Animal Rights Activists

"Kahumbu does not suffer fools gladly. She is a formidable and fearless advocate, known for speaking truth to power, whether confronting poaching syndicates or challenging government policies that fail wildlife."

"For too long, conservation has been seen as a mzungu (white person's) thing. It's not. This is our land, our wildlife, and our story to tell. We must be at the forefront of protecting it."

"What we know about elephants today is incredible,They are like people."

"We are in a crisis. We are losing species not in the future, but right now. We are the last generation that can save these animals. There is no plan B because there is no planet B."

"We have to tell stories that make people fall in love with wildlife. You don't protect what you don't love, and you can't love what you don't know. That's why we make 'Wildlife Warriors'—to show the beauty and the drama of our natural world."

"Wearing shoes, clothes and other accessories made out of exotic skin is about as cold-blooded as it gets. These days, there's a wild kingdom of fake snake, mock crocodiles and python leather that pay tribute to the beauty of these animals without making them fashion victims."

"Seriously trying to be more vegetarian.. have given up slowly, except fish right now...no prawn, mutton, lobster, crab. Suddenly going off chicken too. Ten years ago saw a little lamb being slaughtered... Cried my eyes out, and that was the last time (I) ate mutton. That thing has a life consciousness... Then saw how crabs and lobsters are cooked, put alive in boiling water. Inhuman...now slowly trying to give up fish too."

"Do you eat your dog? Cows, goats, buffalos, pigs have the same emotions and intelligence level, they feel the pain, separation and torture. Go Vegan @devduttmyth everyone should, it’ll also save us from global warming."

"I am so deeply, deeply saddened by the tragic news that Sir David has passed away."

"Raped the town of Basildon .. I thought the whole world knew there was a place called Basildon, but apparently the Boundary Commission have never heard of it."

"is still a sparse, loose idea advocated by sometimes opposing groups. Most obviously, there is the (VHEMT), the and efilism. VHEMT is somewhat divided between those who wish the human race to cease population in order to eradicate human overpopulation and its exhaustion and destruction of the earth, and those who also choose not to breed but see an apocalyptic horizon and operate under an 'every man for himself' attitude of imminent hedonism 'for tomorrow we die." Ahumanism subscribes to no singular human extinction group, but clearly the message of the former sector of the group is more in keeping with the affirmative benefits of human death."

"If the United States and other religious fundamentalist countries of any religion see themselves as God's people, all I can say is bring on the Antichrist and End of Days."

"The Church of Euthanasia has as its four stations of the cross sodomy, suicide, abortion and cannibalism. In their activism towards the end of human life on the planet, their posthumanism interestingly resonates with human activism. Roughly, these correlate as sodomy with queer (where sodomy is defined as any non-reproductive sexual act, including masturbation, asexuality and heterosexual intercourse with no intention of procreation), abortion with female/feminist sexuate rights, cannibalism with animal rights, where human carcasses are used as a source of food instead of murdering animals, and suicide with agency over one's own life and thus death, including euthanasia with disability rights in reference to the right to die versus the enforcement of life on those who express a wish to die but cannot execute their own death. It shouldn't need to be pointed out that neither group advocates murder or eugenics (however ironically that may sit considering the murder advocated by sanctioned capital and war machines). These are two of the longest established of now many groups advocating human extinction."

"Not only does having a child really increase your carbon footprint, but we are living on an earth where there are a lot of organisms — human, non-human — that are in desperate need of care. And so, for me, if people want to care for children, for animals, whatever, there are cries for care everywhere. I’m asking us to reflect on this idea that we need to reproduce."

"In terms of , the worst thing you can do is have a child. And it’s the one taboo that nobody wants to speak."

"Human exceptionalism is using the Earth, exhausting the Earth, treating the Earth as if the Earth is for us as a resource. We don't act as if we are part of the Earth. And nonhuman animals are beneath us in this schema. And then certain animals are more valid than others. And our measure is based on the equivalence to us rather than on the fact that they are on the Earth … and then within human, we have a similar hierarchy, where white, heterosexual, usually rich men are at the top and then arguably, you know, the rest of us."

