Daily Archive

I was listening to the Coexisting With Nonhuman Animals podcast #74 and heard the following quote by David Martosko, speaking at the 2010 Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholder’s Summit.  The lecture was entitled, “Exposing Activists’ True Agenda – Will it Build Consumer Support?”

To put it in context– this excerpt is from 08:30-10:01 minutes within a 14:31 minute audio clip posted on the website Truffle Media Networks:  Ag Media You Can Use.  I highly recommend that you listen to the full audio clip.

In the quote, “they” are the animal rights advocates working at HSUS (The Humane Society of the United States.)  After David Martosko points out how much money goes into pension plans every year at HSUS, he points out what he thinks that really means to the animal producers in his audience…

“It should tell you that they’re in this for the long haul. These are people who plan to be doing what they’re doing long enough to retire with benefits. They’re not going away next year or the year after that, regardless of how much you want to accommodate them. They’re in this. This is their career. They don’t go do this for 3 years and then say, “Well, I’ll go somewhere else and I’ll sell socks for a living.” This is it for them.

And so you find yourself in an endless war. I agree fully with Wesley Smith on this. You’re in a war whether you want to be in one or not. And you’ll never fully pacify these guys. I don’t care– if there are pork producers in here– I don’t care if you want to give every pig in America an iPad, and daily rubdowns, and Wolfgang Puck catered lunches, and wide-screen TVs, and waterbeds to sleep on…it will not be enough.

Because the animal rights movement fundamentally believes that animals have legal rights…they deserve moral and legal rights. And, if I have any rights– correct me if I’m wrong– isn’t the top of the list the right to not be eaten? Um, so they believe that every animal on every farm that you guys have ever visited has those same rights. And that’s the number one right they’re fighting for.

‘Cause of all the animals we use– domestically and worldwide– the vast majority of them are food animals. Lab animals, circus animals, captive marine mammals: that scratches the surface.  98+ percent of all the animals that are used in the world for human benefit are animals we eat. So you guys are the top target of these guys. And you’ll never fully make them happy.”

The purpose of this blog post is simply to emphasize the central point that David Martosko expressed so perfectly:

“…the animal rights movement fundamentally believes that animals have legal rights…they deserve moral and legal rights.”

“…if I have any rights– correct me if I’m wrong– isn’t the top of the list the right to not be eaten?”

“…that’s the number one right they’re fighting for.”

“…you guys are the top target of these guys. And you’ll never fully make them happy.”

Yes, yes, and YES:

1. The animal rights movement believes that animals deserve moral and legal rights.
2. At the top of the list IS the right to not be eaten.
3. “Stakeholders” in animal agriculture will never make animal rights advocates happy because their business is killing animals.

Q:  How can animal exploiters make me happy?

A:  Stop the exploitation.  Stop killing animals.  It can be done.  It has been done.  Everyone is capable of change.