CHAPTER XI

STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES WITHIN THE MOVEMENT

Although different groups within the movement may not share the same concern over the same issues, they do share the desire to change existing laws relating to . Emphasis on the necessity of revising,devisin~, and implementing new rules and regulations has· given? a new dimension to thes~ groups. These objectives are being met by the sharing of assets and pooling of available resources throughout the movement. Since the movement has obtained increased support financially and in terms of membership, it has assumed a much more pervasive identity as a political movement.

Analogies are frequently drawn by leaders within the movement that the fight for animal rights is a continuation of society's fight for human rights. This is similar to 's view. Spira is founder of the Coalition to Abolish the Draize Rabbit Blinding Test and the LD

50. Like political movements of the past, members of the now accept it as part of their responsibility to fight for the rights of animals with whatever tools they have at hand. l They recognize the tremendous influence they have as a lobbying force and use this strategy to the fullest extent possible. Whether individual groups represent a single issue or multiple issues, all have addressed the necessity of demonstrating to the public their strength. Strength can

101 102 be measured in terms of supporters and donators to the movement. For instance, Animal Protection Institute (API) is a large organization. It increased its membership in 1984 from 150,000 to 180,000 people. This is a very large increase in just one year. 2

Primary concerns of API are seal and whale off the coast of

Alaska. However, they are currently involved in a number of other issues. In August, 1984, along with many other animal humane and rights groups, API went to Washington, D.C. to testify for a bill against the use of the steel-jaw trap (H.R. 1797). Although these groups were not able to receive sufficient backing for their position, they became aware of their effect and impact on Congressional views. Having gone to lobby as a united force representing multiple organizations they represented to Congress the strength and power that the movement is accruing. 3

Shortly after this Congressional session, API started efforts to unite other animal rights groups on a number of other issues relating to animal rights and environmental concerns. This is an excellent 4 demonstration of networking within the movement.

A related method that is currently being used by animal rights groups is to send thousands of petitions to representatives and senators requesting them to support animal rights positions. For example, in

April 1986, PETA mailed out a petition to Ohio residents on its mailing list. This petition was to be signed by people who support H;B. 296 that was before the Ohio Legislation. This bill opposes the Pound

Seizure law. These blank petitions were distributed to a large number of individuals along with a poster of a dog and a slogan that said,

"Before he dies, he'll wish he'd never been born." On the poster it 103 says that many research laboratories take the dogs from shelters before they can be rescued by their owners. Actually the Pound Seizure Law allows for a certain period of time before the animal becomes available for research use. But PETA's poster suggests that by signing the petition, one is somehow protecting their own pet from researchers.S

API uses this same strategy and consequently has obtained tens of thousands of signatures opposing seal hunts. They sent close to a quarter of a million seal petitions to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau in 1984 to demonstrate their opposition to seal hunts. These examples of actions taken by API illustrate how refined and complex the 6 movement's strategies are becoming. A closer look at some of their other techniques will demonstrate how successful various organizations have become in permeating many sectors of society with their beliefs.

A traditional method of expressing the movement's belief has been through the dissemination of free inforaation--cf. pamphlets sent through the mail, dispersed by individuals standing on street corners, or distributed to students via the educational system. Many groups have continued this practice but have added films, books, tapes, newsletters, and seminar sessions to supplement pre-existing formats like pamphlets.

Using the above mentioned approaches, API began a project entitled

"Animals in Captivity." This is an educational kit developed for use in school settings. The package will contain various communicational tools that can be used in the classroom and an exercise where children will be asked to simulate zoo animals in cages.]

Other types of educational/informational media are being used by different groups, too. For instance, a television production by HSUS

167 disrupts ongoing animal research. Either animals, data, equipment, and/or premises are damaged or stolen, thus preventing the continuation of the research project. These acts of vandalism and burglaries have cost millions of dollars worth of damage. Yet there has so far been only one case of restitution by the activists (cf. raid on the Imperial

Chemical Industries in England). As"a consequence of pa&t events, many animal research administrators are now spending considerable amounts of money on security systems to decrease the possibility of future break- ins.

In addition, animal researchers are personally affected by the raids on their laboratories. Projects that they have been working on are either destroyed by the raiders or suspended until an assessment of the raid and existing laboratory practices is made. The researcher then becomes the focus of a great deal of public attention because animal activists present their "findings" in highly dramatic ways that attract media coverage. The allegations made against the researcher are assumed to be true because of all the media coverage that typically occurs. The researcher may be also judged guilty of animal cruelty by his academic community before the facts are known. This sort of public exposure has almost always hindered the researcher's chances of obtaining further research grants until, in effect, it is too late for him or her to pick up the pieces. Furthermore, many animal researchers are becoming fearful of being physically attacked by activists, for many have been threatened and some have found bombs outside of their homes.

These findings should be interpreted in light of .t-be fact that less than 1% of the population in the United States are even affiliated with

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The polarization between these two forces has prompted some people to search for "alternatives" to the use of animals in research. Russell and Burch, in The Principles of Humane Experimental Techniques, speak alternatives in terms of three R's: replacement, reduction, and

>refinement. Russell and Burch suggest that these are "ways in which inhumanity can be and is being diminished or removed.,,12 Replacement means to substitute a "non-sensing" organism for a "sentient" organism.

For example, instead of working with a dog, one should substitute a plant, a micro-organism~ or an "insensitive" invertebrate. Reduction means "appropriate statistical designs and well-thought out experiments." Refinement is the search for techniques and methods that will minimize pain, stress, or harm for animals, and includes anything from using analgesics for post-surgical pain relief to providing adequate husbandry services.

It is interesting to note that Claude Bernard had suggested the same three R's in the middle of the 19th century. For example, in the

Cahier Rouge, Bernard's notebook, he provides excellent examples of replacement:

••• the muscle and nerve fibers of a fly are as large and as easy to see as those of a steer•••• Investigate what the afsnt of movement might be in these lower organisms •

••• the lower an organism, the more variety there is in the lesser unity, so that the tissues can, after a fashion, live independently. The higher an organism, the more variety there is in the - greater unity, so that when anything is done to the organism this unity is disturbed. For this reason experiments ought to be carI~ed out on lower animals as much as possible.

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