More thoughts on California's proposed Animal Abuse Registry bill

[Guest guest]

Not all vegans support this bill. Here is one post about it:

http://arphilosophia.blogspot.com/2010/02/animal-abuse-registries-will-make.html

 

The author writes: "If we really care about helping people to get

better and stopping further animal abuse, creating state-run registries

is not the way to do it. ... Things like this trap people in an endless

cycle of 'criminality'. Focusing on the animal abuser themself without

focusing on the very speciesist system that has created these abusers

will only lead to ostracism and abuse of the abuser while the

speciesist system survives."

 

As well, this same author offers this thought: "Most people have abused

an animal at some point in their lives whether it be by eating them,

harming them, or neglecting them. I have abused animals in my past. I

wore leather, ate meat, drank milk, and so on. I poured salt on a snail

as a kid once and put ants on a pin while they were still alive. I will

never forget these things and am now an animal liberation activist.

Should I have my face plastered on a state-run registry? Or is it only

the doggy and kitty abusers that deserve that?"

 

A LOVE collective member wrote a blog post about the criminal system

and how it connects with the vegan ideal of non-exploitation:

http://loveallbeings.org/blog/emptying-cages/

 

She writes: "as vegans advocating for the end of the imprisonment of

non-human

animals, i can’t fathom how we can simultaneously support a system that

puts human animals in cages ... incarceration is not working to prevent

future crimes from being committed, and it is oppressing people of

color, women, and/or gender non-conforming individuals. so what is the

answer? it seems like education, drug rehabilitation, counseling, and

striking at the societal roots of

racism/sexism/classism/heterosexism/speciesism would go a lot further

in preventing crime than putting people in cages (where further

violence is perpetuated through abuse by inmates, guards, and the

system itself). after all, aren’t we as vegans working toward the

elimination of those cages, regardless of who is contained within their

walls?"

 

I do not think everybody on this list supports the elimination of

cages, but I think some do share this goal, so I thought I'd offer

these authors and their plea to break the cycle of violence as an

alternative to the "mainstream" discourse.

 

Victor

 

Mat Thomas wrote:

 

 

In February, California senate majority leader Dean Florez

introduced an "Animal Abuse Registry" bill that would put convicted

criminals’ addresses, places of employment, and photographs online so

that law enforcement agencies, shelter staff and average citizens could

track convicted felons and consequently prevent them from victimizing

other innocent animals. Learn more about this proposed legislation and

how you can support it by reading my

latest blog post.

 

Mat Thomas

www.animalrighter.org

 

 

 

 

 

-- The Vegan Ideal: http://veganideal.org/

Veganism as Anti-Oppression: http://loveallbeings.org/