Dear Colleagues: One of the subscriptions that I have is to a newsletter entitled Farmed Animal Watch that is produced periodically by Farmed Animal Net, which is a joint effort of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Farm Sanctuary, The Humane Society of the United States, and others. For the most part, Farmed Animal […]
Dear Colleagues: Today’s New York Times had an editorial by Nicholas D. Kristof. The editorial was an ode to animal welfare and of the supposed progressive ethical development that welfare reform bespeaks. Forgive me for not sharing Mr. Kristof’s enthusiasm. Rather than make a point-by-point reply, I will limit myself to three general comments. First, […]
Dear Colleagues: In my work, I have argued that animal advocates should not spend their time and resources on single-issue campaigns because as long as there is no political base in favor of abolishing animal exploitation, there can be no realistic hope for legislation that will significantly protect animal interests through the prohibition of various […]
Dear Colleagues: Defenders of animal welfare often claim that the animal protection movement in Britain has been successful in decreasing the number of experiments performed with live animals. The data show that there has been a 21% increase in animal experiments since 1997. Gary L. Francione © 2009 Gary L. Francione
Dear Colleagues: Here is an example—one of unfortunately many—of the way that we confuse children about the morality of animal exploitation. One one hand, we encourage children to feel affectionately about nonhumans through the use of animal characters. On the other hand, we use those same animal characters to sell animal products that have been […]
Dear Colleagues: Home Box Office recently aired a documentary, Death on a Factory Farm. The documentary concerns an undercover investigation of the Wiles Hog Farm in Ohio. The investigator, who worked for the Humane Farming Association, secretly filmed the hideous treatment of the animals and brought his evidence to the local prosecutor, who filed ten […]
Dear Colleagues: A number of people have written to me in the past several weeks asking that I blog on the use of violence in the struggle for animal rights. I already did an essay—A Comment on Violence—on this topic and I direct those interested to that essay. My forthcoming book, The Animal Rights Debate: […]
Dear Colleagues: It is spring break at the University so I am using the extra time to do some blogging! I want to address a set of related arguments that are commonly referred to as “gateway” arguments. The three primary gateway arguments are: (1) that we should promote some version of vegetarianism that allows for […]
Dear Colleagues: I frequently get inquiries from undergraduate students who tell me that they want to go to law school so that they can study “animal law” and ask my advice about how to become “animal lawyers.” I respond that what is commonly referred to as “animal law”—veterinary malpractice cases, “pet” custody cases, “pet” trust […]
Dear Colleagues: Some animal advocates maintain that there is no real difference between the abolitionist approach and the new welfarist approach of Peter Singer. I have discussed Singer’s views in previous essays on this site (see, e.g., 1, 2) and in my books and articles, in an effort to illustrate what I regard as the […]