Israeli suppression. Today, she explained, “the Intifada has been globalized,” adding that the Palestinian resistance and the movement in its support have exposed the Democrats as the “bloodthirsty war-hungry party that it is.”

    With the US presidential election imminent, conference participants had no illusions that either corporate party stands for peace. The initiative to cast ballots in the Democratic primary for “uncommitted” (to signify opposition to Biden’s complicity in the war on Gaza and to demand a ceasefire) received considerable support. Spontaneous chants of “shame” erupted throughout the conference whenever the Democrats’ conduct was raised.

    K.J. Noh of Pivot for Peace warned about US preparations for war against China. Michael Wong of Veterans for Peace described the world struggle as not one of democracy versus authoritarianism but of national liberation versus imperialism.

    Ambassadors Lautaro Sandino from Nicaragua, whose government is taking Germany to the World Court for facilitating Israel’s genocide, and Dr. Sidi M. Omar of the Polisario Front of Western Sahara addressed the conference. International solidarity was affirmed in workshops on Zones of Peace in Our Americas, opposition of coercive economic measures, and NO to NATO.

    Combating repression against the movement was highlighted by Efia Nwangaza’s presentation on the campaign to “Stop Kop Cities” and Dr. Aisha Fields’ on resisting the attacks on the African People’s Socialist Party. Mel Underbakke addressed FBI frame ups of Muslims, and FBI whistleblower Colleen Rowley briefed the conference on the mobilization for Julian Assange. Lessons were also drawn by speakers from the successful defenses of the Antiwar 23 and the freeing of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab.

    Tasks ahead

    Janine Solanki with the Mobilization Against War and Occupation in Vancouver spoke about the “unfolding antiwar and pro-Palestine movement that has a potential to go beyond the Vietnam antiwar movement.” She advised that what has been a mass spontaneous movement now needs to progress into a more coordinated and structured form. “We have humanity on our side…our role is to really organize these forces.”

    Black Agenda Report (BAR) executive editor Margaret Kimberley concluded the conference with the mandate to stop the wars at home and abroad. The current context is a neoliberal economic regime failing to meet basic domestic needs and a global pax Americana becoming increasingly contested. In reference to the workshop on climate change, she observed, “we are in a battle for survival; that’s not hyperbole.”

    In short, the conference was indicative of the larger movement that is melding youthful demographics – buoyed by the mass protests against the war on Palestine – with the mature understanding of the gravity of the tasks ahead. Kimberly closed with the guidance to “engage in principled struggle with our comrades; if you’re not struggling with someone you’re not doing enough work.”

    Prospects for the anti-imperialist movement

    Will the Democratic Party’s formula of “Trump trumps everything” quash the antiwar initiative? Back in 2015, the late BAR editor Glen Ford presciently wrote: “The Democrats hope the Black Lives Matter movement, like the Occupy Wall Street movement, will disappear amid the hype of the coming election season.” What will happen to the 2024 antiwar protest movement when another US presidential election looms five months from now?

    Resisting being absorbed into what Ford called the Democratic election blitz to bury the movement will be the People’s Conference for Palestine, May 24-26, in Detroit, which will bring together anti-imperialist groups including the Palestine Youth Movement, National Students for Justice in Palestine, Al-Awda, and Healthcare Workers for Palestine. The ANSWER Coalition, associated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, is a leading element. ANSWER and some of these other groups had also been instrumental in building major pro-Palestine demonstrations in Washington DC, the biggest ever in the US.

    Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world, is among the faith-based groups that have carved out a new and implicitly anti-imperialist identity for their followers. Surely JVP, along with other Jewish activist organizations, like IfNotNow and International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, will continue to militantly protest US support for Israel’s apartheid system in unity with Palestinian and other activist groups.

    Come this summer, CodePink, Bayan, and others will be confronting the largest joint war exercises in the world with Cancel RIMPAC. Protests are also scheduled for NATO’s 75th anniversary summit, July 6-7, in Washington DC; the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, July 15-18; and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 19-22.

    The post The North American Peace Movement at an Inflection Point first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Rescued From the Rubble! Team in Ukraine Swoops In to Save 30 Animals After Bombing

    Animals rescued in Ukraine who have been surrounded by the dangers of bombs and gunfire are sometimes so shell-shocked that it can be difficult for rescuers to gain their trust. Watch as this PETA-supported team braves an embattled area roughly 2 miles away from Russian troops. You’ll be on the edge of your seat as they pull out all the stops to save the lives of 30 frightened souls who will now get the care they need at a PETA-supported clinic and a chance at a better life.

