Does animal rights advocy exist?

Question

As a child I've always wanted to help animals...I'd like to fight for their rights...Can one actually study animal law at university? and if I wanted to work in organizations like PETA or WWF what courses should I take up(at university)?...

Answer 1

Hello. I'm afraid being officially educated in animal rights is pretty much impossible, as institutions such as universities will only really teach about animal welfare, which is very different. Welfarism is about treating animals slightly better, but that it's still alright to murder them and use them. Animal rights explains how all conscious beings have rights and should not be exploited.

I would recommend reading a few books on animal rights or joining an animal rights forum (www.animalsuffering.com/forum is very informative) to learn what you can about it and get some relevant experience if you want to join an organisation that helps animals.

In the mean time, perhaps you could do some volunteering: I help with animal rescue, I leaflet, collect money for charities supporting animal rights (Animal Aid, Dr. Hadwen Trust, Hillside Animal Sanctuary - check them out!), get petitions signed, write letters to my MP, organisations and companies about animal issues and I write articles and keep a blog. This is all good, it all gets the word out.

The most important thing, if you want to support animal rights, is to go vegan. Animals are exploited left right and centre on this world, and to significantly reduce your own impact on them, it's necessary to cut animal products out of your diet and your life. There's a lot of information out there on the Internet about veganism, but I would recommend the Vegan Society & Animal Aid to have a look at first.

Thank you for caring about the animals. I wish you the best of luck in helping to defend defenceless creatures.

Hope this all helps,

Tim

Answer 2

Yeah, but PETA are nuts and the Animal Liberation Front are, frankly, terrorists.  I suggest going the legal, not-crazy route by getting a biology degree and then going to law school.

Answer 3

I feel the same way. I have a friend who got a masters degree in Non-profit organization management. She has worked with Humane Society groups, etc. Anyway, I don't think that there are enough laws about animals that there would be an entire class about animal law. I majored in legal assistance in college, and we had to choose something to do independent research on a topic of interest. I wanted to do animal cruelty cases and laws, but there just wasn't that much on the subject so I had to change. Anyway, good luck and I applaud your effort to help animals!