By Jon Hochschartner There was a time, not too long ago, when the animalists who took an intersectional approach were the critical thinkers in the anti-speciesist movement, challenging old dogmas. But recently this intersectionalism seems to have solidified into an unthinking fundamentalism. ‘Intersectionality’ has become the mindless mantra of the day, as ‘abolitionism’ …
August 2015 archive
Aug 22
Total Liberation: The Power and Promise of Animal Rights and the Radical Earth Movement
We just came across this excellent book on Animal Liberation at the recent Animal Rights 2015 Conference in Washington, DC. It features the Press Office and personnel in several chapters; it will be available soon on the NAALPO website, but until then, you can read reviews and buy it here: http://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/total-liberation All oppression is linked: …
Aug 14
August 2015 E-Newsletter
Support for Political Prisoners Joseph Buddenberg and Nicole Kissane An animal rights activist accused of freeing mink from mink ranches and vandalizing businesses pleaded not guilty in federal court in Oakland Tuesday to a charge of conspiring to violate the U.S. Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Joseph Buddenberg, 31, of Oakland, entered the plea before U.S. …
Aug 08
White Privilege in the Animal Rights Movement
Disclaimer: I am writing this piece from the perspective of a white female settler within the animal rights movement. When I refer to the settler population, I am also including myself in those critiques. These ramblings are not an attack on the white settler population, but on the system which allows the continued dominance of …
Aug 06
Rash of break-ins at mink farms in Southwestern Ontario leaves region’s fur-bearing industry on edge
By Kate Dubinski The London Free Press Also appeared in the Star Phoenix Are they liberators or terrorists? Militant activists who free farmed animals have struck in Canada before, and there’s speculation they could be behind three recent break-ins at mink farms in Southwestern Ontario. Anonymous activists have claimed responsibility for one of the Southwestern …
Aug 05
We Disagree! (Some) Animal rights activists condemn vandals who hit home of lion killer
By David Hodges Collier County reporter MARCO ISLAND, FL – Animal activists are condemning vandalism at the house of Dr. Walter Palmer, the man who killed Cecil the lion. The spray-painted phrase “Lion Killer!” on Palmer’s garage was still there a day after police first saw it. The pigs feet were removed but the animal crackers remained. In …
Aug 05
When Does Animal Rights Activism Become Extremism?
By Jeremy Lybarger San Francisco Weekly On July 28, the FBI arrested Joseph Buddenberg and Nicole Kissane, two Oakland-based animal rights activists accused of releasing thousands of mink from fur farms during multiple cross-country sprees in 2013. The couple were also charged with vandalizing property owned by the meat and fur industries, including, allegedly, a …
Aug 03
300 More Mink Liberated from Ontario, Canada Fur Farm
Ontario Provincial Police have reported that approx. 300 mink were freed from cages at a fur farm in Guelph/Eramosa Township, Ontario overnight July 30-31. The farm is not identified, but may be the Millbank Fur Farm (5225 Jones Baseline Road). This is the third fur farm raid in southern Ontario in recent months. In early …
Aug 02
Animals shouldn’t take backseat to ‘intersectionality’
By Jon Hochschartner In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis in the animalist movement on ‘intersectionality,’ by which is meant consideration of human issues such as class, gender and race. This is obviously a worthwhile endeavor on its own terms. And simply from a strategic level it’s good in that a more inclusive …