Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism

This is a truly remarkable book to read if you are interested in learning how to become an effective advocate for animals. I wasn't born a vegan, I chose to become one when I turned 58 this year. I was on a quest to become healthy. It was a long and winding road of self-education and research. I had to look at the whole picture - preventable diseases, economics, marketing, cultural and peer pressure to conform, politics, environmental devastation, starvation, antibiotic resistant bacterias and pandemics, nutrition, water and land use - and the enormous effect eating choices have on all of these issues. I watched films like "Forks Over Knives" and read books like "Eat for Health" and "The Starch Solution" which led me to books like "Natural Prozac", "The Omnivore's Dilemma", and "Vegan for Life".I began watching Youtube videos focused on undercover filming of factory farms. I was horrified by what I saw and heard, the blood, the screaming, the debeaking of chickens, the rape of cows, the sows confined to cages so small that they lived their lives lying on a concrete floor, bags of live male chicks being thrown out with the trash and conveyor belts full of live chicks being fed into a grinding machine, calves being pulled steaming out of their mother's vaginas and thrown on floors, then scooped up and dumped into a truck to be hauled to auction, acres of tiny plastic crates, each one containing a calf being raised for a few months before being slaughtered for veal, animals being skinned alive for leather and fur. I learned that "organic, free-range" was essentially meaningless when stamped on egg cartons and milk cartons. When I posted what I was seeing and learning on Facebook, NONE of my friends responded except two - one said he felt conflicted now, and one said he worked with some vegans and was sick of hearing about this, that eating animals was a way he felt connected to departed family and friends - for him, it was an issue of memories being more important than financing abuse and murder. It didn't matter to anyone that their food choices were irrational, misinformed, habits, costing people and animals their lives. It didn't matter to them that they were demanding other people do their killing for them, and the mental and emotional damage those workers also suffered. I kept the old friends but made new ones who were supportive of my values, who were also vegans, who worked in animal sanctuaries. I visited FB pages for people who are animal rights advocates. I visited the Animal Abolitionist site - people who totally turned me off with their intellectualizing, self-righteousness, nit-picking and egos. I was feeling frustrated, angry, irritable, hostile towards others. I live with a husband who consumes animals and wake up almost every day to the smell of burning flesh as he cooks his breakfast sausages. I identified completely with animals who were so desperate and suffering so much horrific abuse their entire lives that they went insane. I had all of this information, all of this valid research and statistics, all of these images and had no idea how to take effective action to guide others into realizing how their eating choices financed the suffering and murder of sentient beings who were just as aware and loving and capable of contributing priceless gifts to others as human animals were. What use could I make of this stuff? How could I deal with other people who simply seemed incapable of seeing the connections between what they ate and the quality of life on earth for other living beings?Then I came across this book. Reading it has given me the information and the contacts I needed in order to learn how to become an effective animal rights advocate. There are examples of the different methods used by people who work in this movement, contrasting styles, talking about controversies within the movement, specific steps to setting up tables to offer vegan foods, handing out pamphlets, speaking to groups, contacting politicians, writing letters to newspapers, magazines, getting press coverage. The message is always, you are here because you want to help the animals, stay focused on that, it is not about you, it is important to be respectful of others, for them to see you as approachable. Hostility and anger turn people off to the message. Violence is not an effective means to end violence. Speak from the heart, share your experience if others want to hear about it, be informed but don't let your inexperience stop you from getting started. Get involved. Build a support network. Join groups who practice your beliefs. Plug in, here's a list of contacts. Every chapter ends with a list of resources - websites, books, agencies, phone numbers.I can't be too generous in my praise for this book, it is worth more than its weight in gold.

Thoreau said "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root..." Mark Hawthorne has written a book to help activists in the many branches of animal rights to get closer to those roots, and to do so effectively.Mark's writings have been seen in numerous publications; now his hands-on experience is combined with wisdom from a veritable who's who of the animal rights movement to clearly answer the question: what can I do?From the shy animal lover to the flamboyant vegetarian, from the bookworm to the fearless animal liberator, this book offers tools and insights on how to accomplish your goals. Whether you want to take a bite out of cruel factory farming, teach compassion to your local fur store, rescue captive abused animals, or just help your family to eat healthier and more thoughtfully, this book delivers the goods."Striking at the Roots" details activities from letter writing to direct action, deals realistically with both potential benefits and consequences, and even gives lessons on what to expect from the police in various countries. It also provides a long list of relevant resources to learn and do even more.Sydney J. Harris has been quoted as saying, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." Animal cruelty is a problem we're all surrounded by, and one we cannot afford--in terms of morality, human health, air quality, water pollution, soil loss, germ resistance, tax subsidies, worker injuries, and common decency.While each of us may not be at the root of the problem, we all have hold of some of the branches, however tenuously. Mark Hawthorne's very user-friendly book can help us to make a difference for our fellow earthlings who can't speak our language or vote. "Striking at the Roots" offers many tools to bring out the animal in us -- and to do so effectively.

Jack London observed in Michael Brother of Jerry, his anti-animal cruelty novel that "Practically all of us will weep red tears and sweat bloody sweats ....But not one-tenth of one per cent of us will join any organization for the prevention of cruelty to animals ..... This is a weakness of our own human nature." Recognizing that animal cruelty is endemic, and cloaked often in secrecy, Mark Hawthorne outlines stratagems and proven antidotes to animal cruelty. Those who are uninformed of animal cruelties will become less so. And those uninitiated to activism and outreach will gain increased confidence. All this to help animals who sadly are unable to mobilize on their own behalf. And how can you not stand up and cheer for those who do?

This is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to help animals. Mark Hawthorne's new book covers every tool in the toolbox for anyone who wants to be effective in stopping animal cruelty. From letter writing to leafleting, from corporate campaigning to using the media, this book demonstrates that everybody can find a way to speak out in defense of beings who cannot speak for themselves. You can be shy, you can be scared, and you can still be effective. Inspiring examples from people who are changing attitudes, laws, and conditions under which animals are suffering are included in every chapter.Bruce Friedrich from Peta wrote the foreword, and leaders from virtually every animal protection organization in the country are featured in the book. Even the appendices are interesting (Appendix A: Recent Milestones for Animals is particularly heartening.)I cannot recommend this book strongly enough.

Great!

Thank you Mark Hawthorne, this book has helped me focus on how I can be proactive instead of feeling helpless & anxious.

Loved this book! I have been wanting to do more for animals but had no idea where to start, or what options that are out there. This book provides tons of ideas, from very quick ways to help from home to more involved creative ideas. Full of resources and very inspirational stories and people. Thank you for this wonderful book.

Book is in great condition. Book, itself, is my new bible ... FILLED with EXCELLENT information that can be used by one and all animal advocates out there! HIGHLY recommend book!!! Highly recommend seller, too! Thanks kindly!!!

Quizás por ser el primer libro de activismo animal que leo, me ha resultado de una gran ayuda para poder desarrollar mi conocimiento y conocerme mejor a mi misma. Lo recomiendo para todo aquel que, sabiendo de antemano inglés, este interesado en la protección de los derechos de los animales, como seres que merecen una vida digna y respetada.