How should socialists respond to the politics of the animal rights movement?
David Coen looks at some of the issues. A course in dog psychology is offered by Harvard University. The global pet industry is huge – from gourmet foods to jewellery to day-care, and growing. Some canines may be having a ‘dog’s life’ but counselling and support are now available. Other animals do not have it quite so good. But there are large and influential campaigns on a range of issues from hunting and factory farming to whaling. And these are beginning to represent themselves politically. In December, two animal rights activists were elected to the Dutch Parliament and they were present in London recently for the launch of Animals Count – an animal rights party. One of the most determined and arguably successful animal rights activities of recent years is the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) campaign which prevented Cambridge University and Huntingdon Life Sciences from opening a primate research lab at the university. The campaign led New Labour to bring in specific provisio
