HOW TO BE AN ANIMAL ACTIVIST

Choose your issues
The most important role of local animal rights groups and contacts is to set up and run campaigns in their area. You should have two or three campaigns running at the same time as different campaigns require different approaches and the views and priorities of group members will differ.
You only have to look around you to notice how widespread animal abuse is. Animals are abused, overworked and killed for all sorts of reasons. They are not regarded as conscious individuals by most people in our society, but as disposable items which can be turned into food (think about all the meat and other slaughterhouse products which are eaten every day), clothing (wool, leather, silk, etc.), research tools and objects for amusement (pets, animals in circuses). The only reason that so much animal cruelty is happening today is because people who care do not know what they can do about it! There are countless things that you can do to campaign against cruelty, from simply handing out leaflets to organising a national demonstration. Whatever your skills and confidence, there is bound to be a way of campaigning that suits you and fits in with your lifestyle.
As you learn more about animal rights issues, start choosing the ones that mean the most to you. Animal abuse. is so widespread you cannot possibly address all at the same time.
Become familiar with the people and facilities in your area. As you compile facts, resources, and other materials, set up a filing system to keep your information organized. File important or useful newspaper clippings according to the issues they concern. Keep the names and addresses of officials, good veterinarians, shelters and wildlife rescue services by your telephone for easy reference. Scan your local newspaper for stories involving animal issues. Save those that contain useful information. You may want to refer to the articles or contact the reporters at a later date.
Divide your issues into soft targets and hard targets. A soft target is something that is usually an isolated shop that is selling birds illegally or a single event like a political meeting where a politician is going to release a bird or a circus that has come into the area or an aquarium in a public place. If sustained campaigning is done with enough concentrated force, these can be stopped easily. Start your group with soft targets. Each victory makes the group confident of tackling more widespread problems that will require more time and effort. Then as your group’s reputation builds up go for harder targets which involve the removal of cruelty on a sustained basis. The list of issues has been given above. As you achieve each goal, make sure that it is publicised so that you reach a point when people will come to you with information about cruelty cases – and your reputation is such that one call or visit is enough to stop the perpetrator.
There are two types of campaigns: getting something stopped (like a municipal zoo which has starving common animals in it) and getting something started (like a police helpline). Again, there are two levels of campaigns: a local campaign (for stopping sewage being thrown in the local river or planting more fruit trees for the birds) and a national campaign (writing to the censor board about violence in a film and going to court about it or stopping dissection in state schools or stopping transportation of cattle by the railways).
Remember , once you start a campaign , you cannot abandon it or lose the battle. If you do that, your opponents will perpetuate it, people will get used to the idea of you as a loser. In fact you will have contributed to increasing animal suffering. Set an ambitious but achievable goal, plan escalating levels of action, and be prepared to stick with it until you win. By using a well-thought-out strategy and an escalating level of activity, you may be able to do anything from shutting down a pet store to stopping a research project which abuses animals.
Steps to be taken
Your first step is to thoroughly research your opponents. Make a list of their strengths and weaknesses. Where are they most vulnerable? What arguments will they use to defend their position? A laboratory research project may already be jeopardized due to inadequate funding or inability to produce results. Your public exposure of their problems could be enough to tip the scales.
Think about the information you gather. What do you hope to achieve? Decide exactly what your demands are: What do you want your target to do? Know what the alternatives are (to the research that your target is doing, or to the way animals are housed in the zoo, etc.).
If you have got a good target, start developing your strategy. Begin by designing a timetable for your campaign. Then establish short-range goals. For example, if your long-range goal would be to close down the illegal sale of meat in unlicenced butchershops, first get a letter to the editor on the subject printed in a local newspaper. Remember cruelty to animals is last on people’s priorities until they are completely sensitised. They are far more concerned about their own health and well being. Your angle could then be focussed on the disease spread by the open sale of meat.Your next goal might be to get another community group to support your cause. Then from there, the police as the laws have been broken. Then a municipal officer. Then, the legal process.
Prepare for counter arguments. What claims will your opponents make to defend their actions? How will you refute them?
Decide whose support you really need to win; do not just say “the public.” Which part of the public? Which groups or individuals in particular? Consider how to reach them. Whose support can you count on from the beginning? How will you work with those people? And see how you will win over or neutralize supporters of the opposition.
What are the different ways you can lobby?
– Public education
- speaking at every available forum, schools and colleges. Winning teachers and other respected, members of the community to your cause by explaining the facts of the campaign to them
– Letter writing: not just to the papers but to every influential community leader including your MLAs and MPs
– Leaflets distributed to the public
– Interviews, press releases and press conferences
– Rallies, demonstrations, marches
– Having questions tabled in the local assembly or Parliament.
You may be able to accomplish your goals with a low-level effort, such as a letter-writing campaign — not all campaigns require demonstrations or rallies. Take the time to consider what is going to make your campaign a success. The more planning time you give yourself, the better chance you have of winning your cause.
Here are some general strategies to follow
Try to communicate with your opponent. Write to the head of the company or organization, politely state your grievance and ask for action. Give them time to respond, but set a deadline so that you are not kept dangling forever. It is always possible that your opponent is unaware of abuse, and there may be room to negotiate a change. Regardless, if you do not go to the source first, your credibility will be impaired. For instance a school which keeps animals is breaking the law. The first step would be to write to the Principal/Owner and inform him of the law and ask them to surrender the animals to people with good homes or to an animal shelter. Give him a week to do it.
Document your communications. Keep copies of letters and a written record of telephone calls.
Before you go public, try to get some expert opinion to back you up. Such statements lend credibility to your campaign and make it easier to convince both the public and government officials. Approach lawyers, veterinarians, doctors, or anyone else who has the experience and credentials to be considered an expert on the issue. Inform them of the situation and ask them to give you a written statement criticizing your target and recommending alternatives.
Produce some basic campaign literature first: a background/history sheet, an alternatives sheet, a page of expert opinions, and a short leaflet that lists your demands and tells people what they can do to help. These provide essential factual information for the public and the media.
Arrange a meeting with the government officials concerned with the issue. Clarify the facts about the issue and the changes you are proposing and try to get their support. Write letters to local government officials, representatives, and the head of the organization you are targeting. State the problem, your demands or alternatives, and specify what you want the official to do.
Arrange to meet personally with as many elected officials as possible. Try to enlist their support.
Write to news editors of local papers and to related trade journals to try to interest them in doing a story on the issue.
Educate your community. Set up tables and hand out leaflets to publicize the issue. Write letters to the editor. Run an advertisement in the newspaper if your budget allows.
Try to get support from other national and local groups. Contact resident welfare associations, women oriented organizations, Rotary/Lions clubs, political clubs and ask for their support.
Go to court but only is your case data is fully prepared. One loss and the whole movement is in jeopardy.
If at all you need to demonstrate publicly by holding a rally, keep in mind the following points:
To plan it, you need to answer these questions:
• What do you want your opponent or target to do? What are your demands?
• What do you want the public to do or learn ?
• Will you need a permit from the police or local administration?
• What type of visual aids (posters, banners) will you use?
• What type of leaflets will you hand out?
Make sure your leaflet lists your demands and what the public can do to help.
The chances for media coverage are better if you can stage the event during work hours on weekdays. During the weekend you may get a better turnout of demonstrators, but news coverage is less predictable. Although a demonstration is almost always worthwhile, you will be less in the public eye without media coverage. Do not overlook holidays. They are generally light news days and a nice public interest story may be appealing to the media.
Notify the media — radio, TV, and newspapers with a telephone call and news release at least one day before
you hold the demonstration, and be on site at least one-half hour before starting time. Be sure to have visited the site beforehand so you have an idea of how to set things up. Keep your group together, and remind them (quietly) to hold their signs up so that they can be clearly seen and photographed.
Write down the names and telephone numbers of the people who attended the demonstration, so you can contact them for future actions. If you have got media coverage, assign one person to tape each television station that was present at your event so you may begin a library of media coverage. Do not forget to pick up the newspaper the next day for print media coverage.
Speaking to schools and other groups
Speaking in schools is important work. Young people are often more able to relate to new ideas and opinions than adults. Do not forget that today’s teenagers are tomorrow’s parents, employers and teachers. Teenagers are surrounded by exciting, fashionable images. You need to bear this in mind if you want to grab their attention and hold it long enough to get your message through. It is no good simply reciting a list of facts and figures, you need to make the subject ‘come alive’, or your young audience will switch off. You need to promote animal rights issues as important, sensible and modern.
Preparation is essential - work out the objective of the talk. Is it about animal rights in general, bloodsports,
responsible pet care, veganism/vegetarianism? The chances are that the teacher you contact in order to arrange the talk will have specific ideas about the subject matter, because they will want to relate your talk to the current subjects the class are studying. Make certain you know what the teacher’s requirements are.
Work out the essential message which your audience should be left with, eg., ‘there are lots of arguments against eating meat and it is easier than you thought to give it up.’ Or “ Animals are the reason why you are alive and in their wellbeing lies yours” or “ the better an animal is looked after, the richer the country becomes.”
Once you are concentrating fully on this, list the points you want to make. Arrange these points under general headings, for example; animal rights – why is it necessary to protect them, how one can help animals on their own………..
Work out how you are going to structure your talk. Which issue should come first? How will you explain each issue as you go along? How will you motivate your audience to take action? How will you use visual aids to back up what you are saying. Can you make use of an overhead projector, slides or a video?
If you know any teenagers, read your talk out to them and ask them for their honest opinion. Check that your talk is the right length. Speak slowly and time yourself. Fifteen minutes is a good length of time to aim for. The teacher will probably advise you on the expected length of the talk.
During your talk, you will need to make sure that your audience completely understands what you are saying or you will be wasting your time. Assume that your audience has no prior knowledge of animal cruelty, but do not patronise them by talking to them as if they are stupid.
After you have finished talking, it is important to open up the discussion by asking your audience if they have any questions. In every audience there is always at least one person determined to try and make you look stupid. Teenagers can be experts at this! Assume that there will be such a character in your audience. Consider all the possible questions which they could come up with. What we suggest is that you and your friend write down a list of these questions, then consider each one in turn and come up with a short, smart answer to it. The way you talk is as important as what you actually say. Remember that you are giving the talk because you have strong views about animal rights and you want your audience to be influenced by your views. Do not speak in a flat monotone, use your voice to express your feelings of concern, anger, humour and encouragement.
Eye contact is essential. If you read your talk word for word from pages of notes, you will appear intimidating or amateur. It is best to memorise your talk beforehand and then take cue cards along with you on the day, on which you have written a summary of each argument. Arrange them in order. Glance at your first card to refresh your memory, talk about the topic, then move on to the next card and its topic. Continue until the end of your talk. When you finish speaking and come to invite questions from your audience, treat each question seriously and thank each person who asks a question. If you ridicule a question or refuse to answer it, you will appear aloof and smug and the audience will lose their respect for you.
If you follow these points, your school talk will be a success.
Remember, if you want a lot of people at your rallies and demonstrations, you cannot ignore the schools and colleges. So, when running a campaign, be sure to visit them all.
You can also address the public to highlight the issue or your cause. The idea of speaking before a group may terrify you, but one day you will need to speak publicly to help animals. Your first step in preparing a speech is to understand the nature of the people you will be speaking to. Try to determine the age, sex, religion, occupation, and political affiliation of the group. How much do they already know about your topic? Do you share any beliefs or experiences with them? You also need to consider how you want your speech to affect your audience. What do you want them to feel, think, or do after they have heard your speech?
Do not be afraid of “alienating” people by talking about vegetarianism or abolishing sacrifices. If you do not introduce them to new ideas, who will? How you speak is as important as what you say. A shrill, aggressive demeanour will alienate people; a calm voice and friendly manner will encourage them to think twice about those new ideas.
Before you begin writing your speech, make a list of two to five main points you want to make. Write out each point in one or two sentences. Do not try to make more than five points.
You are more likely to persuade your audience if you do not speak in generalities. If necessary, do some research to find some specific examples that will illustrate your points. Statistics are boring if you overuse them, but are good for making comparisons. People are more likely to retain information if it is new, relevant, and presented by vivid comparison and contrast.
Your speech will be most effective if you plan your opening and closing statements and key transitions down to the last word. Organize the speech logically with a beginning, middle and end. In other words, tell them what you are going to tell them and tell them what you have told them.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Establish your credibility by briefly stating your qualifications and experience, or have someone introduce you this way.
2. Open with an attention-getting fact, rhetorical question (making sure you know what the answer will be), quotation (to support your message), or relevant anecdote.
3. You may challenge your audience, but make sure you do not sound hostile.
4. Keep it short. Your speech should take less than 20 minutes.
5. Tell the audience what the problem is, what your proposed solution is, and what actions they can take to help bring about the solution.
