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What do you think is the most effective way to turn this idea into real policy? Add your suggestions here for how you think we should run an advocacy campaign to advance the idea – including the overall strategy, messaging, targets, and tactics.

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  1. Anand Dholakia

    It seems like there's two major approaches that people are describing:

    a) Impacting public policy/legislation
    - create a government department to oversee work in this area
    - establish international product standards
    - introduce product import/export laws, based on those standards
    - introduce company tax incentives based on the standards


    b) Informing consumers and changing consumer behavior
    - clear labeling of products, based on the intl standards
    - other marketing channels to disseminate info, including a central website


    *for the consumer-focused approach, I think the Fair Trade and/or organic movements could be studied as good analogies?   Also looks like establishing some type of standards needs to come first, and this can likely be done before a new department is created.

    What are suggestions for the next steps to take these ideas to the next stage?

    Suggested by Anand Dholakia on 01/23/2009 @ 08:59AM PT

  2. Ariel Rose

    Just a small thing to do, but it is something, for now.

    http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/inauguration_0109

    Suggested by Ariel Rose on 01/23/2009 @ 01:09AM PT

  3. Carol Kroupa

    Animals are self-aware feel love, just like people do.  Pain hurts them just as much as it hurts us.  People tend to be disconnected from this fact, but it is true.  That doesn't mean they want to be all left alone, wild and free.  Any animal communicator will tell you that many riding horses love their jobs, from the weekend riding horse to championship dressage horse.  Most dogs love their job of taking care of their family.  Most cats love to calm and heal their owner.  It's not their fault that some owners aren't very good to them, and not all jobs are great all the time, (our jobs aren't that great all the time, either) but for the most part, only wild animals want to be left alone.
    Please stop the skinning and fatal abuse, and animal testing.  Animals deserve much better treatment.
    They are aware, intelligent, loving, and thinking beings.
    It seems humans are tackling prejudice in steps, first color of the skin in people, then women, then children equal rights, then unborn babies, next is animals, then nature. Animals do have instincts based species and breed, but they are not robots with fur on them. Scientists need to realize that the mind of a living thing is NOT inside the brain.  The thinking mind is in the spirit.  Once they realize this mistake, people can go home to their companion dogs and cats, look at them with open eyes, and treat them with respect.

    Suggested by Carol Kroupa on 01/19/2009 @ 05:36PM PT

  4. R B

     
    WE need to also graphically explain how all of this affects people health, money and life span in a detrimental way.

    It seems that certain humans refuse to change until they see how much danger is coming their way. May be THEN the animals will have relief.

    Suggested by R B on 01/17/2009 @ 07:43PM PT

  5. amber lopez

    Just when I thought all was lost on this issue I think I've found the answer to our prayers....

    I have been getting google alerts on any issues posted on the internet dealing with animal rights and in the past few days I have been getting a number of posted stories from whom else but the Center for Consumer Freedom (a front for the anti-animal rights movement). Seems they are quite worried about a new Obama appointee  as noted by this story "Exposed: The Secret Animal Rights Agenda Of America’s Next Regulatory Czar" .

    http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/3807

    It seems that Cass Sunstein is none other than a serious animal rights believer both in philosophy and in action. From the American Thinker posting....
    "Obama's Animal Guy"  by  Richard Baehr (Obviously linked to the agenda of the Consumer group)

    Cass Sunstein is a thoughtful legal scholar, and a solid choice for his new job in the Obama administration reviewing regulations. He is not hard core anti-business as are many of Obama's appointees in the Energy and Labor Departments, and the EPA.

    But in one area - animal rights -  He is in favor of lawsuits on behalf of animals, less use or no use of animals in medical research, and ending the consumption of meat products. Not surprisingly, he is not a fan of hunting, either. PETA has found their man in the White House. Veterinarians and medical researchers, beware.

    The article goes on to say...
    Sunstein has made no secret of his devotion to the cause of establishing legal “rights” for livestock, wildlife, and pets. “[T]here should be extensive regulation of the use of animals in entertainment, scientific experiments, and agriculture,” Sunstein wrote in a 2002 working paper while at the University of Chicago Law school.

    Sunstein set out an ambitious plan to give animals the legal “right” to file lawsuits.
        Animals should be permitted to bring suit, with human beings as their representatives, to prevent violations of current law … Any animals that are entitled to bring suit would be represented by (human) counsel, who would owe guardian like obligations and make decisions, subject to those obligations, on their clients’ behalf.”

    But wait, there is even more good news....
    Sunstein also argued in favor of “eliminating current practices such as greyhound racing, cosmetic testing, and meat eating, most controversially.”

    He concluded his Harvard speech by expressing his “more ambitious animating concern” that the current treatment of livestock and other animals should be considered “a form of unconscionable barbarity not the same as, but in many ways morally akin to, slavery and mass extermination of human beings.” Sound familiar?

    I was very concerned about the new Vilisack  appointee but Cass Sunstein may be our diamond in the rough......

    So, I am proposing that this person might be the key to helping push and give a serious boost to all animal rights issues. 
    I would be interested in what others think..........

    Suggested by amber lopez on 01/17/2009 @ 06:38PM PT

  6. Heather Norcross

    Spread the word that this labeling already exists! It is called the vegan label, ususally a large "V", which denotes an item that is 100% free of cruelly obtained animal products. However, since this labeling is currently entirely voluntary, government encouragement for more explicit and comprehensive labeling would benefit us all.

