1. Book Review: Growl: Life Lessons, Hard Truths, and Bold
Strategies from an Animal Advocate by Kim Stallwood, 2014, 248 pp,
$18.
Kim Stallwood’s reflections on his long journey with the animal advocacy
movement are both interesting and insightful. Working with many leading
animal advocacy groups in the United Kingdom (including BUAV) and the United
States (including PETA), Stallwood has gained knowledge about what
strategies seem to work and which do not. Further, he has experienced the
challenges of working with dedicated animal advocates who, in their zeal to
protect nonhumans, don’t always treat each other very well.
Growl is easy to read and filled with entertaining anecdotes. Much to
Stallwood’s credit, he does not identify by name those people with whom he
has disagreed, sometimes strongly. In other words, he resists the temptation
to use his book as a means to broadside individuals with whom he had
conflicts.
Stallwood identifies four key values to animal rights: compassion, truth,
nonviolence, and justice. His book is largely an exploration of how these
values apply to everyday advocacy. He also identifies five stages (which
often overlap) of social movements: public education, public policy
development, legislation, enforcement, and public acceptance. Animal
advocates often focus on public education, in part because it does not
require any compromise of values. In contrast, any successful legislative
action requires compromise, which might seem to undermine core values.
Next week, I’d like to explore the topic of nonviolence. Though I’ve given a
lot of thought to this topic myself, I want to acknowledge Stallwood’s
insights, particularly when it comes to destruction of property and home
demonstrations.
Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D.
2. The January 2015 Peaceable Table Is Now Online
A Happy New Year to our readers!
As of January 1, California's famed Proposition 2, passed in 2008, goes into
effect, requiring that all "laying" hens in California (and on farms
elsewhere shipping eggs to California) must have enough room to stretch
their wings without touching the cage bars or another chicken. All
attempted lawsuits by chicken-farming interests to defeat the measure have,
fortunately, failed. So, although we can't go so far as to say these hens
will have a happy new year, this year will certainly be less painful for
them, both physically and psychologically, than before. And we will
continue to work on behalf of our animal cousins until all such cages are,
not just larger, but emptied.
Contents include:
You can read this issue
online
here.
Toward the Peaceable Kingdom,
Gracia Fay Ellwood, Editor
3. This Week’s Sermon from Rev. Frank and Mary Hoffman
Jesus’ Manifestation: Epiphany