6. Do not just trail off at the end. Finish with an appeal for action and get out.
Visual aids can help you make your point if the subject matter is complex, dry, or unfamiliar. Make sure they reinforce your point of view and make abstract ideas concrete. Slides, flip charts, and typeset boards all have advantages in certain situations.
When you use a visual aid, explain to people what you are showing them. Summarize the information on the slide or chart without reading it word-for-word. If you show slides, stay in front of the room and get someone else to handle the projector or use a remote control. Talk to the audience, not to the visual aid. Visual aids should be simple.
A few effective slides or charts can help your audience understand your message, but too many will distract them. A well-handled question-and-answer session can strengthen your credibility, demonstrate your knowledge, and give you a chance to clarify and expand your ideas. A poorly handled session can hurt your credibility, cause you to lose control of the audience, and give your adversaries an opportunity to make their case. Listen carefully to each question, be tactful, and avoid using emotionally charged words when you answer. Direct your answer to the entire audience, not just the questioner (especially if it is a hostile question). Never forget that, when you speak in defense of animals, you are right. If you speak sincerely and with conviction, you will reach your audience. They may not walk out agreeing with you, but you will plant an idea in their minds that can grow.
You can do a lot by yourself or just two of you. A great way to reach a large number of people is to set up an information table in a busy area at shopping malls, cinema theatres. Choose a spot with a lot of pedestrian traffic where people will see you. Find out where other groups in your community set up tables - at fairs, at school annual days. Once you have chosen a good location for a table, call the police station to learn about regulations you need to follow. Here are some questions to ask:
• Do you need a permit? Permits are usually easy to apply for, although they may take two or three weeks to process.
• How often can you use this spot?
• Are there restrictions on the type of equipment that can be set up?
Here is what you need to set up your table:
• one or two card tables or a folding display table
• folding chair
• pamphlets
• posters — some mounted on cardboard and covered with plastic
• an easel (or other support for the posters)
• clean sheets or a plain table cloth to cover the table, long enough to reach the ground
• a donation box
• sign-up sheets (so you can contact activists for future events)
• a cardboard or wooden sign with your group’s name
• a plastic drop cloth (in case it rains)
• lots of clear paperweights — small but heavy
Arrange your table neatly and attractively. Remove rubber bands from pamphlets so people can pick them up easily. Keep an eye on your donation box — don’t let someone walk off with it. Leave a ten or fifty rupees note and some change in it to encourage people’s generosity. Pick a topic for your display, such as the zoo, overloading, product testing, circuses, or poaching or any local problem. Then look for photographs to illustrate the subject and for phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that are especially catchy and to the point. Maintain a file of animal rights newsletters and pamphlets; these are good sources for photographs and text that will support your themes. You can then use this material to form a collage.
Once you have some photographs and text for your display, you will need to lay them out to find an attractive way of presenting them. For instance a collage on the evils of horse racing could start by placing a title in big letters at the top, such as “Say Neigh to Cruelty”. You could then put a strong quotation or other text in the centre of the display. Or balance several pieces of text throughout the display. Just be sure that any text or photograph you use is large enough to be seen easily from a modest distance. A good display on animal cruelty could include pictures of animals with overloaded bullock carts/tangas, stoning/ beating of dogs, donkeys and horses, etc, with a few sentences of explanation below each picture. Answer some common questions about the issue, outline the inadequacies of the Animal Welfare Act, or vividly describe some animal experiments. Always tell people what they can do to help.
A cruelty-free products display with a collage, a poster, a collection of cruelty-free products, and some leaflets or newsletters is sure to get attention. Or you can also feature hunting, animal experimentation, vegetarianism, or general animal rights.
Put your group’s name, address, and telephone number on the display. Distribute leaflets. If you have uncovered an important local issue, you may wish to print a flier to hand out to people on the street. Or you may have collected signatures from people enthusiastic about animal rights issues and want to invite them to a meeting with an inspiring speaker. Or you may want to urge local high school students to refuse to dissect animals as it has been completely banned from the CBSE and ISCE courses. Your leaflet must answer the questions what, where, when, who and why. It must tell people specifically what they can do to help. Include a telephone number as a point of contact. People will not read a long complicated leaflet, so keep your sentences short and clear. Use descriptive headings, subheadings, and quotations to get your main points across, and use three or four headings to a page so that if people only read the headlines they still get the message. Keep your flier simple, to the point, and easy to understand.
Do not wait for people to approach you — few ever will. Walk up to them and hand them a flier with a friendly smile and a positive comment like, “This explains why we are here today.” Then move on. Make eye contact (but do not be pushy). Hold the flier so the title can be clearly seen by passers-by. Prepare some brief answers ahead of time to questions such as, “Who’s doing this?” or “What’s this all about?” Take people’s telephone numbers (ask for both work and home numbers) if they seem interested, but do not get caught up in a conversation that distracts you from your job. Do not waste time arguing. Say politely, “I think, if you read this material, you may change your mind,” and turn away. Try to get someone else to leaflet with you. Pick up discarded leaflets before you leave an area. Dress neatly and conservatively. You can also drop leaflets into mail boxes.
You can also distribute fliers by posting them on bulletin boards or in public areas, such as:
• public libraries
• veterinary offices
• pet shops
• student unions
• community service bulletin boards
• retail stores
• apartment buildings
• college bulletin boards
As you set up tables and distribute leaflets, you will meet people who feel the way you do about society’s abuse of animals.
You may eventually want to take on a purely local campaign to shut down illegal bird/animal selling, illegal dog breeding, or mini zoos. This kind of campaign will most directly involve the local community and can be one of the best ways to bring people into the movement. This requires much more time and money than the one-shot seasonal events. Your group should be visible. Get into the public eye often, and always try to get media coverage for your events.
There are several good reasons to hold a meeting: to show an animal rights film, or to have a speaker urge people to take action on a particular issue, to allocate responsibilities for a local campaign. Be sure you are clear about the purpose of your meeting, as this affects how you plan it. If you are inviting a speaker, first call and find out when he or she is available. If you intend to show a film or video, find out when you can get it and what equipment you will need to show it. These factors will determine the date of your meeting. Before you finalize the date, if the meeting is a public one, make sure it does not conflict with any major sporting events or local community gatherings. Give yourself at least six weeks to get ready.
Most cities have rooms or auditoriums in libraries, community centres, or government office buildings that 40 local groups can use free of charge. Send in any required applications for permission as early as possible. It could take several weeks to get an application approved. Once you have got the date, place, topic, and speaker chosen, you are ready to publicize your meeting. Here are some ways to do it: distribute and post fliers, send fliers to the people on your sign-up sheets. Make a public service announcement over the radio or on cable TV. Most radio stations feature a community bulletin board to air free announcements of local events (called public service announcements or PSAs). You will have to call each station to find out its policy and time limit (usually 20 seconds) for these announcements; they sometimes require a typewritten notice up to a month in advance. Local TV stations are also worth checking for free announcements.
Newspapers often offer free services to publicize community group events. Try both the established publications and the small, local papers. Once again, you may need to send a written notice a few weeks ahead of time. Call your speaker to confirm the date and time he or she is expected. Find out how the speaker would like to be introduced, and take a few minutes to write and practice the introduction. Arrive at the room at least an hour ahead of time. Set up the equipment you will be using and make sure it works. Layout literature on a table in the back of the room, and arrange chairs near the front of the room. Be at the door to greet people. Circulate a sign-up sheet, but remove it when the meeting is ready to start. Introduce the speaker to start the meeting. Ask people if they have added their names to the sign-up sheet, and thank them for coming to your meeting. Urge them to get involved. Give them something specific to do: write a letter, make a telephone call, or hand out leaflets. Always end on a very upbeat note. A few days later, write a short thank-you to your speaker; you may want to invite him or her again. Mail a follow-up letter suggesting specific actions to people who attended the meeting, and be sure to add any new names to your mailing list.
If your group is just starting out, you will need to develop some identifying literature. Even if you intend to use literature from larger animal rights groups (which can save time and money), you need to have at least one brochure, fact sheet, or flier that identifies your organization and describes its purpose and goals. These are invaluable when working with reporters who are always interested in the “local angle.”
Make a list of media persons and organize it into the following categories:
• local print media
• local radio
• local TV
• national media
Record the name and designation of each contact person (you may have more than one contact person for each organization), the name of the publication and the address and telephone number. For print media, get the name of the news editor, the features editor, and the person responsible for the bulletin board.
For radio or TV, you will need the name of the assignment editor, the public service director, and the people responsible for booking talk show guests or even audiences that can ask questions. If you do not have the names of contact people, do not be afraid to call and ask. Be sure to get their designations, since personnel turnover can be rapid. Update the list every three or four months.
Organize media information according to whether the publication is daily, weekly, or monthly. It will help in planning times for demonstrations or actions to know what times fit into the newspaper or TV station’s schedule.
Try to keep profiles of your media contacts, with comments on whether they are sympathetic or hostile to certain issues and on what issues they are interested in or have covered in the past.
Reporters work against a deadline. If you call editors or reporters when they are rushing to meet a deadline, you will not get your story in the news, and you may alienate them as well.
It is best to call radio or TV reporters as early in the day as possible if you are trying to get on an evening
broadcast. Do not call after 1 or 2 p.m. for a 5 p.m. story; the staff is rushing to edit the news they already have. Talk to media people as far before deadlines as possible. Your goal is to become a resource person for the media on animal rights issues. You can do this by letting the media know you exist and by cultivating contacts.
Send a brief letter to each contact person on your media list, explaining the purpose of your group and offering information on animal rights issues. Include your group’s identifying fact sheet or brochure. This alone is probably not enough to get the media to contact you — usually you have to become known in the community — but it is a start. Try to develop and maintain professional relationships with media people in your community.
Return calls promptly — remember those deadlines! Be enthusiastic, cooperative, friendly, and always tell the truth. If you make a mistake, admit it promptly. Do not be afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I can find out.” Then do so.
When you send a news release to more than one person in an organization, let each person know who else is receiving it. Nothing infuriates an editor more than to work on a story and then find that someone else at the paper is doing the same story in another section.
Reporters sometimes claim that they can not cover animal rights stories because there is no new “angle,” so you have got to provide it. Use interesting visuals, such as costumes and props, in your demonstrations. Focus on the
44 local aspects by talking, for example, about what the company that employs half the people in town does to animals, or talk about local people arrested for killing several animals.
Never speak “off the record”; there is no such thing. Do not get bullied into a simple yes-or-no answer to a complex question. Give the facts necessary to understand the issue.
When you make a press call or send out a news release, be sure that it is for something newsworthy. Your communications should be organized and state important points clearly and briefly. It is helpful if you understand what the media considers newsworthy. Some of the characteristics of news are:
– timeliness – media are interested in what is happening today, not yesterday
– proximity – the closer the event is to the media, the more likely the media will consider it news
– prominence – if you have got well-known people involved, the media sometimes respond better
– conflict – the media love covering opposing factions
– oddity – if you are doing something for the first time, the media are more likely to respond; they get tired of the same old thing
– importance – how many people might be affected or interested.
All of these “news judgments” do not have to apply before you contact the media, but your information/event should meet most of them. Remember, the media do not like to feel “used” by anyone with a cause. Reporters want to think that what they are writing about is legitimate news and not propaganda. If your information/event is not newsworthy, do not contact the media.
A news release, a short announcement of a newsworthy event, is sent to newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio stations to interest them in doing a story. Because news directors receive hundreds of releases every day, yours must look professional and present the facts quickly, or it will never be read.
Here are some guidelines:
– Keep it short. One page is best.
– Write a concise, catchy headline that summarizes the story. It should be written in the style of a newspaper headline, using active verbs. Put the most important facts in the first paragraph and supporting information in descending order, so that the least important information is last. The first paragraph should answer the five W’s: who, what, where, when and why.
– Underline the text that gives the location, time, and date of the event.
– The final paragraph should describe your group and reinforce your message, with a quotation from your spokesperson.
– Use quotations to express opinions. The quotation should be from a specific individual, not from your group.
– Proofread the release carefully for grammar and spelling. Use short words and phrases, and simplify complex ideas.
– If you have got an exciting, relevant photo, include it. An article showing the timeliness or significance of the story is even better.
– You may also want to include black-and-white photographs, a factsheet or a flier. If you do, at the bottom of the last page of the release write, “Attached: (list documents).”
– Make it dramatic and attention-getting, but be sure you can substantiate what you say.
– Your letterhead should contain your group’s name and address.
– The words NEWS RELEASE should be at the top of the first page. Always refer to releases as “news releases,” not “press releases.”
– List the name of the “contact person.” Make sure that someone is always available at this number, or include both daytime and evening numbers where the contact person can be reached.
