Animal Rights Zone

[Holise E. Cleveland III]

“I don’t base my advocacy messages on what i at heart believe.I base them on what methods and messages – based on the research, and my own experience to some extent – will create the most behavior change and thus help the most animals.” ~ Nick Cooney

When I first heard that Sea Shepherd’s Captain Paul Watson was going to be in live chat on Animal Rights Zone, I rushed on over. This was in October of 2010. Since then, I have taken advantage of my free membership to post a blog and spend time chatting with other animal welfare advocates. There have also been many interesting guests in the chat room. This past Saturday evening, my smart phone informed me of an event with only fifteen minutes to spare.

I was fortunate enough to be a part of Nick Cooney’s live chat. To be honest, I had never heard of him but was quite impressed only minutes into the interview. Nick is a rather brilliant fellow. He uses science and statistics to gauge the effectiveness of his activism. He also has a very simple concept. In order to save the animals of this planet, people have to change. People will only change if they have a desire to do so. We must therefore approach them in way that appeals to them.

The best way for us to directly have a hand in sparing animals from torture and certain death is to lead a vegan lifestyle. It’s only common sense. The best way to indirectly have an impact is to spread the word of animal cruelty so that others will join the cause.

A priest would not stand on a street corner trying to convince pedestrians to become priests. If anything, he would just try to get them to attend a church service, after which, he would encourage them to come back. Urging the people on the street to become priests would probably be a wasted effort and would scare away the ones who may have been inclined to simply attend mass.

Veganism is a way of life and, by definition, it is a religion. For an individual to go from a rodeo-attending, fur-wearing, leather-loving omnivore to a vegan is a mighty big step. I’ve actually seen people leave the animal rights movement because a Mr. Vegan-or-else was harassing them. It makes me wonder just how many animals were saved by doing that! I would have to say, “None!” It is only common sense that it is counter productive.

Animal Rights Zone is a place where activists can go to share ideas and have discussions on how to save the sentient beings of this planet. I am always ready listen to new concepts and strategies because I know that I am not perfect. I don’t know it all and I never will. I will always have room to grow. Please however, take just a bit of my advice. Don’t spend time arguing with other activists. Utilize that energy attempting to enlighten others who can contribute to the cause.

I encourage you to check out the entire transcript of Nick Conney’s chat on Animal Rights Zone. Please join the Zone and be sure to send me a friend request while you are in there.

“. . . sometimes we need to put emphasis on the reasons that will actually motivate other people,not just the reasons that we ourselves find most compelling. It’s such a paradigm shift in terms of our activism, focusing on ‘What will motivate this other person to do what I want them to do and believe what I want them to believe?’ as opposed to ‘What do I believe?’” ~ Nick Cooney

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[Carolyn Bailey]

I really enjoyed this essay, Holise. 

Thank you for your very kind words!