Struggle for Animal Rights

Martin Balluch

Out of the Box SeminarUniversity of Maribor, Slovenia

6. July 2012

The Struggle for Animal Rights

Martin BalluchAssociation Against Animal Factories

VGT, Austria

The modern animal rights movement

1964:• Ruth Harrison‘s book „Animal Machines“ published

→ details factory farming → inspires Peter Singer to „Animal Liberation“ 1975

• Hunt Saboteurs‘ Association founded by journalist John Prestige while writing about deer hunting → direct action against hunting with hounds in UK → grass roots, mass actions, begin of animal rights activism

Repressive ideology newly identified: Speciesism

1970: Richard Ryder coins the phrase speciesism → painism – golden rule:

Don‘t do to others, what you don‘t want done to yourself

Others:

your race – racism

your nation – nationalism

your sex – sexism

your species – speciesism

Solution: others, who can suffer as well

Academic development

• 1975: Peter Singer‘s „Animal Liberation“ → Utilitarianism

• 1983: Tom Regan‘s „The case for Animal Rights“ → Kantianism

• 1996: David DeGrazia‘s „Mental Life and Moral Status“ → Reflective equilibrium

• 1998: Mark Rowlands‘ „Animal Rights“ → Contractarianism

• 2005: Martin Balluch‘s „The Right to Autonomy“ → Categorical values

National organisations ↔ grassrootsWelfarism ↔ Rightsism

Old established welfare organisations are charity, not political – hierarchical, within the established order (royal prefix)

Young activist rights groups are political, not charity – non-hierarchical, critical of the system

UK:• HSA as basis of ar activism turns the working class

against rich farm owners → class aspect• Welfare organisations often run by aristocrats

  ANIMAL WELFARE ANIMAL RIGHTS

Basic idea first in 18th century first in 19th century

Groups since early 19th century since end 19th century

Laws since early 19th century none

Motivation empathy justice

Aim minimize suffering autonomy

Animal usage ok in principle wrong in principle

Activity help for suffering animals stop animal abuse

Societal changes (property, personhood)

unchanged completely new

Human-Animal relation stays the same completely new

Self-definition social political

Killing ok if painless not ok

Ethics act good act just

  National organisations Grassroots

Ideology Animal Welfare Animal Rights

Concept Reform Abolitionism

Seen in Society mainstream, propagandist radical, honest

Organisation hierarchical non hierachical

Idealism small large

Appearance decent excentric

Activity petitioning, informing demos, direct action

Activists paid, not many volunteers, mass movement

Finances big budget small budget

Campaign goals geared towards donations no concept, the cruelest

Execution of activity professional, media spontaneous, no media

Access to politics farely good none

Campaigns 1970ies – environmentalSeal pup culling in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada:• 1st time TV reports from animal actions• Actress Brigitte Bardot with

baby seals on the ice flows• Spray painting of seal pups

→ killing of seal pups is banned! (trade 1982)

Whaling:• Inflatables block harpoons of whalers

→ moratorium on whaling adopted 1982, in effect 1986

Was international media campaign by Greenpeace et al.

Emancipation of animal issues

Austria: December 1984, occupation of the primieval forests East of Vienna to prevent cutting

→ 10.000 activists attend to:• protect democracy• protect ecosystems• protect endangered species• protect individual animals

→ first purely animal rights oriented groups form

The Fur Campaign 1988

Activism:• Rather naked than fur• Pictures from fur farms

in the media• Media stunts

Result:• Fur sales crash• Fur becomes anti-

social

Kürschner, Handschuhmacher, Gerber

0

20.000

40.000

60.000

80.000

100.000

120.000

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Bruttoproduktionswerte

Betriebserlöse

Produktionswerte

Campaign against live animal transport1995 UK: mass

demos and actions → only Dover

1995 Austria: media stunts and reports → 6 hour max travel time → overthrown in 1998 by EU courts

Killed in action!

Mike Hill, 9. 2. 1991

Hunt sabbing the Cheshire Beagles

Tom Worby, 3. 4. 1993

Hunt sabbing the Cambridge Foxhounds

Jill Phipps, 1. 2. 1995

Blocking Coventry Airport against the export of live calves to Europe

Pressure campaigns against companiesPressure campaign:• permanent demos• many actions (most illegal)• no media, no public sympathy

1996-1997: Consort Beagles

1997-1999: Hillgrove Cats

1999-2000: Shamrock Farm Monkeys

1999-2005: Newchurch Guinea Pigs (prison after end)

2000: Regal Rabbits

1999-prison(2007): SHAC

Aspects of abolitionist direct pressure campaigns

• Abolitionist: against animal using companies, alternative only no usage at all

• No compromise• Direct pressure without large scale support of the

public• Grassroots non-hierarchical autonomous activities• No public face explains activities• But: if certain companies are stopped, does that

reduce animal abuse?

