Higher Ed Law Prof Blog

Law: A compendium on animal rights activists

1.  University plans to sue activists

In the wake of a firebomb attack earlier this month against a researcher from the University of California at Los Angeles, the university regents are planning to file a lawsuit this morning to block animal-rights activists from harassing UCLA employees.

The University of California will seek a temporary restraining order against five people and three animal-rights organizations that university officials say have either claimed responsibility for attacks against UCLA researchers or have promoted unlawful acts. The university is also requesting a permanent injunction barring the same individuals and organizations from threatening researchers or disseminating personal information about UCLA personnel who conduct research using animals. Read the rest here.

2.  The PETA web site

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), with more than 1.8 million members and supporters, is the largest animal rights organization in the world.

PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry. We also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of beavers, birds and other "pests," and the abuse of backyard dogs.

PETA works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue.Visit the site here.

3.  The other side of the story

Profile: AnimalScam.com

The modern animal rights movement is not what it seems. Today's activists have perverted once-sensible animal welfare goals by putting animals ahead of human beings and employing a "by any means necessary" philosophy to achieve their goals of "total animal liberation."

Led by PETA, the Humane Society of the United States, and other activist groups, the animal liberation movement does not seek to improve animals' lives. Its goal is to place unnecessary restrictions on ordinary people like you.Visit the Center for Consumer Freedom here.   

4.  For a fictional treatment

Ned McAdoo and the Molly Maguires

by Claire and Jim Castagnera

This novel weaves historical events and present day America into a tepestry that explores the early days of the labor rights movement and the Molly Maguires and also examines how perspectives on past events change over time.

(188 pages) Paperback: $12.95 Download: $9.95