Martin Balluch The struggle for Animal Rights http://seminar.outofthebox.si/

1. Martin Balluch
Struggle for
Animal Rights

2. The Struggle
for Animal Rights
Martin Balluch
Association Against Animal Factories
VGT, Austria
Out of the Box Seminar
University of Maribor, Slovenia
6. July 2012

3. The modern
animal rights movement
1964:
• Ruth Harrison‘s book „Animal Machines“ published
→ details factory farming
→ inspires Peter Singer to „Animal Liberation“ 1975
• Hunt Saboteurs‘ Association founded by journalist
John Prestige while writing about deer hunting
→ direct action against hunting with hounds in
UK → grass roots, mass actions, begin of animal
rights activism

4. Repressive ideology newly identified:
Speciesism
1970: Richard Ryder coins the phrase speciesism
→ painism – golden rule:
Don‘t do to others,
what you don‘t want done to yourself
Others:
your race – racism
your nation – nationalism
your sex – sexism
your species – speciesism
Solution: others, who can suffer as well

5. Academic development
• 1975: Peter Singer‘s „Animal Liberation“
→ Utilitarianism
• 1983: Tom Regan‘s „The case for Animal Rights“
→ Kantianism
• 1996: David DeGrazia‘s „Mental Life and Moral Status“
→ Reflective equilibrium
• 1998: Mark Rowlands‘ „Animal Rights“
→ Contractarianism
• 2005: Martin Balluch‘s „The Right to Autonomy“
→ Categorical values

6. National organisations ↔ grassroots
Welfarism ↔ Rightsism
Old established welfare organisations are charity, not
political – hierarchical, within the established order
(royal prefix)
Young activist rights groups are political, not charity –
non-hierarchical, critical of the system
UK:
• HSA as basis of ar activism turns the working class
against rich farm owners → class aspect
• Welfare organisations often run by aristocrats

7. ANIMAL WELFARE ANIMAL RIGHTS
Basic idea first in 18th century first in 19th century
Groups since early 19th century since end 19th century
Laws since early 19th century none
Motivation empathy justice
Aim minimize suffering autonomy
Animal usage ok in principle wrong in principle
Activity help for suffering animals stop animal abuse
Societal changes
unchanged completely new
(property, personhood)
Human-Animal relation stays the same completely new
Self-definition social political
Killing ok if painless not ok
Ethics act good act just

8. National organisations Grassroots
Ideology Animal Welfare Animal Rights
Concept Reform Abolitionism
Seen in Society mainstream, propagandist radical, honest
Organisation hierarchical non hierachical
Idealism small large
Appearance decent excentric
Activity petitioning, informing demos, direct action
Activists paid, not many volunteers, mass movement
Finances big budget small budget
Campaign goals geared towards donations no concept, the cruelest
Execution of activity professional, media spontaneous, no media
Access to politics farely good none

9. Campaigns 1970ies – environmental
Seal pup culling in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada:
• 1st time TV reports from animal actions
• Actress Brigitte Bardot with
baby seals on the ice flows
• Spray painting of seal pups
→ killing of seal pups
is banned! (trade 1982)
Whaling:
• Inflatables block harpoons of whalers
→ moratorium on whaling adopted 1982, in effect 1986

10. Emancipation of animal issues
Austria: December 1984,
occupation of the primieval
forests East of Vienna to
prevent cutting
→ 10.000 activists attend to:
• protect democracy
• protect ecosystems
• protect endangered species
• protect individual animals
→ first purely animal rights
oriented groups form

11. The Fur Campaign 1988
Activism:
• Rather naked than fur
• Pictures from fur farms
in the media
• Media stunts
Result:
• Fur sales crash
• Fur becomes anti-
social

13. Kürschner, Handschuhmacher, Gerber
120.000
100.000
80.000
Bruttoproduktionswerte
60.000 Betriebserlöse
Produktionswerte
40.000
20.000
0
88
89
90
91
92
93
95
96
97
98
94
99
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19
19

14. Campaign against live animal transport
1995 UK: mass
demos and actions
→ only
Dover
1995 Austria: media
stunts and reports
→ 6 hour max
travel time
→ overthrown
in 1998 by EU
courts

15. Killed in action!
Tom Worby, 3. 4. 1993
Hunt sabbing the
Cambridge Foxhounds
Jill Phipps,
1. 2. 1995
Blocking Coventry
Airport against
the export of
Mike Hill, 9. 2. 1991 live calves to
Hunt sabbing the Europe
Cheshire Beagles

16. Pressure campaigns against companies
Pressure campaign:
• permanent demos
• many actions (most illegal)
• no media, no public sympathy
1996-1997: Consort Beagles
1997-1999: Hillgrove Cats
1999-2000: Shamrock Farm
Monkeys
1999-2005: Newchurch Guinea
Pigs (prison after end)
2000: Regal Rabbits
1999-prison(2007): SHAC

17. Aspects of abolitionist direct
pressure campaigns
• Abolitionist: against animal using companies,
alternative only no usage at all
• No compromise
• Direct pressure without large scale support of the
public
• Grassroots non-hierarchical autonomous activities
• No public face explains activities
• But: if certain companies are stopped, does that
reduce animal abuse?