"Currently, we see the rise of the deploying , a tactic also utilized by abolitionist and euthanasia groups. The extinction rebellion remains at its heart, because it sees the threat of ecological crisis primarily through the lens of a threat to human survival. It makes no room for the grace of stepping aside and embracing human extinction so that the world may flourish, which would be the most effective form of rebellion against individual death, the death of diversity or species extinction."

"The continuation of diachrony in perceptions of life and death spreads across a form of antinatalism essentially co-opted from a kind of Western fetishism of Buddhism, namely efilism. Coming etymologically from the reverse of 'life', efilism claims it is better never to have been. Efilist philosophers such as David Benatar hinge their arguments on basic binaries of pleasure and pain which roughly correlate to good and bad and extend to a vindication of life and death. Efilism has a vague correspondence with utilitarianism but emphasizes the suffering of life over utilitarianism's greater good. Both are absolute in their perception of the capacity to evaluate which is which, making both dependent on economic measure of value as an either/or, and to an extent both on () determinism. Efilism's redeeming feature is that it promotes antinatalism, and often veganism, in its aspirations to a reduction in suffering, and this attitude promises potentials for opening the world through the cessation of the human."

"However, efilism's claim that all life, human and non-human, should be ceased is a hubris I am not convinced humans have a right to exert. While the cessation of suffering humans cause is already manipulated in a way that could come under an efilist rubric, these 'management' tools usually come in the form of culling populations of nonhumans to redress an imagined environmental balance most usually caused by humans in the first place. Domestic efilism such a neutering rescue animals is necessary, especially when rescuing can involve the speciesism of feeding one slaughtered animal to sustain another, and neutering humans is the logical way to prevent the perpetuation of this practice as well"

"For me personally, I am deeply saddened that there has never managed to be an annihilation of the human species, in spite of plague and war, the latter seeming the ultimately ironic kind of self-serving apocalypse showing the absolute idiocy of the human being the pinnacle of the pyramid of life. While the earth is in the grip of the apocalypse the anthropocene delivers, humans fear an apocalypse that our consumerism, our greed and our narcissism welcomes."

"Vegetariana is the name of an island where nobody ever kills animals for food or "sport." It is easy to guess how pleased the animals are in countries where the inhabitants decide to make the land a Vegetariana."

"Food is bought, So is drink, by a sort of intuition, With no heed of waste or malnutrition. Lambs are slaughtered, calves are bled, That our young may be ill-fed. Fruit, nuts and cereals which might save man Scarce find a place in his dietic plan. In robbing birds of plumes and beasts of fur We, charges of inhumanity incur. Fed with flesh meats and clad in skins of beast, Life and art suffer, and our health not least. The price, not the art of our dress, Is the anxious concern of our Press Which will praise all that pays, But denies its great prize, To a beauty which won't advertise."

"Truth is not always fair, or soft of speech, Nor can all minds grasp all that it can teach; But if despised, by men rejected now, The future's dawn illuminates its brow."

"Whether we’re talking about human or nonhuman animals, the abuses in our food system are similar—living beings are treated as commodities for profit."

"Food justice is incredibly important, because food touches all of our lives daily. We have to look at how [food] impacts everyone, from the waiters and waitresses and cooks at restaurants, to the produce workers who pick our food, to the animals who are suffering and dying so we can eat them. We have the responsibility to speak out against these injustices and make sure we hold those who are doing the exploiting accountable."

"When people look at fishing, sometimes they’re only looking at the fact of the animals who are actually consumed by humans, so we’re not necessarily looking at all the animals who are caught in the drift nets, all the other animals who are killed in the industry."

"The word vegan should not just be used when referring to people who choose not to eat animal products because being vegan includes doing our best to abstain from participating in the other ways animals are exploited, including animal testing, wearing them, etc. Clearly there is a lot of buzz about the word vegan these days, which is great, but I think it is imperative that we keep the dialogue about this word focused on what it truly means. Veganism is simply about one's ethics and not contributing to the suffering of others."

