Animal Rights Groups Pick Up Momentum
USA Today describes the gaining momentum of the animal rights movement as their activities are increasingly affecting daily life through foods, law, and entertainment. Animal activist groups are seeing a spike in membership as these issues continue to proliferate in society.
Membership in animal rights organizations is experiencing growth as social awareness of animal issues is raised. The Humane Society of the United States estimates 2008 membership at 10.5 million, up from 7.4 million five years ago. In this same time period, membership in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals doubled to 1.8 million.
The primary “fronts” in which animal rights and welfare organizations are involved in include the following [excerpted from article]:
- The Humane Society says it expects 28 state legislatures this year to consider strengthening existing bans on dogfighting and cockfighting; 13 states are considering bills regulating “puppy mills,” mass dog-breeding operations that keep puppies in small crates.
- Massachusetts activists are collecting signatures to get a statewide initiative on the November ballot that would ban commercial greyhound racing by 2010. The Committee to Protect Dogs says state records show that since 2002, 728 greyhounds have been injured racing at the state’s two tracks.
- Over the past three years, 330 colleges have stopped or dramatically reduced the use of eggs from hens in cramped wire crates called battery cages; retailers including Burger King, Hardee’s, Carl’s Jr. and Ben & Jerry’s now use eggs produced by cage-free hens, Markarian says.
- More than 90 American Bar Association-approved law schools now offer courses in animal law, compared with only a handful 10 years ago. Favre compares the growing interest in animal law among incoming law students to an explosion of interest in environmental law in the 1970s.