ABSTRACT
Animal Rights has become something of a cause célèbre in recent years, partly due to the publicity given to the activities of the more zealous protagonists. Attacks on the homes of suspected vivisectionists, the fire-bombing and window-breaking of stores selling animal furs, attempts to contaminate hamburger supplies, and a range of other illegal actions, although publicly condemned, reflect the intensity with which some believe that society is engaged in atrocities against non-human animals. In the United States, members of animal liberation and environmental groups stage sabotage raids on ranches, seeking ‘the elimination of the livestock industry’ (Associated Press 1989:B7), and ‘sabbing’, as members of the British hunt sabotage movement refer to their actions, can today attract as many followers as the hunts against which they set themselves. Even the consumption of any meat at all can arouse strong feelings amongst abstainers, not least recent converts:
‘At first I was really fanatical. I used to go around everyone when they were eating and saying “You shouldn’t eat meat; it’s wrong”, and at my parents at home I would take away all the meat out of the fridge and throw it over the wall in the yard. They got a bit fed up because it was proving quite expensive. But I’ve calmed down now.’
