:: Action Against Poisoning :: SPECIAL DAYS :: INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL RIGHTS DAY 10dec ::
INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL RIGHTS DAY - 10TH DECEMBER 2005
----- Original Message -----
From: "Uncaged Campaigns" info@uncaged.co.uk
International Animal Rights Day - 10th December 2005
Please join us on the 8th International Animal Rights Day (IARD) on (or around) Saturday 10th December 2005 by: holding a candle-lit vigil at a site where the rights of animals are abused; conducting a campaign stall; writing to publicise the event and its rationale. Or all three!
Last year there were over 24 candle-lit vigils and protests all over the UK, and in Mexico, Argentina, The USA, Spain, France, Italy, New Zealand, Australia, and a huge protest/vigil in the Netherlands. These took place at sites as diverse as: vivisection facilities, abattoirs, greyhound stadia, bull-rings, shops selling fur, battery farms, the shops of vivisection-funding charities, supermarkets, and the embassies of nations currently engaged in whaling. All the vigils/protests had one thing in common: demand for the recognition of the natural and fundamental rights of all animals not to be deliberately exploited, harmed and killed.
For more information about the Universal Declaration of Animal Rights and previous IARDs go to www.uncaged.co.uk/declarat.htm
ACTION!
Candlelit vigils at any site where the rights of animals are abused are powerful and dignified protests that attract a great deal of media coverage, especially when a local protest comes under such an international banner. Vigils provide great opportunities for media photographs, which massively increases the amount of people touched by the protest.
- Send press releases and write to the letters sections of all local media in the week leading up to IARD.
- Chase up the media with a phone call to see if they're interested.
- Conduct an IARD campaign stall during the day (see below).
- Conduct your vigil from about 4pm to 7pm.
- Collect candles and nightlights, and jam jars or lanterns to place them in, garden 'flares' and candles, and any other outdoor light sources (eg. outdoor fairy lights, large oil burning 'candles') all available from garden centres etc.
- Make banner(s) and/or poster(s) and placards highlighting IARD and the abuses at the site being targeted.
- Take press releases for media and leaflets about IARD.
- Rehearse some good quotes about IARD and the site for radio interviews etc.
- Take photos yourself (please send us a photo and short report).
- Wrap up warm!
Campaign stalls are a great way to engage with the public important philosophy behind the day and concept that underpins all campaigns against animal abuse - getting beyond the current paranoia about 'animal rights extremism'.
- Conduct your IARD campaign stall from mid-morning to mid-afternoon on the 10th December (maybe preceding a vigil/protest).
- Send press releases to the media about the stall and IARD, and write to letter pages.
- Design a poster/banner about IARD to display on your stall. Make your stall as visual as possible
- Have our new 'Animal Rights' leaflets, press releases, and other Uncaged leaflets available for people to take away from your stall.
- Have our new petitions allowing the public to sign up to the Universal Declaration of Animals' Rights.
- Send us a photo and short report
Letter writing to all your local newspapers (including the free ones) is a great way to gain attention for IARD. Letters pages are the most commonly read section of a newspaper, so this is a great way to increase awareness of IARD and the notion of animals' rights. Once you've written to all the local press (and local news websites) why not try the national media press and various magazines.
Resources - available from Uncaged:
- NEW 'Animal Rights' leaflets (£2.00 per 100, 1st 100 free) and NEW posters
- Universal declaration of Animals' Rights petition (free/donation)
Email Max at max@uncaged.co.uk as soon as you can to register your action - be it a vigil, stall or letter-writing. Let me know what you think you can do on this day of action, and what resources you think you may need.
Human rights are vital to protect us from deliberate torture, false imprisonment and killing - as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, these abuses still cause horrific suffering to millions of non-human animals as well. It is now well documented that non-human animals are autonomous, conscious, sentient individuals who experience pleasure, pain, happiness and distress. Yet they have no rights, not even in principle. If we believe in human dignity and rights, and given that we are related to all animals through evolution, we surely cannot reasonably deny these basic rights to other animals - it is deeply hypocritical, unfair and wrong. And not until there is the recognition of these basic rights in principle can we truly begin to move towards a more just and compassionate society for both human and non-human animals.
euronews.ws