– Type the date in the upper left-hand corner. If you have enclosed photos, note that there.
– “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” should appear in the upper left-hand corner above the date.
– The headline should be centered, underlined, and typed in capital letters. It should be placed about three inches below the headings above it to provide space for editor’s notes.
– The body of the release should begin one-third of the way down the page.
– Leave wide margins for reporters’ and editors’ notes.
– Do not use zeroes for times (e.g., use “11 a.m.,” not “11:00”), and do not use letters after numbered dates (e.g., August 22, not 22nd).
– Never continue a release on the back of a page. Instead, end the first page with a complete paragraph and type the word “continued” centered at the bottom. Number each additional page at the top. Include a topic headline and your organization’s name. Do not staple multiple pages.
Before deciding how and when to deliver your release, establish what you want to accomplish — do you want something printed/broadcast BEFORE the event, or do you want the media to attend and cover the event? Generally, such activities as film showings, meetings, and fundraisers fall in the “BEFORE” category. In this case, mail your releases at least three weeks before the event. If you are having a picket or demonstration, you want “news” coverage. In this case, try to fax or hand-deliver your news release, and distribute it only one day before the event. Schedule it to arrive around 10 a.m., and try to deliver a copy to a reporter as well as to the news editor.
When to send press releases
The most critical press release is the one that goes out about two days before the event. Without it, you won’t get much coverage, if any at all. But it is a good idea to put one out much earlier than that as well - about ten days prior to the event - so that when the journalists get the second one they should be ready to respond to it. It is also important to send out a third one the moment the action begins, telling them you have succeeded in stopping illegal trade of birds/animals, stopped animal sacrifices at temples or even apprehending of trucks overloaded with cattle on National highways.
If it is a one day action and your press person has still got the energy and resources, send out a fourth press release saying how it all went. A journalist’s interest is pretty unpredictable, and could be stimulated every time.
If the action lasts longer than one day, send out a new press release every day, as long as you have got something to say. Once the event is in the press already, there will be plenty of opportunities for follow-ups. This is the time when you can sometimes get them to cover the issue you are trying to highlight, rather than simply the event.
How to send press releases
Faxing is still the best way to send them, and a fax modem is invaluable. Some journalists might be contactable by email. Do not use mail, it invariably gets lost/disregarded/placed on the bottom of the pile. To get fax numbers, simply phone the papers, TV and radio stations in question and ask for the fax number of the News desk. If you also want to send your press releases by name to journalists at the same organization, it is best to get their fax numbers from them. Keep all the fax numbers you get for future reference.
One thing of which you can be absolutely certain is that something will get lost in the newsrooms you are targetting: either your press release, the journalist’s concentration or the essence of the story. This means you MUST follow it up with a phone call.
Just a quick one will do. Ask them if they got it and if they would be covering the action. Also if they need any further additional information. Make sure you are ready with answers as the journalist will ask as to what is the whole thing about.
However good your publicity, many journalists will not be able to make it to the event but might still be interested. They will want to know what is happening and how things are going, so there should be at least one person on site with a working and charged mobile phone whose number has been posted on the press release.
Prepare a media kit. A media kit is a packet of information to give to reporters who come to your demonstration, event, or news conference. It helps to get your message across and makes you look professional. A media kit can include any or all of the following, depending on the issue:
• a news release
• a fact sheet
• black-and-white photographs and possibly colour photographs. Type the following information on a sticky label to put on the back of the photograph: what it is, where it is, when it was taken, and who took it. Never write on the back of a photograph with a pen. The ink will rub off and damage other photographs.
• background information on or history of the issue
• copies of relevant documents
• background on the organization
Package the kit in a two-pocket folder or big envelope and put a label on the cover with the group’s name and the words “Media Kit.” If you have a photograph, you can put it on the cover, although it is not essential.
Media news does not happen , it is made to happen. News, in other words, is managed and manipulated. And if we do not manage it, someone else will.
Most journalists are do not want to touch an issue unless it is already been mentioned in the press. It is very useful to get a friendly and trustworthy journalist to flag the action up a week or two beforehand, without giving too much away.
Being Interviewed
Interviews and studio discussions are a blood sport, and you, the interviewee, are the one of the combatants. Like any other fight, you win not through brute force but through skill. And, like any other sport, there are rules and tactics you have to follow.
Be informed
This is the golden rule. As this is an information war you should know your subject better than the person you are up against, and can head her or him off if they try to outfox you with some new facts. This means lots of reading. Make sure your information is reliable and stands up to critical examination.
Be calm
However much the issue, or your opponent, winds you up, you must not let it show. This does not mean you can not be passionate and enthusiastic - indeed these are good things - but your passion and enthusiasm must be tightly controlled and must not spill over into anger.
Be concise
You must know exactly what you want to say, and say it in as few words as possible, with clarity and determination. The main point must come at the beginning of the interview: you should summarise the whole issue in just one or two sentences before expanding on your theme.
It is the answers that count, not the questions
When you go into the studio, you must know exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it. Do not be too scrupulous about answering the question: deal with it as briefly as possible, then get to the points you want to make. You must leave the studio at the end of the interview knowing you have made the most important points as effectively as possible.
Do not try to make too many points
You want to have a maximum of three main lines of argument. Any more and both you and the audience will get lost.
Finish your point
If the interviewer tries to interrupt you before you have got to the important thing you want to say, do not be afraid to carry on talking until you have said it. Sometimes it is useful to say “Just a moment” or “If you would let me finish”. Be assertive without being rude. Do not let yourself be bullied.
Turn hostile questions to good account
There are several ways of doing this. Deal with the question quickly, then move on to what you want to talk about. This is the simplest and safest way of handling tricky questions. A good way of going about it is to agree with part of the question, then show that it is not the whole story. Deliberately misinterpret the question by adding logical views to the question asked. For instance, street entertainers exhibiting wild animals to earn money to support their family. But this is illegal under the WLPA 1972, hence poverty cannot be an excuse for this cruelty, as the same logic applies for child prostitution or drug peddling or even a thief who cannot be spared for stealing your money. Project yourself You are not having a casual chat with the interviewer or the other guest. You have come to make some important points, and you must get them across in such a way that the viewer or listener can not possibly ignore them.
This means that you should put more emphasis into your voice than you would do in a normal conversation. It might sound strange to you when you first do it (and practice it before you do a real interview), but on air it will sound fine. In fact, if you do not do it, you will sound flat and boring. TV and radio are all brightness and colour, and you must sound bright and colourful to make an impact. It is a bit of a balancing act, projecting your point well without ceasing to stay calm.
Use your body
On TV, a good rule is that your head and torso should stay fairly still (which makes you seem solid and trustworthy), but your hands should lend emphasis to what you say (they can help to drive your points home). Eyebrows are pretty useful too.
Humour
If you can do it without making it sound frivolous or irrelevant, a bit of humour can help a lot to win your audience over. Gently satirising your opponent’s position is often quite effective.
Do not hate your opponent
This is perhaps the hardest task of all, but it is absolutely necessary. Whatever you might think about the person you are up against, you must leave your feelings at the door of the studio. If you allow yourself to hate them, you will lose your cool, lose focus and lose public sympathy. One way of dealing with your feelings is to regard your opponent as someone who has been misled and needs to be told the truth. Think of your role as being to put them right, rather than to put them down, and you will find that when you go into the studio you will be a lot less tense.
And remember - when you go into a studio, you are there to tackle one issue and one issue alone, not to put right all the ills of the world. Concentrate on one task, and you will make life a great deal easier for yourself
Other Methods to Speak for Animals
– Display information on free notice boards, which can be found at shopping centres, community centres, libraries, universities and government or private offices.
– Distribution of pamphlets in letterboxes, or handed out personally.
– State your cause by displaying a car sticker or wearing a badge or t-shirt with a message.
– Community newspapers will often highlight local issues.


HOW TO BE AN ANIMAL ACTIVIST
	Have you ever thought of doing something for animals, but were just not sure where to begin or what the consequences would be? Have you ever experienced the feeling of helplessness or felt compassion for an animal but just were not sure what to do about it? The reality is that every minute an animal is being senselessly abused or killed.Whatever your religious background, beliefs, upbringing, or peer pressure may be, keep one thing in mind....there is not a single species or animal that likes to die or be abused in any way. All living and breathing beings protect themselves from death or harm. Knowing this, it is absurd to think that animals should not be granted the basic right to live freely and to die naturally. Yet, this is the way many humans think, as ignorance is passed down through the generations. Our philosophy of life can and should change for the simple reason that life is precious, as well as a gift. It is not ours to take away. Once you start the journey of helping animals and others live a better life, your life becomes more enriched and focused. What is an animal rights activist? Many of you feel the hunger of a starving dog, the pain of electrocution of monkeys, the burning agony of chemicals dropped in a rabbit’s eyes in a test laboratory, the emotional, physical and psychological pain of all creatures who suffer in the world. To see or know that an animal is suffering at the hands of humankind causes a grief so painful that it pierces the soul. Not every human being possesses this gift, which some believe is divine. Christ felt it. Buddha felt it. Gandhi felt it. Animal rights activists know that all creatures possess emotion, intelligence and experience physical pain. Other creatures only differ from us in the degree of intelligence and physiology. It is this evolution in thinking that separates activists from others in the society. Advocates of animal rights feel a passion, an urgency, to stop the senseless suffering and exploitation of animals. Animal activists are the voice for the animals who are vulnerable to self-serving members of humankind. Many people do not understand why activists devote their lives to saving animals. The passion felt by them is overwhelming and may isolate them from others. They are content with living each day making the world of an animal a better place to live in. Those committed to animal rights believe that they are here for a reason, and a purpose. Remember that you can help animals not just by starting a shelter or running a rescue vehicle. You can also change the world around you by militating on a particular issue regarding animal cruelty. Remain focused and run a persistent campaign on every front using the media, local politicians and social leaders. Always have your facts/data ready and use a language that is easily understood locally. The work is difficult, thankless and depressing. To save animals activists have to battle politicians, big business houses and government officials and have to take a stand by as a majority of society turns a deaf ear. It may seem that they are fighting a losing battle. Therefore, animal rights activists are some of the most strongest, ambitious and determined individuals who never give up . They have learned to embrace triumphs, no matter how small, and draw strength from the oneness that they all feel. Animal Rights Animal rights means that animals, like humans, have interests that cannot be sacrificed or traded away just because it might benefit others. It means that animals are not ours to use for food, clothing, entertainment, or experimentation. There are some animal welfare theories that accept that animals have interests but allow these interests to be traded away as long as there are some human benefits that are thought to justify such a trade off. These theories allow tradeoffs as long as “humane” guidelines are followed in the treatment and usage of these animals. Animal rights guiding principle is that animals deserve to live according to their own natures, free from harm, abuse, and exploitation. It says ANIMALS have the RIGHT to be free from human cruelty and exploitation, just as we humans possess this right. How to begin Stay focused, and most importantly, get started. Do not believe in the “It’s-so-immense” or “I-can’t-make-a-difference” syndrome. Talk to other concerned people and stay active with your daily or weekly animal activism goals. You have got an idea, but where and how do you start to put it into action? Starting is almost as difficult as finishing. Here are some things to think about when setting out on a new campaign or starting a new group: – How long are you willing to work on this issue? – Who is going to help you? – Is there already another group working on the same thing? Can you join or link up with them? – Are you going to need funds? – Will you need to register your organization? – Who will replace you if you leave? There are hundreds of issues that need to be resolved and this can only happen through your hard hitting and persistent campaigns. Let us take some of the issues in India: 1. Dairies and the use of oxytocin which is ignored by the animal husbandry department 2. Illegal meat shops being allowed to run by the municipalities 3. Killing of dogs in towns 4. The use of plastic bags and their being thrown into garbage heaps where they are eaten by cows 5. The miserable state of the local zoo 6. Providing water troughs along the sides of roads where animals and birds can drink 7. The killing of pigs in cities 8. The state of the cattle pound 9. Overloading of draught animals and police indifference 10. The movement of trucks at night with animals illegally loaded for slaughter 11. The condition of the local slaughterhouse 12. The non-existence or poor functioning of the local SPCA 13. Any companies with laboratories that are using animals for experimentation 14. Any experimentation on animals at local hospitals or veterinary colleges/medical colleges 15. The planting of fruit trees by the forest department or local municipality 16. Ignorance of the police of the laws related to animals 17. Schools under State Examination Boards still allowing animal dissection 18. Local shows