Almost all of us began our involvement with the Animal Rights movement as rescuers.
Saving homeless dogs and cats.
Feeding strays. Fostering animals set to die in shelters. Adopting ones we couldn’t place.
Only becoming familiar with the horrors of the meat, leather, dairy, and egg industries from colleagues in the movement.
Even then, most animal activists did not become vegan immediately. Most never do.
Most rescuers are not vegan, or even vegetarian. They love dogs and cats but are oblivious to the plights of calves, lambs, and piglets.
They may join us in fighting to end fur, bullfighting, rodeos, horse and dog racing, vivisection, aquatic parks, sealing, whaling, ivory, and religious sacrifice.
As they come realize there is no difference between a baby pig and a baby dog they may join in the broader fight to end the Animal Holocaust.
When they learn that businesses murder a billion animals a week in slaughterhouses, those activists commit to fighting Big Agriculture.
Then they learn that Big Agriculture is only part of the problem. Conservative politicians are the tools Big Ag uses to block all attempts to eliminate cruelty in the slaughterhouses. Calves are cut up alive because it would cost too much to slow down the production lines to make sure the animals are unconscious. Chickens are boiled alive because capitalists don’t want to reduce their profits by making sure chickens are dead before being thrown into boiling water to remove feathers.
As these and a multitude of other horrors are discovered by our new activists, they graduate to full-fledged enemies of the capitalist system which causes these atrocities.
They become revolutionaries.
Animal activists value life more than they do business, government, profits, or people’s dietary preferences.
We believe ending the Animal Holocaust is more important than supporting our government.
We believe the lives of billions of animals is justification for revolution to stop the slaughter.
We do not yet have the numbers to successfully overthrow the capitalist system. There are not enough of us yet to arrest the lobbyists, the politicians, or the boards of directors of Big Ag, Wall Street, Big Banks.
But our numbers are growing. And they are primarily growing because of rescuers who follow our lead.
Rescuers are the key to winning the War for Animal Rights. They are the future of the movement, the comrades we will need to help us win.
The War may not be won for decades, but everything we do today will impact the future.
And the most important thing we can be doing is recruiting rescuers, educating rescuers, and turning them into Animal Rights activists.
And turning Animal Rights activists into revolutionaries.
To educate, motivate, and mobilize our troops means providing them with information, political insight, strategic thinking, plans, goals, and strategies.
This blog is only one of many sources of information for animal activists, but it is a great place to start.
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Armory Notes:
• I am unaware of any other blog with the Armory’s mission of radicalizing the animal movement. I certainly hope I am not alone, and that there are similar sentiments being expressed by comrades unknown to me.
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Armory of the Revolution 
Love this! I’ve often thought about this idea. People argue for moral relativism in the sense that they say you can’t rank one culture above another in terms of cruelty to animals.
Let’s take China, for example. It is perfectly acceptable to many Chinese to look straight into the eyes of an animal, point to it, and have someone torture, kill and cook that creature on the street in front of everyone, including kids. But many are quick to point out that we do something similar here, except behind closed doors. We have that see-no-evil mentality. For the specific animal dying for a meal, there may be little difference.
But I do believe there is a difference as far as the evolution of compassion toward animals. I have little hope that a person who feels nothing, maybe even feels a little excited, when they see an innocent executed, will ever become vegan, or have any regard for the plight of the billions of creatures exploited in the name of our divinity.
But for those who would suffer to actually see an animal killed for the sandwich they were planning to happily devour, that is where my hope for the animals is nurtured. Any person who has made a connection with an animal, who has broken through that bubble of lonely self importance to realize that the only differences between us and animals are culture and the skin we’re wrapped up in, these are the people we need to focus our attention on.
I’m so disgusted with many in the abolitionist movement who do nothing but criticize any good deed anyone does for animals because the person is not vegan. As if the animal who benefits from that good deed would rather have continued to suffer in misery.
I was dodging traffic one day in an attempt to catch an injured pigeon wandering through a busy street. Cars honked and swerved past me. One person stopped to help me that day. He was a man in a meat truck. He helped me save that bird. Then he offered me some free meat. I told him I was vegan. He hung his head and said “God bless.” Should I have spit in his face when he first stopped? He may have saved that bird’s life. If it were my children suffering I would accept help from the devil himself. And this is the way all vegans should look at the animals. They are all of our children.
