Topics

Freedom as the basis

• A coherent vision on animal rightsThe questions, the solution and what animal rights mean in practice.
• Animal rights and the theory behind itWhy freedom is the best foundation for animal rights.
• Freedom as a basic rightAll the reasons why animals have a right to freedom.
• Why care about animal rights?They are not yet laid down in law. Most people stay silent.
• The right to freedom worked outWhat changes if we take animal rights seriously.
• The central meaning of freedomFreedom is basic for humans and animals.
• Freedom, not similarityWhy Animal Freedom does not follow Singer, Regan or Francione.
• Intrinsic valueWhy it is not a good basis for animal rights.
• Why do animals have rights?Intrinsic value explained with a dairy farm as an example.
• Quality of lifeThe freedom to behave naturally is part of it.

Freedom, respect and limits

• RespectThe balance between involvement and the right distance.
• Love without possessionWhat raising a hare teaches about freedom and trust.
• The paradox of freedomFreedom does not exist without limits. What that means for animals.
• Inner freedomHow inner growth leads to a better relationship with animals.
• Withholding freedomIs it wrong to keep animals in enclosed areas?
• Taking away freedom or killing?Killing is the most extreme form of taking away freedom.
• Owning animalsWhen an animal must be taken away from its owner.
• DependencyWhy it is wrong to keep an animal dependent.
• Do animals have obligations?Whoever withholds freedom from an animal has a duty of care.

Rights in practice and in law

• Animal rights in practiceWhat farming would look like with a legal right to freedom.
• Animal rights in courtWhy animal rights cannot yet be invoked in court.
• Enforced by lawShould angling or pigeon racing be banned?
• Drawing the lineWhy producers who abuse animals must be restrained.
• Integrity, well-being and rightsWhere the differences lie in practice.
• Why welfare is not enoughThe example of the pig's tail.
• Needs and interestsMost farm animals die young, out of sight.
• What is animal abuse?A definition with doubtful and clear examples.
• Who is responsible?The ladder of responsibility from farmer to Europe.

Declarations and terms

• Animal Rights ProclamationThe declaration of La Ligue Internationale des Droits de l'Animal.
• Modern slavesHow the use of animals affects people in poorer countries.
• Are animals and humans united?Compassion means allowing yourself to feel what animals go through.
• A clear conscienceWhat to do and what not to do if you want to live conscientiously.
• GlossaryLove, respect and other terms around animal rights.

The abuses

• Our opinion on factory farmingWhy it must end: the myth that it feeds the world.
• The worst abusesWhat goes wrong most for each species, from pigs to fish.
• Five objectionsAnimal welfare, public health, world food, climate and nature.
• The five freedomsWhat they are and what the law says.
• How old does a cow get?Natural lifespan and age at slaughter.
• The figuresHow many animals are slaughtered worldwide, per year and per second.
• ImagesThe hidden suffering of farm animals in pictures.
• The life of a chickenFrom egg to slaughter, with photos.
• Anja, Manja and TanjaGerard van Westerloo follows three broiler chickens for 38 days.
• Feather peckingWhy chickens peck each other bare.
• Boredom and addictionWhat a life in a bare shed does to an animal.
• Stunning cattleHow animals are stunned before slaughter.
• A day in a slaughterhouseFabian Gort on the day that slowly made him a vegan.

How it came about and why it continues

• How did factory farming come about?And how do we get rid of it?
• History of intensive livestock farmingHow Dutch farming turned into factory farming.
• How the love disappearedModern livestock farming treats animals as things.
• Why does it take so long?Eleven causes why farm animal welfare improves so slowly.
• So little supportWhy few people care about animals in factory farms.
• Are farmers to blame?Which part of the responsibility lies with the farmers.
• Talking past each otherWhat goes wrong in the communication between farmers and others.
• Advertising strategiesThe language used to attract the consumer.
• McDonald'sPlant-based ingredients could make it more sustainable.
• An attractive alternativeDo not wait for the industry: choose an alternative that suits you.
• Reward animal-friendly behaviourMake it financially attractive.
• Fair pricesKoos van Zomeren: the extra money must go to animal welfare.
• Economy and animal interestsAn open letter by a free-range pig farmer.
• Farmer, consumer and biotechnologyConsumers have lost their trust in food producers.

