ABSTRACT
The contemporary French and US animal rights movements owe their existence to the animal protection and vegetarian movements that emerged in both countries in the nineteenth century. The slaughter of farmed animals took place in the streets of Paris until 1810, when the government and animal protectionists created abattoirs to house this practice. During the world wars, US vegetarian and animal protection societies suffered. Vegetarian societies grew in the United States in the 1800s and early 1900s, especially with the newfound interest in natural diets. The contemporary animal rights movement coalesced in the 1970s, when academic philosophers developed ethical arguments for animal rights. French activists employed direct action against animal testing even before US activists. The second wave of French animal rights activism emerged in September 1991 with the creation of the animal rights journal Cahiers Antispcistes Lyonnais. The radical flank of the animal rights movement also emerged in the early 1980s.