    Suggested by Heather Norcross on 01/17/2009 @ 03:10PM PT

  7. Bill Killpatrick

    What about dogs used for Seeing Eye purposes, e.g., helping humans who are blind or visually impaired? Can there possibly be a worse life for a dog? It is told when and where it can urinate and defecate (called "parking"). It is on-duty 24/7. It is never allowed to run and play with others of its species. It is a captive, a literal slave to its "owner" and last I checked, slavery was illegal in this country. Then, when it's past it's prime, e.g., "burned out" -- usually in 7 years or so -- it's kicked out of the only home it has ever known and is "put out to pasture." Nice reward. The poor dog's brain has been twisted and conditioned to a life of service, then suddenly it becomes useless and goes to live somewhere else. Sort of like being handed a pink slip at age 49 and told you're going to a nursing home now because you have no value left in you.

    In fact, consigning ANY animal to a life with humans is unnatural and cruel. Cats were never meant to be declawed and live in a house or apartment. They were meant to nomads, free-ranging and catching/killing their own food. Same holds true for dogs, horses and guinea pigs. There will be no justice until we outlaw ALL animal companions and the enslavement of any animal for any purpose at all, whether it be to provide milk, pull a plow, provide love and affection to an elderly person, etc. If we're going to support animal rights, let's not set artificial boundaries based on what we, individually, think is right and wrong. Let's get the animals out of our lives completely and just let them be.

    Suggested by Bill Killpatrick on 01/17/2009 @ 11:15AM PT

  8. Drayton Michaels

    To anyone in the Obama administration that takes on the issue of animal cruelty I most respectfully request you take a long and serious look into the use of pain in the training of pet dogs.   There is a frighteningly cruel ideology in certain sectors of dog training culture that it is acceptable to use pain – force – shock and startle to “train” dogs. This pain training culture is perpetuated on TV and around the USA as some sort of “gift” or magic fix to train dogs. Nothing is further from the truth. This belief was founded by people who have either ignored or refused to educate themselves about the science of animal behavior and the fall outs of aversive methods.
    Torture is not just a practice in slaughter houses or used in laboratory experiments. Torture happens every day to pet dogs in the name of “training”. In any other context when a dog is caused pain or fear it is considered abuse. So it should be as well under the banner of training.

    It is 2009, we’ve had the best minds weigh in that pain is not beneficial when training dogs, and objective studies have been done to show that there are behavioral side effects when pain and fear are used on dogs in any type of interaction. Those who work to educate the public and help dog owners train dogs legitimately without the use of force or pain are pleading with you to take a stand and outlaw the use of pain based methods and equipment that inflicts pain in the training of companion animals: IE: Pet dogs. It would also be advised that the use of pain and force be removed from the training of working dogs as well. Please do not let another year go by where people can get away with abuse in the name of dog training, be it on TV or in the homes of uninformed consumers who are looking for legitimate help with their beloved dogs. Many of the common issues dog owners face will only get worse if approached with harsh and aversive methods. The more advanced issues of fear, aggression and anxiety will all asuridly become worse and potentially set dogs up for euthanasia. The link below is the position statement for American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior. They strongly recommend that force and pain are not to be used in pet dog training. That the “dominance” model that is touted by some is not only false, but highly dangerous and yields the opposite of what the vast majority of dog owners want, which are legitimate dog training solutions and sound safe dogs.  http://www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/images/stories/Position_Statements/dominance%20statement.pdf

      These are links below are studies that the RSPCA in Australia has used to show the negative side effects of the use of shock and force to train pet dogs. Read the sections on companion animals/dogs.http://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science8.pdfhttp://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science9.pdfhttp://www.rspca.org.au/resource/Science14.pdfhttp://www.rspca.org.au/resource/science16.pdf  This study was done by Jo Jaques and Sandy Meyers http://www.4pawsu.com/IAABC_Ecollar.pdfIt was concluded that the use of shock devices to train dogs is not a sound, safe or an effective method. The fact that ANYONE can walk into a store and buy an electronic device with no understanding of the dangers of using electronic shock on their dogs is unconscionable. These devices should be immediately removed from retailers and not allowed in ANY context that involves the training of pet/companion dogs.   To a lesser degree but equally harmful are choke chains and prong collars that cut off airways and administer pain via force applied by the dog handler. Many dog owners are sold lies about “control” and effectiveness with no actual knowledge from the sellers or “trainers” about what is actually happening each time a dog is choked or “popped” with the prongs of the collar.
    All legitimate pet dog trainers and animal behaviorists agree that the use of force is not only unnecessary but will cause long lasting unwanted behavioral side effects. These include increased aggression, anxiety, fear, and physical and emotional damage to dogs and their owners alike. I urge anyone in the Obama administration to contact me to discuss a non force dog training proposal for USA that I have drafted. Let this be the last year any dog is abused in the name of training.   Drayton Michaels CTC http://www.pitbullguru.com/

    Suggested by Drayton Michaels on 01/17/2009 @ 08:57AM PT

  9. Milly van den Broek

    HELLO ARIEL ROSE,
    I DO THAT, I SEND AN EMAIL TO OPRAH ORAH@OPRAH.COM AND OBAMA EVERY DAY UNTILL THEY HEAR US! SO IF MORE PEOPLE EMAIL THEM THE SOONER WE WILL HAVE TO GET A RESPONCE, I COPY PASTE THE LETTER  IT IS EASY, ALLSO I MADE FLYERS THAT I HAND OUT TO PEOPLE IN STORES JUST ANYBODY I GET IN CONTACT WITH, TO BRING AWAIRNESS WHERE EVER I CAN. BECAUSE I FOUND OUT 99% OF THE PEOPLE I MEET DO NOT NO ABOUT THE SKINNING OF LIVING ANIMALS, THEY WANT TO HELP!SO GOOD LUCK ON YOUR MISSION, TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER, GREETINGS, MILLY

    Suggested by Milly van den Broek on 01/16/2009 @ 08:52PM PT

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