For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United StatesAnimal rights. Those two words conjure diverse but powerful images and reactions. Some nod in agreement, while others roll their eyes in contempt. Most people fall somewhat uncomfortably in the middle, between endorsement and rejection, as they struggle with the profound moral, philosophical, and legal questions provoked by the debate. Today, thousands of organizations lobby, agitate, and educate the public on issues concerning the rights and treatment of nonhumans. For the Prevention of Cruelty is the first history of organized advocacy on behalf of animals in the United States to appear in nearly a half century. Diane Beers demonstrates how the cause has shaped and reshaped itself as it has evolved within the broader social context of the shift from an industrial to a postindustrial society. Until now, the legacy of the movement in the United States has not been examined. Few Americans today perceive either the companionship or the consumption of animals in the same manner as did earlier generations. Moreover, powerful and lingering bonds connect the seemingly disparate American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of the nineteenth century and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals of today. For the Prevention of Cruelty tells an intriguing and important story that reveals society’s often changing relationship with animals through the lens of those who struggled to shepherd the public toward a greater compassion. |
From inside the book
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... campaigns with numerous and varied smaller campaigns. From the large MSPCA of the 1900s to the much smaller Friends of Animals (FoA) of the 1970s, the organizations consistently addressed multiple issues. Perhaps their tendency to ...
... campaign. Typically, they first worked to enact stronger laws to protect animals and then demanded enforcement through arrests and litigation. At the same time, a humane education blitz recruited supporters and chipped away at ...
... campaign's success, but the real key was using these strategies in conjunction with organizational networking. When groups came together, the combination of strategies and sheer numbers of activists worked like a battering ram to break ...
... campaign, but the ideological and strategic antagonisms between the two sides had so deepened that the factions ... campaigns ended the wanton slaughter of exotic birds for use in women's feathered hats. More often, however, they clashed ...
... campaign. Reproduced with permission of the American Anti-Vivisection Society. wellspring for both the leaders and the followers of efforts to secure woman's rights, prison reform, sanitation, civil rights, and, eventually, animal ...
Contents
1 | |
19 | |
39 | |
59 | |
5 Reaching Out to the Mainstream | 91 |
6 Our Most Strenuous Protest | 119 |
7 The Road to Liberation | 147 |
Epilogue | 197 |
Notes | 203 |
Bibliography | 267 |
Index | 295 |