What is the abolitionist approach to animal rights?

We abolitionists believe that every sentient being, whether human or nonhuman, has the right not to be used as a mere thing—not to be treated like a piece of property. Accordingly, we believe that we ought to abolish the use of nonhuman animals by humans. This means that we must collectively and individually stop using animals for food, clothing, entertainment, medical experimentation, and all other such purposes. According to abolitionism, we must eradicate nonhuman animals’ status as pieces of legal property and we must respect animals as individuals.

But the abolitionist approach to animal rights is not only a view about what goals to pursue. It is also a view about how we must seek the realization of those goals. We believe not only that we must abolish humans’ use of animals, but also that we must pursue this goal in a specific way. According to abolitionism:

  1. We must never engage in, accept, or endorse the regulation or reform of animal use, both because the reform of animal use is damaging to abolitionist goals and because the reform of animal use is immoral on independent grounds. We must always reject regulation in all of its forms.
  2. We must never engage in, accept, or endorse violence when pursuing the abolition of animal use, both because violence is damaging to abolitionist goals and because violence is immoral on independent grounds. We must always reject violence in all of its forms.
  3. Veganism (the personal practice of not using animals for food, clothing, entertainment, etc.) is the minimum standard for one’s involvement in the animal rights movement. Abolitionist veganism is the application of abolitionist theory to one’s life.
  4. Our advocacy resources must be allocated to creative, nonviolent abolitionist-vegan education and to caring for rescued nonhuman animals.

For much more information on abolitionism, visit abolitionistapproach.com/about/.