    Rescued in Ukraine: How PETA Is Helping Animals

    Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, PETA Germany and its partners have been building a robust network of animal rescuers, volunteers, and advocates to help as many animals there as they possibly can. You can support this work through PETA’s Global Compassion Fund.

    rescuer helping dog up© ARK

    Here’s how teams have moved mountains for animals in Ukraine since the onset of the war:

    • They’ve created 1,300 safe spaces for housing animals in need, including dogs, cats, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, pigeons, geese, ducks, swans, and fish.
    • PETA’s Global Compassion Fund helped establish a veterinary clinic in October 2022. Up to 130 seriously injured and ill animals can be operated on and given the best possible care every day.
    • Every month, team members perform spay/neuter surgeries for around 150 animals to prevent thousands from being born on the streets, only to suffer and die there.
    • Animals in Ukraine have received more than 3 million pounds of food and other provisions, despite conditions that often make deliveries difficult.
    • All the animals in the project receive regular veterinary care. The ones who will be transported to Europe for adoption are quarantined and prepared for the journey in accordance with EU regulations. This takes 16 weeks per animal! Around 60% of the animals are reunited with their guardians who have fled, while the remaining 40% are transported to our partner shelters in Europe.
    • Every day, 85 PETA-supported employees work on site to care for the animals there and rescue others.
    • A total of 15,450 animals have been rescued so far!

    Support PETA’s Global Compassion Fund

    The post Rescued From the Rubble! Team in Ukraine Swoops In to Save 30 Animals After Bombing appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Dr. Frans de Waal Proved the Great Depth of Animals’ Emotions: Take Action in His Honor

    Dr. Frans de Waal, the primatologist who proved through his research that the cognitive abilities of other species not only rival those of humans but often surpass them, has died. At a time when scientists overwhelmingly dismissed theories in favor of animals’ sentience, he persisted. It would be difficult to overstate his contributions to our understanding of other animals’ remarkable intelligence and deep emotions.

    Rhesus macaque in a tree

    Dr. Frans de Waal Helped Prove the Great Emotional Capacity of Animals

    De Waal studied how animals resolve conflicts, reconcile, and cooperate. He famously demonstrated their understanding of fair and equal treatment. He presented clear and compelling evidence that animals experience emotions ranging from joy and happiness to profound sadness and grief, along with empathy, jealousy, and resentment.

    “I cannot name any emotion that is uniquely human.”

    —Dr. Frans de Waal

    De Waal changed not only the scientific community’s long-held biases but also those of people around the world. His 16 books were translated into 20 languages, his speaking tours sold out, and his TED Talks were viewed millions of times. Frans de Waal made the undeniably just argument that animals are entitled to be treated as thinking, feeling, and valuable individuals—a right that we humans are too eager to reserve for ourselves. The more we acknowledge how clever and capable other animals are, the fewer excuses we can make to harm them.

    Be Kind to Animals: Go Vegan Today

    The post Dr. Frans de Waal Proved the Great Depth of Animals’ Emotions: Take Action in His Honor appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Manya Rescued From a Snowdrift in Ukraine: Watch Her Jaw-Dropping Recovery

    A kind Ukrainian named Eldar brought his birthday plans to a screeching halt when he discovered a little dog freezing to death in a snowdrift near his home. He scooped up her listless body and rushed Manya inside to a warm shower, soon discovering she was in shock due to the excruciating pain of a broken bone. Watch Manya’s tale as this sweet girl goes from hopeless to hopeful at a PETA-supported clinic.

    Rescued in Ukraine: How PETA Is Helping Animals Like Manya

    Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, PETA Germany and its partners have been building a robust network of animal rescuers, volunteers, and advocates to help as many animals there as they possibly can. You can support this work through PETA’s Global Compassion Fund.

    Manya being held by guardian© ARK

    Here’s how teams have moved mountains for animals in Ukraine since the onset of the war:

    • They’ve created 1,300 safe spaces for housing animals in need, including dogs, cats, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, pigeons, geese, ducks, swans, and fish.
    • PETA’s Global Compassion Fund helped establish a veterinary clinic in October 2022. Up to 130 seriously injured and ill animals can be operated on and given the best possible care every day.
    • Every month, team members perform spay/neuter surgeries for around 150 animals to prevent thousands from being born on the streets, only to suffer and die there.
    • Animals in Ukraine have received more than 3.3 million pounds of food and other provisions, despite conditions that often make deliveries difficult.
    • All the animals in the project receive regular veterinary care. The ones who will be transported to Europe for adoption are quarantined and prepared for the journey in accordance with EU regulations. This takes 16 weeks per animal! Around 60% of the animals are reunited with their guardians who have fled, while the remaining 40% are transported to our partner shelters in Europe.
    • Every day, 85 PETA-supported employees work on site to care for the animals there and rescue others.
    • More than 15,000 animals have been rescued so far!

