AR2008 REPORT
 |
More than 900 participants and visitors from throughout the U.S. and six other countries attended the Animal Rights 2008 National Conference, August 14-18, in Alexandria, VA (a suburb of our nation's capital). This includes more than 150 exhibit visitors who responded to local advertising. An extraordinary 97 speakers from 60 groups presented in 120 sessions, including plenaries, workshops, raps, and campaign reports. Nearly 90 organizations exhibited their literature and merchandise. More than 50 videos of animal abuse and protective actions were screened, including several premieres. |
Please visit our extensive Photo Gallery containing special sections of attendees, events, exhibits, and presenters.
Highlights
- Plenary panels on our movement's progress and prospects, turning compassion into action, different paths to animal liberation, and voices from other movements
- Keynote addresses by Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson & Mad Cowboy Howard Lyman
- Workshops on problems & issues, organizing, and remedies
- Rap sessions on controversial issues facing our movement
- Eyewitness reports on the Sea Shepherd's whale and seal wars
- Celebrity Animal Advocate Award to vegan activist Heather Mills
- U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame Award to Paul Shapiro
- The Henry Spira Grassroots Activist Awards to Joe Espinosa and Matt Kelly
- The Young Animal Activist Award to Meili Swanson
- Post-conference activities included hands-on training in public speaking, interviewing, and negotiating, vegan nutrition Q&A, lobbying, and demos raising awareness about HLS and global warming
Award Winners
|
Vegan animal rights campaigner Heather Mills received the Celebrity Animal Rights Activist Award. She was largely responsible for banning dog and cat fur imports by the European Union and brought massive exposure to the cruelty of a British pig breeding operation. Heather is also a major campaigner against landmines. |
|
Compassion Over Killing founder Paul Shapiro was elected to the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame. Paul founded COK in 1995, while still in high school, and grew the organization into a national force for farmed animals. In 2005, he joined the Humane Society of the United States as Director of Factory Farm Campaigns and helped create HSUS's first-ever guide to vegetarian (vegan) eating. He is currently promoting California's Proposition 2 requiring that animals raised for food be able to spread their wings and turn around, which virtually eliminates caging. |
|
Joe Espinosa of Illinois and Matt Kelly of Massachusetts received the prestigious Henry Spira Grassroots Animal Activist Award. Joe Espinosa was recognized for handing out over 140,000 Vegan Outreach booklets to students on 60 college campuses since 2000. Previously, he conducted tabling, leafleting, and demonstrations at the University of Illinois since 1995. |
|
Matt Kelly has purchased billboards, taken a live turkey to schools, worked with local radio stations, started animal rights groups at local colleges, and rescued, transported, and placed animals in western Massachusetts. |
|
14-year-old Meili Swanson was honored with the Young Animal Activist Award co-sponsored by In Defense of Animals. For nearly three years, she has been promoting animal rights in her school and through the local group Georgia Animal Rights and Protection. |
Find more at: http://www.arconference.org/report.htm