An Animal Bill of Rights
Global Lockdown for Animal Rights
In the fall of 2019, thousands of animal rights activist around the world will ask their legislators for an Animal Bill of Rights.
If legislators refuse to sit down and create a path to the Animal Bill of Rights, activists will stage the largest ever coordinated mass civil disobedience for animal rights. We know from history that protest works.
Participating Cities
Why a Bill of Rights?
Decades of work in the animal welfare movement have provided little relief for animals. In fact, thanks to new industrialized methods, the number of animals suffering from human tyranny is greater than ever.
Asking for reforms and improvement in treatment isn't enough.
A bill of rights enshrines the clear and absolute rights a group should have. It defines what is permissible and what is not. It illustrates a path forward and the world we want to create.
Asking for Animal Liberation or Empty Cages isn't clear.
Animals need legal protections.
Animals need inalienable rights.
Animals need a Bill of Rights.
How can we make a Bill of Rights pass?
Press
If we can be on the cover of the New York Times for days in a row, this will become a national debate. Once the way we treat animals is described and examined, we know that truth will prevail.
Civil Disobedience
When society refuses to address an issue, nonviolent civil disobedience can be used to force a debate. By shutting down the normal functioning of society, you get a chance to be actually heard.
Lobbying
By asking politicians for legislative change, we can achieve victories that become the law. If politicians don't keep their promises, we go back to the streets.
What does the actual bill say?
Science tells us that nonhuman animals are sentient, and justice demands that all sentient beings be protected from tyranny and oppression. For the past few centuries, we have been expanding our conception of who deserves our care, but we recognize that nonhuman animals still have no appropriate legal protections.
We ask that you support legislation giving all sentient animals :
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The right to be free - not owned - or to have a guardian acting in their best interest.
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The right to not be exploited, abused, or killed by humans.
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The right to have their interests represented in court and protected by the law.
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The right to a protected home, habitat, or ecosystem.
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The right to be rescued from situations of distress and exploitation.
Who is Rose?
Rose (pictured above) is a hen that was rescued from an Organic poultry farm in 2018. Whistleblowers had found evidence of animal cruelty inside the farm, and alerted the authorities. After animal control and others refused to address the animal cruelty, activists decided the only recourse was to enter and help the neglected animals.
The police arrested 58 activists, and Animal Control removed 9 sick chickens. They promised the activists they would get the veterinary help they needed, but instead were killed that same day because it wasn't worth the money to help them.
However, the police allowed one activist holding one hen, Rose, to leave the property. We see this symbolic act of compassion as proof that the police that day knew that rescuing animals is not a crime.
Rose was the sole survivor that day, and she lives on as evidence that this atrocity isn't justified. She lives on as proof that that day even the police knew what was the right thing, and they decided to break the law by letting her go.