    Support PETA’s Global Compassion Fund

    The post Manya Rescued From a Snowdrift in Ukraine: Watch Her Jaw-Dropping Recovery appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Warning signs have been flashing, PNG police housing needs ignored

    By Scott Waide in Lae, Papua New Guinea

    Ten days into 2024, Port Moresby descended into chaos as opportunists looted and burned shops in Waigani, Gerehu and other suburbs.

    That morning, police, military and correctional service personnel gathered at the Unagi Oval in protest over deductions made to their pays that fortnight. Unsatisfied with the explanations, they withdrew their services and converged on Parliament to seek answers.

    It took just a few hours for the delicate balance between order and chaos to be tipped to one side.

    In the absence of police, people took to the streets. They looted shops nearest to them and forced the closure of the entire city. Several people died during the looting.

    The politicians — the lawmakers — were left powerless as the enforcers of the law became spectators allowing the mayhem to worsen.

    While many saw the so-called Black Wednesday, 10 January, 202, as a one off incident caused by “disgruntled” members of the services, the warning signs had been flashing for many years and had been largely ignored.

    Two weeks back, I asked a constable attached with one of Lae’s Sector Response Units (SRU) about his take home pay. It is an uncomfortable discussion to have.

    Living conditions
    But it is necessary to understand the pay and living conditions of the men and women who maintain that delicate balance in Papua New Guinea.

    He said his take home pay was about K900 (NZ$385). When the so-called “glitch” happened in the Finance Department, many RPNGC members like him had up to one third of their pay deducted. That’s a sizable chunk for a small family.

    Policemen and women won’t talk about it publicly.

    They also won’t talk about the difficulties and frustrations they face at home when there’s a pay deduction like the one in January.

    Black Wednesday showed the culmination of frustrations over years of unpaid allowances, poor living conditions and successive governments that have ignored basic needs in favour of grand announcements and flashy deployments that prop up political egos.

    Why am I raising this? What does Black Wednesday have to do with anything?

    That incident showed just how important the lowest paid frontline cops are in the socioeconomic ecosystem that we live in. The politicians, make the laws, they “maintain law and order” and we’re supposed to obey.

    Oath of service
    Police, military and correctional service personnel, entrust their welfare to the state when they sign an oath of service. This means the government is obliged to care for them, while they SERVE the state and the people of Papua New Guinea.

    But for decades, successive governments seem to have forgotten their obligations.

    Out of sight. Out of mind.

    Politicians have opted for short term adhoc welfare “pills” like paying for deployment allowances while ignoring the long term needs like housing and general living conditions.

    Let me bring your attention now to 17 police families living in dormitories at at a condemned training center owned by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock at 3-mile in Lae.

    The policemen who live with their families didn’t want to speak on record. But their wives spoke for their families. Many have little option but to remain there. Rent is expensive. Living in settlements puts their policemen husbands at risk.

    Here’s the question
    There’s no running water or electricity.

    Here’s the question: How does the government expect a constable to function when his or her family is unsafe and unwell?

    The Acting ACP for the Northern Division, Chris Kunyanban has seen it play out time and time again. He said, as a commander, it is difficult to get a cop who is struggling to fix his rundown police housing to work 12 hour shifts while there’s a leaking roof and a sick child.

    It’s that simple.

    The government says it is committed to increasing police numbers. Recruitments are ongoing. But there is still a dire shortage of housing for police.

    Republished from Lekmak with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Warning signs have been flashing, PNG police housing needs ignored

    By Scott Waide in Lae, Papua New Guinea

    Ten days into 2024, Port Moresby descended into chaos as opportunists looted and burned shops in Waigani, Gerehu and other suburbs.

    That morning, police, military and correctional service personnel gathered at the Unagi Oval in protest over deductions made to their pays that fortnight. Unsatisfied with the explanations, they withdrew their services and converged on Parliament to seek answers.

    It took just a few hours for the delicate balance between order and chaos to be tipped to one side.

    In the absence of police, people took to the streets. They looted shops nearest to them and forced the closure of the entire city. Several people died during the looting.