"All farm workers, including migrants, are some of the most exploited people in the U.S. They work from dawn to dusk, often with no breaks in the heat of the day. Workers go out into fields that are often still wet with pesticides. Unable to wash, they are forced to eat with the pesticides on their hands. Many employers fail to provide them with enough water—or any at all."

"The first time I ever saw footage of a mother pig, in a more natural environment, making a nest for her babies, it brought me to tears realizing the frustration they must feel in farrowing crates."

"To the Hebrew decalogue and the Christian beatitudes must be added the first of Buddha's ten commandments: Kill not for Pity's sake, nor dare to slay The meanest creature on its upward way."

"Perhaps, with the introduction of more rational views of cosmogony and anthropology, and broader and more generous principles of psychology into our elementary text-books, through the union of a sounder physics with a larger metaphysics, our children's children may finally learn that there are inalienable animal as well as human rights, and that, in respect to the ties of moral obligation and the claims to kind and just treatment which they imply, not only "all nations of men," as Paul affirmed on Mar's Hill, but, as the Indian sage declared, "all living creatures are of one blood.""

"In the higher organisms the higher faculties predominate, and in the lower organisms the lower faculties: but in all of them, from the highest to the lowest, the action is the resultant of impulses of sensation, perception, conception, and thought variously combined and inextricably blended."

""Do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you" is the golden rule; but far purer and more precious than gold is the injunction to do good without any reference to self, and to cultivate a morality that does not reflect the faintest tint, nor involve the slightest implication of self-love."

"No one will seriously assert that the drosera, Dioncea muscipula, and other insectivorous and carnivorous plants are organisms superior in sensitiveness to those which they devour, or that this transformation of animal into vegetable structure increases the sum of pleasurable sensation m the world. The doctrine of evolution, which regards these antagonisms as mere episodes in the universal struggle for existence, has forever set aside this sort of theodicy and put an end to all teleological attempts to infer from the nature and operations of creation the moral character of the Creator."

"The recognition of an original affinity between man and beast, however remote the kinship may be, or whether it be based upon the ancient dogma of metempsychosis or the modern doctrine of evolution, necessarily creates a current of sympathy extending even to the most insignificant members of the great and widely diversified family of sentient beings, and rendering it impossible willfully to neglect or maltreat the "poor relations," to whom we are united by the warm and living ties of blood."

"It is through the portal of spiritual kinship, erected by modern evolutional science, that beasts and birds [...] enter into the temple of justice and enjoy the privilege of sanctuary against the wanton or unwitting cruelty hitherto authorized by the assumptions and usurpations of man."

"The ethical corollaries to Darwin's doctrine of the origin of species and to his theory of development through descent under the modifying influences of environment and natural selection have already passed these bounds of beneficence not only by demanding the mitigation of cruelty to slaves, but also by the abolition of slavery, and not only by inculcating the kind treatment of animals by individuals, but also by asserting the principle of animals' rights and the necessity of vindicating them by imposing judicial punishments for their violation."

"Ethnocentric geography, which caused each petty tribe to regard itself as the centre of the earth, and geocentric astronomy, which caused mankind to regard the earth as the centre of the universe, are conceptions that have been gradually outgrown and generally discarded—not, however, without leaving distinct and indelible traces of themselves in human speech and conduct. But this is not the case with anthropocentric psychology and ethics, which treat man as a being essentially different and inseparably set apart from all other sentient creatures, to which he is bound by no ties of mental affinity or moral obligation. Nevertheless, all these notions spring from the same root, having their origin in man's false and overweening conceit of himself as the member of a tribe, the inhabitant of a planet, or the lord of creation."

"To what absurdities of presumption the anthropocentric conception has paved the way is evident from the belief, once universally entertained, that the sun, moon, and stars were placed in the firmament with express reference to man, and exerted a benign or baleful influence upon his destiny from the cradle to the grave."

