Open rescue
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Open rescue is a term for a form of direct action practiced by certain animal rights and animal welfare activists. The aim of open rescue is to rescue animals perceived to be in pain and suffering, generally and to give these animals veterinary treatment and humane living conditions while also documenting the living conditions at the place they were held. Open rescue puts the emphasis on the openness of their actions, as opposed to the traditional clandestine activities of animal rights-related direct actions, and as such the activists always act openly, upfront, without masks (except as required by health reasons) and publish their full identities. Open rescue is nonviolent towards humans and other animals, although some groups practice property damage.
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[edit] History
The open rescue method was largely developed by Animal Liberation Victoria (ALV) Rescue Team, based in Melbourne. Inspired by satyagraha, the method and philosophy used by Mahatma Gandhi in the struggle for independence for India, the ALV developed this method in the 1980s and has since the been conducting investigations and open rescue operations, actions which reportedly have been well-received by the public. At one point an Australian MP joined in the rescue operation of factory farmed piglets.[1]
In 1999, Patty Mark of the ALV presented this method of direct action at the United Poultry Concern's Direct Action for Animals Conference. Displaying the positive results of the open rescue actions in Australia and by comparing videos from an open rescue action and a cladenstine action, she managed to convince a number of people of the usefulness of open rescue both on the grounds of compassions for animals and on the grounds of the reception by the general public, opening for the open rescue method on the international arena. Soon after this, Compassionate Action for Animals (US) adopted the method, and other organisations followed.
Currently, openrescue.org, a network for organisations practising open rescue, lists 18 different open rescue organisations, with varying level of activity, in five different countries on three continents - Australia and New Zealand (Oceania), Austria, Germany, The Czech Republic and Sweden (Europe) and USA (North America).
[edit] Criminality
Some practitioners of open rescue claim to not be guilty of any crime, claiming to have acted in defense of others, especially if the rescued animals have not been kept in accordance with laws regulating animal husbandry. Similarly, others cite the disregard of the owner's violations of such laws as sufficient justification, and point out the hypocrisy of the strict enforcement of the law against open rescue activists.
Majja Carlsson of Räddningstjänsten The Rescue Service, a Swedish open rescue organisation, was one of four activists that rescued 120 hens in the largest open rescue operation to date. In her description of the action, she writes the following (translated from Swedish):
- Quite possibly legal ramifications will follow this action. Naturally, I realize that some will label this as a crime even though I disagree with them. It is sad that we are the ones considered criminals in this society, and not the egg industry which has in fact violated the Swedish Animal Protection Act for over fifteen years. That the law intended to protect the animals is widely ignored while crimes against the right of ownership are seen as serious offences.[2]
Similarly, Räddningstjänsten writes in a comment to the legal proceedings that followed the action (translated from Swedish) "We acted and saved 120 individuals from unnecessary suffering and certain premature death. [...] The real crimes are not committed by us, but by the animal industry."[3]
It is doubtful that any court has accepted this line of reasoning.
[edit] Arguments for open rescue
Open rescue "puts a face on animal liberation" [4]. By being open, proponents claim that they get a more positive response from the media and the general population, and that by not wearing masks they reduce the distance between themselves and the public, they become a normal everyday person whom the public can identify with and not an abstract masked "terrorist". Being open removes or tones down the militant edge of direct actions.
Open rescue proponents also claim that their method of operation is conducive to their compassion for the rescued animals. One of the things reportedly shown by the video comparison at the aforementioned United Poultry Concern's forum on Direct Actions was that the open rescue activist displayed more compassion and care for the animals compared to the clandestine activists (which is not to say that the clandestine activists did not display compassion and care). Whether this is due to that the operations are unmasked, that the operations are open or some other quality is still open for argument.
[edit] Criticism
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One can divide the criticism against open rescue into two general categories: Criticism against open rescue as a method of direct action, which often comes from other practitioners of direct action, and criticism of the use of direct action, which can come both from other animal rights activists and from outside the animal rights movements.
[edit] Criticism against open rescue as a method of direct action
Because open rescue virtually guarantees that the activists will be found and convicted due to the publication of their identities, open rescue can be construed as a more resource-demanding method compared to clandestine methods. Open rescue requires more money, as the resulting convictions following the actions means that fines have to be paid and damages have to be compensated for, and it also requires more manpower as the activists are more likely to be rendered incapable due to prison sentences. Hence it is argued that being open is an unnecessary risk to take as it is simply a waste of resources and people which could be used to rescue even more animals.
It is also argued that open rescue is not a reasonable alternative for everyone. Some activists are on probation, and being sentenced for another crime could mean that their previous sentences would be transformed to jail time. Some activists have or will have careers which require the lack of a criminal record, careers or dreams which would effectively be over if they used the open rescue method, and regardless for most professions and careers a criminal record - in particular an extensive one - will be a hindrance both in regards to getting employed and getting promotions.
[edit] Criticism of the use of direct action
Some who sympathise with the goal of animal rights consider direct actions to be counter-productive. While they may sympathise with the activists and what they wish to achieve, they think that the groups should abide the laws and by extension the democractic system that they live in. It is argued that the activists have a democratic and civic responsibility to operate within the confines of the law and that to do otherwise would be undemocratic, possibly even tyrannical. Others argue that direct actions are not well-received by either the public nor the authorities, and that by committing them the activists spend the political capital of the entire animal rights and animal welfare movements.
A common response from practitioners of all types of animal rights direct action to the criticism that the activists must abide by the law and the democratic system is that the argument suffers a fundamental flaw: We live in a democracy, but it is a democracy of man, for man, by man. The laws are written by humans for humans, making it an androcentric system which does not represent animals. If our system of governance is looked at from an interspecies perspective, it is something to be likened to apartheid rather than a full democracy, with humans taking the place of whites.
[edit] See also
- Animal rights
- Animal rights activism
- Animal welfare
- Civil disobedience
- Compassion Over Killing - an organisation which practices open rescue
- Ecotage
- Satyagraha
- Veganism
- Vegetarianism
[edit] External links
- openrescue.org - a network of open rescue organisations.
- OpenRescue.net - Open Rescues carried out by Animal Equality.
- rescate-abierto.org - Spanish Open Rescue Team (in Spanish).
