animal rights news

The Humancentric Hypocrisy of the Denmark Zoo Controversy 

August 30, 2025
The ethical line we draw around nonhuman life is often arbitrary and deeply flawed. Our outrage should not be directed at the Aalborg Zoo incident alone, but the story could serve as a catalyst for a broader recognition that a truly ethical stance must extend beyond our own prejudices and our own interests, and recognize the sentience and right to life of all animals, regardless of their species or their role in our society. 
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An elephant in a national park in Tanzania

“I Couldn’t Wait To Get My Elephant”

May 31, 2012
Teressa Groenewald-Hagerman, like every other recreational hunter, was probably weaned on the flesh of more socially-acceptable victims. When her story made news, many chose to vilify Teressa as the heartless animal abuser of the day.
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A pink pig looks out sorrowfully from inside a filthy cage

UC’s Training Practices Come Under Fire

August 3, 2021
In response to an awareness campaign by the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM,) the University of Cincinnati has recently come under scrutiny for its routine use of live animals for surgical training.
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A beautiful wild horse stands looking immediately at the camera with beautiful scenery behind

Horse Slaughter in the US

September 21, 2013
If we don’t address the bigger issue here, then we will be fighting the same battle again… and again… and again with more single-issue campaigns and court cases like this.
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A lioness devours a carcass

Something Almost Primal

August 31, 2012
It seems that the directors of the puppet show are aware that ‘primal’ is a concept that plays to the perverse desires of the lowest parts of our selves. After all, this base and brutish lust for blood has such a hold on people that we are willing to turn a blind eye to unthinkable acts of cruelty in its name.
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Pink-gowned workers as far as the eye can see in a modern meat-packing factory

The Modern Animal Industry

November 12, 2013
As demand for animal products increases, so does the industry’s need to find ever more competitive methods of turning live animals into neatly-wrapped packages of muscle and bone. The result? Ever-faster line speeds, ever more mechanization, and mass production like we have never yet seen.
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Mirror carp hanging on a hook with lake in the background

What is Pain to a Fish?

June 27, 2012
Fish anatomy is so complex that they have even evolved the same “pain-blocking” substances (endorphins) as humans. This leaves us with the question: Why would fish have endorphins in their bodies if they couldn’t feel pain? And why is there still a debate over their sentience?
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An adorable young Nepalese girl holds a baby goat in her arms

The Goddess Needs Blood

December 11, 2019
Until we in the West acknowledge our responsibility to live according to the nonviolent values we profess to embrace, we are in no position to vilify the priests or the devotees of Nepal's Gadhimai Festival.
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A close-up of Joaquin Phoenix as Joker, looking up

Joaquin Phoenix at the Oscars

March 4, 2020
When Joaquin Phoenix took the Oscars stage, his speech invited us to take an honest look at the prejudices we still cling to, and to see the similarities rather than the differences in all victims of oppression.
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