Health and disease

• Illness in humansMarianne Thieme on factory farming and public health.
• A danger to public healthAmmonia from pig farming threatens air quality.
• Dioxin in our foodWhere it comes from and what the risks are.
• Swine feverDutch pig farmers after the epidemic of 1997.
• Foot-and-mouth diseaseHealthy sheep slaughtered for nothing.

Trade and export of animal products

The first two articles are about international trade in general. The others look at the export from the Netherlands, where Animal Freedom started. The arguments apply to every exporting country.

• International meat tradeWhy trade across borders increases animal suffering.
• Exporting meat and dairyIf you buy animal products from another country, you contribute to suffering you do not see.
• Close the bordersFarmers produce for export. Overproduction has many drawbacks.
• Crossing ethical boundariesWhen livestock farming shifted from food to export for profit.
• Taxpayers' moneyJan Werts: who pays for livestock farming?
• VaccinationThe wish to export harms animal welfare.
• Mega stablesAnimal factories in the Dutch countryside.
• Too many pigsToo much manure and much animal suffering in the Netherlands.
• Farms and farm animals in the NetherlandsThe figures of Statistics Netherlands.
• Transport of animalsA report on deadly international transport.

Fur, dog meat and animal testing

• Real or fake fur?How not to buy real fur by accident.
• Fur-bearing animalsLocking up an animal for its fur is a crime.
• Mink farmingNo reason to defend it is valid.
• Eating dogsAnimal abuse or a cultural gap?
• Dogs and cats for foodThe slaughter of dogs and cats for food, fur or other purposes.
• Animal testingMice and rats die unnecessarily in laboratories.
• Do not underestimate animal sufferingMarc Bracke on the ethical assessment of animal experiments.

Eating meat and fish

• Eating meatThe consequences for animals, environment, climate and world food.
• Is it right to eat animals?Where meat from factory farming crosses a moral boundary.
• Ethical barometerWhich ways of keeping and eating animals are acceptable.
• Is fish an alternative?What eating fish means for animals, people and the environment.
• Ritual slaughterEid al-Adha and an animal-friendly alternative.
• Slaughter without stunningIs it necessary according to Islamic law?
• Killing young animalsYoung animals also have the right to grow old in freedom.
• Why meat is desirableWhy people like eating meat. Will they keep doing it?
• Misleading information for childrenHow children are steered towards eating meat online.
• Your ecological footprintThe effect of your behaviour on the space you leave for others.
• Agriculture and a healthy dietFruit and vegetables are the key to eating well.

Veganism

• Why don't more people go vegan?A psychological model of how we decide what to eat.
• A vegan futureNico Hylkema expects most of us to become vegetarian.
• Animal-friendly dairy?Where the products of vegetarians come from.
• Is veganism extreme?Titus Rivas on what vegans actually ask.
• Pioneers of animal emancipationEthical vegans live the ideals in their own lives.
• Veganism and CalvinismDo vegans suffer from their principles, or do they live freely?

Nutrients

• IronDo vegetarians have a greater risk of iron deficiency?
• Vitamin B12How much you need and which options there are.
• ProteinLess animal protein, more plant protein.

Recipes

• A healthy vegetarian dietGood protein combinations. Eating healthily is not difficult.
• Vegetarian barbecueTen recipes without meat.
• Vegetarian Christmas dinner, part 1Nine recipes, with vegan tips.
• Vegetarian Christmas dinner, part 2Five recipes, with vegan tips.
• Vegetarian Christmas dinner, part 3From artichoke to stuffed pears.

Nature and the rights of wild animals

• Ecological corridorsWhy wild animals need to be able to migrate, also across borders.
• Rights for wild animalsShould wild animals have the same rights as cattle?
• Moral beingsAre animals and non-living nature moral beings?
• The honeybeeCan the honeybee survive in nature?
• Protected animalsThe Netherlands as a hub for the trade in protected animals.

