"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress
can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
- Mahatma Gandhi

Do You Care About Animals?

We like to think of ourselves as animal-loving people, but think for a moment what often happens to animals in our society:

Many types of animals are used in unnecessary laboratory experiments, where they suffer physical and/or psychological pain before they are "sacrificed". Other "lab animals" are used in the testing of toxic chemicals, cosmetics, and almost every kind of household product.

Animals suffer for "entertainment purposes" in rodeos and circuses, during the production of motion pictures, and in poorly designed zoos and aquariums. Animals are subject to dismemberment and death in staged dogfights and cockfights.  

Most farm animals are raised intensively on "factory farms", where their short lives are spent in unnatural, confined quarters. These animals are slaughtered and butchered in assembly-line fashion. Then they are eaten.

Entire species are endangered or already extinct. Elephants are killed for their ivory and the great whales are killed for pet food, among other things. Seals are slaughtered so their parts can be sold for profit to many countries. Also, the habitat or homes of wild animals are routinely destroyed by housing developments, shopping malls, and highways. The destruction of natural areas results in the death of animals.

Even companion animals, our pets, suffer abuse. Allowing pets to overpopulate leads to starvation on the streets or euthanasia in the pound. Unwanted or lost animals may end up on the laboratory table.

The pattern that emerges is one of systematic, massive violence, affecting billions of animals per year in the USA alone. It is tragic that the violence we do to animals is taken for granted. It goes unnoticed. While we teach our children to be kind to animals, we are all socialized to accept a society that routinely exploits animals in every imaginable way. We are conditioned to think of animals as mere commodities or resources. Or we simply discount them, saying, "Oh, don't worry; they're just animals!"

But animals are sentient creatures. Like humans, they have feelings and can suffer. It seems likely, too, that many animals have a conscious experience of their lives. Consequently, we need to respect animals and to be compassionate in our dealings with them. Like us, animals deserve fair treatment."To help life reach full development, the good person
is a friend of all living things."  - Albert Schweitzer

If you would like to request our membership form, or if you have any questions or comments for our group, please call (716) 648-6423. Please note that we are located in the Buffalo/Western New York State area. We have received a lot of membership requests from New York City/Eastern NY, and other areas. If you're having difficulty trying to find an animal rights group near you, please let us know and we'll try to help.

Thank you for visiting the Animal Advocates of WNY web site!