Paradigm shift in Austria

Synthesis of:• National Organisation ↔ Grassroots

→ national network of grassroots groups, non-hierarchical but with reasonable budget, media relations and access to politics

• Welfare ↔ Rights → appreciate welfare as political and psychological step towards rights

• Reform ↔ Abolitionism → confrontational reform campaigns for incremental law/system changes with the sympathy of the public

Fur farm campaign in earnest• 1988: ca. 80 farms (fox,

mink, nutria), start of campaign

• 1989: Greens demand fur farm ban

• 1989: voluntary quality seal for fur farms

• 1991: environmental minister campaigns against fur farms

• 1993: Activists find 43 fur farms, publish footage

• 1990ies: disruption of all fur fashion shows

Fur farm ban in Austria• 1995: 6 provinces

ban fur farms, 3 don‘t

• 1997: permanent demos begin

• 10. 2. 1998: office of provincial governor occupied

• 17. 2. 1998: ban introduced

• 30. 11. 1998: last fur farm closes

Fur farm ban: critical assessment

• Abolitionist? – What about leather?– What about sheep fur?– Outright ban of certain animal product

• But:– Fur farms move abroad– Fur trade not reduced

• Although:– Ban might be exported (indeed: UK, …)– Banned production stigmatises the product fur

Campaign against animal circuses

• 1996: Circuses documented

• 1997: Permanent demos start (almost daily)

• 1998: circus documentary film published

• Violence by circus staff• 2002: Ban on wild animals

in circuses agreed• 2005: Ban takes effect

Wild animals circus ban: critical assessment

• Only certain animals banned from usage

→ Usage of domestic and farmed animals ok?• But even the most humane usage of wild animals

banned!• Consequence:

– Almost no circuses with animals left in Austria– No foreign circuses come to Austria

• 3 times was the banned challenged at EU-level and at the Austrian constitutional court

→ Ban was upheld

Preliminaries to battery farm ban

1994: UV lamp tests in supermarkets → 1995: control institute founded

Beak trimming for non-cage birds → 2001: scientific study for management of non-cage flocks without beak trimming → beak trimming < 1%

Phase 1: making the public aware

March 2003: 7 chickens liberated openly with journalists present

Found guilty for theft and burglary to the value of € 15

Appeal court: not guilty, because acted in the name of society

Investigation: battery farming

July 2003: 48 battery farms visited within 15 days, keeping 40% of all battery hens

Result:• 79% massively

overstocked cages• 91% overstocked cages• 100% ill animals• 71% very unhygienic• 47% dead chickens rotting in cages

January – May 2004: confrontational campaign

Daily demos outside government buildings and on the streets, informing the public

Opinion poll

February 2004:• 86% of the population

want battery farming banned

Actually:• 80% buy battery eggs• 30% eggs imported from

cage systems

Disruption of Conservative provincial election campaigns

Occupation of

Conservative HQ

Occupation of governor‘s office

Banner drop in Provincial Parliament

More open liberations and battery farm occupations

SUCCESS !! – Battery farming banned!

On 27th May 2004 historic unanimous vote for a ban:

• conventional cages banned from 1st Jan 2009

• no new enriched cage systems from 1st Jan 2005

• existing enriched cage systems (2% of hens) for 15 years (till 2020)

And:• Animal solicitor scheme• Animal protection in constitution

Further bans

• 2005: song bird trapping

• 2006: experiments on apes (chimps, bonobos, gorillas, orang utans and gibbons!)

• 2007: caging rabbits for meat production

Violence 2007-2008

Repression: USA and UKUSA: Center of the defence of free enterprise• 1992: Animal Enterprise Protection Act• 2004: Ecoterrorism Prevention Act• 2006: Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

UK: Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005

→ 2006: 4 new church guinea pig campaigners convicted of blackmail for up to 12 years prison

→ 2006: 8 sequani campaigners convicted of SOCPA for up to 6 years prison

→ 2009: 13 SHAC campaigners convicted of conspiracy to blackmail for up to 11 years prison

USA: 2006 SHAC 7 imprisoned for up to 6 years

Repression in Austria

• Investigation starts October 2006• Special Police Unit formed (35 officers) in April 2007• In 2008 alone: optical and accoustical surveillance of

267 activists • Methods: police spies, phone tapping, email reading,

tracking device on car, cameras at doors, bugging devices in homes and offices, cash account monitoring, direct surveillance

• Police reports against 46 people, 150 suspects, 16 suspected animal organisations

Home raids and remand prison

• 21st May 2008: 23 raids in homes and 7 offices; later 10 more raids

• 10 activists for 105 days on remand in prison

• Suspicion: criminal organisation since 1988 for all animal campaigns

• Appeals fail: released because of public pressure

• After intensive PR campaigns (e.g. 25 press conferences): media and public side with the accused

Animal rights trial• 2nd March 2010 – 2nd May 2011• 98 trial days• 126 witnesses of the prosecution • Consecutively: 3 tax and charity

investigations against ar group• Verdict: not guilty

– There never was a real suspicion– There is no criminal organisation in the animal

movement– The accused have understandably critisized police– Police have acted illegally and lied in court

Repression in Spain

• Investigations start 2008• Methods: phones tapped,

emails read, social profiles, surveillance

• 22. June 2011: 13 home raids, 11 arrests, 3 on remand in prison for almost 1 month

• Charge: Criminal organisation

• Bad media coverage as „ecoterrorists“

And next? Ban on sow stalls 2011!