Bill Bradley's promotion of equal rights and opportunity
for all Americans has emphasized issues such as race and healthcare. I
suggest that he now broaden his scope by highlighting another relevant
facet of his campaign -- his "pro-animal position." The American
public's concerns over the "humaneness" of healthcare, pharmaceuticals,
food production, transportation, and commercial development are at an
all time high. Likewise, opposition to "pro-environment" or "pro-animal"
positions, on the mistaken assumption of their disregard for human
well-being or their economic folly, has proportionally increased. It
seems only appropriate that Mr. Bradley address voters on both sides of
the political spectrum with regard to specific, prominent issues such as
genetically engineered foods, the meat industry, old growth and
rainforest preservation, animal neglect and abuse, endangered species,
and, particularly, in the wake of Mr. Gore's heavily pressured reversal
of his LD50 promotion, animal testing in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical
industries.
As increasing numbers of Americans from diverse
professional and personal backgrounds observe, the relation between
humans' treatment of animals closely coincides with our treatment of
fellow humans. Domestic, sexual, and, indeed, school-based violence is
increasingly traced to unrestrained, practiced disrespect and violence
toward animals. Meat industry workers' as well as animals' health and
welfare are disregarded in the push for faster production. Chemical
testing has been conducted so extensively as to provide us with more
than enough, and most often irrelevant, information on "human" toxicity
levels -- at the cost of innumerable animals. Public health information
is frequently amended to correct misinformation gained from animal
trials; for instance, our now mistaken views on the relationship between
dietary cholesterol and cardiac health had been informed by animal
trials relying on rabbits and chickens, two creatures whose habitats do
not include access to or need for dairy- or poultry-based foods and
therefore who simply cannot tolerate dietary cholesterol from such
sources. Pet stores and laboratory testing sites alike often rely on the
illegal and torturous stolen animal market for their "products," in
addition to the standard inhumane, financially motivated breeding
compounds. And so forth.
Animal issues are a currently unaddressed concern for
the 2000 elections. American consumers and voters are questioning where
their food, cosmetics, and medicine are coming from -- and why. We are
also questioning the financial and ethical costs of how we as Americans
clothe, feed, medicate, and transport ourselves. Human progress cannot
truly assert itself as such without careful consideration of the lives
it utilizes, disregards, or diminishes in its wake -- human or non-,
American or non-. Mr. Bradley's dedication to eradicating civil hatred
and violence from the American vernacular is an inspiring model of what
the country's leadership and overall legislation could become; the
addition of non-human animals and other environmental issues to his
platform will satisfy all voters concerned about their health and safety
-- and that of their families, their nation, and their planet -- as we
head into a new millennium.
Editor's note: What better way to show Mr. Bradley how
many Americans really are concerned about animals than by printing out
this article, indicate that you agree with it, sign your name, and
include your address on it, and putting it in an envelope addressed to
him (snail mail address below). If every Animal Rights Online
subscribers were to do this, he would have pile of over ______ staring
him right in the face. It would give him something to think about,
something he could not ignore!! Go one step further, and print out
additional couple of copies and ask a family member, friend, co-worker
to send one as well. What an opportunity this is to make animal rights a
campaign issue!
Bill Bradley for President, Inc.
395 Pleasant Valley Way
West Orange, NJ 07052
Go on to Therapy Dog
Wisdom - Kris Butler
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