In the United States alone, we annually slaughter more than 35,000,000 cattle, 100,000,000 pigs and 10,000,000,000 chickens and turkeys, that's right, 10 billion chickens and turkeys to satisfy our insatiable appetite for flesh. The slaughtering techniques are more cruel and horrific than you could ever imagine. From the time of their birth until their inhumane death, these animals are treated simply as products. The same as an automobile, computer or can opener, not the sentient living, breathing, thinking emotional beings that they are. They are raised in conditions unfit for any life, treated worse than the prisoners of any war. I don't want to offend anyone by thinking I am comparing the lives of the animals to those who suffered through the holocaust but the analogy is very relative.
EVERY HOUR in the US, we slaughter 2 million animals
by means more cruel than you can imagine.
That is only one aspect of man's dominance over animals; we hunt them in every possible manner, poison them, experiment with their natural balance, breed them for our own selfish purposes, discard them for no good reason, try to find solutions to our own self-inflicted diseases by experimenting with them, lock them in solitary, expose them to situations that drive them crazy
and then see if we can cure them.
I could go on for hours and I often do but for now, I just want to find out if you are seriously interested in making a difference in our relationships with animals,
meaning all living beings.

Below are my hopes and wishes for the future of living beings, a list of websites and books that you will find interesting if you are really into making a difference in reducing the suffering of animals.
As we work to eliminate racism and sexism, we must also fight to eliminate speciesism.
We must accept, endorse and support the rights of all living beings.
We are their guardians, speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Man has crippled a world balance in three centuries that Mother Nature was able to maintain for millions of years. You be the judge. Have we been good decision makers?

Dedicated to all earth's creatures, great and small

WISHES
That all cruelty to animals would end today.
We would not kill any more animals for food, sport or money.
We would not imprison them for our entertainment
and not torture them in the name of science.
We would treat all animals with the same dignity and respect we expect for ourselves.

VISION
By the year 2025, animal cruelty (as described above) will be eliminated.

OBJECTIVES
1. Acceptance of the term "living beings" as a replacement for such terms as
human beings, non-human beings, animals, fowl, and fish
2. Eliminate the consumption of all forms of living beings as food.
3. Stop the senseless hunting and killing of animals in the name of sport and environmental control.
4. Replace meat with grains, fruits and vegetables as the world's primary food.
Use the world's grain products for food instead of feeding it to the "animals" and
then eating them.
5. Teach people to treat their bodies respectfully through proper diet and exercise
so they do not need the scientific advances made
by torturing millions of animals to find a cure for their self-inflicted diseases.

ACTIVITIES
1. Educate the children worldwide.
2. Form alliances with all animal rights groups.
3. Run commercials on radio and television to drown out the messages
funded by the fast food chains and meat vendors.
4. Organize nonviolent organizations and corporations
to support the animal rights effort.

Animal Friendly Websites

1. Compassion Over Killing Online
2. Compassion in World's Farming
3. Animal Freedom
4. Animal Liberation Front
5. Wildlife Waystation - the Charity You Can See
6. Consistency in Compassion Campaign
7. Meat.Org - the Site the Meat Industry Wishes the Vegetarians DID NOT Own
8. the Center for a New American Dream
9. Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals/Citizens for Responsible Animal Behavior Studies
10. Educators for Animal Rights
11. Farm Santuary - a U.S.-based organization which operates farm animal sanctuaries and wages campaigns to stop the exploitation of animals raised for food.
12. Rainforest Action Network
13. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
14. The EnviroLink Network's EnviroWeb program offers free Internet services to non-profit organizations within the environmental and animal rights communities.
15. Free Farm Animals from the cruelty of confinement
16. MeatStinks.Com - For the animals, the environment and human health
17. Murder King - Find out what's wrong with Burger King and what you can do to help
19. MHR Viandes - the on-line reference for the French meat industry
20. American Humane Society - protecting animals and children from abuse, neglect and cruelty
21. Animal Underworld - Inside America's Black Market for Rare and Exotic Species
22. Fur is Dead
23. Progressive Animal Welfare Society - PAWS advocates for animals through education, legislation and direct care.
24. Discovery.com's Animal Planet
25. Center for the Expansion of Fundamental Rights
26. Black Beauty Ranch - the Fund for Animals
27. Animal Legal Defense Fund - Justice for Animals: The Defense Never Rests
28. United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service
29. Contacting the Congress is a very up-to-date database of congressional contact information for the 107th Congress.
30. Author Susan Chernak McElroy's Homepage - a place to explore and celebrate the vital relationship between us and all the rest of living Creation
31. Elephant Sanctuary
32. Worldwatch Institute
33. Boston Chapter of EarthSave - EarthSave promotes food choices that are healthy for people and the planet
34. PBS Nature's Inside the Animal's Mind

Animal Friendly Books

When Elephants Weep (the emotional lives of animals) - Jeffrey Moussaieff & Susan McCarthy

You Can Save The Animals (simple ways to stop thoughtless cruelty) - Ingrid Newkirk

Introduction to Animal Rights (Compelling call for understanding) - Gary Francione

Ethics Into Action (the animal rights movement) - Peter Singer

Slaughterhouse (inhumane treatment inside the U.S. meat industry) - Gail Eisnitz

The Jungle (1906 Slaughterhouses) - Upton Sinclair

Dead Meat (behind the scenes in the meat industry) - Sue Coe

Inhumane Society (the American way of exploiting animals) - Dr. Michael W. Fox

Disposable Animals (the tragedy of throwaway pets) - Craig Brestrup

Animals as Teachers and Healers (stories about lives touched by animal healers) - Susan McElroy

The Hog Book (understanding the lives of pigs) - William Hedgepeth

Kinship With All Life (how animals communicate with others) - J. Allen Boone

Inside the Animal Mind (exploration of animal intelligence) - George Page

Chicken Soup for the Cat & Dog Lover's Soul (pets as family) - Canfield, Hansen, Becker, Kline

The Secret Language & Remarkable Behavior of Animals (communication/action) - J. Benyus

When Animals Speak (communications with animals) - Penelope Smith

The Scalpel and the Butterfly (animal rights/experimentation) - Deborah Rudacille

Rattling the Cage (toward legal rights for animals) - Steven M. Wise

Ranch of Dreams (America's most unusual animal sanctuary) - Cleveland Amory

The Cat Who Came for Christmas (the beginning) - Cleveland Amory

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