Animal Rights Movement
“Never
judge a dog's pedigree by the kind of books he does not chew.” Anonymous.
Introduction
and Scope
The
animal rights movement has been a controversial social issue affecting culture
for many decades. The debate exists due
to the inhumane treatment that has been documented in relation to animal
experimentation, hunting as a sport, medical testing and ethical issues
surrounding the dispute with animal rights. While there are many other issues
related to animal rights, the majority of animal rights activists are battling
the topics outlined above. There have also been substantial discussions
relative to whether or not animals actually have rights in a world that is
dominated by humans.
The
following pathfinder will bring to the forefront, many of the issues that are
important to the animal rights movement. The directed audience would range from
an academic level for students who desire to research the topic, to animal
lovers of all walks of life, as well as anyone wishing to discover more
information about this divisive topic.
The library that was accessed for this pathfinder project is the Largo
Public Library (LPL), located in
Call
Numbers
The
following call numbers are beneficial when searching for information through
the Library of Congress Classification scheme or in the LPL catalog – in person
or online:
·
Library
of Congress Classification Subheading K: -
Ø K3615-3622
– Veterinary Laws – Prevention of cruelty to animals
Ø KB3123-3123.5
– Animal Protection
·
Library
of Congress Classification Subheading H: -
Ø HV4701-4890.9
– Protection of Animals, Animal Rights
·
Largo
Public Library Call Numbers –
Ø 179.1 –
179.3 – Adult, non-fiction
Ø REF.031 –
Reference
Ø REF.423 –
Reference
Ø A CASS 818
AMORY – Audio cassettes
Browsing
Areas
The
following topics are useful when searching for information about animal rights,
especially in the LPL library catalog, or through the Library of Congress
Classification headings:
·
Animal Rights
·
Animal Rights Movement
·
Animal Welfare
·
Animal Rescue
·
Animal Experimentation
·
Animal Rights Activists
·
Animal
Protection
Books
There
are countless books relative to animal rights and the animal rights movement
topics. The following books were found
in the adult, non-fiction section of the LPL, within the call numbers of 179.1
– 179.3.
·
Bender, D. & Leone, B. (Eds.). (1996). Animal rights: Opposing viewpoints.
This book asks questions related to animal rights, animal
experimentation, other uses of animals and what issues need to be resolved
within the animal rights movement.
·
Coats, C.D. (1989). Old
MacDonald’s factory farm.
This book outlines factory farming of animals such as pigs, cows,
calves, cattle and chickens and the processing of farm animals within the
factories. It depicts a gruesome
detailed analysis of the processes and offers suggestions for different methods
and the non-use of animals.
·
Cohen, C. & Regan, T. (2001). The animal rights debate. Lanham, MD: Rownan
& Littlefield Publishers, Inc. [179.3 COHEN]. ISBN: 0-8476-9662-6.
This book offers a two-sided theoretical perspective surrounding
animal rights and animal experimentation and the positive aspects animal
testing has on the medical industry.
·
Donovan, J. & Adams, C.J. (Eds.). (1996). Beyond animal rights.
This book contains a feminist theory and point of view of animal
rights where topics such as “justice, caring and animal liberation” are
discussed.
·
Finsen, L. & Finsen, S. (1994). The animal rights movement in
This book offers the philosophical viewpoint of the animal rights
movement, how it started, where it has gone – politically – and the direction
animal rights has taken in the 1990’s.
·
Guither, H.D.
(1998). Animal rights: History and scope
of a radical social movement.
This book depicts the historical outline of the animal rights
movement as a social philosophy, discusses animal rights activists, animal
production and the expansion of the animal rights movement. It also discusses the Animal Rights Bill and
other legal topics.
·
Nash, R.F. (1989). The rights of nature: A history of
environmental ethics.
This book contains information on the subject of the animal rights
movement in the form of “ethical extension and radical environmentalism”,
“ideological origins of American environmentalism”, “liberating nature” and
“Abolitionism, Environmentalism and the limits of American liberalism” (Nash).
·
Williams, E.E. & DeMello, M. (2007). Why animals matter: The case for animal
protection.
This book outlines several areas of animal rights in relation to
the production and manufacturing of things such as furs, meat, and other
commodities, as well as the hunting and animal experimentation industries.
Databases
The
following databases can be accessed through the LPL website, with a user id and
login.
·
Academic OneFile (2008) powered by InfoTrac.
Academic OneFile contains over 300,000
articles and journals, some of which can be retrieved on the subject of animal
rights when using animal rights in the search topic option.
·
Gale
Virtual Reference Library (2008) from Gale Cengage
Learning.
This database contains thousands of scholarly articles that can be
retrieved when using animal rights in the search topic.
·
Popular
Magazines (2008) from Gale Cengage Learning.
This database contains articles and columns from all participating
magazine publishers that are subscribed to the service. When searching for animal rights in the
search topic, there are over 1,000 articles retrieved.
·
This database can also be utilized to retrieve scholastic journals
and articles on the topic of animal rights and welfare.