18. Paradigm shift in Austria
Synthesis of:
• National Organisation ↔ Grassroots
→ national network of grassroots groups, non-
hierarchical but with reasonable budget, media
relations and access to politics
• Welfare ↔ Rights
→ appreciate welfare as political and psychological
step towards rights
• Reform ↔ Abolitionism
→ confrontational reform campaigns for incremental
law/system changes with the sympathy of the public

19. Fur farm campaign in earnest
• 1988: ca. 80 farms (fox,
mink, nutria), start of
campaign
• 1989: Greens demand fur
farm ban
• 1989: voluntary quality seal
for fur farms
• 1991: environmental
minister campaigns against
fur farms
• 1993: Activists find 43 fur
farms, publish footage
• 1990ies: disruption of all fur
fashion shows

20. Fur farm ban in Austria
• 1995: 6 provinces
ban fur farms, 3
don‘t
• 1997: permanent
demos begin
• 10. 2. 1998: office
of provincial
governor occupied
• 17. 2. 1998: ban
introduced
• 30. 11. 1998: last
fur farm closes

21. Fur farm ban: critical assessment
• Abolitionist?
– What about leather?
– What about sheep fur?
– Outright ban of certain animal product
• But:
– Fur farms move abroad
– Fur trade not reduced
• Although:
– Ban might be exported (indeed: UK, …)
– Banned production stigmatises the product fur

22. Campaign against animal circuses
• 1996: Circuses
documented
• 1997: Permanent demos
start (almost daily)
• 1998: circus documentary
film published
• Violence by circus staff
• 2002: Ban on wild animals
in circuses agreed
• 2005: Ban takes effect

23. Wild animals circus ban:
critical assessment
• Only certain animals banned from usage
→ Usage of domestic and farmed animals ok?
• But even the most humane usage of wild animals
banned!
• Consequence:
– Almost no circuses with animals left in Austria
– No foreign circuses come to Austria
• 3 times was the banned challenged at EU-level and
at the Austrian constitutional court
→ Ban was upheld

24. Preliminaries to battery farm ban
1994: UV lamp tests in
supermarkets
→ 1995: control institute
founded
Beak trimming for non-cage birds
→ 2001: scientific study for
management of non-cage
flocks without beak trimming
→ beak trimming < 1%

25. Phase 1: making the public aware
March 2003: 7 chickens
liberated openly with
journalists present
Found guilty for theft and
burglary to the value of
€ 15
Appeal court: not guilty,
because acted in the
name of society

26. Investigation: battery farming
July 2003: 48 battery farms
visited within 15 days,
keeping 40% of all
battery hens
Result:
• 79% massively
overstocked cages
• 91% overstocked cages
• 100% ill animals
• 71% very unhygienic
• 47% dead chickens rotting in cages

27. January – May 2004:
confrontational campaign
Daily demos outside government buildings and on the
streets, informing the public

28. Opinion poll
February 2004:
• 86% of the population
want battery farming
banned
Actually:
• 80% buy battery eggs
• 30% eggs imported from
cage systems

29. Disruption of Conservative
provincial election campaigns

31. Occupation of
governor‘s office
Occupation of
Conservative HQ
Banner drop in
Provincial
Parliament

32. More open liberations and
battery farm occupations

33. SUCCESS !! – Battery farming banned!
On 27th May 2004 historic
unanimous vote for a ban:
• conventional cages banned
from 1st Jan 2009
• no new enriched cage systems
from 1st Jan 2005
• existing enriched cage systems
(2% of hens) for 15 years (till
2020)
And:
• Animal solicitor scheme
• Animal protection in constitution

34. Further bans
• 2005: song bird trapping
• 2006: experiments on
apes (chimps, bonobos,
gorillas, orang utans
and gibbons!)
• 2007: caging rabbits for
meat production

35. Violence 2007-2008

36. Repression: USA and UK
USA: Center of the defence of free enterprise
• 1992: Animal Enterprise Protection Act
• 2004: Ecoterrorism Prevention Act
• 2006: Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act
UK: Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005
→ 2006: 4 new church guinea pig campaigners
convicted of blackmail for up to 12 years prison
→ 2006: 8 sequani campaigners convicted of SOCPA for
up to 6 years prison
→ 2009: 13 SHAC campaigners convicted of conspiracy
to blackmail for up to 11 years prison
USA: 2006 SHAC 7 imprisoned for up to 6 years

37. Repression in Austria
• Investigation starts October 2006
• Special Police Unit formed (35 officers) in April 2007
• In 2008 alone: optical and accoustical surveillance of
267 activists
• Methods: police spies, phone tapping, email reading,
tracking device on car, cameras at doors, bugging
devices in homes and offices, cash account
monitoring, direct surveillance
• Police reports against 46 people, 150 suspects, 16
suspected animal organisations

38. Home raids and remand prison
• 21st May 2008: 23 raids in homes
and 7 offices; later 10 more raids
• 10 activists for 105 days on remand
in prison
• Suspicion: criminal organisation
since 1988 for all animal campaigns
• Appeals fail: released because of
public pressure
• After intensive PR campaigns (e.g.
25 press conferences): media and
public side with the accused

39. Animal rights trial
• 2nd March 2010 – 2nd May 2011
• 98 trial days
• 126 witnesses of the prosecution
• Consecutively: 3 tax and charity
investigations against ar group
• Verdict: not guilty
– There never was a real suspicion
– There is no criminal organisation in the animal
movement
– The accused have understandably critisized police
– Police have acted illegally and lied in court

40. Repression in Spain
• Investigations start 2008
• Methods: phones tapped,
emails read, social
profiles, surveillance
• 22. June 2011: 13 home
raids, 11 arrests, 3 on
remand in prison for
almost 1 month
• Charge: Criminal
organisation
• Bad media coverage as
„ecoterrorists“

41. And next? Ban on sow stalls 2011!