For decades, I have been writing that the anti-fur campaign (among others) is sexist. For example, various groups have been using this sort of imagery for years now: (click to enlarge) But fur is no different from wool, leather, or silk. In my book, Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Movement, published by Temple University in Press i…

I often hear people say that the difference between “animal abusers” like Michael Vick and Andre Robinson, and non-vegans, is that Vick and Robinson inflicted suffering on animals because they enjoyed the process of inflicting harm on animals whereas non-vegans just enjoy the taste of animal products but don’t want to harm animals. This difference,…

I posted an essay from this site on Facebook concerning Andre Robinson, the man who kicked the cat named King, and who faces anticruelty charges in New York. The point was simple: What Andre Robinson did was terrible but was no different from what non-vegans support and participate directly in every single day. I got comments which indicated that m…

Gavin Dingman, an 11-year old from Michigan, killed an albino deer. Many people are upset about this, with some even making death threats to Gavin. It is tragic when any healthy animal is killed for “sport” or any other purpose. And it is tragic that we teach our children that violence is “fun.” But those non-vegans who are critical of this ought t…

Here is an essay I wrote on the Andre Robinson that was published on October 10, 2014 in the New York Daily News. ********** If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and nonviolence to yourself. The World is…

You don’t need a theory of animal rights to get you to veganism. You don’t even need to believe in human and nonhuman equality to get to veganism. If you believe–as most people believe–that: (1) animals matter morally; (2) because animals matter morally, we cannot justify imposing “unnecessary” suffering on them; and (3) pleasure, amusement, or con…

In this article, HSUS happy exploitation czar Paul Shapiro complains that the American Humane Association American Humane Certified Label, which will be on Butterball turkeys this Thanksgiving, is inadequate: Paul Shapiro, vice president for farm-animal protection for the watchdog group Humane Society of the United States, gave an even harsher asse…

On October 4, 2014, I did a brief interview on the Michael Smerconish Show on CNN concerning the Andre Robinson case. You can watch the interview here. ********** If you are not vegan, please go vegan. Veganism is about nonviolence. First and foremost, it’s about nonviolence to other sentient beings. But it’s also about nonviolence to the earth and…

The New York Times Room for Debate examined the issue of “Enforcing the Legal Rights of Animals,” and included discussion of the Andre Robinson case. The abolitionist perspective was represented. You can read the debate in it’s entirety here. Gary L. Francione Professor, Rutgers University The post New York Times Debate on the Legal Rights of Anima…

Andre Robinson kicked a stray cat, at the Brevoort Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Someone captured it on video. Robinson was arrested. The cat, now named King, was rescued and adopted. The Brooklyn District Attorney has announced that he plans to prosecute Robinson for animal cruelty. And now, many people are calling for his imprisonment a…