Government
Sources
Government
websites are beneficial sources of information and are usually reliable
reference sources. The following
government websites contain information related to animals, animal rights and
animal welfare.
·
Office of Citizen Services and
Communications –
The USA.gov website offers a search portal for consumers containing
government related articles, news, laws and other pertinent information about
animal rights.
·
United States Department of
Agriculture –
This government website provides articles and news relating to
animal health and welfare.
·
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -
This website offers a different perspective on the conservation of
wildlife and nature and hosts government reports and 
newsletters
that contain information about animal welfare.
·
This webpage contains links to organizations that Peter Singer has
worked for and is associated with. He is
also a renowned animal activist.
Periodicals & Magazines
The
following online periodicals and magazines contain articles that are located
directly within the websites. With the
click of a link any article can be accessed relating to animal rights, laws and
the protection of animals.
·
Animal Network: Animals’
Agenda –
This website contains news and articles related to animal rights
and the treatment of animals on an international level. Each of the links provided contains an
article related to animal rights advocacy.
·
Lewis
& Clark College: Animal Law Review -
This website contains articles relating to animal laws and animal
issues. It is a student run website.
·
Animals
Australia, Inc.: Animals Today –
This online magazine was created by the Animals Australia group,
which is an advocacy group that fights cruelty against animals within the
country of
Audio
books can be a useful and beneficial tool because they are functional and can
be listened to in a variety of different ways.
The audio book selected below was found in the audio cassettes section
of the library and had a light, humorous yet heartfelt poignancy related to
animal rights.
·
Amory, C. (1997). Ranch of
dreams.
This audio book comprised of 2 cassettes is a biographical account
of the hundreds of animals that Cleveland Amory has saved and brought to his
ranch in
Internet
Sources
The Internet offers the most
extensive resources on the subject of animal rights. The following websites are just a small
portion of those found relating to animal rights and the animal rights
movement, but also provides useful background information and current
information relating to the welfare of animals.
·
Encyclopedia Britannica online –
This online
version of the encyclopedia provides a solid background about the history of
animal rights, laws pertaining to animals and current animal rights
achievements. It also provides links to
related websites and areas of further reading on the topic.
This
website contains a thorough history of the animal rights movement, by David
Walls, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at
·
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals -
This
organization has been around for quite some time and offers stories, news
releases, forums and several other links to information about animal rights and
the protection of animals.
·
The Moral Status of Animals -
This
website contains legal and ethical information about animal rights and welfare,
by Lawrence Hinman, Professor of Philosophy from the
This
website contains an abundance of information about the history of animal rights
and delivers a historical timeline from the 1700’s, the Renaissance and similar
eras. There are also links to
periodicals and pertinent information related to animal rights and the
evolution of the movement.
·
The American Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals -
Similar to
other organizations, this website contains information for the protection of
animals and offers links to helpful advice, forums, poison control and other
associations.
·
The Humane Society of the United States –
The Humane
Society is also an animal rights website that offers information about the
cruelty to animals and how to participate, find information about the subject
and donate time or money to the cause.
·
The Progressive Animal Welfare Society -
This
organization offers assistance to animals through people and delivers a
plentiful amount of information on pet adoptions, animal cruelty, legislative
campaigns, newsletters and more.
·
People Against Treating Humans Worse than Animals,
International -
This
website is an organization that conflicts with the opinions of most other
animal rights groups and suggests that most of them are politically
charged. It offers a different insight
into the animal rights movement.
Encyclopedias
The
following encyclopedias are effective tools in providing direction to further
browsing areas and also provide a thorough source directive regarding animal
rights and the animal rights movement, including related information on the
topic.
·
Bekoff, M. & Meaney,
This encyclopedia contains a historical account of the animal
rights movement, along with related terms surrounding animal rights.
·
Chernow, B.A.
& Vallasi, G.A. (Eds.). (1993). The
This encyclopedia contains a descriptive commentary of animal rights
and other terminology related to the subject.
·
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2007).
Animal rights.
This encyclopedia contains a definition of animal rights and the
animal rights movement and provides further areas of study to pursue with
correlated terms or areas that might prove beneficial to the subject.
Dictionaries
Dictionaries
are helpful when searching for terms that may be unfamiliar to the user. They can also facilitate the production of a
more precise understanding of words or terms, leading to further investigation
into interests. The following
dictionaries were found in the reference section of the LPL:
·
Flexner, S.B. (Ed.). (1993). Random
House unabridged dictionary (2nd ed.).
This dictionary contains a definition of animal rights and refers
to the animal rights movement, which will help to classify the terms as a
primer to the subject.
·
Simpson, J.A. & Weiner, E.S.C. (Eds.). (1989). The
This dictionary also contains a definition for animal rights and
refers to the animal rights movement, just in slightly different verbiage.
©Pathfinder created and designed by Jill Jazwierski
School
of Library and Information Science
University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
Please send comments and questions to: jjazwier@mail.usf.edu
Created Fall 2008