    The politicians — the lawmakers — were left powerless as the enforcers of the law became spectators allowing the mayhem to worsen.

    While many saw the so-called Black Wednesday, 10 January, 202, as a one off incident caused by “disgruntled” members of the services, the warning signs had been flashing for many years and had been largely ignored.

    Two weeks back, I asked a constable attached with one of Lae’s Sector Response Units (SRU) about his take home pay. It is an uncomfortable discussion to have.

    Living conditions
    But it is necessary to understand the pay and living conditions of the men and women who maintain that delicate balance in Papua New Guinea.

    He said his take home pay was about K900 (NZ$385). When the so-called “glitch” happened in the Finance Department, many RPNGC members like him had up to one third of their pay deducted. That’s a sizable chunk for a small family.

    Policemen and women won’t talk about it publicly.

    They also won’t talk about the difficulties and frustrations they face at home when there’s a pay deduction like the one in January.

    Black Wednesday showed the culmination of frustrations over years of unpaid allowances, poor living conditions and successive governments that have ignored basic needs in favour of grand announcements and flashy deployments that prop up political egos.

    Why am I raising this? What does Black Wednesday have to do with anything?

    That incident showed just how important the lowest paid frontline cops are in the socioeconomic ecosystem that we live in. The politicians, make the laws, they “maintain law and order” and we’re supposed to obey.

    Oath of service
    Police, military and correctional service personnel, entrust their welfare to the state when they sign an oath of service. This means the government is obliged to care for them, while they SERVE the state and the people of Papua New Guinea.

    But for decades, successive governments seem to have forgotten their obligations.

    Out of sight. Out of mind.

    Politicians have opted for short term adhoc welfare “pills” like paying for deployment allowances while ignoring the long term needs like housing and general living conditions.

    Let me bring your attention now to 17 police families living in dormitories at at a condemned training center owned by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock at 3-mile in Lae.

    The policemen who live with their families didn’t want to speak on record. But their wives spoke for their families. Many have little option but to remain there. Rent is expensive. Living in settlements puts their policemen husbands at risk.

    Here’s the question
    There’s no running water or electricity.

    Here’s the question: How does the government expect a constable to function when his or her family is unsafe and unwell?

    The Acting ACP for the Northern Division, Chris Kunyanban has seen it play out time and time again. He said, as a commander, it is difficult to get a cop who is struggling to fix his rundown police housing to work 12 hour shifts while there’s a leaking roof and a sick child.

    It’s that simple.

    The government says it is committed to increasing police numbers. Recruitments are ongoing. But there is still a dire shortage of housing for police.

    Republished from Lekmak with permission.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Vet Tech Shaken by PETA’s Investigation

    I feel like I have blood on my hands.

    Like so many other people, I went into the veterinary medicine field because I wanted to help animals. As a licensed veterinary technician, I took an oath to “dedicate myself to aiding animals … by providing excellent care and services for animals.”

    Kolbie the hound with another dog, confined in a cage at The Veterinarians' Blood Bank before Kolbie was rescued Two dogs stand in a barren cage

    It haunts me to find out years later that critically ill animal patients may have received blood taken from sick, confined sentient beings. In the pursuit of healing, I unwittingly perpetuated suffering.

    I Was So Naive

    Beginning in the classroom and then moving to the biology lab, my studies eventually led to my externships in real-life veterinary clinics—including time spent at a 24-hour emergency hospital—where animals and their guardians depended on us to provide the best care possible.

    During this time, I learned about the vital need for blood transfusions in animals. Whether due to trauma, toxins, clotting disorders, or cancer, critically injured and sick dogs and cats often require lifesaving blood from animal donors.

    Fox the cat from PETA's blood bank investigation

    Much like their human counterparts, animal blood donors must meet stringent criteria to ensure not only their safety but also the safety of the recipients. To prevent as few complications as possible, donors should be healthy adults who don’t have infections or underlying health issues. Here’s why:

    • Transfusions can spread disease from donor to recipient.
    • Contaminated blood can cause sepsis.
    • Infected donors can transmit other infections, such as those caused by viruses or bacteria.

    So to recap, sick animals need blood from healthy animals. Seems simple, right?

