Although every animal rights advocate sometimes feels alone in the world, our numbers are legion. People have been speaking out for animal rights for thousands of years. Famous advocates from the ancient world include Ovid, Horace, Plutarch, Seneca, Epicurus, Diogenes, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Porphyry, Zoroaster and Buddha.
From the Middle Ages through the 19th century, luminaries include St. Francis of Assisi, Maimonides, Leonardo DaVinci, Thomas More, Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Mary Shelley, Byron, Leo Tolstoy, Richard Wagner, Thoreau, Emerson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony.
In more modern times, the list of animal rights advocates reads like a Who’s Who of Distinction, from Mohandas K. Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw, Franz Kafka, and Albert Schweitzer, to Linda and Paul McCartney.
Animal rights advocacy not only is trans-generational; it is trans-geographical. In every city or town, in every hamlet or village, in every country throughout the world, people are trying to make things better for animals. Sometimes the numbers are large. Sometimes they are small. Whatever the total, everywhere there is someone who rises in the morning and goes to bed at night with a heart and mind full of compassion and respect for animals.
Although separated by time and place, animal rights advocates are one. All those who, in times past, spoke up for animals. All those who, wherever they live, do the same today. All those who, when born, will carry on the work of their predecessors. Together these great forces for the good form one nation, our nation, the Animal Rights Nation.
Sharing
Ours is not a nation in the ordinary sense. Not a nation defined by treaties or borders. Not a nation defined by history’s ebb and flow. Ours is a nation defined by shared vision and values. Other animals do not exist “for us.” We are not their masters. They are not our slaves. Chickens and pigs. Cows and sheep. Mink and beaver. Wolves, robins, tuna, and whales. All these, and incalculably more, are our brothers and sisters, in fur, and feather, and fin. All who share this vision, whenever or wherever they live, are members of our nation, the Animal Rights Nation.
Commitment
Members of our nation are committed to changing the world, in small ways and large. Any time a human being hurts a single animal, a member of our nation must be ready to help. Any time thousands, or millions, or billions of animals are abused by industrial exploiters, members of our nation must be ready to protest. Always and everywhere, we are the voice for the voiceless, not for a day, or a month, or a year, but for a lifetime. All who accept these commitments, whenever or wherever they live, are members of our nation, the Animal Rights Nation.
Unifying
The Animal Rights Nation is not the latest new animal rights group, soliciting members, asking for donations, ready to compete with already existing organizations. In the Animal Rights Nation, there are no officers. There are no dues. There is no competition. Our nation is different. Just as it encompasses all Animal Rights Advocates, it transcends all animal rights organizations. Our nation, the Animal Rights Nation, is what all advocates, and all groups, have in common. What makes us the same, not different. What unites, not divides. What bonds, not breaks. Our nation, the Animal Rights Nation, is who and what we are, our shared identity.
Learning
Because we cannot learn from others if we do not hear others, knowledge must be shared. To this end, The Animals Voice web site provides links to more than 10,000 organizations, offers hundreds of fact sheets, issues action alerts, and provides up-to-date news about campaigns underway throughout the world. In addition, anyone anywhere can choose from or add to our photo gallery containing thousands of downloadable images. Our magazine, The Animals Voice Magazine, is also an educational tool and an inspirational resource for activists around the world. As is well and truly said, “Knowledge is power.”
Listening
In our nation, the Animal Rights Nation, no one person’s voice is anymore important than any other person’s voice. Everyone has a right to speak. More, everyone has a right to be heard. For the first time in history, animal rights advocates living anywhere can exchange their ideas, on any topic, with advocates living any place else. A virtual community of equals, for equals.
Recommitting
Animal rights advocacy takes its toll. Many burn out, then drop out. Resources must be made available to help advocates stay the course. Poems, inspirational stories, testimonials, and other forms of personal empowerment are here for all to share. From this day forward, members of our nation, the Animal Rights Nation, have a place to go when they feel the need to recommit themselves to the struggle.