Bycatch and bird flu

• Bycatch of whales and dolphinsThe biggest threat to dolphins, porpoises and whales.
• Bird fluWild birds are blamed for the spread of disease, but often become its victims.

How to recognise a fallacy

• Fallacies that lead to animal sufferingHow to recognise them and respond calmly.
• Types of fallaciesThe kinds of arguments used to defend animal abuse.
• Untruths that cause sufferingOld "truths" that justify the use of animals.
• Too seriouslyPeople who stand up for animals also use fallacies.
• Debate topicsQuestions and arguments for school and university.

More fallacies about bullfighting, hunting and the circus: Animals for entertainment.

Fallacies per topic

• Factory farmingA response to each fallacy.
• For eating meatResponses to someone who defends eating meat.
• Against eating meatVegetarian arguments you had better not use.
• Animal experimentsAn example of a response you can give.
• Ignoring animal rightsWhy those reasons are not valid.
• The myth of milk and animal researchWhy they are not essential for human health.

Getting a pet?

• Is keeping pets justified?The consequences for yourself and for the animal.
• Why a pet?Every reason has consequences you may not expect.
• The drawbacks for youTime, costs, microchipping and the environment.
• The drawbacks for the dogWhat the dog itself misses out on.
• ConclusionThink carefully before you get a pet.
• Bad reasonsSome reasons for keeping pets are just not right.
• A pet for a child?Are pets tools in the education of children?

Dogs: history and breeding

• From wolf to dogHow the wolf became a companion animal.
• Modern dogsHow humans created hundreds of breeds.
• Irresponsible breedingChoosing a dog for its looks led to unnatural deformities.
• The pet industryHow money is made from our love of animals.

Care and problems

• A rabbit as a petIs there enough space for it to live?
• ReptilesLittle attention is paid to reptile suffering.
• The goldfish bowlWhy a goldfish needs more than a bowl.
• A disposal feeA proposal to pay for animal shelters.
• Abandoned petsIn the Netherlands abandoned cats and rabbits may be shot.
• Animals as therapyWho is the better for it?
• Bonsai KittenA bad joke on the internet: do not be fooled.

At home, in the shop and in politics

• What you can do for animalsAbove all what you can stop doing, in the shop and at home.
• What you can do to stop factory farmingTen things you can do as a voter, customer or neighbour.
• Take your principles seriouslyWhoever takes the Golden Rule seriously cannot sidestep the question of eating meat.
• Writing lettersHints for letters to newspapers that get published.
• PoliticiansThey have to take their moral responsibility.
• An effective movementWhy principles such as freedom work better in the long run.

Motivation

• What's in it for you?Inner freedom, a clear conscience, health and money.
• The fun of helping animalsWhat helping animals gives you.
• The four phases of an idealistThe phases you go through when you work for animals.
• For young peopleQuestions on animal rights with short answers, for school too.

Without violence

• Refraining from violenceYoung people especially risk losing patience with the slow pace of change.
• The escalation ladderHow aggression grows step by step. How you can avoid it.
• Animal Freedom and the ALFSimilar ideas, a different method.
• Animal crusaders are not terroristsProfessor Dirk Boon on why people stand up for animals.
• Activism and terrorTitus Rivas on the murder of Pim Fortuyn.

Our vision

• Problems, explanations and solutionsWhy people who do not want animals to suffer still cause it.
• One-linersOur standpoints in short statements, each with an explanation.
• More opinionColumns by experts, activists and scientists.
• Dialectics and animalsHow thesis, antithesis and synthesis give animals a place of equal worth.

Attitude and behaviour

• Causes of animal-unfriendly behaviourBeliefs, values, knowledge and interests.
• IndifferenceWhy so few people change their behaviour towards animals.
• Emotional involvementHow to keep compassion, reason and feeling focused on a solution.
• Letting go of attachmentThe double attitude of animal lovers and anglers.
• Children and animalsChildren get their picture of animals from adults and advertisers.
• Underestimating animal sufferingTitus Rivas on existential anxiety as a source.
• Blaming the victimTitus Rivas: speciesism makes people blame animals.
• Equal consideration for animalsA letter by Sara Nemati for World Vegetarian Day.
• The status of animalsA speech by a professor of animal testing issues.
• Lack of enforcementProfessor Dirk Boon on a Dutch animal law that was never enforced.
• Sex with animalsFantasy is free, but an animal cannot consent.

