Reprinted with permission, Cat Fanciers' Almanac, March 1996
The World Wide Web, a subset of the Internet, has quite a few interesting places to visit. But how do you find them? If you're using Netscape, a shareware Internet browser, you can click your mouse pointer on the "Search" button and select one of the search engines there.
Excuse me? Select one of the WHAT?
A search engine, functionally speaking, is a way to search the WWW for topics that interest you. Technically speaking, a search engine is a computer dedicated to searching the WWW for new Web Pages and indexing them in its database. When you provide a keyword (usually a topic like "animal rights") for the search engine to search on, it looks into its database and provides a list of all the Web pages it has found with that keyword embedded. Most search engine databases index between 50,000 and 250,000 Web pages. We'll get into search engines in more detail next month, but for now digest the concepts here and use them to visit some interesting Web sites.
One of the major issues on the Internet these days is animal rights and animal welfare, be it with regards to domestic animals, animals used for food or animals found in the wild. The number of World Wide Web sites that dispense data about this important subject is staggering. In an effort to draw this weighty issue to your attention we offer the following URLs and details of areas dedicated to animal rights. Some of the information on web sites below is taken from the Yahoo search engine, and is copyrighted by them.
Advance is a calendar of ongoing and continuous AR events, as well as a listing of regular monthly AR meetings and events.
Animal Rights and Animal Welfare is an essay on the animal rights movement
Animal Rights Electronic Network (AREN) is an organization dedicated to providing mechanisms for the exchange of ideas and information pertaining to the issues of animal rights/welfare.
Animal Rights Foundation of Florida is an organization "seeking to motivate humans to provide animals with the fundamental rights due them as co-inhabitors of our planet".
Animal Liberation Frontline (ALF) Information Service is "intended to provide an on-line information service dedicated to the activities of the animal liberation movement, both in Europe, the USA and world-wide".
Animal Rights believes "that nonhuman animals deserve to live according to their own natures, free from harm, abuse and exploitation". This site contains many links, e.g. "Pet" Theft and Animal Dealers, 10 Things You Can Do to Make Life Better for Animals
Animal Rights FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is where one will find links to information on Animals and Mortality, Practical Issues, Leather, Fur and Fashion, Animals for Entertainment, Companion Animals, AR Activism and AR Information and Organizations.
Animal Rights, Research & Welfare includes extensive links to every aspect of animal rights.
Animal Rights Resource supplies news about main stream animal rights groups and provides links to many subjects, including FAQS and Reference Materials; Essays, Guides, Journals and Leaflets; AARS Hosted Homepages; Direct Action and Extracts from Newsgroups. This site also offers AR Opponents Speak and AR Supporters Speak.
Feminists for Animal Rights is a "national educational organization dedicated to ending all forms of abuse against women and animals".
Green Eggs Report is a list of links to animal rights URLs spotted in the Usenet newsgroup talk.politics.animals
Manitoba Animal Rights Coalition, in Canada, has a website that explains about their non-profit group that is "dedicated to extending consideration to all other animals and to the environment in which we all live".Persons browsing this site are encouraged to "Avoid events involving animals as 'entertainment' like circuses, rodeos, and zoos/aquaria." and to "Join an animal rights organisation today!"
Manual of Animal Rights is a compendium of information regarding people getting food from animals, using animals as amusement and a discussion on the wide debate about animal rights. Of particular interest is the Pets and Strays section (http://envirolink.org/arrs/arman/arman_s5.html) which discusses the issue of euthanasia, neutering and spaying and pet animals being deprived of a natural life.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Online! (PeTA) offers a site where your can "find information about PeTA; their investigations, educational campaigns and advocacy efforts". They offer facts sheets and articles on a wide range of animal issues, investigative reports, campaign updates, news releases, and action alerts. They even include an online shopping guide.
Quotations by Celebrities of the Past and Present is a compiled list of quotes by people in the limelight, e.g. Christian Barnard, Kim Basinger, Jacques Cousteau, Martina Navratilova, Paul McCartney, etc.
Rocky Mouuntain Animal Defense Homepage has links to sites about animal rights, vegetarian info and animal rights groups on Email.
San Diego Animal Advocates (SDAA) is dedicated to animal protection and began working in San Diego in 1984 as a chapter of PeTA and adopted their present name in 1988 when PeTA's chapter system terminated.
The Animal Defense Network (AND) brings together "the many different faces and ideas of the animal rights/animal defense movement into one comprehensive listing".
The Animal's Agenda, a bimonthly magazine on animal rights, has a homepage where you will find links to "articles, interviews, and opinion from the leaders in the struggle for animal rights".
The Fund for Animals is the home of Cleveland Amory's organization for Animal rights. Dedicated "to speak for those who can't," The Fund is now, and always has been, one of the largest and most active organizations dedicated to the cause of animals throughout the world.
U.S. Wildlife and Animals Rights Resources includes links to many AR organizations, and also to Project Breed Sav-a-Pet Online. S.A.B.R.E.(Somali/Abyssinian Breed Rescue and Education) is also included as a link from this site.
World Guide to Animal Rights is a listing, broken down by world location, of animal rights related organizations, sanctuaries, hospitals, animal rights campaigns, etc.
