Animal Rights 101 - the Basics
What are Animal Rights?
What are animal rights? Do animal rights activists want animals to have the same rights as people?
Why Should Animals Have Rights?
Giving animals rights may seem like a strange idea, and may even seem offensive or ridiculous. Why do animal rights activists want animals to have rights?
Top 10 Animal Rights Stories of 2009
The top animal rights news stories of 2009, from Travis the chimp to Bo the first dog, wolves to polar bears, and the U.S. Supreme Court to the European Union.
Veganism is Not a Sacrifice
Many consider veganism to be an exercise in self-denial and self-sacrifice, but it's not a sacrifice to give up something that wasn't ever rightfully yours.
How Can People Work for Animal Rights Instead of Human Rights?
This question is posed to animal rights activists at countless protests and outreach tables, but is based on a faulty assumption.
Top 10 Animal Rights Stories of 2012
Top 10 Animal Rights Stories of 2011
The Animal Rights Lifeboat Question
A question that animal rights activists often hear is the lifeboat question. At issue are the purpose of the question, the relevance of the question, and the answer to the question.
How Many Animals are Killed Each Year?
How many animals are killed for human use every year in the United States? The numbers are in the billions, and these are just the ones we know...
Neuroscientists Declare Animals Have Consciousness
On July 7, 2012, neuroscientists at the Francis Crick Memorial Conference on Consciousness in Human and non-Human Animals signed the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness, which states that animals have consciousness and that humans are not unique in having consciousness.
Top 10 Animal Rights Stories of 2010
The Year's Top Animal Rights Stories
What is Sentience, and What Does It Have to Do with Animal Rights?
What is sentience, and what does it have to do with animal rights?
Anthropomorphism and Animal Rights
What is anthropomorphism? What's wrong with anthropomorphism? Why are animal rights activists often accused to engaging in anthropomorphism?
What is Welfarism?
What are welfarism and welfarists when it comes to animals, and what's wrong with welfarism?
What is Animal Abuse?
What is animal abuse, and how does it differ from animal cruelty?
Portrayals of Animal Exploitation
Portrayals of animal exploitation often depict the animals either as willing participants in their own exploitation, or encourage the viewer to laugh at the animals' plight. Either way, we are not supposed to consider their oppression, suffering and deaths seriously.
Vegan Gift Guide
Whether it's a holiday, birthday, graduation or other occasion, choosing a gift for a vegan might seem like walking through a mine field. Here are some do's and don't's for vegan gift giving. Learn how to choose a gift for a vegan.
If Lions Can Eat Meat, Why Can't People?
"If lions can eat meat, why can't we?" The lion question is a common question for animal rights advocates. But no one suggests that we base our morals on lions until someone talks about veganism.
No Such Thing as a Vegan?
Is it true that there is no such thing as a vegan? Is it possible to live completely free of animal products? What are some hidden animal products?
Humanity's Enslavement of Nonhuman Animals: Human Nature not Inherently Flawed
This piece addresses certain presupposed "flaws" in human nature from a Christian perspective, and how those flaws keep humanity from acting in a moral manner toward non-human and human animals.
The Obama Administration's Animal Protection Record
Where does President Barack Obama stand on animal rights issues, and what is his administration's animal rights record? This site will be updated continuously throughout Obama's administration.
Mitt Romney Ties a Dog to the Roof of His Car in 1983
In 1983, Mitt Romney tied the family dog, Seamus the Irish Setter, to the roof of his car for a twelve-hour drive to Canada. After the dog suffered an attack of diarrhea, Romney hosed down his car and the dog, and kept driving with the dog on top of the car. What kind of person straps a dog to the roof of the car, keeps the dog there after he...
What is Veganism?
Veganism is the abstention from all animal products, such as meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, gelatin, lanolin, wool, fur, silk, suede and leather.
Obama Criticized for Eating Dog Meat
Romney strapped his dog Seamus to the roof of his car and Obama ate dog meat. What do these incidents mean in terms of animal rights?
Animal Rights Activists – Hypocrites, or Extremists?
Animal rights activists are frequently discredited as either hypocrites or extremists, but how accurate are those labels? Are all animal rights activists either hypocrites or extremists, and why do these labels keep popping up?
You've Never Hunted. Or Worked on a Farm. Or Been a Lion Tamer.
If you get into an argument with a hunter, a farmer or a lion tamer, they will sometimes tell you that you don't know what you're talking about because you've never done what they've done. But you don't have to do it to know that it's wrong.
Animal Rights and Racism
Racism should have no part in the animal protection movement, but since racism so thoroughly permeates our society, it does sometimes rear its ugly head. When is an animal protection campaign racist, and how can we avoid racism in animal rights campaigns?
Mitt Romney's VP Pick, Paul Ryan is an Avid Bowhunter
Mitt Romney's running mate in the 2012 presidential election is Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, an avid bowhunter.
What is Speciesism?
What is speciesism, and why is it important?
Do Vegans Think They're Better Than Everyone Else?
Do vegans think they're better than everyone else? Do vegans think they're superior?
Weird Animal Rights Comments - What's the Weirdest Comment You've Hea…
The Weirdest, Silliest, Most Bizarre, Most Clueless Animal Rights Comments
What is Shellac and How is it Not Vegan?
Shellac is used in foods as well as paint, nail polish and other applications. Shellac is not vegan.
Review of the Fur and Feathers Game
I played the Fur and Feathers board game with my husband, our 9 year old and our 3 year old. This review explains the pros and cons and answers the question, "About how many cats are there in the world?"
What is a Single-Issue Campaign?
In the animal rights movement, what is a single issue campaign? Why are they controversial, and how are they different from vegan education?
Elephant Abuse, Rene Descartes, and Immanuel Kant
Anthropocentrism, Rene Descartes and Immanuel Kant: How philosophical views of animals in the past continue to shape our views of animals and animal rights today. Part one of a four-part series on elephants in circuses.
Review of 'Arctic Tale', from About.com's Guide to Documentaries
Review of the 2007 documentary film, Arctic Tale, from About.com's Guide to Documentaries.
Animal Liberation, by Peter Singer
Animal Liberation by Peter Singer is one of the seminal books in the modern animal rights movement.
The Case for Animal Rights, by Tom Regan
In his book, The Case for Animal Rights, philosopher Tom Regan explains why animals have rights.
Animal Rights - The Abolitionist Approach
Professor Gary Francione, animal law professor at Rutgers University, advocates the abolition of animal exploitation.
Moving Beyond the Rhetoric of Apology in Animal Rights
This excellent essay by Karen Davis of United Poultry Concerns explains why animal rights activists do not need to apologize for the animals. If anything, we need to apologize to the animals.
Animal Rights National Conference
This long-running annual conference alternates between Washington DC and Los Angeles, CA.