Category: animals

Big Cat People

Mountain lions (Puma concolor) are remarkably reclusive apex predators adept at avoiding humans. When hemmed in by paved roads and high fences, however, mountain lions are often forced to interact with us—along with our vehicles, poisons, bullets, and centuries old misunderstandings about their true nature—and such encounters seldom end well for the cats. The good news is that the public is becoming increasingly aware of the impacts we are having on our fellow travelers, and efforts are being made to reduce puma mortality in certain locales. Recent events involving the life and times of a puma living in the Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area above Malibu, California, serve as a good example.

The Value of Information in the Animal Liberation Movement

The animal liberation movement has shed light into the many ways animal exploitation influences our lives and our planet. We now know significantly more than we did a decade ago; such knowledge has strengthened our approaches and has made our actions far more effective. Yet, much work is still required. The Humane Party of the United States has perceived this need and has established the Economic Transition Team, a group of individuals with several backgrounds and expertise, such as environmental scientists, farming and economics experts, and data mining experts. This group has prepared several research reports to provide factual and accurate information to other organizations in order to maximize their efforts.

How Much Is Life Worth?

Animals represent the best example of life having a real, factual value. Every time we walk by the meats section of any grocery store, we see a price tag on the body of an individual, an individual who endured a horrendous life, a life very few of us can even stand observing. The price tag in the market includes taxes, profits for the store, distributors, etc. If such a price has been inflated to add the profits of so many, what is the bottom-line value of their life?

Thoughts on the Vegan Message

Advocating for animal rights is about the fundamental tenets of compassion and filling every waking moment of our lives with the highest good we possess as living beings—our capacity for kindness, empathy, and seeing ourselves in every other living being who shares our identities as living, sensitive and feeling beings who are aware. 

What Will Trump’s New Executive Order Mean for Animal Agriculture?

President Trump’s executive order on “Promoting Agriculture and Rural Prosperity in America” assigns a task force to identify impediments to farming in the US. One particular impediment is the animal agriculture business. The Humane Party’s Agricultural Policy Transition Team has already done the labor intensive task of crunching numbers and ultimately resolving such impediments.

Historic Ruling for Chimps Sets Precedent for Animal Rights

On April 4, 2017, Judge Maria Alejandra Maurício of the Third Court of Guarantees of the Judiciary in the Argentinean State of Mendoza ruled that Cecília, a chimpanzee living alone in a concrete enclosure at the Mendocino Zoo in Argentina, had the right to health and happiness.

Earth Day and the Environmental Movement

On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans demonstrated coast-to-coast to raise awareness for the ravages taking toll on the environment. Dubbing this day “Earth Day,” its founder, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson envisioned it as a “national teach-in on the environment.” April 22 is also the anniversary of the Humane Party’s public launch in 2009,

Same Difference

Empathy rests on the assumption that we are more likely to feel empathic with those with whom we share similarities. What about the empathy of difference? Not everyone is going to look into the eyes of a rattlesnake and be able to see from the eyes of the rattlesnake. Assuming sentience and therefore, being empathic, underlies the Humane Party’s “ecosystem-neutral” philosophical approach to the environment.

Author, Speaker, and Pianist Joanne Kong Brings Her Gifts to the Humane Party

Joanne Kong is a new volunteer with the Humane Party, speaking at public events to advocate plant-based eating, centered ethically in raising awareness that greater compassion for animals and our planet is vitally necessary for transformative growth and positive world change. To her, veganism has the most powerful potential to truly change the world and embrace what is to her the most important quality of humanity—compassion.

Why Does the Annual Harp Seal Slaughter Continue?

The Canadian seal slaughter began off the coast of Newfoundland this year on March 28th. This is two weeks earlier than usually allowed, as climate change is affecting the seal population. With disappearing ice, Canadian seal hunters are worried that there will be fewer seal pups to hunt, so the Canadian government has allowed the killing of pups as young as 4 weeks this year instead of the usual 6.

Wildlife Services Is Not on the Side of Wildlife

The federal Wildlife Services program killed 2.7 million animals in 2016. In its annual “kill report,” the agency data shows that 1.6 million of the 2.7 million deaths were of native wildlife species. Wildlife Services maintains that it “manages the damages” caused by so-called invasive species, yet less than half of the animals in the report are actually considered invasive. The Center for Biological Diversity asserts that of the almost 3 million animals killed yearly, many are unintentional kills that include household pets.

The Criminalization of Animal Rights Activism

Is supporting animal rights terrorism? Is nonviolent activism terrorism? According to some interpretations of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), they are.