involving animals: bullock cart races etc 19. Animal sacrifices being allowed by the local administration 20. Leather manufacturing in the area and its pollutive aspects 21. Any hotel that is serving banned meats like shark,veal, venison etc 22. Chicken shops which kill chickens in front of each other 23. Transport of chickens with more than one bird in a cage 24. Street entertainers not having their animals confiscated 25. The existence of illegal bird markets 26. Trains passing through your area with cattle in them 27. Dog breeders 28. Race courses and the treatment of race horses 29. Any animal factories like piggeries/poultries and their state 30. Aquariums in government offices or public places 31. The cutting of trees 32. Local dog shows that only allow pedigreed dogs 33. Tail docking by vets 34. The non existence or inefficiency of the local government veterinary centre 35. Privately owned wild animals 36. Dynamite fishing in the local river 37. Serving non vegetarian food at public events 38. Closing down foreign fastfood meat based outlets 39. Shops that sell peacock feathers and any other banned wild animal item 40. Shahtoosh shawl wearing or buying 41. Use of spiked sticks by bullock cart owners 42. Circuses 43. Sale of turtle meat 44. Registration of dairies and inspection of their premises regularly to ensure compliance to municipal rules 45. Overloading and cruelty to donkeys 46. Hobbling of horses/donkeys 47. Dumping of garbage and sewage in the river 48. Establishing and running a police helpline for accident cases and to stop illegal traffic of animals at night 49. Inspection of local buses to see that they are not carrying birds for sale to the cities 50. Stopping of issue of gun licences for “crop protection” 51. Stopping of issue of licences to kill nilgai Setting up a local group You need to establish a group. You can start alone : one person with a good idea and determination can change the world very quickly. But ultimately you will need numbers. There are potentially many active, dedicated people in every school, college, village, town and city. Start simply with leaflets. If you have a fair or some public event happening, you can distribute the leaflets there. Get in touch with other like-minded people in your area. Put posters stating your address or phone number and the fact that you want to set up a group in local shops, libraries, cinemas, restaurants,bus stops,colleges. You can also try writing in to the letters page in your local paper. Another way to contact like-minded people is to get in touch with organizations such as environmental, animal as well as human rights groups. A lot of the people who support such causes are also sympathetic to animal rights and vice versa. You could go along to one of their meetings and talk to them about your ideas or pass around some leaflets. Mention your plans to friends, relatives and colleagues. If they are not interested, they might know someone who is. Once people who are interested have started to contact you, the next stage is to call a meeting. This should be arranged on a date perhaps after about a month, in order to give people a chance to plan for it and to let others know. Early weekday evenings or Sunday afternoons suit most people. You will have to decide on a venue for the meeting. There are advantages and disadvantages to holding it in someone’s house. The advantages are that it is free, you do not have to book it and you can prepare refreshments easily. The disadvantages are that some people (especially young people), feel awkward and intimidated about the idea of going to a complete stranger’s house, your house might not be in a well known and accessible location, you probably may not have enough room or chairs to accommodate an unexpectedly large turnout and unless you live alone, there are bound to be lots of distractions. From personal experience, we would strongly recommend hiring a cheap room in a central location on main bus routes. Community centres, library halls and town halls can be tried. You might even be able to get a room for free. Before the meeting, think of all the things you need to know in order to establish the group. Make a list of these things so that you can refer to it on the day. For a start, you will have to establish: – What are the main concerns of your group going to be. Will you concentrate on campaigns against animal experiments, blood sports, or all areas of animal abuse? You can concentrate on animal rights education, organizing, and lobbying and referring individual cruelty cases to the animal welfare groups in your area that are equipped and trained to deal with them. – What type of campaigning will you do. Will you just arrange regular street stalls and leaflet-distribution sessions or will you also run campaigns and hold demonstrations, etc. Will you produce a regular newsletter? – What skills and resources do you have as a group. Are there any artists or confident speakers in the group? Have any of you been in a campaigning group before? Do any of you have contacts with the press or administration? Does anyone have easy access to a computer or photocopier? You should chair the meeting because you organised it. Introduce yourself by stating your name and then a brief background about why you feel concerned about animal cruelty and why you want to be in a local campaigning group. Then go around the room with everyone doing the same. This will help everyone relax and put them in the mood to talk. Read out your list of discussion points and ask if anyone else can think of something you have missed. Then draw up an agenda by putting everything into a logical order, or pass it around for everyone to add to it. Spend the rest of the meeting going through the agenda and make sure that someone who writes quickly and has clear handwriting is taking notes. During the meeting you will all get a realistic idea about what sort of things you can organise and achieve as a group. A group is more organised and efficient if it appoints a Secretary and Treasurer. It is better if one person takes on the responsibility to deal with all the group’s correspondence, as it is more likely that enquiry letters etc. will be dealt with quickly and confusion about whose turn it is to deal with the mail will be avoided. Similarly, if one person keeps the group’s finances up to date, it is easier for your group to keep in touch with how much money it is spending and to plan ahead. You will need to maintain financial records from the start - record the date and amount of all donations, and the name and address of the donor. Also keep a record of how money is spent, including the date, amount, and purpose. Save all your receipts and write on the back of the receipt the item you bought and the date and reason you bought it, e.g., “purchase of medicines, 20.5.01” or “first aid camps, 10.10.01.” At the end of the meeting you will all need to agree on a name for your group. This should reflect your principles and should sound positive. A short name or one with initials which spell a word (an acronym) is easier to remember. You will also need to agree on a contact address and/or phone number. Once you have named your group, you may register it with the Registrar of Societies and you become eligible for non-profit status and can collect membership fees. Compile a telephone list so that you can all keep in touch with each other, or at least make sure that the Secretary makes a note of everyone’s phone numbers. There will be times when people have to be contacted in a hurry or things have to be discussed with everyone but there is no time to call a meeting. After the meeting, the Secretary should write a report about what was discussed and what decisions were made and then circulate this to everyone before the second meeting. If everyone present agrees to pay a small subscription fee, this will cover photocopying and postage costs. Your group may decide to introduce a membership fee at some point in the future. It is unrealistic to do this at the very first meeting. Prepare a form and information package to send to new members. Print or photocopy several hundred copies so you can respond quickly to requests. Also print a formal thank-you letter for donations you receive and make sure you acknowledge them quickly. Make a chain of members so that when you need to inform them you call up two members and they call up two more and so on. Prepare a list of media persons in the newspapers, TV and radio stations with their addresses, telephone numbers, and deadlines to save time when you need to publicize an event. Do some long-term planning. Set up a schedule for the next three to six months. Organize your home office. Set up a filing system for issues, financial records, media lists, etc. Insert reference materials and a fact sheet under categories such as circuses, dog bites and killings, poaching, animals died in various zoos, etc. Get a computer as soon as you can afford it, or ask businesses or members to donate one. This should be one of your earliest priorities, because using a computer makes it so easy to get and stay organized. Decide how you want to operate. Should you meet once a month or call meetings’ as you need them? If you have regular meetings, they should be held on the same day and time each month to make them easier to remember and schedule. You can either call a meeting at a member’s house or at an animal shelter where people can reach easily. Being a leader of your group, you will be expected to do most of the work, even if you have hundreds of people on your mailing list. Make sure each person leaves the meeting with something to do. It may seem tedious to do this but people feel useless and drop out if they do not feel needed. Find out what kinds of things people are good at: who has a typewriter or access to a copy machine, who is good at designing posters/leaflets, and who enjoys making tables. Do not insist that people be vegans or vegetarians before they join; as they learn, they will probably change. Just set a good example. Do not let meetings’ become social affairs, keep an objective in mind. Your meetings should be friendly enough so that people feel comfortable offering their feedback and ideas. Always be on the lookout for potential leaders to share responsibilities. Most groups are held together by one or two strong people, with short-term volunteers working only when convenient. Let people move (and move on) at their own pace, and accept the fact that people will leave the group. Be grateful for every contribution, no matter how small, and never publicly criticize or embarrass anyone. Never make people feel guilty for not doing enough. This will not encourage them to do more; it is more likely that they will stop working completely. People’s activism thrives on encouragement and recognition rather than criticism. 15 It is very important to avoid fighting within the group. Avoid criticizing others, and if it is really necessary, criticize the act rather than the individual. Despite its differences, the animal rights movement needs to present a unified front to the public and to our opposition. Be open to new ideas and encourage people to express themselves. Ask each person to think of several ideas, and write down every one, no matter how offbeat. Discuss the ideas only after you have finished listing them all. Everyone is special in some way, and even outlandish suggestions can lead to creative planning. Your group’s activities will probably fall into three categories: public education, reactions over an issue, and long-term campaigns. Every group should try to sustain a minimum schedule of public education work. This includes awareness programs and letters to the editor once a week and going to a local school /college/club and talking about the issue. Reactions over issues include demonstrating when a circus visits your town, checking the local zoo demanding improved conditions, campaigning against experiments in laboratories. The easiest way for local groups to work on long-term campaigns is to join one that has been initiated by a national organization. You can bring important issues to your community and have the benefit of the national group’s literature and resources. Practice what you preach The best way to persuade others to adopt humane lifestyles is to set a good example. The first step to becoming an activist and campaigning against animal cruelty is putting yourself in order. It is not a case of giving up things, but replacing them with better, kinder alternatives. You can give your possessions made of animal skins a decent burial, or burn them away. If you cannot afford to buy replacements, wear them until they fall apart and then buy something kinder next time. Becoming a vegetarian is an excellent first step, followed by adopting a vegan lifestyle. When presenting an animal rights point of view, your appearance and actions must reflect your concern. If you are discussing poultry abuse and eating meat as well, others may dismiss you as a hypocrite. While a vegetarian eats no meat, a vegan also eats no eggs or dairy products, wears no animal products such as leather or wool, and uses only cruelty-free products (products that do not contain animal ingredients and that are manufactured by companies that do not use live animals for testing). Get rid of your leather shoes or the leather belt and buy canvas, fabric, or vinyl and gently remind your friends and relatives of your preferences. The switch to a cruelty-free lifestyle is often made in small steps, but it is important to begin taking those steps. If you are a vegetarian... Do you think that milk and cheese are suitable for a vegetarian diet because nothing died to make them? Think again! Mammals only produce milk after the birth of their young. By making them pregnant every year (usually by artificial insemination) and then taking their babies away when they are a few days old, we are able to steal their milk. Without the dairy industry, there would be no beef and veal industries. Therefore, milk is no more acceptable to ethical vegetarians than veal. Check out the market for soya milk ... we are not just talking about food. If you do not eat the inside, why wear the outside? You will not be taken very seriously if you campaign against fur but still wear leather, which is just cow fur with the hairs scraped off, or suede, which is pig fur with the hairs scraped off, or wool, because it is wrong to think that the sheep don’t mind having it removed. Shearing is a violent process, in which the timid sheep are thrown on their backs and are usually left with cuts and bruises. As with dairy cows, sheep are slaughtered at a relatively young age when their wool is losing quality. Wool and mutton, leather and beef, they are all from the same industry. If you are already vegan... Good, but do not keep it to yourself. Do not feel apologetic about not serving meat to guests. If you are arrogant and confident about your vegetarianism you will find many people will begin to feel embarrassed about eating dead animals. Make an issue of it: if you go out to someone’s house , ask them to keep the meal vegetarian. If you know someone who is getting married, ask them to feed only vegetarian food as a festive occasion cannot be celebrated with offering carcasses. Turning vegan and encouraging other people to do so is the best way to save thousands of animals from suffering and slaughter. Visit the animal shelters in your area. Check the facilities provided for animals and find out how the animals are cared for and housed. How do the shelters insure that new homes are good? If your local shelter provides inadequate care, what other options exist? It is important to understand the problems animal shelters face — many are overburdened with a large numbers of animals in poor condition and are able to find only very few acceptable homes. Also volunteer your services by learning simple first aid from their vets, mobilising funds, food and medicines for the animals in the shelters. Maintain a list of vets who are good diagnosticians, who perform low-cost sterilizations, and who are supportive of animal rights. You will also find many vets who besides their private practise, come forward to help local animal welfare organizations as well as individuals. Enlist their support in getting homeless dogs sterilized and treating other injured or sick animals. Think how you are going to fit activism into your life. You may have a full-time job and may have to juggle time with family and friends. Can you replan your schedule or transfer some duties to a co-worker, spouse, or someone else to allow yourself time to focus on animal rights activities? May be you can incorporate some animal rights work into the office, family, or activities you are already involved in. Schedule activism into your daily routine so that it becomes a part of your life and not an intrusion.
