ARC In Action meetings are held on the second Saturday of the month
from 10am to 11am at our office at 2615 E. Franklin Ave. in Minneapolis.
Everyone is welcome - you don't have to be a member to attend.
Circle
of Compassion (ARC blog)
ARC
on MySpace
Chicken
Run Rescue
fast & furless
vegan emporium
HumaneMyth.org
Rhymes With
Vegan
If an animal is in immediate danger, call 911. Read this section for more
information.
If you need to find a new home for your companion animal, read the information
in this section.
Newsletters
Fact Sheets
Recommended Reading
Past Articles
CityPages
(5/21 edition) Publishes ARC's Letter
Click here
to read ARC's Letter to the Editor about "humane" meat, dairy,
and eggs in response to a 5/7 CityPages article entitled "The
best way to help animals may be to eat them".
Animals
& You: An Educational Event for Kids
Animals & You, sponsored by ARC's Compassionate Kids program and
Pet Haven drew an excited crowd of kids who discovered we're really not
that different from animals after all. This fun event featured ARC's humane
educator, Amy Barankovich, Bubba the pit bull and Bennie the basset puppy
from Pet Haven,
and a Pet Haven alum named Dodger, a black lab mix who was adopted a year
ago and is also a therapy dog. A presenter from Canine Coach talked about
safe ways to approach dogs and the kids learned how to behave around animals
so everyone has fun!
What
a Weekend!
This year's May Day parade and festival and Living Green Expo, both
held on the same weekend in May, were very successful for ARC. We had
a tremendous number of people visit our booths at both events and people
were genuinely interested in our message of compassion. Thanks to everyone
who supported or visited ARC at these events!
Meet
Dallas Rising: ARC's New Program Director
Dallas
Rising, pictured with her husband, Brandon, and dog, Max
Chances are, if you’re involved in the Twin Cities’ animal rights and rescue communities, you recognize her dedicated and hard-working face. Dallas is the new Program Director for ARC, and we're thrilled to have her with us! “It’s more than a job to me,” Dallas said. “It’s a calling.”
Dallas, 28, went vegetarian in the 4th grade, after she made the connection that eating animals meant they were being killed. By 15, she had dropped the cheese and dairy products too, and become a vegan. In high school, she started an animal rights group that worked to get veggie burgers in the lunchroom and vivisection out of the classroom. Dallas has been active in many local and national animal groups and in addition to ARC, she currently volunteers for the companion animal group, Small Dog Rescue, as well as Friends of Kevin Kjonass.
A big part of her decision to come work for ARC was her belief in animal abolitionism, rather than animal welfarism. As an abolitionist, it was vitally important to work for an abolitionist organization, like ARC, whose values regarding animals, are in line with hers. She explains: “I am of the belief that it is critical that we not compromise our values as animal rights activists in the name of a short term "victory" for the animals. Running campaigns based on getting universities or restaurants to go cage-free, for example, is a hot trend in our movement right now. But in the end, I think it is wrong to give the impression that cage-free eggs or meat labeled "free range," are okay to purchase and eat. Whether directly or indirectly, any promotion or endorsement of this "happy meat" is not only a betrayal to the animals (who are still kept in horrible conditions, transported in the same way that most farmed animals are, and end up being slaughtered in the same brutal, violent ways that all farmed animals are), but also to consumers who are concerned about the way farmed animals are treated. We cheat both parties when we stop short of advocating for anything other than veganism.”
Dallas is also aware of the divide these different philosophies are causing in the animal rights community: “This [abolitionism] is not a very popular attitude to have right now in our movement's history. It took me a while to get over feeling like the bad guy for "raining on a cage-free parade,” but I am unwilling to compromise my values in the name of a short-term gain. I would rather march forward toward total liberation, no matter how slowly, than to perpetuate the myth that any animal products can be produced in a humane way. They cannot. Period.”
Dallas hopes to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved in animal issues, be active, and feel satisfied with their involvement. She intends to focus much of her work with ARC on educating and involving young people. She firmly believes that if young people are given the opportunity and education to make the connection that eating animals means killing them, they will make the choice not to eat them. “I think kids are naturally compassionate.”
Dallas understands the huge challenges in our culture when it comes to educating people about compassion toward animals. But she also has great hope. “We are pulled in to being complacent and unconscious. But, if you think about who you really want to be, most people don’t want to be contributing to cruelty.”
For Dallas, the best way to get the animal rights message across is to ask people if they really want to know. “If they say yes, then they will listen.” She favors a more relaxed approach to animal rights education, and feels it is extremely important to be approachable and available for people. Welcome to ARC, Dallas!
Pound seizure is the sale of cats and dogs from a pound or shelter to
research labs. Only three states, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Utah, still
have laws requiring that publicly funded pounds and shelters turn over
unclaimed animals for research.
The ultimate fate of these former companion animals is death. But before they die, they may suffer greatly. Visit Minnesota's Shame and Ban Pound Seizure to find out more.
Petting
zoos at malls and fairs allow children to feed, ride, or have their pictures
taken with the animals. Children who visit petting zoos often bring home
much more than their parents bargained for as petting zoos are notorious
for infecting children with potentially lethal bacteria such as E.
coli and salmonella. Click here
for a fact sheet with more details on petting zoos.
Hearing
a lot about violence in schools? You can do something to help: Cut out
dissection! Every year, millions of animals are killed and shipped off
to schools, where young people are given scalpels and told to slice up
the animals’ bodies. What does dissection teach? Not much, except
that it’s OK to chop up animals.
Contact ARC for advice on how to object to dissection at your school. Or call the toll-free Dissection Hotline for information and support for students, parents and teachers who object to dissection.
