Audio of talk here: https://archive.org/details/NickPendergrast Also see the link above for more information about the talk, which was recorded at the Animal Activists Forum: http://www.activistsforum.com/

1. Academic and Activist
Reflections on the Animal
Advocacy Movement
Nick Pendergrast
The Institute for Critical
Animal Studies (Oceania)

2. In Defence of Being Critical
• GaryYourofsky:
• ‘And please stop having meetings and conferences because you will only end up discussing
those meetings at the next conference before scheduling another conference to debate and
discuss the previous meetings before having another discussion to debate the meetings
scheduled for the next conference and so on’.
• tina cubberley (cited in Watkinson & O’Driscoll):
• ‘We need to do something, and this is something, so we should do that’.
• Dead Prez:
• ‘Theory – Action –Theory’.

3. PAWS
• Faunalytics:
• 84% of vegetarians and vegans resume eating meat.
• For animals and AR specifically = more likely to stay.
• How + why.
• Social support.

4. FirstTaste of Animal Activism
‘If you purchase pork, bacon
or ham – choose free-range’ • ‘But I eat meat’.
• ‘It’s okay, you can eat free-range’.
• Free range suppliers/butchers.
• Discussions amongst animal advocates vs general public.

5. Free Range Eggs
• Encourage businesses cage eggs – free range.
• Research on different conditions – alternatives in best possible light eg didn’t
mention the killing of male chicks in all egg production.
• ‘European countries have banned caged eggs and actually increased egg
production’.
• Local organic grocer – could supply businesses with organic eggs but would have to
“interfere” with the hens to increase productivity and meet demand eg change
lighting, feed.
• Suggested they could supply organic meat as well.

6. Mulesing
• Alternatives.
• Farmer: they don’t work in Australia.
• ‘We all want to eat our meat but then criticise
the people who produce it’.

7. Interview with an Australian Slaughterhouse
Worker
• Producing “Halal” meat, which was chilled and sent to the Middle East.
• Everyone focused on putting the “product” through.
• Every stage is about ‘turning life into a machine’.
• Starvation, fear, pain, injuries, illness, abuse, slaughter.
• Chilled meat in place of live export = one form of torture over another.
• ‘The messy business of regulating atrocities’ (Yates).
Nick Pendergrast ‘The Silence of the Lambs’.

8. ‘I Care About Animals, I’d Sign a Petition
Against Live Export’
0.006% of “Australian animals”
Pam Ahern ‘The Gift of Kindness’
• Same number of animals
killed overall and in
Indonesia specifically.
• Less animals to Indonesia,
more to Saudi Arabia
(further).
• Flyer: ‘I’m a meat eater
and I’m opposed to live
export’.

11. Writing a PhD on the Animal Movement

12. Lesson 1: Rights versus welfare?
Actually little effort vs a lot of effort
Petition/
pre-written Send to Change
Organisation Letter Phone Donate Buy Friends Lifestyle Other Totals
AA 7 0 7 3 0 3 0 20
HSUS 10 1 34 9 4 2 18 78
HSI 23 0 8 5 0 4 1 41
PETA 12 1 5 0 6 3 5 32
Totals 52 2 54 17 10 12 24 171
Major
Minor
The little effort paradigm (RM eg McCarthy and Zald).
<7%
3x veg
Avoid: factory farming, caged
eggs, fur, Canadian seafood,
wild animal industry.

13. Lesson 2: Primary Focus onVeganism = More
Grassroots
• Large organisations and veganism – can offer veganism amongst other
options in the “smorgasbord” (Francione, interview).
• Animal rights vegan activism departs from the little effort paradigm
(Gunther).
• Less consistent with claiming victories.
• Yates: each new ethical vegan = a little victory (but a harder pitch to a
predominantly non-vegan donor base).

14. Lesson 3:The Conditions are Ripe for Animal
RightsVegan Activism
Australian newspapers
The internet and alternative voices.

15. Lesson 4: Both Larger and Smaller Organisations
Limited inTheir Ability to PromoteVeganism
• Larger organisations = veganism promoted less often, in a weaker way eg
diet only (but bigger platform).
• Smaller organisations = stronger version of veganism more often but less
mainstream media coverage (less $, media focuses on only “both” – two
sides).

16. Lesson 5: More Intersectional = Less $$$
• Focus on one issue = ‘develop a larger base of supporters’ + more resources, funds and political allies
(Glasser).
• INCITE!Women of Color AgainstViolence offered a grant from the Ford Foundation.Taken away because
INCITE supported the Palestinian struggle against occupation (Smith).
• More causes = shrink the donor base = grassroots activism greater capacity to be intersectional.
• Right-wing/conservative = more animal consumption and more likely to return to animal consumption than
left-wing/liberal (Hodson & Earle).
• faunalytics.org
• vegansci.com

17. The Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS)
Oceania
Gary Francione
• Individuals create the demand
for animal products.
• Individuals becoming vegan =
reduce the demand.
Anthony Nocella (ICAS)
• Corporations create the
demand for animal products.
• Capitalism produces
inequalities = socio-economic
barriers to veganism.
ICAS = deeper understanding of intersectionality.

18. More From Me
• Institute for Critical Animal Studies (Oceania):
• Facebook: search ‘Institute for CriticalAnimal Studies, Oceania’
• Twitter: @icasoceania
• ProgressivePodcastAustralia.com
• My work: Google ‘nick pendergrast conversation’.
• nick@ara.org.au (PowerPoint with links, 4 pg version of thesis)