CAMPAIGNING
	Choose your issues The most important role of local animal rights groups and contacts is to set up and run campaigns in their area. You should have two or three campaigns running at the same time as different campaigns require different approaches and the views and priorities of group members will differ. You only have to look around you to notice how widespread animal abuse is. Animals are abused, overworked and killed for all sorts of reasons. They are not regarded as conscious individuals by most people in our society, but as disposable items which can be turned into food (think about all the meat and other slaughterhouse products which are eaten every day), clothing (wool, leather, silk, etc.), research tools and objects for amusement (pets, animals in circuses). The only reason that so much animal cruelty is happening today is because people who care do not know what they can do about it! There are countless things that you can do to campaign against cruelty, from simply handing out leaflets to organising a national demonstration. Whatever your skills and confidence, there is bound to be a way of campaigning that suits you and fits in with your lifestyle. As you learn more about animal rights issues, start choosing the ones that mean the most to you. Animal abuse. is so widespread you cannot possibly address all at the same time. Become familiar with the people and facilities in your area. As you compile facts, resources, and other materials, set up a filing system to keep your information organized. File important or useful newspaper clippings according to the issues they concern. Keep the names and addresses of officials, good veterinarians, shelters and wildlife rescue services by your telephone for easy reference. Scan your local newspaper for stories involving animal issues. Save those that contain useful information. You may want to refer to the articles or contact the reporters at a later date. Divide your issues into soft targets and hard targets. A soft target is something that is usually an isolated shop that is selling birds illegally or a single event like a political meeting where a politician is going to release a bird or a circus that has come into the area or an aquarium in a public place. If sustained campaigning is done with enough concentrated force, these can be stopped easily. Start your group with soft targets. Each victory makes the group confident of tackling more widespread problems that will require more time and effort. Then as your group’s reputation builds up go for harder targets which involve the removal of cruelty on a sustained basis. The list of issues has been given above. As you achieve each goal, make sure that it is publicised so that you reach a point when people will come to you with information about cruelty cases – and your reputation is such that one call or visit is enough to stop the perpetrator. There are two types of campaigns: getting something stopped (like a municipal zoo which has starving common animals in it) and getting something started (like a police helpline). Again, there are two levels of campaigns: a local campaign (for stopping sewage being thrown in the local river or planting more fruit trees for the birds) and a national campaign (writing to the censor board about violence in a film and going to court about it or stopping dissection in state schools or stopping transportation of cattle by the railways). Remember , once you start a campaign , you cannot abandon it or lose the battle. If you do that, your opponents will perpetuate it, people will get used to the idea of you as a loser. In fact you will have contributed to increasing animal suffering. Set an ambitious but achievable goal, plan escalating levels of action, and be prepared to stick with it until you win. By using a well-thought-out strategy and an escalating level of activity, you may be able to do anything from shutting down a pet store to stopping a research project which abuses animals. Steps to be taken Your first step is to thoroughly research your opponents. Make a list of their strengths and weaknesses. Where are they most vulnerable? What arguments will they use to defend their position? A laboratory research project may already be jeopardized due to inadequate funding or inability to produce results. Your public exposure of their problems could be enough to tip the scales. Think about the information you gather. What do you hope to achieve? Decide exactly what your demands are: What do you want your target to do? Know what the alternatives are (to the research that your target is doing, or to the way animals are housed in the zoo, etc.). If you have got a good target, start developing your strategy. Begin by designing a timetable for your campaign. Then establish short-range goals. For example, if your long-range goal would be to close down the illegal sale of meat in unlicenced butchershops, first get a letter to the editor on the subject printed in a local newspaper. Remember cruelty to animals is last on people’s priorities until they are completely sensitised. They are far more concerned about their own health and well being. Your angle could then be focussed on the disease spread by the open sale of meat.Your next goal might be to get another community group to support your cause. Then from there, the police as the laws have been broken. Then a municipal officer. Then, the legal process. Prepare for counter arguments. What claims will your opponents make to defend their actions? How will you refute them? Decide whose support you really need to win; do not just say “the public.” Which part of the public? Which groups or individuals in particular? Consider how to reach them. Whose support can you count on from the beginning? How will you work with those people? And see how you will win over or neutralize supporters of the opposition. What are the different ways you can lobby? – Public education - speaking at every available forum, schools and colleges. Winning teachers and other respected, members of the community to your cause by explaining the facts of the campaign to them – Letter writing: not just to the papers but to every influential community leader including your MLAs and MPs – Leaflets distributed to the public – Interviews, press releases and press conferences – Rallies, demonstrations, marches – Having questions tabled in the local assembly or Parliament. You may be able to accomplish your goals with a low-level effort, such as a letter-writing campaign — not all campaigns require demonstrations or rallies. Take the time to consider what is going to make your campaign a success. The more planning time you give yourself, the better chance you have of winning your cause. Here are some general strategies to follow Try to communicate with your opponent. Write to the head of the company or organization, politely state your grievance and ask for action. Give them time to respond, but set a deadline so that you are not kept dangling forever. It is always possible that your opponent is unaware of abuse, and there may be room to negotiate a change. Regardless, if you do not go to the source first, your credibility will be impaired. For instance a school which keeps animals is breaking the law. The first step would be to write to the Principal/Owner and inform him of the law and ask them to surrender the animals to people with good homes or to an animal shelter. Give him a week to do it. Document your communications. Keep copies of letters and a written record of telephone calls. Before you go public, try to get some expert opinion to back you up. Such statements lend credibility to your campaign and make it easier to convince both the public and government officials. Approach lawyers, veterinarians, doctors, or anyone else who has the experience and credentials to be considered an expert on the issue. Inform them of the situation and ask them to give you a written statement criticizing your target and recommending alternatives. Produce some basic campaign literature first: a background/history sheet, an alternatives sheet, a page of expert opinions, and a short leaflet that lists your demands and tells people what they can do to help. These provide essential factual information for the public and the media. Arrange a meeting with the government officials concerned with the issue. Clarify the facts about the issue and the changes you are proposing and try to get their support. Write letters to local government officials, representatives, and the head of the organization you are targeting. State the problem, your demands or alternatives, and specify what you want the official to do. Arrange to meet personally with as many elected officials as possible. Try to enlist their support. Write to news editors of local papers and to related trade journals to try to interest them in doing a story on the issue. Educate your community. Set up tables and hand out leaflets to publicize the issue. Write letters to the editor. Run an advertisement in the newspaper if your budget allows. Try to get support from other national and local groups. Contact resident welfare associations, women oriented organizations, Rotary/Lions clubs, political clubs and ask for their support. Go to court but only is your case data is fully prepared. One loss and the whole movement is in jeopardy. If at all you need to demonstrate publicly by holding a rally, keep in mind the following points: To plan it, you need to answer these questions: • What do you want your opponent or target to do? What are your demands? • What do you want the public to do or learn ? • Will you need a permit from the police or local administration? • What type of visual aids (posters, banners) will you use? • What type of leaflets will you hand out? Make sure your leaflet lists your demands and what the public can do to help. The chances for media coverage are better if you can stage the event during work hours on weekdays. During the weekend you may get a better turnout of demonstrators, but news coverage is less predictable. Although a demonstration is almost always worthwhile, you will be less in the public eye without media coverage. Do not overlook holidays. They are generally light news days and a nice public interest story may be appealing to the media. Notify the media — radio, TV, and newspapers with a telephone call and news release at least one day before you hold the demonstration, and be on site at least one-half hour before starting time. Be sure to have visited the site beforehand so you have an idea of how to set things up. Keep your group together, and remind them (quietly) to hold their signs up so that they can be clearly seen and photographed. Write down the names and telephone numbers of the people who attended the demonstration, so you can contact them for future actions. If you have got media coverage, assign one person to tape each television station that was present at your event so you may begin a library of media coverage. Do not forget to pick up the newspaper the next day for print media coverage. Speaking to schools and other groups Speaking in schools is important work. Young people are often more able to relate to new ideas and opinions than adults. Do not forget that today’s teenagers are tomorrow’s parents, employers and teachers. Teenagers are surrounded by exciting, fashionable images. You need to bear this in mind if you want to grab their attention and hold it long enough to get your message through. It is no good simply reciting a list of facts and figures, you need to make the subject ‘come alive’, or your young audience will switch off. You need to promote animal rights issues as important, sensible and modern. Preparation is essential - work out the objective of the talk. Is it about animal rights in general, bloodsports, responsible pet care, veganism/vegetarianism? The chances are that the teacher you contact in order to arrange the talk will have specific ideas about the subject matter, because they will want to relate your talk to the current subjects the class are studying. Make certain you know what the teacher’s requirements are. Work out the essential message which your audience should be left with, eg., ‘there are lots of arguments against eating meat and it is easier than you thought to give it up.’ Or “ Animals are the reason why you are alive and in their wellbeing lies yours” or “ the better an animal is looked after, the richer the country becomes.” Once you are concentrating fully on this, list the points you want to make. Arrange these points under general headings, for example; animal rights – why is it necessary to protect them, how one can help animals on their own……….. Work out how you are going to structure your talk. Which issue should come first? How will you explain each issue as you go along? How will you motivate your audience to take action? How will you use visual aids to back up what you are saying. Can you make use of an overhead projector, slides or a video? If you know any teenagers, read your talk out to them and ask them for their honest opinion. Check that your talk is the right length. Speak slowly and time yourself. Fifteen minutes is a good length of time to aim for. The teacher will probably advise you on the expected length of the talk. During your talk, you will need to make sure that your audience completely understands what you are saying or you will be wasting your time. Assume that your audience has no prior knowledge of animal cruelty, but do not patronise them by talking to them as if they are stupid. After you have finished talking, it is important to open up the discussion by asking your audience if they have any questions. In every audience there is always at least one person determined to try and make you look stupid. Teenagers can be experts at this! Assume that there will be such a character in your audience. Consider all the possible questions which they could come up with. What we suggest is that you and your friend write down a list of these questions, then consider each one in turn and come up with a short, smart answer to it. The way you talk is as important as what you actually say. Remember that you are giving the talk because you have strong views about animal rights and you want your audience to be influenced by your views. Do not speak in a flat monotone, use your voice to express your feelings of concern, anger, humour and encouragement. Eye contact is essential. If you read your talk word for word from pages of notes, you will appear intimidating or amateur. It is best to memorise your talk beforehand and then take cue cards along with you on the day, on which you have written a summary of each argument. Arrange them in order. Glance at your first card to refresh your memory, talk about the topic, then move on to the next card and its topic. Continue until the end of your talk. When you finish speaking and come to invite questions from your audience, treat each question seriously and thank each person who asks a question. If you ridicule a question or refuse to answer it, you will appear aloof and smug and the audience will lose their respect for you. If you follow these points, your school talk will be a success. Remember, if you want a lot of people at your rallies and demonstrations, you cannot ignore the schools and colleges. So, when running a campaign, be sure to visit them all. You can also address the public to highlight the issue or your cause. The idea of speaking before a group may terrify you, but one day you will need to speak publicly to help animals. Your first step in preparing a speech is to understand the nature of the people you will be speaking to. Try to determine the age, sex, religion, occupation, and political affiliation of the group. How much do they already know about your topic? Do you share any beliefs or experiences with them? You also need to consider how you want your speech to affect your audience. What do you want them to feel, think, or do after they have heard your speech? Do not be afraid of “alienating” people by talking about vegetarianism or abolishing sacrifices. If you do not introduce them to new ideas, who will? How you speak is as important as what you say. A shrill, aggressive demeanour will alienate people; a calm voice and friendly manner will encourage them to think twice about those new ideas. Before you begin writing your speech, make a list of two to five main points you want to make. Write out each point in one or two sentences. Do not try to make more than five points. You are more likely to persuade your audience if you do not speak in generalities. If necessary, do some research to find some specific examples that will illustrate your points. Statistics are boring if you overuse them, but are good for making comparisons. People are more likely to retain information if it is new, relevant, and presented by vivid comparison and contrast. Your speech will be most effective if you plan your opening and closing statements and key transitions down to the last word. Organize the speech logically with a beginning, middle and end. In other words, tell them what you are going to tell them and tell them what you have told them. Here are some suggestions: 1. Establish your credibility by briefly stating your qualifications and experience, or have someone introduce you this way. 2. Open with an attention-getting fact, rhetorical question (making sure you know what the answer will be), quotation (to support your message), or relevant anecdote. 3. You may challenge your audience, but make sure you do not sound hostile. 4. Keep it short. Your speech should take less than 20 minutes. 5. Tell the audience what the problem is, what your proposed solution is, and what actions they can take to help bring about the solution. 