We need a new word to call ourselves. Let the abolitionists keep “vegan.” It has come to represent so many negatives. I really love the approach of the Save movement. They have a strict policy of not judging. They are there to save animals and bear witness. They bring sandwiches and speak humanely to slaughterhouse workers. They treat these people the way they would like to be treated, the way they expected to be treated before they were enlightened by veganism. Because, after all, the golden rule does not say to treat others the way they treat you, it clearly mandates treating others the way you would LIKE to be treated.
Thank you.
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I agree! I believe veganism and the animal rights philosophy are the best for nonhuman animals. I believe all life has value and that human beings do not have the right to treat animals as inferiors, as resources and commodities. However, I realize that not everyone agrees with that now. The religious and cultural influences for centuries have focused on people as having a special status above and beyond all other lives and that we may use them as we want. But I am grateful for compassion and kindness wherever they are found. The pigeon you and the man saved would not have cared if he was driving a meat truck (and it sounds as if the driver did not resent vegans!). The bird lived. That is one life saved. And that is what counts.
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Wow, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts. Thank you
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I guess I’m wondering if there are plans and strategies to promote this course to the revolution. For example, is it expected that the numbers of activists will just grow organically as more and more people rescue pets and finally evolve into the animal rights advocates? How do we move beyond the past that seems to have left us stalled?
At this rate, the revolution seems a long way down the road, too long for the many animals that will suffer and died needlessly in the meantime.
The calls for humane treatment of animals go back centuries, but the results have been disappointing everywhere.
For example, as early as 1809 Lord Erskine in England introduced a bill designed to prevent cruelty to farmed animals, including horses, sheep, and pigs. The bill was defeated multiple times and was finally passed in 1822, the first national law in the world dealing with cruelty to animals. The cruelty obviously did not end. It wasn’t until 1958 that the Humane Slaughter Act was passed in the United States, and it excluded chickens and all other birds.
As noted in the description of the cruelty in the slaughter industry today, the laws have failed in intent and enforcement. In fact, as the technology of the kill line kept speeding up in order to turn the greatest number of the living into the dead in the fastest manner for the greatest profits, the animals are faring worse than ever.
Also as noted, people are more likely to care about pet animals. Local shelters, as well as the national organizations, have promoted spaying and neutering as the most effective method to reduce the suffering of unwanted animals. Yet, according to the statistics of the Humane Society of the United States, 2.4 million adoptable cats and dogs—1 every 13 seconds–are euthanized in shelters each year. That doesn’t include the unfortunate strays who die of starvation, illness, and injuries, this despite all the spay and neuter education and the access to increasing numbers of veterinary clinics in both urban and areas.
Examples could be multiplied to include vivisection, blood sports, entertainment, etc.
So I’m wondering what else we can do to bring about the revolution besides waiting until enough pet rescuers evolve into activists for all animals.
In his chapter of “Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth,” Leslie James Pickering criticizes passivity and the quest for petty changes. He says we have too many theories with no action and then notes, “No one is about to join another movement that ain’t moving.”
Is there something we’ve missed through the decades of trying? Are there just never enough activists who care enough for long enough? Or are needs of animals simply no match for human self-interest?
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What has never been done on behalf of animals is vigilantism. Opponents argue that such direct action would bring the power of the state and public opinion raining down upon animal activists and ensure draconian laws would be quickly enacted to further criminalize all we do. My thoughts are that we already are subject to draconian laws, that the power of government is already deployed against animals and animal activists, and that the animals could not possibly be worse off than they are presently.
Initially, targets should be those already generally abhorred by the general public, such as trophy hunters, animal abusers, trappers, etc, and then proceed to those who own and operate slaughterhouses, feedlots, factory farms, packing plants, and meat wholesalers.
Actions must be aimed at personnel, rather than the ALF model of only inflicting economic damage. In order to successfully engage in multiple attacks, activists should have no traceable contact with their targets and no history of conflict with them. Attacks must be well planned, carried out with shotguns rather than guns that leave ballistic evidence, and executed in cities and towns that are not usually visited by the activists.
