A Decade of Bearing Witness For the Animals
From All-Creatures.org Animal Rights/Vegan Activist Strategies Articles Archive

FROM Jordi Casmitjana, JaneUnchained.com
March 2021

 

Bearing witness is about being present at conflicts where the truth of a situation requires people to be present, to hold power to account.... Collective witnessing is perhaps about being seen to be witnessing – seen by the animals, by the passers-by, and by other activists who support and validate the witnessing.

For several years, I was an undercover investigator on animal abuse cases, so I know well how it feels to be at ground zero. While documenting abuse, you see the animals. They clearly notice you. But, you are powerless to rescue those particular individuals. It’s tough. It is so difficult to bear the silent frustration and the guilt experienced at these events. It’s hard to shake off the shame of witnessing the cruelty our human species is capable of inflicting on other sentient beings. I guess this is why they call it bearing witness. Because it feels heavy on your soul.

Thankfully, we don’t need to carry this burden alone. When you bear witness with others, collectively and systematically, something powerful emerges. Something called the Animal Save Movement. Now, that movement enters its second decade.

Anita Krajnc said her intention, from the beginning, was to create a mass movement, and I think she has achieved that. In 2019 there were more than 4,000 vigils organized by 1,000 chapters in all six continents. “For the first five years we grew from one group to 35, and then the next five years we grew from 35 to 1,000.” This jump happened because of conscious organizing after the publicity generated by the court case where prosecutors charged Anita for having given water to some of the pigs....

 

Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE (PDF)

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