Never mind the homework, here's the Vegan Teacher

Yesterday I heard about how 6,000 mink were released in Newfoundland, and I really didn’t know what to make of it. So I thought I would post the discussion I had with a friend of mine who would like to one day practice animal law:

me-yo,
wondering what are your thoughts on this are:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/09/16/escaped-mink.html

friend-What do I think? It’s animal liberation, and I am all for it.

You should check out Peter Young’s website. He was thrown in jail for a couple years over exactly the same thing (he released a couple thousand mink from a fur farm in the States). http://supportpeter.com/

me-Yeah I know Peter Young.

My thing tons of mink died as a result of being hit by cars, they devastate the local ecology and kill people’s house pets. If the mink were rescued and brought to a sanctuary, that would be one thing. But instead they’ve got thousands of mink running around aimlessly. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time now, and I don’t think I can get behind that kind of animal-lib.

friend-Yeah, perhaps many of them will die, but if they stayed in the fur farm, they would ALL die! At least if they’re free, they can die in their own way, as much as is possible, anyway. As for a sanctuary, I’m sure they would be brought there if such a one existed, but the thing is, one doesn’t.

I know it’s problematic and complicated and not black-and-white, but when it comes to fur farms, I think liberation is key. There’s not really anything else you can do with that industry, and the numbers of animals kept by fur farmers are just too high to be putting into a sanctuary, or at least any sanctuary that exists right now.

I just can’t think of any other options besides liberation and anal electrocution, and I’m going to choose the former every time.

me-Huh, yeah maybe someone should start a mink sanctuary instead of using such a short-sighted tactic. But no one will, because it’s easier to pull a latch and then forget then how you are implicit in the death of hundreds of animals and destruction of the surrounding area. Unfortunately other options will only come with societal change I guess. It’s so lose-lose, maybe a few mink will survive, not be recaptured, killed or die.

But this kind of thing grinds my gears, like people who mess with the nets at fish farms. Then you’ve got all these diseased and genetically modified fish roaming around contaminating wild fish populations. I think if you can’t come up with an action that takes the welfare of the animal into account as well as the environment, you’re part of the problem. To me, releasing 6000 mink is a stunning visual, but beyond that I think it probably does more harm than good.

friend-You’re such a downer!

I agree that it’s not a good option, but it just seems like there IS no good option! As for starting mink sanctuaries, hell yeah, but sanctuaries generally take in animals whose release has been NEGOTIATED. Fur farmers aren’t giving up any of their animals any time soon, so that means liberators are now going to have to figure out how to get 6,000+ mink TO the sanctuary if they want to release them. This is ignoring the fact that it will be pretty noticable if 6,000 mink go missing one day and turn up at a sanctuary shortly after…

Maybe the liberations aren’t so short sighted – maybe they are what will precipitate some kind of change in either the industry (doubtful) or the animal rights movement (more hopefull) that will lead to more sustainable liberations/protests/actions.

Also, your environmental argument ignores one of the key things about animal rights – AR activists are NOT necessarily concerned with the environment. They are concerned with liberating animals. It would be nice if those two things always fell in line with each other, but sadly, they don’t.

Anyway, I’m still not hearing any real constructive criticism from you. Let’s have it!

me-Alright, first off, I know there’s no way to negotiate the release of 6,000 mink without huge money, and I think paying people not to kill animals is ridiculous. However, I think it’s more reasonable to liberate and actually save a few animals then letting them all out to find their demise outside the farm.

I can’t help but feel alienated by the animal rights movement if the environment is not taken into account by their actions. Their lack of seeing the interconnectedness of it all is the shortsightedness I’m talking about. You can’t just introduce species wherever you see fit, or you get things like the cane toad problem in Australia, or the zebra mussel disaster in the Great Lakes.

Maybe the animal rights movement needs some more perspective now to gain some allies. Think about how much more effective it would be (especially since the environment is such a hot topic now) if they also blew the whistle on how intensive animal production facilities are really hard on the land and water sources. Get people thinking about how wearing farmed fur is bad for the environment to help close them down.

friend-Well, yeah, except that all the “environmental” stuff (um, An Inconvenient Truth, for example) COMPLETELY IGNORES factory farming/meat consumption as a fix-able environmental problem. It’s not just the AR movement that’s alienating potential allies…

That said, you’re right. Of course you are, but some people just look at the 6,000 mink in the fur farm awaiting horrible torture and death and maybe even skinning alive, and they think, “well fuck – SOMETHING has to be done, and I only have the one option…” Yes, it’s shortsighted, but the intentions are good, plus, the fur farming assholes lose shitloads of money, which is sometimes enough to put them out of business, which means one less fur farm (a net gain, if you ask me).

In addition, we’re now seeing these laws that make it more and more difficult to actually organize around AR (and even environmental) concerns and plan sustainable, well-though-out actions. I think a lot of activists for WHATEVER cause feel isolated and accosted from all sides a lot these days, which makes it difficult to think things through.

As for appealing to people who wear fur on behalf of the environment, um, I think you might be barking up the wrong tree. Do you REALLY think that the people who BUY fur coats give two shits about the environment, no matter how trendy? I mean fuck – even most “environmentalists” won’t consider giving up meat!

Anyway, don’t give up on AR. That would be stupid.

So I conclude that the fragmentation of the left that is holding up all kinds of societal progression. Simple as that. Ah, just kidding.