Jody Emel and Jennifer Wolch argue “actually seeing and understanding the vast extent of animal suffering and

Question

death is unavoidable if we are to transcend the invisibility of animals, engage in corrective struggles, and bear witness to the animal moment.” What do they mean by the animal moment and why is it relevant to environmentalists?

Answer 1

The "animal movement" is belief that animals occupy a position on earth similar to people, and should not be killed or otherwise disturbed by mankind.  Cute furry mammals and birds are usually the focus, as opposed to flies that nobody likes (even though they are animals too and necessary to the ecology).  Scientific research use of animals is considered the worst thing mankind can do to animals.

These activists are usually referred to as "animal rights".

The mission of the EPA includes "... protection of the natural environment", and animal rights folks are a subset of general environmental awareness.

The spectrum of concern for animals ranges from fisheries management and hunters that want to keep game plentiful, to avoidance of cruelty to animals (SPCA) and vegans that don't eat any animal products, to PETRA, ELF, Greenpeace, etc. radicals that illegally destroy property to make their point, to folks that think the earth would be better off without people.

The spectrum of the general environmental community runs the same gamut, and the animal movement folks are just one interest group in this community.