World Wide Web Virtual Library, Animal Health, Well-being, and Rights is a site for links to both general sites and specialized sites. The general sites include Animal Rights related links, and the specialized sites are broken down by species. The links under cats are to the Cat Fanciers' Homepage, the rec.pets.cats FAQs and to the Feline Leukemia Virus FAQ.
WWW AR Sites provides links to many sites for: Animal Rights Organizations and Sites; Other Animal Sites; Wolf Sites; Medicine and Science; Marine Life Sites and more. .
The College Animal Rights Publication is an independent student publication at the University of Cornell and includes links to articles from their publication
Crazy Critters is an essay on how our younger generation have been targeted and used by many radical animal rights groups.
MIT Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (SETA) has as it's purpose "to foster awareness of various issues related to enimal rights and welfare, ....:.
Quebec Alliance for Students for Animal Rights (QUASAR) developed this page as part of a project about social conscience.
SOAR (Student Organization for Animal Rights), an organization at the University of Minnesota, has a websitethat explains that they are "working to educate people about animal rights". Their activities are focused on the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and links will provide one with information on upcoming events in that area.
The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights bills itself as "An international association of veterinarians taking veterinary medicine beyond adequate veterinary care". The AVAR "is actively seeking reformation of the way society treats all nonhumans and an increase in environmental awaresness, as well".
Jone's Pages of Animal Ethical Issues and Veterinary Medecine tells us "Knowledge is Power - Educate Yourself!" and includes links to many AR sites, categorized under headings such as Animal Legislation, Animal Rights, etc.
Veterinary and Animal Organizations has a long list of links to Science and Research Organizations, Animal Welfare and Rights Organizations, and Commercial Animal Organizations.
PetNet is a network of animal shelters, and has links to its member organizations, such as Marin Humane Society, and Peninsula Humane Society homepages.
A long list of Humane Societies provides results of a Yahoo search for "Humane Societies" and links to the homepages ofthose online, e.g. Marin Humane Society, Peninsula Humane Society, San Franscisco SPCA, etc. And also includes links to rescue organizations.
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) does not have it's own site, however this link is to a site where information about it can be found. Included is May/1995 literature with facts about cats.
Shelter and Allbreed Rescue Organizations is a list of on-line shelter and rescue organizations, listed by counrty/state and with links to each of them, and to breed rescue organizations. Many SPCA's are included here
The Rhetoric of Apology in Animal Rights: Some Points to Consider is a speech made by Karen Davis, PhD at the National Pet Alliance International Animal Rights Symposium in June of 1994.
Are Owned Cats Causing our Overpopulation Crisis? is an adaptation by Karen Johnson of the October 1994 Almanac article on this subject.
A Report on Trap/Alter/Release Programs is a report on this excellent program supported by National Pet Alliance.
Beside the World Wide Web sites on animal activism, there are also a number of Usenet newsgroups dedicated to this subject. Subscribe to : talk.politics.animals etc.
Email mailing lists re animals rights issues also exist, and are extremely active and the participants are very zealous in their beliefs and can be downright nasty at times. Subscription and content information is:
Animal-Rights - email subscription. Description: An unmoderated list for the discussion of Animal Rights. Peter Singer's book "Animal Liberation" proposes a "New Ethics for our Treatment of Animals" and many activist groups, such as PeTA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), regard this as the "Bible of the Animal Rights movement". Animal Rights, Animal Liberation, Consumer Product Testing, Cruelty-free products, Vivasection/Dissection, Medical Testing, Animals in Laboratoriesm, Research using Animals, Hunting, etc.
AR-Alerts - email subsription. Description: The list has been set up to facilitate communication among Animal Rights groups, activists, and other interested individuals. Its primary purpose is to enable rapid dissemination of important information about Animal Rights issues. This venue, it is hoped, will serve as an important adjunct to periodicals such as Animals Agenda and Animals Voice.
AR-Talk - email subscription. Description: An unmoderated list for the discussion of Animal Rights Consumers and researches alike are facing new questions concerning the human animals' treatment of the rest of the animal kingdom.
AR-News - email subscription. Description: A public news wire for items relating to Animal Rights and Welfare. Appropriate postings to AR-News include: posting a news item, requesting information on some event, or responding to a request for information. Discussions on AR-News will NOT be allowed and we ask that any commentary either be taken to AR-Talk or to private E-mail.
America Online and CompuServe have animal activists areas as well. AOL's BBS is monitored and gives people the opportunity to see some very good and civil debate on the animal rights issues. It is accessed through Clubs and Interests - Pet Care Forum - Animals and Society, where you will find a very diverse group of regular posters including vehement animal rights activists, people involved in shelters and research, and even the publisher of "Animal People" who contributes data and valuable statistics regularly.
CompuServe has several forums where discussion on animal rights takes place - the Earth Forum, TW Pets and Pets Two. For the Earth Forum, type GO EARTH, then choose Messages, then Browse, then enter the Animal Rights section. For TWpets (Time Warner), type TWPETS, then choose Messages, then Browse, and scroll down to Human Issues. For PetsTwo(currently undergoing re-organization), type GO PETSTWO, again choose Messages, then Browse, and enter the section on Animal Issues
As you can see, the world of animal activisim is alive and well on the Internet, and we should be counter-acting their presence with positive activity of our own.
LOGOUT: Internet for Cats - Written by author Judy Heim (and her cat Bubbles), this site is a delightful and wonderfully witty area based on Judy's recently published book Internet For Cats.
[ Back to List of Articles ]> ]