Animal Rights Activist Resources
A Guide to Books, Websites, and Other Resources for New Activists
© Caroline Poppy-Tilipe Snider
May 10, 2008
You've seen the videos, read the pamphlets, and decided that you want to stand up for animals and become an animal rights activist. Good for you! With more than ten billion animals being slaughtered every year in the United States alone, the animals need help more now than ever. Here are a few books and resources that will help guide you in your quest to become an effective animal rights activist.
Factory Farming
These resources will help you learn about the factory farming industry, and help factory farmed animals.
- Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry by Gail Eisnitz
- Diet for a New America by John Robbins
- Animal Liberation by Peter Singer
- Meat Market: Animals, Ethics and Money by Erik Marcus
- Meet Your Meat, a short video of factory farming practices
- Farm Sanctuary's factory farming website, with basic information on typical factory farm conditions
Vivisection
Check out the materials below to help in your quest to end the suffering of animals in laboratories.
- Rattling the Cage by Steven M. Wise
- The Cruel Deception: The Use of Animals in Medical Research by Robert Sharpe
- The American Anti-Vivisection Society, or AAVS has tons of up-to-the-minute information on vivisection victims and how to help them.
- PETA's Stop Animal Tests site includes articles, photos and video to help you educate yourself and reach out to friends.
Animals in Entertainment
These resources are vital in understanding the suffering that many performing animals endure, and what you can do to stop it.
- The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery by Marjorie Spiegel
- PETA's circus site, with articles, photos, videos, and information on how to stop the abuse.
- The Performing Animal Welfare Society, PAWS, maintains a sanctuary for animals who are rescued from the performing industry.
Companion Animals
The following is an introductory list of folks who make it their purpose to save pets from abuse and neglect.
- The ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is a great first step in considering the rights of companion animals.
- HSUS (The Humane Society of the United States) knows pet cruelty inside and out, and can tell you how to stop it in your area.
- Your local SPCA or animal shelter is a great place to ask what you can do to help animals in your community.
Fur, Leather, Wool and Other Animal Garments
Need help staging your anti-fur demonstration? Want more information on the wool industry? Check these out.
- PETA's anti-leather site will set you up with all the leather industry information you need to stage your first demonstration or write letters to the editor of your local paper.
- Check out the Fur is Dead site for statistics, articles, and videos about the fur trade.
- Tribe of Heart's documentary The Witness follows a cat lover as he becomes aware of the fur farming industry, and then fights to stop it.
General Activism
- Striking at the Roots by Mark Hawthorne
- Move the Message by Josephine Bellaccomo
With these books, websites, and videos in your repertoire, you're ready to fight for the animals. Remember, the more compassionate, reasoned, and unthreatening you can be, the more you can help animals in the long run. Now get out there and make a difference!