6. Do not just trail off at the end. Finish with an appeal for action and get out. Visual aids can help you make your point if the subject matter is complex, dry, or unfamiliar. Make sure they reinforce your point of view and make abstract ideas concrete. Slides, flip charts, and typeset boards all have advantages in certain situations. When you use a visual aid, explain to people what you are showing them. Summarize the information on the slide or chart without reading it word-for-word. If you show slides, stay in front of the room and get someone else to handle the projector or use a remote control. Talk to the audience, not to the visual aid. Visual aids should be simple. A few effective slides or charts can help your audience understand your message, but too many will distract them. A well-handled question-and-answer session can strengthen your credibility, demonstrate your knowledge, and give you a chance to clarify and expand your ideas. A poorly handled session can hurt your credibility, cause you to lose control of the audience, and give your adversaries an opportunity to make their case. Listen carefully to each question, be tactful, and avoid using emotionally charged words when you answer. Direct your answer to the entire audience, not just the questioner (especially if it is a hostile question). Never forget that, when you speak in defense of animals, you are right. If you speak sincerely and with conviction, you will reach your audience. They may not walk out agreeing with you, but you will plant an idea in their minds that can grow. You can do a lot by yourself or just two of you. A great way to reach a large number of people is to set up an information table in a busy area at shopping malls, cinema theatres. Choose a spot with a lot of pedestrian traffic where people will see you. Find out where other groups in your community set up tables - at fairs, at school annual days. Once you have chosen a good location for a table, call the police station to learn about regulations you need to follow. Here are some questions to ask: • Do you need a permit? Permits are usually easy to apply for, although they may take two or three weeks to process. • How often can you use this spot? • Are there restrictions on the type of equipment that can be set up? Here is what you need to set up your table: • one or two card tables or a folding display table • folding chair • pamphlets • posters — some mounted on cardboard and covered with plastic • an easel (or other support for the posters) • clean sheets or a plain table cloth to cover the table, long enough to reach the ground • a donation box • sign-up sheets (so you can contact activists for future events) • a cardboard or wooden sign with your group’s name • a plastic drop cloth (in case it rains) • lots of clear paperweights — small but heavy Arrange your table neatly and attractively. Remove rubber bands from pamphlets so people can pick them up easily. Keep an eye on your donation box — don’t let someone walk off with it. Leave a ten or fifty rupees note and some change in it to encourage people’s generosity. Pick a topic for your display, such as the zoo, overloading, product testing, circuses, or poaching or any local problem. Then look for photographs to illustrate the subject and for phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that are especially catchy and to the point. Maintain a file of animal rights newsletters and pamphlets; these are good sources for photographs and text that will support your themes. You can then use this material to form a collage. Once you have some photographs and text for your display, you will need to lay them out to find an attractive way of presenting them. For instance a collage on the evils of horse racing could start by placing a title in big letters at the top, such as “Say Neigh to Cruelty”. You could then put a strong quotation or other text in the centre of the display. Or balance several pieces of text throughout the display. Just be sure that any text or photograph you use is large enough to be seen easily from a modest distance. A good display on animal cruelty could include pictures of animals with overloaded bullock carts/tangas, stoning/ beating of dogs, donkeys and horses, etc, with a few sentences of explanation below each picture. Answer some common questions about the issue, outline the inadequacies of the Animal Welfare Act, or vividly describe some animal experiments. Always tell people what they can do to help. A cruelty-free products display with a collage, a poster, a collection of cruelty-free products, and some leaflets or newsletters is sure to get attention. Or you can also feature hunting, animal experimentation, vegetarianism, or general animal rights. Put your group’s name, address, and telephone number on the display. Distribute leaflets. If you have uncovered an important local issue, you may wish to print a flier to hand out to people on the street. Or you may have collected signatures from people enthusiastic about animal rights issues and want to invite them to a meeting with an inspiring speaker. Or you may want to urge local high school students to refuse to dissect animals as it has been completely banned from the CBSE and ISCE courses. Your leaflet must answer the questions what, where, when, who and why. It must tell people specifically what they can do to help. Include a telephone number as a point of contact. People will not read a long complicated leaflet, so keep your sentences short and clear. Use descriptive headings, subheadings, and quotations to get your main points across, and use three or four headings to a page so that if people only read the headlines they still get the message. Keep your flier simple, to the point, and easy to understand. Do not wait for people to approach you — few ever will. Walk up to them and hand them a flier with a friendly smile and a positive comment like, “This explains why we are here today.” Then move on. Make eye contact (but do not be pushy). Hold the flier so the title can be clearly seen by passers-by. Prepare some brief answers ahead of time to questions such as, “Who’s doing this?” or “What’s this all about?” Take people’s telephone numbers (ask for both work and home numbers) if they seem interested, but do not get caught up in a conversation that distracts you from your job. Do not waste time arguing. Say politely, “I think, if you read this material, you may change your mind,” and turn away. Try to get someone else to leaflet with you. Pick up discarded leaflets before you leave an area. Dress neatly and conservatively. You can also drop leaflets into mail boxes. You can also distribute fliers by posting them on bulletin boards or in public areas, such as: • public libraries • veterinary offices • pet shops • student unions • community service bulletin boards • retail stores • apartment buildings • college bulletin boards As you set up tables and distribute leaflets, you will meet people who feel the way you do about society’s abuse of animals. You may eventually want to take on a purely local campaign to shut down illegal bird/animal selling, illegal dog breeding, or mini zoos. This kind of campaign will most directly involve the local community and can be one of the best ways to bring people into the movement. This requires much more time and money than the one-shot seasonal events. Your group should be visible. Get into the public eye often, and always try to get media coverage for your events. There are several good reasons to hold a meeting: to show an animal rights film, or to have a speaker urge people to take action on a particular issue, to allocate responsibilities for a local campaign. Be sure you are clear about the purpose of your meeting, as this affects how you plan it. If you are inviting a speaker, first call and find out when he or she is available. If you intend to show a film or video, find out when you can get it and what equipment you will need to show it. These factors will determine the date of your meeting. Before you finalize the date, if the meeting is a public one, make sure it does not conflict with any major sporting events or local community gatherings. Give yourself at least six weeks to get ready. Most cities have rooms or auditoriums in libraries, community centres, or government office buildings that 40 local groups can use free of charge. Send in any required applications for permission as early as possible. It could take several weeks to get an application approved. Once you have got the date, place, topic, and speaker chosen, you are ready to publicize your meeting. Here are some ways to do it: distribute and post fliers, send fliers to the people on your sign-up sheets. Make a public service announcement over the radio or on cable TV. Most radio stations feature a community bulletin board to air free announcements of local events (called public service announcements or PSAs). You will have to call each station to find out its policy and time limit (usually 20 seconds) for these announcements; they sometimes require a typewritten notice up to a month in advance. Local TV stations are also worth checking for free announcements. Newspapers often offer free services to publicize community group events. Try both the established publications and the small, local papers. Once again, you may need to send a written notice a few weeks ahead of time. Call your speaker to confirm the date and time he or she is expected. Find out how the speaker would like to be introduced, and take a few minutes to write and practice the introduction. Arrive at the room at least an hour ahead of time. Set up the equipment you will be using and make sure it works. Layout literature on a table in the back of the room, and arrange chairs near the front of the room. Be at the door to greet people. Circulate a sign-up sheet, but remove it when the meeting is ready to start. Introduce the speaker to start the meeting. Ask people if they have added their names to the sign-up sheet, and thank them for coming to your meeting. Urge them to get involved. Give them something specific to do: write a letter, make a telephone call, or hand out leaflets. Always end on a very upbeat note. A few days later, write a short thank-you to your speaker; you may want to invite him or her again. Mail a follow-up letter suggesting specific actions to people who attended the meeting, and be sure to add any new names to your mailing list. If your group is just starting out, you will need to develop some identifying literature. Even if you intend to use literature from larger animal rights groups (which can save time and money), you need to have at least one brochure, fact sheet, or flier that identifies your organization and describes its purpose and goals. These are invaluable when working with reporters who are always interested in the “local angle.” Make a list of media persons and organize it into the following categories: • local print media • local radio • local TV • national media Record the name and designation of each contact person (you may have more than one contact person for each organization), the name of the publication and the address and telephone number. For print media, get the name of the news editor, the features editor, and the person responsible for the bulletin board. For radio or TV, you will need the name of the assignment editor, the public service director, and the people responsible for booking talk show guests or even audiences that can ask questions. If you do not have the names of contact people, do not be afraid to call and ask. Be sure to get their designations, since personnel turnover can be rapid. Update the list every three or four months. Organize media information according to whether the publication is daily, weekly, or monthly. It will help in planning times for demonstrations or actions to know what times fit into the newspaper or TV station’s schedule. Try to keep profiles of your media contacts, with comments on whether they are sympathetic or hostile to certain issues and on what issues they are interested in or have covered in the past. Reporters work against a deadline. If you call editors or reporters when they are rushing to meet a deadline, you will not get your story in the news, and you may alienate them as well. It is best to call radio or TV reporters as early in the day as possible if you are trying to get on an evening broadcast. Do not call after 1 or 2 p.m. for a 5 p.m. story; the staff is rushing to edit the news they already have. Talk to media people as far before deadlines as possible. Your goal is to become a resource person for the media on animal rights issues. You can do this by letting the media know you exist and by cultivating contacts. Send a brief letter to each contact person on your media list, explaining the purpose of your group and offering information on animal rights issues. Include your group’s identifying fact sheet or brochure. This alone is probably not enough to get the media to contact you — usually you have to become known in the community — but it is a start. Try to develop and maintain professional relationships with media people in your community. Return calls promptly — remember those deadlines! Be enthusiastic, cooperative, friendly, and always tell the truth. If you make a mistake, admit it promptly. Do not be afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I can find out.” Then do so. When you send a news release to more than one person in an organization, let each person know who else is receiving it. Nothing infuriates an editor more than to work on a story and then find that someone else at the paper is doing the same story in another section. Reporters sometimes claim that they can not cover animal rights stories because there is no new “angle,” so you have got to provide it. Use interesting visuals, such as costumes and props, in your demonstrations. Focus on the 44 local aspects by talking, for example, about what the company that employs half the people in town does to animals, or talk about local people arrested for killing several animals. Never speak “off the record”; there is no such thing. Do not get bullied into a simple yes-or-no answer to a complex question. Give the facts necessary to understand the issue. When you make a press call or send out a news release, be sure that it is for something newsworthy. Your communications should be organized and state important points clearly and briefly. It is helpful if you understand what the media considers newsworthy. Some of the characteristics of news are: – timeliness – media are interested in what is happening today, not yesterday – proximity – the closer the event is to the media, the more likely the media will consider it news – prominence – if you have got well-known people involved, the media sometimes respond better – conflict – the media love covering opposing factions – oddity – if you are doing something for the first time, the media are more likely to respond; they get tired of the same old thing – importance – how many people might be affected or interested. All of these “news judgments” do not have to apply before you contact the media, but your information/event should meet most of them. Remember, the media do not like to feel “used” by anyone with a cause. Reporters want to think that what they are writing about is legitimate news and not propaganda. If your information/event is not newsworthy, do not contact the media. A news release, a short announcement of a newsworthy event, is sent to newspapers, magazines, and TV and radio stations to interest them in doing a story. Because news directors receive hundreds of releases every day, yours must look professional and present the facts quickly, or it will never be read. Here are some guidelines: – Keep it short. One page is best. – Write a concise, catchy headline that summarizes the story. It should be written in the style of a newspaper headline, using active verbs. Put the most important facts in the first paragraph and supporting information in descending order, so that the least important information is last. The first paragraph should answer the five W’s: who, what, where, when and why. – Underline the text that gives the location, time, and date of the event. – The final paragraph should describe your group and reinforce your message, with a quotation from your spokesperson. – Use quotations to express opinions. The quotation should be from a specific individual, not from your group. – Proofread the release carefully for grammar and spelling. Use short words and phrases, and simplify complex ideas. – If you have got an exciting, relevant photo, include it. An article showing the timeliness or significance of the story is even better. – You may also want to include black-and-white photographs, a factsheet or a flier. If you do, at the bottom of the last page of the release write, “Attached: (list documents).” – Make it dramatic and attention-getting, but be sure you can substantiate what you say. – Your letterhead should contain your group’s name and address. – The words NEWS RELEASE should be at the top of the first page. Always refer to releases as “news releases,” not “press releases.” – List the name of the “contact person.” Make sure that someone is always available at this number, or include both daytime and evening numbers where the contact person can be reached. – Type the date in the upper left-hand corner. If you have enclosed photos, note that there. – “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” should appear in the upper left-hand corner above the date. – The headline should be centered, underlined, and typed in capital letters. It should be placed about three inches below the headings above it to provide space for editor’s notes. – The body of the release should begin one-third of the way down the page. – Leave wide margins for reporters’ and editors’ notes. – Do not use