Humane Thinking, from HRC

The recent egg and beef recalls have people discussing food safety over the water-cooler this month. While they have garnered a lot of media attention due to the amount of meat and eggs contaminated, food recalls are not uncommon. Since the beginning of 2010 the USDA alone (the FDA and CDC also manage food recalls) has or is currently managing 56 food recalls. People are always at risk of food contamination, but are they aware of it? And when recalls highlight food safety issues, does it change individuals' consumptive behaviors?

When fellow animal advocates ask me questions about research on animal protection issues, I typically ask them if they have looked at our research primers. In response, I usually hear "Research what? Where?" I am guessing that many advocates, even those of you who follow our work, are not aware of the full wealth of free data we have available. Here I want to highlight HRC's research primers, since they are a free resource that can help all advocates better understand the issues on which they are working. So let me tell you a little about them.

The internet significantly influences the tactics that animal protection organizations use and the ways in which those tactics are implemented. The internet is now a mainstream part of American life, with 71% of U.S. adults accessing it on a daily basis. Social networking sites like Facebook, online petitions that automatically generate letters for campaigns, and speedy access to a large number of people via email lists are all tools unique to the internet. For animal advocates who are typically working on a shoestring budget, the internet helps level the playing field.

Sometimes referred to as "shock advocacy," the tactic of using graphic and shocking images to sway opinion is controversial. Following the principle that "a picture is worth a thousands words," animal advocacy signs and literature often feature images of animals suffering in an attempt to make the general population aware of the cruelty that animals suffer on a daily basis in slaughterhouses, factory farms, fur farms, puppy mills and other locations of animal exploitation. The main objection to these images is that they may be perceived as "too graphic" and so turn people off of the message of animal rights. Nonetheless, this tactic is often used in animal protection campaigns.

Every year, the Humane Research Council conducts the Animal Tracker survey to determine attitudes and beliefs regarding issues of relevance to animal advocates. In Wave 1 of this study, conducted in 2008, we asked over 1,500 people the following question: "Social and political movements use a variety of tactics to create change for their issues. In general, how much do you support or oppose each of the following tactics?" We asked specifically about the following tactics: anti-cruelty investigations, using media to reach the public, speaking in schools, filling lawsuits to protect animals, state ballot initiatives lobbying government officials, calling for product boycotts, and demonstrating or protesting.