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I’ve been thinking about vigilantism for a while also. It does seem like the last resort and one that would be well deserved for the worst abuses.
As you know, SHAC carried out a long-term campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences that almost ruined the testing company. But that was also instrumental in the passage of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act (AEPA) and the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). So now if protests cause loss of profits and economic damage, the protests can be designated as terrorism.
But there may be something else people could do that wouldn’t be as drastic as killing or cause as much condemnation of the movement. That is something like the old method of ostracism and community retaliation.
For example, a few years ago two teenage boys, both students at an expensive private school, set a cat on fire. There was the usual tepid response from the courts. They were “sentenced” to volunteer work at local shelters. However, the volunteers at those shelters all threatened to quit if the boys were even allowed to enter the facilities. That kind of response could have been extended. The other students at the school could have refused to have anything to do with them. Neighbors could have avoided them and their families, and protests could have been held in the neighborhood. If legal actions had to be admitted in college admission applications (I don’t know if that is allowed), their cruelty would have followed them and adversely affected their future.
Again, it would have just taken enough people to care about what happened to the cats to send the message that such people and such behavior would not be tolerated. That kind of response could be used for many of the cruelty cases that prosecutors and courts do not take seriously and punish.
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Ronald, I know how we can win! Animal welfare agenda must be promoted like any commercial or political idea, by advertising and building a brand name. This movement cannot succeed by tagging along with a political party or any localization, it must go beyond boundaries and political parties. I was thinking about ordinary things that just don’t add up. For example why isn’t there any commercials showing what is going on in dairy farms? A lot of people don’t know what is going on behind the high walls of factory farms, why isn’t there any commercial using the footage taken by animal activist groups and show them to everyone just before a football game? Isn’t that what food corporations like KFC and McDonald or dairy farm association do? Why do we animal activists just share our thoughts in ineffective online blogs? We need a lot of people to know what we know and choose a side! Why hasn’t there been any attempt to use mass commercials to go wide and mainstream?
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The problem is money. Our enemies are financed by consumers’ dollars. The very evil we fight is profitable. Nothing about compassion is profitable. We finance our campaigns out of our own pockets with money most of us cannot afford to give. I am working on two projects, which if successful, could mean millions in profits. My plan is to use whatever I make to further our mission.
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Ronald, there are numerous celebrities with deep pockets who care about these issues and can help the cause. What we need is someone with the vision and power of persuasion to get them help us. BELIEVE ME THE WINNING CARD IS IN HAVING THE POPULAR VOTE! We will never ever go beyond a small group if we do not reveal the truth! We need to convince the organizations like Mercy for Animals and PETA to work with us and share information and we need celebrity dollar power to get the word out to millions! Do you want to organize the next steps, beyond writing blongs?
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Organizations jealously guard their donors. Reaching people willing to finance ad campaigns must be done without the assistance of groups with their own agendas.
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Ronald, as we were going over the issue of getting masses of people involved through advertising, as if it was an omen,today I got an email from Green Peace in New Zealand about a victory against their dairy industry after an ad campaign. I agree it is expensive and there are a lot of challenges bringing everyone on board, but that is the only way. We have many great celebrities and activist groups who really care about this cause. If they sponsor even a one minute ad showing the atrocities recorded by undercover activists, we will have a big hit on our hand. I would like to share just an excerpt of the content of the email with you. “Hi Leila, and happy new year – we’re off to a great start!
Last year we ran a hard-hitting TV ad exposing the harm that industrial dairying does to New Zealand’s rivers. In essence, the story it tells is this: Too many cows – on intensive irrigated industrial dairy farms – means our fresh water is being polluted to the point where most of our rivers are too polluted to swim in, let alone drink.
It really hit a nerve with the industry.
The industrial dairy lobby group Dairy NZ tried to get the ad taken off air by making a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).”
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Would you be interested in doing an article for the Armory exploring your ideas?
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Hi Ronald, I will have to get my courage up! I know we need to do something differently but I have never been a leader type. We need someone to reach out to the big player and convince them to get in the plan. I will think about this more and post again.
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I agree 100%!
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