A summary of the Animal Rights Conference 2017

The Animal Agriculture Alliance released a report today detailing observations from the Animal Rights National Conference, held August 3-6 in Alexandria, Virginia. The event was hosted by the Farm Animal Rights Movement and sponsored by Compassion Over Killing, Mercy for Animals, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and The Humane League, along with other animal rights activist groups. Activists in attendance were encouraged to be as extreme as necessary to advance their goals. "Breaking the law can often be a good thing to do," said Zach Groff, Animal Liberation Collective. Groff spoke about the 'nature of confrontational activism' such as "protests, open rescues from farms without permission, vigils…" According to Groff, "this is a type of activism that can often upset people, it can rile people up." A major focus of this year's conference was on pressuring restaurant, retail and foodservice brands to adopt certain policies, with the end goal of forcing them to stop selling animal products. In one session on "Engaging Institutions," a speaker from The Humane League said the group had "basically harassed" one national sandwich chain with a campaign. When an audience member commented about 'humane' policies not being as good as complete liberation, Krista Hiddema, Mercy for Animals (Canada), hinted at no animal products being sold as the end goal, stating "we're never going away." Hiddema also stated that "we [the animal rights movement] are winning against the largest organizations in the world," and "they are terrified of us."