theywillrejectthestandardfarmingpractices thatprovide
them with theirpork, veal, and eggs.With public opinion
solidlybehindthem,theAmericananimalmovementisonthe
brinkoftransformingtheconditionswayinwhichhundreds
of millions of farm animals are kept.
Allthesechangesareavindicationofwhathasbeensaidby
animal advocates for a very long time. In 1971, when I
organized a tiny demonstration against factory farming, it
seemed as if we were taking on a giant industry that
steamrolledallopposition.Fortunately,ideasandcompassion
haveproved powerful enough to change systemsin which
hundreds of millions of animals live and die.
Theposition defended in this book goes far beyond these
improvements
inthewelfareoffarmanimals, significantastheyare.We
needamuchmorefundamentalchangeinthewaywethink
about animals. The first sign that even this could happen
camein 2008 intheformofahistoricvotebyacommitteeof
the Spanish parliament that declared an animal could be
grantedthelegalstatusofapersonwithrights.Themotion
took the form of support for the Great Ape Project, an
organization that seeks basic rights—to life, liberty, and
protectionfromtorture—forourclosestnonhumanrelatives:
chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. The
resolution directs the Spanish government to promote a
similardeclarationattheleveloftheEuropeanUnion.Italso
callsonthegovernmenttoadopt,withinayear,legislationto
prohibit potentially harmful experiments on great apes.
Keeping great apes in captivity will be allowed only for
purposesofconservation, andthenunderconditionsstrictly
regulatedtoprovidethebestpossibleconditionsfortheapes.