    Sick Animals Helping Sick Animals Is Just Sick

    When I was a student, I was oblivious to the origins of blood used for transfusions. After becoming a licensed technician, I still didn’t consider the source of the blood. The unsettling truth emerged years later when an undercover PETA investigation revealed that some clinics use blood from The Veterinarians’ Blood Bank (TVBB) in Indiana, where more than 900 dogs and cats are forced to spend their entire lives as living blood bags.

    live cats in caged area at blood bank

    As uncovered in the investigation, exploited “donors” at TVBB are confined to barren kennels and crowded pens with no semblance of a natural life. Many of them are elderly, emaciated, or sick with upper respiratory infections, bone cancer, or other issues. Some of these lifesaving animals are denied adequate veterinary care.

    A state veterinarian noted that animals at TVBB, including seniors, are bled more frequently—and at an older age—than blood banking and transfusion safety standards dictate. In addition to dogs housed in rusty kennels without bedding, she found cats with eye discharge and serious dental issues. Every dog whose teeth she examined had dental disease.

    I can’t stop thinking about every animal who’s at risk in this situation. Unwell animals bled from cradle to grave—and critically ill recipients pumped full of potentially contaminated blood—is anything but the “excellent care” I promised to provide.

    The Road Ahead

    I wish I had known the truth while I was still working in practice. I would’ve asked questions, talked to my supervisors, and urged them to implement a policy against obtaining blood from captive animals.

    My path to veterinary medicine was paved with good intentions. After working as a technician for many years, I went back to college to become a writer. Now I spend my days using what I’ve learned to uphold the commitment I made on the day I took the Veterinary Technician Oath.

    The post Vet Tech Shaken by PETA’s Investigation appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • ‘Christspiracy’ Is What Compassionate People of Faith Have Long Waited For

    Most people of faith have heard certain passages from religious texts being used to justify the exploitation and abuse of animals. Many of us have been left deeply troubled and struggling to understand how belief systems built on love, kindness, and compassion could exclude all but one species from their core tenants.

    That’s where gospel songwriter and musician Kameron Waters found himself. He had grown up in the Bible Belt in a family of gospel singers and a minister. But as he became aware of the systemic cruelty of the meat industry, he wondered how he could support such violence, knowing that God gave His animals the capacity to experience love, joy, hope, fear, and pain. Waters wanted answers to these questions:

    “Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal? How would Jesus kill an animal?”

    A statue of Jesus. He is holding a lamb over his shoulders

    As he searched for answers, Waters attended a Q&A with Kip Andersen, one of the producers of Cowspiracy, Seaspiracy, and What the Health, and asked him those very questions. Andersen didn’t have the answers—but he also couldn’t let the questions go. In what they describe as “a divine chance encounter,” Waters’ questions had stirred something in the veteran filmmaker. So they embarked on a six-year, four-continent spiritual journey to find the truth.

    From Nazareth to the Vatican and from New Delhi to Kathmandu, the pair questioned world-renowned theologians, Christian farmers, Indigenous shamans, archeologists, and religious leaders and asked them to explain why cruelty to animals is accepted around the world, even though compassion is supposedly the uniting core principle of all world religions.

    The historical texts and facts that they found—some hiding in plain sight and some deeply buried—are explosive. The new documentary Christspiracy reveals truths that many lifelong Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists have never heard. For those of us who have felt isolated and confused by seemingly conflicting values, the film offers hope: clear and compelling evidence that great religious leaders absolutely rejected harming and killing animals. This revelation has massive implications for how we conduct our moral lives.

    Getting the information wasn’t easy. The filmmakers’ vehicles were chased, their homes were ransacked, and doors were slammed in their faces. Netflix wanted to censor the film. Waters and Andersen refused, and Christspiracy became the first movie ever to have its rights bought back from the world’s largest streaming platform.

    Waters was forced out of his congregation after church leaders told him to stop asking questions. And his experience rings familiar to many of us. We’ve been ridiculed for our concern for animals, reprimanded for questioning what we were taught, and mocked for our discomfort at religious gatherings in which animals’ flesh is served. But we stand firm in our belief that violence toward animals is wrong.

    Christpiracy Movie Poster© A.U.M. Films and Media

    Christspiracy is what every compassionate person of faith who has struggled or prayed for answers has been waiting for. And it’s full of eye-opening revelations for anyone who wants to learn about “the biggest cover-up in 2,000 years.”

    Thanks to the support of believers around the world, the film will be released globally in more than 600 theaters on March 20 with an encore screening on March 24. PETA supporters can use this link to purchase tickets to U.S. screenings at a 10% discount. The filmmakers are donating another 10% back to PETA and PETA LAMBS, our faith outreach division, to continue our vital work to end animal suffering. Andersen sat down with the host of The PETA Podcast for a special episode, which aired on February 28. Tune in now to learn more about Christspiracy.

