Welcome to our latest issue of PETA’s Animal Times, the magazine that speaks up for animals. Whether you’re a student, an activist, a stay-at-home parent, or a busy entrepreneur, we’ve got tons of ideas and inspiration to help you get active for animals, including heartwarming rescue stories, investigative reports, easy animal-friendly recipes, and stories about how caring people like you are making a difference for animals in their own communities.
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Dear Animal Times Reader,
Should you ever find yourself dismayed at the immense ignorance in the world regarding animals’ capacity for pain and joy or their innate intelligence, it may help to look back. The masses have always behaved abominably to those they don’t understand.
In China, in the mid-1800s, emperors posted writs on city gates warning “foreign barbarians” to pay attention to Chinese customs or suffer such frightful consequences as being beheaded, and visitors from overseas with ruddy complexions were considered especially vile. In the U.S., the grandparents of African-Americans still alive today were treated as mere commodities, and well-educated people actually believed that blacks could tolerate greater pain than whites and that they lacked maternal feelings, a rather convenient idea when slave child and mother were put on separate auction blocks.
In Victorian England, women were considered too delicate to pursue “manly” sports (lucky, really, as they consisted mostly of fox hunting and grouse shooting), too dim to vote, and too irresponsible to own property. A husband’s word was law. Try telling a woman what to do and when to do it these days and see how far that gets you!
So here we are, ridding the world of prejudice and ignorance in their 21st century forms, shaking up the ridiculous notion that only humans count and making marked progress all the time. How many people we reach in 2004 is up to all of us who recognize animals’ abilities and emotions. Let’s resolve to be so vigorous in changing minds and hearts this year that we hasten the day when some future writer looks back at our times and shakes her head in disbelief! Happy New Year and Happy Activism!
For all animals,
Ingrid E. Newkirk
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Here Comes... The Veggie Bride (and Groom)
New Year's Resolution
Exotic Animal Acts Are Ticking Bombs
Help Us Take Action Against Iams Cruelty
Getting Under Fur-Wearers' Skin
Family Favorites ...Made Meat Free!
Breaking The Food Seduction
KFC Cruelty -An International Scandal
Her Love Wasn't Enough To Keep Them Warm
Join The Animal Savings Club: Help Get Animals Out Of Labs
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