Consciousness and feelings of animals

• Do animals have a consciousness?Titus Rivas gives examples of conscious behaviour.
• Consciousness in animalsTamara Kreimerman on looking an animal in the eye.
• CommunicationTitus Rivas: animals have much to tell.
• Affection in the animal kingdomCan an animal feel something like love?
• EthologyWhere does man end and animal begin?
• Do animals feel pain?A Dutch researcher doubts it.
• Are humans superior?Titus Rivas on ability versus worth.
• Communicating with animalsMieke Ruijzendaal on thoughts as powers.

Philosophy and religion

• Gary FrancioneAn interview from 2002: animals as property.
• Tom ReganAn interview about his book Empty Cages.
• Paul CliteurDarwin, animals and rights.
• Erich FrommThe Sane Society applied to animals.
• Eugen DrewermannFear leads to violence, also towards animals.
• The soulGod, man and animal joined, according to Neale Donald Walsch.
• Spirituality and engagementTitus Rivas: personal happiness makes room for commitment to animals.
• Jewish theologyThe prescriptions about how to deal with animals.
• Islam and animalsTitus Rivas on Islam and the treatment of animals.

Tests

• Compare your opinionsDo you view animals the way Animal Freedom does?
• The right to freedomEighteen questions: what changes when animals get the right to freedom?
• How engaged are you?13 statements about what you do, not what you think.
• What does your food mean?Twenty questions about food and animals.
• From meat eater to veganCompare your views on the use of animals.
• Life in factory farmingDo you know how animals are kept?
• Do you eat healthily?Check if you get enough nutrients, with or without animal products.
• How do you deal with animals?Not every form of attention is an expression of love.
• Which pet suits you?What you can offer an animal and what it would miss.
• Getting a dog?Your reasons, the time, the money and what it means for the dog itself.
• Which religion suits you?22 questions about life, death and animals.

Games

• Which fallacy is this?Can you spot the false argument?
• Who said it?Real and fake quotes about animals.

All tests and games

Animal Freedom

• Our objectivesWhat Animal Freedom wants to achieve for animals.
• BackgroundPeople who work together to make others aware of animal rights.
• Bert StoopThe moment the webmaster understood what freedom means to an animal.
• Interview with Bert StoopElke Doelman interviews the webmaster.
• TranslatorsThe people who helped translate the articles.
• Animal rights in your own languageArticles introduced in 22 languages.
• Privacy policyHow Animal Freedom respects your privacy.

People who stand up for animals

• Personal storiesAll stories of people who work for animals.
• The Passion ProjectWhat passion has to do with animals.
• Titus RivasRespect for every living being, whatever the species.
• Anna van BeekIn her volunteer work she always starts with animals.
• FredHe started a website against animal suffering.
• Hermine Ingen Housz-MenaldaA deep solidarity with nature.
• Mirjam KenterShe likes to communicate with horses.
• Ingrid HofstedeAn animal is not a thing or a means to an end.
• Jozefina KlaassenShe is very fond of her dogs.
• Lidia AlonsoRespect for all animals.
• LuchiHis inner path to becoming a fruitarian.
• Maaike MoulijnCan you raise children as vegetarians?
• Frans KlaverA magnetizer who senses the feelings of animals.
• Marijke SantenA member of the Dutch Fish Protection Society.
• Mies van Oosten-PoortmanIn memoriam: she helped improve the lives of poultry.
• Paul WatsonA hunted whale made him a shepherd for whales.
• Rens HuismanHe used to be a heavy meat-eater.
• Wendy VerhezenShe stands up for fish and birds along the waterfront.

Contact and search

• ContactOur e-mail address.
• SearchSearch Animal Freedom and other sites about animals.