zeroes for times (e.g., use “11 a.m.,” not “11:00”), and do not use letters after numbered dates (e.g., August 22, not 22nd). – Never continue a release on the back of a page. Instead, end the first page with a complete paragraph and type the word “continued” centered at the bottom. Number each additional page at the top. Include a topic headline and your organization’s name. Do not staple multiple pages. Before deciding how and when to deliver your release, establish what you want to accomplish — do you want something printed/broadcast BEFORE the event, or do you want the media to attend and cover the event? Generally, such activities as film showings, meetings, and fundraisers fall in the “BEFORE” category. In this case, mail your releases at least three weeks before the event. If you are having a picket or demonstration, you want “news” coverage. In this case, try to fax or hand-deliver your news release, and distribute it only one day before the event. Schedule it to arrive around 10 a.m., and try to deliver a copy to a reporter as well as to the news editor. When to send press releases The most critical press release is the one that goes out about two days before the event. Without it, you won’t get much coverage, if any at all. But it is a good idea to put one out much earlier than that as well - about ten days prior to the event - so that when the journalists get the second one they should be ready to respond to it. It is also important to send out a third one the moment the action begins, telling them you have succeeded in stopping illegal trade of birds/animals, stopped animal sacrifices at temples or even apprehending of trucks overloaded with cattle on National highways. If it is a one day action and your press person has still got the energy and resources, send out a fourth press release saying how it all went. A journalist’s interest is pretty unpredictable, and could be stimulated every time. If the action lasts longer than one day, send out a new press release every day, as long as you have got something to say. Once the event is in the press already, there will be plenty of opportunities for follow-ups. This is the time when you can sometimes get them to cover the issue you are trying to highlight, rather than simply the event. How to send press releases Faxing is still the best way to send them, and a fax modem is invaluable. Some journalists might be contactable by email. Do not use mail, it invariably gets lost/disregarded/placed on the bottom of the pile. To get fax numbers, simply phone the papers, TV and radio stations in question and ask for the fax number of the News desk. If you also want to send your press releases by name to journalists at the same organization, it is best to get their fax numbers from them. Keep all the fax numbers you get for future reference. One thing of which you can be absolutely certain is that something will get lost in the newsrooms you are targetting: either your press release, the journalist’s concentration or the essence of the story. This means you MUST follow it up with a phone call. Just a quick one will do. Ask them if they got it and if they would be covering the action. Also if they need any further additional information. Make sure you are ready with answers as the journalist will ask as to what is the whole thing about. However good your publicity, many journalists will not be able to make it to the event but might still be interested. They will want to know what is happening and how things are going, so there should be at least one person on site with a working and charged mobile phone whose number has been posted on the press release. Prepare a media kit. A media kit is a packet of information to give to reporters who come to your demonstration, event, or news conference. It helps to get your message across and makes you look professional. A media kit can include any or all of the following, depending on the issue: • a news release • a fact sheet • black-and-white photographs and possibly colour photographs. Type the following information on a sticky label to put on the back of the photograph: what it is, where it is, when it was taken, and who took it. Never write on the back of a photograph with a pen. The ink will rub off and damage other photographs. • background information on or history of the issue • copies of relevant documents • background on the organization Package the kit in a two-pocket folder or big envelope and put a label on the cover with the group’s name and the words “Media Kit.” If you have a photograph, you can put it on the cover, although it is not essential. Media news does not happen , it is made to happen. News, in other words, is managed and manipulated. And if we do not manage it, someone else will. Most journalists are do not want to touch an issue unless it is already been mentioned in the press. It is very useful to get a friendly and trustworthy journalist to flag the action up a week or two beforehand, without giving too much away. Being Interviewed Interviews and studio discussions are a blood sport, and you, the interviewee, are the one of the combatants. Like any other fight, you win not through brute force but through skill. And, like any other sport, there are rules and tactics you have to follow. Be informed This is the golden rule. As this is an information war you should know your subject better than the person you are up against, and can head her or him off if they try to outfox you with some new facts. This means lots of reading. Make sure your information is reliable and stands up to critical examination. Be calm However much the issue, or your opponent, winds you up, you must not let it show. This does not mean you can not be passionate and enthusiastic - indeed these are good things - but your passion and enthusiasm must be tightly controlled and must not spill over into anger. Be concise You must know exactly what you want to say, and say it in as few words as possible, with clarity and determination. The main point must come at the beginning of the interview: you should summarise the whole issue in just one or two sentences before expanding on your theme. It is the answers that count, not the questions When you go into the studio, you must know exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it. Do not be too scrupulous about answering the question: deal with it as briefly as possible, then get to the points you want to make. You must leave the studio at the end of the interview knowing you have made the most important points as effectively as possible. Do not try to make too many points You want to have a maximum of three main lines of argument. Any more and both you and the audience will get lost. Finish your point If the interviewer tries to interrupt you before you have got to the important thing you want to say, do not be afraid to carry on talking until you have said it. Sometimes it is useful to say “Just a moment” or “If you would let me finish”. Be assertive without being rude. Do not let yourself be bullied. Turn hostile questions to good account There are several ways of doing this. Deal with the question quickly, then move on to what you want to talk about. This is the simplest and safest way of handling tricky questions. A good way of going about it is to agree with part of the question, then show that it is not the whole story. Deliberately misinterpret the question by adding logical views to the question asked. For instance, street entertainers exhibiting wild animals to earn money to support their family. But this is illegal under the WLPA 1972, hence poverty cannot be an excuse for this cruelty, as the same logic applies for child prostitution or drug peddling or even a thief who cannot be spared for stealing your money. Project yourself You are not having a casual chat with the interviewer or the other guest. You have come to make some important points, and you must get them across in such a way that the viewer or listener can not possibly ignore them. This means that you should put more emphasis into your voice than you would do in a normal conversation. It might sound strange to you when you first do it (and practice it before you do a real interview), but on air it will sound fine. In fact, if you do not do it, you will sound flat and boring. TV and radio are all brightness and colour, and you must sound bright and colourful to make an impact. It is a bit of a balancing act, projecting your point well without ceasing to stay calm. Use your body On TV, a good rule is that your head and torso should stay fairly still (which makes you seem solid and trustworthy), but your hands should lend emphasis to what you say (they can help to drive your points home). Eyebrows are pretty useful too. Humour If you can do it without making it sound frivolous or irrelevant, a bit of humour can help a lot to win your audience over. Gently satirising your opponent’s position is often quite effective. Do not hate your opponent This is perhaps the hardest task of all, but it is absolutely necessary. Whatever you might think about the person you are up against, you must leave your feelings at the door of the studio. If you allow yourself to hate them, you will lose your cool, lose focus and lose public sympathy. One way of dealing with your feelings is to regard your opponent as someone who has been misled and needs to be told the truth. Think of your role as being to put them right, rather than to put them down, and you will find that when you go into the studio you will be a lot less tense. And remember - when you go into a studio, you are there to tackle one issue and one issue alone, not to put right all the ills of the world. Concentrate on one task, and you will make life a great deal easier for yourself Other Methods to Speak for Animals – Display information on free notice boards, which can be found at shopping centres, community centres, libraries, universities and government or private offices. – Distribution of pamphlets in letterboxes, or handed out personally. – State your cause by displaying a car sticker or wearing a badge or t-shirt with a message. – Community newspapers will often highlight local issues.
FUNDRAISING
	Activism will require a certain amount of money. Are Ethics Important? Are there organizations that may compromise your independence or integrity if you were to receive money from them? For example, leather or dairy industries. You should exclude them from your fundraising activity. Some Guidelines To Get You Started (look at the pamphlet on fundraising ideas) – Identify why you want to raise funds. Be as specific as possible. Set a reasonable target for your fundraising activity. – Identify appropriate fundraising strategies to reach your target. Ensure you have available resources to run the activity and plan well ahead, particularly if you have relying on volunteers to help. Often you will have to pay for fundraising activities well before any income is received, so budget carefully with this in mind. Do not rely totally on funding from one source, because this increases risk. Here are some ideas: Product sales: If you have some money to invest, you can purchase animal rights T-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, and books to sell when you set up tables and hold meetings. Food sales: A vegetarian food festival can do well either as an independent fundraiser or when combined with another event. Groups should appoint someone to be in charge and to get each member to contribute a special item. Choose a busy spot or a craft fair or festival and check ahead with the police and health department about permits and food regulations. Garage sales: You will make more money if your goods are clean and well displayed. Tag clothing with size labels and make sure prices are clearly marked. Thrift shops: Set up an ongoing thrift shop at a mall or unused garage. You will need a staff of volunteers to sort, price, display, and do the sales and bookkeeping. Annual sales: Restrict your sales to either books or clothing and hold the sale at the same time each year. You can request known brands to contribute by giving their products for sale and part of the proceeds can be given to your cause. Plan ahead to get a good location and publicize the event. If you have a good spot for storage, you can collect donations through the year. Raffles: The two keys to a successful raffle are a good prize and lots of ticket sellers. Print the name of your group, the date and place of the draw and a list of the prizes you are offering. Make sure ticket sellers always have enough tickets on hand. Try setting up a table at the supermarket on Saturdays or outside a movie theatre to sell tickets during the weekend. Ask local merchants to donate prizes or have a 50/50 raffle, meaning that the prize is half the money you collect. Sponsored events: In a walk-a-thon or fun run, for example, a group of people commit to participating in the event, and they then ask family, friends, and local businesses to sponsor them for a certain amount (such as x amount for a kilometre). Choose a safe route and check it first with the police. You will need to prepare sponsor forms with the name and address of the group, the purpose of the event, the date and time and the route. Also include columns for the sponsor’s name, address, and amount pledged per mile (establish a minimum). Encourage local athletic groups to participate. Recycling: Many communities have recycling facilities that will pay you for cans, bottles or other items. Give up something: Ask people to give up smoking for a week or lunch for a day, and donate the money they save to your cause. Cyber Fundraising: Lots of people have access to email at work, school and universities these days. Emailing them weekly or fortnightly updates and meeting minutes is a good way to keep members informed about the group’s activities and to get them motivated to do things for your campaign. If you have a website, give people the opportunity to donate online. Make sure you have a secure website, to give people peace of mind when handing over their credit/bank details. Have a look at some charity fundraising websites before developing your own. Websites are a useful way to keep your members up-to-date with your activities. They are also a good way to attract new supporters. Street Collections: This is where a team of you take to the street in a shopping area to collect money in cans. You cannot do this every week. You have got to apply to the local administration. Ring up the collector's office and ask for ‘Licensing’. Fill in the form they send specifying the dates you want to do your work. The best days are Saturday or market days. Unlike your regular street stall, here you can put collecting tins on the table, and some volunteer's can move around with extras. Make sure you posters put on the stall, especially if it is a single issue stall. Some people reckon gruesome pictures get money in, others believe in cuddly ones. Find the best spots - cover all entrances and exits to the area where you are collecting. So on a big street do not collect in the middle, set up collectors at both ends. The most important thing to reiterate is that visual appearance pulls in money. Buskers can rake in money, such as one bod in an animal costume so that everyone could see what they were busking for. You can sell T-shirts, mugs and badges. Tithe: If you are working and do not have much free time, you can still make things happen and create many new vegetarians by using your wages to “contract out” your campaigning. How? Consider “tithing” your income to animal rights organizations. Start with 1% and see if you miss it. Give every month for as long as you care to give. Miscellaneous: Place donation boxes in stores, sell heart-shaped vegetarian dog biscuits on Valentine’s Day, handmade valentine cards, etc. Another kind of fundraising effort is to ask for something other than money. Ask print shops, typesetters, or art supply stores if they will give you a discount. Ask local businesses to donate new or used office equipment, a computer, or a printer. Send each business an individualized request describing your group and its goals and asking for a specific item or service. If you are tax-exempt, that will encourage donations. But do not be afraid to ask even if you are not tax-exempt. Another good source of financial support is your supporters — people in your group as well as people on your sign-up sheets. Ask them to pay a yearly membership fee. Set different levels for dues such as Rs.50 to Rs.100 for regular members, Rs.1000 for life members. Consider offering members an incentive, such as a free book or T-shirt with a large donation. Ask for regular donations either monthly or quarterly, and always be sure to send a thank-you note promptly. (If you are tax-exempt, your thank-you note should inform donors of the deductible portion of their gift, i.e., the amount of the gift minus the value of any incentive you give them in return.) Do’s And Dont’s Do – Include your phone number, web address or a brochure if possible on all your communications. – Collect the name, address, phone number and web address of your donors. You are never too small to start a database of those who give. – Keep in regular contact with your donors/ supporters... people give to organizations they have a relationship with. – Negotiate to get goods in kind or at a reduced cost to assist you in running fundraising activities cheaply. – Communicate clearly, passionately and with urgency about your organization. Don’t – Create expectations you cannot fulfil. – Exaggerate about your activities. – Be vague about why you are fundraising. – Launch into a fundraising activity without planning and budgeting. – Raise money for a specific project and then spend it on something else without first informing your donors.