    Book your tickets today, and share information about this film with everyone who would benefit from seeing it. You can also order a free Creation Care Toolkit full of resources to help you practice your faith while creating the positive change that animals need.

    The post ‘Christspiracy’ Is What Compassionate People of Faith Have Long Waited For appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • U.S. Lags Behind While PETA Entity Pushes Germany to Grant Rights to Other Species

    While the U.S. is still the land of rodeos, trophy hunters, NRA “sportsmen’s clubs,” bounties on wildlife, and many other archaisms that reduce other species to their utility to humans, Germany’s parliament may just take the lead by recognizing who these “others” are and granting fundamental rights to animals. This week, PETA Germany marked its 30th anniversary by rallying outside the New Palace in Stuttgart to call on the Bundestag to change the constitution to recognize animals as individual persons with the right to life, liberty, physical integrity, and the free development of personality. Photos are available here, and video is available here (please drag the video into your web browser for quick playback).

    peta germany supporters in animal masks and businesswear in a triangle formation

    Credit: PETA Germany

    In the U.S., PETA is preparing a new lawsuit designed to challenge the status quo. This follows earlier civil suits, including its novel 13th Amendment lawsuit, which sought to free orcas from bondage at SeaWorld; its groundbreaking “monkey selfie” copyright lawsuit, which sought to establish the right of Naruto the macaque to own and profit from his own creation; and its first-of-its-kind lawsuit challenging a loophole in the federal Animal Welfare Act allowing for the unconstitutional death sentence of barn owls. PETA’s lead counsel, Jeffrey Kerr, is inspired by the words of civil rights attorney Phil Hirschkop, who said, “First you lose, and lose, and lose, and then you win.”

    “Animals aren’t things like pieces of furniture—they’re individuals like us who feel pain, fear, and love and value their lives, and simply because humans can dominate them doesn’t mean that we should,” says PETA President and founder of PETA Germany Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA entities are urging the legal system to recognize that all animals are living, feeling beings who deserve appropriate legal rights and protections for their own sake and not in relation to how they can be exploited by humans.”

    The push to establish personhood for animals comes as society’s fundamental understanding of animal sentience is rapidly evolving, with studies revealing the individuality and specific talents and abilities of all species. For example, geese fall in love and stay with a partner for life, even at great personal risk; squirrels bury nuts by the position of the stars; pigeons navigate by low-frequency radio waves; fish “sing” underwater; and elephants use their trunks to send subsonic signals, alerting herds a mile or more away to danger or a source of water.

    PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.

    The post U.S. Lags Behind While PETA Entity Pushes Germany to Grant Rights to Other Species appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.

  • Photos: PETA Germany Asks Parliament to Grant Personhood to Animals as Understanding Evolves

    Earlier today, in an action to mark PETA Germany’s 30th anniversary, dozens of PETA members and supporters descended on the New Palace in Stuttgart—dressed in formal attire, carrying briefcases, and wearing animal masks—as they called on the country’s parliament to change the constitution to legally recognize animals as individual persons and grant them basic rights. This includes the right to life, liberty, physical integrity, and the free development of personality. Photos are available here, and video is available here (please drag the video into your web browser for quick playback).

    peta germany supporters in animal masks and businesswear in a triangle formation

    Credit: PETA Germany

    Society’s fundamental understanding of identity is rapidly evolving, with gender-neutral driver’s licenses offered in several U.S. states, an orangutan legally recognized as a “person” in Argentina, and legal personhood granted to rivers around the world. PETA entities worldwide are pushing forward this evolution and asking courts to recognize the personhood and legal rights of other animals. In the U.S., PETA’s 13th Amendment lawsuit sought to free orcas from bondage at SeaWorld and its groundbreaking “monkey selfie” copyright lawsuit sought to establish the right of Naruto the macaque to own and profit from his own creation.

    “Animals aren’t things like pieces of furniture—they’re individuals like us who feel pain, fear, and love and value their lives. Simply because humans can dominate them doesn’t mean that we should,” says PETA President and founder of PETA Germany Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA Germany is urging the legal system to recognize that all animals are living, feeling beings who deserve appropriate legal rights and protections for their own sake and not in relation to how they can be exploited by humans.”

    PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.

    The post Photos: PETA Germany Asks Parliament to Grant Personhood to Animals as Understanding Evolves appeared first on PETA.

    This post was originally published on Animal Rights and Campaign News | PETA.