10/12/24 Animals Ask Us About Their Rights
Animal Friends Croatia announce a performance on International Animal Rights Day
December 14, 11am, Jelačić Square: activists with tied hands and taped mouths stand up for animal rights
December 10 is International Animal Rights Day which aims at raising awareness of animal rights and promoting compassion towards all living beings. The date is no coincidence – it overlaps with the International Human Rights Day, conveying a message that rights and freedoms should apply to animals as well.
On the International Animal Rights Day, Animal Friends Croatia announce a performance for Saturday, December 14, starting at 11am, to mark this important day for animals and all those supporting their rights. With their hands tied and mouths taped, carrying distressing photos and a large banner, activists will send a clear message in their fight for animal rights, pointing out the great injustice that animals experience daily. The group believe the performance will inspire passers by to think about ethical aspects of our relationship with animals.
Animal Friends Croatia remind that the animal right movement is based on the idea that animals are worthy on their own regardless of their value to humans. The belief is that animals are not our property that we can choose to use for food, clothing, entertainment, or experiments.
Animal Suffering is Immense
The group state that all animals and all beings are born with an innate need for love, warmth, play and friendship, as well as their own life purpose. Also, animals can feel pain and suffering, while being aware of what is happening to them. However, despite all this, the injustice we daily impart on animals surpasses all injustices done to humans, both in terms of intensity and sheer scale as it encompasses billions of beings we exploit, abuse, or kill every day, without any moral or legal justification or a real need. Mass animal exploitation and killing also comes to our own detriment on a global scale, however even this is not enough to stop the animal genocide.
“Ninety billion animals are ‘produced’ every year only to die a violent and bloody death, eventually becoming our food. We slaughter them in our yards with no supervision, we kill them from an ambush in their natural habitats, we poison and kill them in cruel experiments, we force them to pull extremely heavy logs for fun, we separate them from their mothers so that we can drink their milk, we lock them up for life in prisons called zoos, we abandon them and leave them to die of hunger and illness. While committing all these and other crimes against animals, we forget that their lives are just as important to them as ours are to us. It is important to stand up for them, as humans from the past have stood up for the rights of women, against slavery and for other oppressed groups,” stated Animal Friends Croatia.
Every Individual Can Help Animals
“Anyone of us can take small steps and with just a bit of effort do a lot for animals, thus defending their rights. Do not buy animals but adopt the abandoned ones, do not buy animal tested products, choose plant-based food, do not wear leather or fur, do not participate in hunting or entertainment industry involving animal exploitation. Every individual counts, every step towards more ethical living counts. Join in,” concluded Animal Friends Croatia.
Click here for the photo gallery from the performance.