New to Animal Rights Activism? Start Here!
If you’ve made it here, it means you’re thinking about the ways humans’ choices affect animals—such as when we decide whether or not to pay people to kill them for food, clothing, and other products—and you’re wondering what you can do to help them.
Join SOS to get e-mails and texts about animal rights, victories, actions you can take to make a difference, and more! We’ll also update you on training courses, virtual meetups with other students, and brainstorming calls in which you can make your voice heard.
Follow SOS on Instagram (@petaxsos) to stay up to date on all the latest ways to take action and see how other students are leading the charge.
What is animal rights?
As animal rights activists, we know that animals are not ours to use:
They’re not ours to experiment on. Right now, millions of animals—including mice, rats, rabbits, monkeys, cats, and dogs—are locked inside barren cages in laboratories around the country, where they are subjected to painful and deadly experiments, ache with loneliness, and long to be free.
They’re not ours to eat. On today’s farms, animals used for food are crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds or stuffed into wire cages, metal crates, or other torturous devices. They’ll never get to raise their families, root around in the soil, build nests, or do anything else that’s natural and important to them. Most will never get to feel the sun on their backs or breathe fresh air until the day they’re loaded onto trucks headed for the slaughterhouse.
They’re not ours to wear. Each bit of leather, wool, fur, down, cashmere, mohair, silk, or other animal-derived material was stolen from its original owner.
They’re not ours to use for entertainment. Animals belong with their family in their natural habitat, not on a chain or confined to a circus cage or marine park tank, forced to perform tricks for audiences.
And they’re not ours to abuse in any other way.
Join the millions of young people who are raising their voices against speciesism and cruelty to animals—and for compassion for all.
You can save nearly 200 animals a year just by eating vegan, so order a free anti-speciesism starter pack, which includes our “Guide to Going Vegan,” stickers, and other materials.
Need Help With Your Homework or a School Project?
We’ve got your back! Check out PETA’s issues pages—and e-mail us at [email protected] if you need one-on-one help or an interview for your project.