In our society, animals are abused and exploited to a degree that has never been reached before. May it be long distance animal transports, factory farming, assembly-line slaughterhouses or vivisection labs, animals are treated with ice-cold and institutionalized brutality as if they were nothing but mindless objects.

At the same time, the majority of the population does not want to support this cruelty any more. Unfortunately, people are ruled against their will by the influence of undemocratic capital forces and the international globalized economy.

Acting against it might seem useless, like the proverbial fight against windmills. Is it possible that we, as individuals, have a chance against the concentrated national power and economy?

Maybe it is not possible for a single person to reach these goals, but if we combine our strengths, we can be very powerful! All around the world, people organize themselves because they care about the treatment of animals and believe in the possibility of a better world, and because they want to campaign for it.

Austria, for example, has a very lively movement for the animals, the Animal Rights movement. Ongoing demos and campaigns are held in all major cities for the rights and wellbeing of animals, more than for any other matter - about 600 a year, almost 2 per day. Additionally, there are nationwide and international campaigns.

A lot of goals have been reached so far. In Austria, fur farms and wild animals in circuses are banned, animal experiments on great apes are forbidden. In 2005, animal activists managed to accomplish a ban on the trapping of songbirds and, from 2009 on, battery hen farming will be illegal.
On the other hand, almost all pigs and broiler chicken are kept in huge factory farms without any free run or fresh straw. Animal experiments and hunting are excluded from the Animal Welfare law and are practically outside any legal jurisdiction. Moreover, we know that animal owners often don't even stick with the already slack Animal Welfare law.

And since its introduction in 2005, this law has been repeatedly dismantled. It is now possible once again to have cats and dogs in pet shops, to exhibit wild song birds and to dehorn goats. Further attempts to weaken the law happen routinely, for example, the recent attempt to increase the amount of poultry allowed to be reared per squared metre by 30% for broiler chickens and a massive 50% for turkeys!

Now it's the right time to become active and join the movement. The more people we are, the faster we can reach more of our goals.

But political opponents also don't sleep. In the current climate of increased undermining of basic rights and over the top surveillance measures, a cartel of powerful individuals, incensed by progressive improvements to animal welfare brought about by legitimate protest, used their connections to encourage police to start a special commission to execute the massive 2007/2008 surveillance operation against the animal protection movement.

After the resulting 26 house raids and 104 day imprisonment of 10 campaigners, without any concrete evidence against them, it is high time to make a non-violent stand for human and animal rights.

Let's show the powers that be that we will not be intimidated by state terror!