"[I]f animals may be rendered liable to judicial punishment for injuries done to man, one would naturally infer that they should also enjoy legal protection against human cruelty."

"Animals should be treated the same as you would a kid. Would you want someone just to walk up and skin your kid? Hell no!"

"I'm a conscious eater, meaning I'm conscious about the things I put in my mouth. I know the ingredients in the food, I know the chemicals, if there are chemicals, I know what that cup is made of, and if I'm eating out of this plastic utensil, I know what it's doing. I'm a "conscious eater.""

"If someone is a friend of mine, they’re going to love animals. It’s kind of a prerequisite. … [The biggest misunderstanding about pets is] that a pet should instantly fit into your home/lifestyle and automatically have good behavior. While I think having a pet can be relatively easy and absolutely rewarding, pets definitely require responsibly and involvement. … If for some reason I had to go into an underground bunker because people all over the world were turning into zombies, but I couldn’t take my dog, well, then I’d have to take my chances with the zombies."

"I have this small but sure voice deep inside me that says ‘NO’ every time I witness violence and I don’t ever want to stifle that voice with apathy. Supporting animal abuse in any way quiets that voice. To hurt animals is to disconnect me from that most caring, compassionate voice. I see them as such spiritual creatures, much more awake than humans and I feel if I can accept the abuse of these innocent, sentient creatures and my role in it then I could easily become apathetic about…well, everything, and that is a scary thought. […] I had gone vegetarian when I was 11 because I was viscerally repelled by the idea of eating animal flesh and there was no way to avoid the fact that someone had been killed for that piece of meat. […] it took me until 2015 to become fully vegan. […] I think the root of this whole lifestyle is Compassion. It’s a daily reminder that we are all one. I believe veganism is what will heal this planet. […] I don’t know why we are still using our power and our blessings to quash animals. Why have we not yet assumed our rightful role as their caretakers? And every time I look into a cow’s eyes and see the gentle soul dwelling in that enormous powerful body, I feel like the animals are patiently waiting, quietly willing us to just catch on."

"I grew up in the Midwest, so Tarzan was always one of my favourite heroes. It fits with what I’m passionate about. […] I’m an advocate for any animal that is treated inhumanely. […] I was very much alone. So the animals became my friends. We owned a farm. And I became almost like an animal whisperer. Cats would come to me. Hens. Cows. I’m a feeler, I guess."

"I went vegetarian at about 5 years old when I visited a Dude Ranch with my family and saw a rodeo. It was traumatizing and I made a conscious decision at that age to never eat animals again. When I started middle school, I read a book that exposed a lot of the truth about the food industry and encouraged a healthful lifestyle through a guide to living vegan. It was a mostly simple transition that made me feel so much better about myself, inside and out. … For as long I can remember, acting and animal activism have made me feel alive and purposeful … I would love to see more organizations coming together. Sometimes it’s tricky to understand everyone’s opinions. We all have so many of the same intentions, it’d be awesome to see more support for one another amongst the community."

"How boring would it be if we were all exactly the same? We talked the same, looked the same, had the same taste in everything. Clothing stores would have all the same clothes. Radio stations would play all the same music. I don't know about you, but that is so boring. I think it's great that we're all different. It's the differences that make us interesting. So whether you're gay, straight, or in between, that's cool. Just be you, cuz that's good enough for me."

"Many years from now, our descendants will look back on the use of animals for food—particularly the intense animal suffering in factory farms—as a moral atrocity."

"A central tenet of the effective altruism mind-set is to stay open-minded and keep an eye out for the so-called Cause X, a new way of doing good that could be even better than your current strategy. Eventually I became convinced that reforming the food system was my Cause X, based on three criteria: its scale, tractability, and neglectedness."

"We don’t make a distinction between factory slavery and humane slavery or cruel genocide and painless genocide. We, rightly so, condemn the entire institution."