USING THE LAW
	Before you proceed any further to prevent animal cruelty, it is very important to become familiar with the Acts relating to Animal welfare. There are three main acts applicable – Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960; Wildlife Protection Act, 1972; Indian Penal Code 428/ 429. Obtain copies of your city and state anti-cruelty laws. There are hundreds of peripheral laws which involve animals. You can get comprehensive book on laws – Animal Laws of India from Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., C-FF-1A, Ansal’s Dilkhush Industrial Estate, G.T.Karnal Road, Delhi-110033. Ph. 91-11-7215334, 7438103, 7458529, Fax. 7459023. Find out who in your town, city or state investigates and enforces your state’s anti-cruelty laws. The local SPCA inspectors, the animal husbandry department, the district forest officers and rangers, the SP and local SHOs, the subdivisional magistrates (SDMs). If your community does not have a local animal welfare organization, then you should call or visit your local police department to ask for help in enforcing the law. Keep in mind that there is no standard formula of laws and enforcement officials to apply to animal cruelty cases; each case requires individual attention and some creative thought. Once you have located the proper law enforcement official, provide him or her with a concise, factual, written statement of what you have observed. Lodge an FIR under the PCA, WLPA and IPC Acts. Give details about the cruelty that took place, the names and addresses of the people involved, and be sure to take photographs as evidence, if possible. You should also try to obtain short, factual statements from any witnesses. Anyone who has witnessed the cruel act can go to the local police commissioner. If you are having trouble collecting concrete evidence on a specific cruelty or abusive conditions, you may wish to enlist the support and assistance of others who share your concern. Not only will you need help with your campaign, but officials tend to be more receptive to groups than to an individual. You might want to run an advertisement (with a post office box) in the local newspaper asking people who have complaints or who have witnessed an act of cruelty at the pet shop/zoo/animal shelter, etc., to write to you. In your advertisement, be careful to target the act of cruelty or abusive conditions only — do not mention specific individuals in your advertisements. Sometimes you may require a witness who is an expert to build an effective case. A veterinarian, for example, can sign a statement that it is his/her expert opinion that a dog suffers if deprived of food, or that electrocution is a cruel method of destruction. Expert opinion is extremely important, so, if you know a sympathetic veterinarian, ask for his/her assistance, and let the authorities know you have support for your position. Copies of the experts’ statements can be sent to the proper enforcement authorities and the media, if necessary. If you do not get a satisfactory response from the proper police officials, present your documented case to their supervisors. If necessary, meet with local government officials and ask them to act on the situation. If the police official’s action is slow in coming, present your factual, well-documented record of the case to local newspapers and television stations and try to interest reporters in the story. A news story may force officials to act or scare the person causing the abuse into stopping. This builds up the pressure on the local administration. Other people who have seen similar acts may come forward, further strengthening your case. If you cannot interest the media, write a letter to the editor. No matter what or whom you are investigating — an individual, organization, or corporation — do not be afraid to contact them and ask to meet with them to discuss your concerns. Be prepared to propose some realistic suggestions for improving conditions for the animals, and be prepared to offer your own or your group’s assistance in implementing these suggestions. Although your target may refuse to meet with you, it is important to make an effort to do so. You may be asked, either by the media or by a judge, whether you ever contacted the party in question, and you should have a positive reply. If the individual or organization refuses a meeting, then you can move on to taking your case before law enforcement officials and/or the media, and only the perpetrators of the cruelty will be in a weak position. Whether you have registered an official complaint, spoken with eyewitnesses, or met with the individual or organization responsible for the abuse, you must keep track of what you have done by keeping a written log of your actions on the case. Be sure to leave a “paper trail” of dated memos and letters, and keep a well-organized record of whom you contact, the date of the contact, and photocopies of everything you receive or send out. The more written documentation you have on your case, the more effectual your case will be when you take it to court or to the proper law enforcement authority. Get government or private lawyers on your side. Apprise them of the animal laws and seek help in filing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in court. Letters to the Editor You can get great exposure for animal rights issues through letters to the editor in newspapers or magazines. Your letter must be short: 300 words is the maximum most papers or magazines will publish without cutting. It is better for you to do the cutting than for the editor to do it. The best length is 100 to 150 words (10 to 15 typed lines). Read local papers and magazines for material for letters. Watch for articles, ads, or letters that mention animals. Some examples: – ads for circuses – articles about medical experiments – features about local animal groups or companion animal care Write on good news as well as bad. Thank the paper for its coverage of an anti-fur protest or for running profiles of animals available for adoption at shelters. Make the first sentence catchy, so it will get the reader’s attention, and stick to one issue. The letter should be timely. If possible, send it in no more than three to four days after the article you are responding to, has appeared. Do not send letters just to the biggest paper in town. The smaller the paper, the better chance you have of getting your letter printed. Small local weekly papers are an excellent way to reach hundreds of people. Sending in regular letters to the editor should be a priority for any animal activist group. The exposure you get is so valuable that it is worth forming a letter-writing committee just to ensure that the job gets done. Occasionally, you may have the chance to write an opinion piece for the local paper, especially if you are involved in a controversial campaign. These are longer articles of 500 to 800 words that summarize an issue, develop an argument, and propose a solution. Send the article to the editorial page editor with a cover letter explaining why you feel it should be printed. The article has a better chance of getting printed if it is signed by someone prominent, even if you wrote it for him or her. Try to tell readers something they are not likely to know such as how chickens are raised to produce eggs or how silver foil is prepared and encourage them to take action (such as to stop buying eggs or sweets covered with silver foil). Some steps that can start you on your way to becoming an activist for the animals – 1.Getting a local establishment closed The Zoo – If you find that your local zoo has animals in a pathetic condition you can improve them by volunteering your services by collecting ration for the animals, monitoring visitors’ behaviour, getting zoo enclosures sponsored by corporate houses. If the conditions do not change then you can get it shut down and the animals can be shifted to bigger zoos. The same can be done for mini zoos which run as illegal amusement parks. Hold regular demonstrations at the zoo entrance, hand out leaflets, display posters and banners and talk to the people visiting the zoo. This will change people’s minds about going to the zoo - it will make much less money from entrance fees and will be forced to close. Publicise the issue as much as possible in the local media, give talks in local schools and hold a public meeting. Distribute ‘zoo-check’ leaflets giving symptoms about certain behaviours, for example, biting or licking bars, looking depressed, sitting in a corner means that the animal is bored and it needs company. Request visitors to hand it over to you after putting their suggestions/ comments about the zoo animals. You can compile this information and give it to the zoo director and the local press. Hold protests on a Sunday because this is the day the zoo gets the most visitors. A few days before the demonstration, press releases should be sent out to the local papers. You can send your report with actual facts to the Member Secretary, Central Zoo Authority, Shahajahan Road, New Delhi – 110001. 2. How to Close Down a Restaurant/Shop Picket outside the establishment every day (if possible!) until it shuts. Have at least two people at each door of the shop with a petition and a couple of boards showing the real truth behind the trade. Leaflet anyone walking past. Do not abuse people going in as this gives the law an excuse to remove you from the place. Your presence there alone is enough to deter most people from going in. You must keep it up. It will take weeks, not days, to close the place down, but it is a good motivator for the group when the place shuts. Never call each other by surname within earshot of the shopkeeper as the owners might note your names in order to take out an injunction against you. Do not let them intimidate you - they will try to. 3. Getting something banned This is a speciality of local groups. Keep an eye out for disgusting practices taking place in your area and try to get them banned. For example, illegal animal sacrifices at temples, houses or in open places. Get all information regarding the state laws applicable for this illegality. Produce a leaflet and petition about the subject and then organise a demonstration at the site, contacting the local media. Organise a public meeting involving the temple priests, administrators, district magistrate and police officials in order to raise more awareness about the subject. 4. Promoting cruelty free living locally You can produce an information booklet which describes the best places to get vegetarian and vegan food in your area and also provides advice and encouragement for prospective vegans. Why not produce a street map with recommended shops and cafes clearly marked. You could organise and publicise a guided tour of your town for the benefit of both veggie newcomers to your area and local people just turning vegetarian. You can also promote cruelty free household products, etc. If you want to protest against a restaurant you can also do a sit in where lots of you go in, sit down, take out your own food and start eating it. When the police arrive, you just leave. 5. Protest Marches These can range from awe-inspiring, spectacular events where thousands of people bring a town centre to a temporary standstill and the streets echo with chanting, to badly organised, embarrassing flops where a dozen people half-heartedly walk about feeling self-conscious and attracting puzzled stares from passers by. Ensure that your march resembles the former type. This requires plenty of advance planning. A protest march can only go ahead with the permission of the police. A confident and respectable looking person in your group should approach them in order to sort out the date and route. Get the permission in writing. Study a street map of the town before meeting them and choose two or three possible routes, aiming to get maximum visibility. Try to avoid routes that go down back streets, and be ready at the meeting for the police to be awkward and try to steer you away from the main part of town where people will see you. Find somewhere to end your march, preferably where shoppers will come and listen, such as a town square, or failing that a field or other open space where stalls can be put up. Get permission from the owners of the space to gather there at the end and to put up stalls. If it is a public place you will need a licence from the local administration. The police will demand that they have only one person to liaise with up to the march and on the day of it. They will understand that you will not be able to give them a very accurate prediction of the expected turnout, so they wll not regard it as a major problem if more people come than expected. Allow plenty of time to promote your march, at least 2 months! Advertise wherever possible, in animal rights magazines, local papers, local radio, local TV. Give a press release with details of the march at least two weeks in advance to all local media. Repeat the press release again to everyone two days before the march. You can also promote the event in any local ‘What’s On’ listings. See if the national press will mention your event as well. (There’s no harm in trying!) Contact national animal welfare and ‘green’ type publications as well, even low circulation ones. Do not make the march more than 2 or 3 miles long and check the route to make sure there are no road closures. Make sure that the route does not present problems to young children or disabled persons. Hire or scrounge public address equipment for the end of the march and arrange speakers. Make sure they keep to a short time (no more than 5 minutes per speaker) and make sure they keep to the point. Make it media friendly with plenty to photograph. Depending on the subject, make sure you have children or The police will demand that they have only one person to liaise with up to the march and on the day of it. They will understand that you will not be able to give them a very accurate prediction of the expected turnout, so they wll not regard it as a major problem if more people come than expected. Allow plenty of time to promote your march, at least 2 months! Advertise wherever possible, in animal rights magazines, local papers, local radio, local TV. Give a press release with details of the march at least two weeks in advance to all local media. Repeat the press release again to everyone two days before the march. You can also promote the event in any local ‘What’s On’ listings. See if the national press will mention your event as well. (There’s no harm in trying!) Contact national animal welfare and ‘green’ type publications as well, even low circulation ones. Do not make the march more than 2 or 3 miles long and check the route to make sure there are no road closures. Make sure that the route does not present problems to young children or disabled persons. Hire or scrounge public address equipment for the end of the march and arrange speakers. Make sure they keep to a short time (no more than 5 minutes per speaker) and make sure they keep to the point. Make it media friendly with plenty to photograph. Depending on the subject, make sure you have children or animal costumes at the front, a wooden crate for a veal demo, or cages, banners and home-made placards. You can make a banner from a big sheet. Design it on paper, then draw it onto the sheet with a pencil, paint it with gloss paint or any paint that won’t wash off. Or you can make a really eye-catching banner by sewing on letters in bright material. If you’re going to march with your banner then cut holes, for example in the O’s, to let the wind through or you will get blown all over the place. For a big march, make many placards using cardboard, though a handful would be adequate for the front line which is what you want photographed for the media. The more the better though. If you are in a hurry and want to knock together a large number of placards. Make sure the words are clear and can be seen from a distance. 6. Do not buy from or support companies and people who are known animal users and killers. Read product labels and be certain that they have not been tested on animals and that they do not contain animal by-products. Get a list of products to know which ones are not tested on animals. Contact Ms.Diana Ratnagar, Beauty Without Cruelty, 4 Wanowrie, Prince of Wales Drive, Pune, Maharashtra.Organise hundreds of letters to each company that uses animals for experimentation or has animal products in it and say that you will boycott their product. 7. Make a Fashion Statement By shunning apparel made from animal products such as leather and fur, you are no longer supporting cruelty to animals used for clothing. Get local celebrities to campaign for your cause as it will make a deep impact. People are known to believe or imitate celebrities so the effort will be worthwhile. 8. Letter writing Write letters to companies, restaurants, charitable organizations, government officials, friends, and family members urging them to stop animal abuse, animal experimentation, and killing. Focus on a key issue (eg, overloading, dog breeding, illegal poaching). 9. Use the media Let the media hear your voice. Write letters and speak up to radio stations, newspapers, and TV stations whenever you hear of animal rights being denied and/or glorified. 10. Spread the message Put an animal rights message on your answering machine, voice mail, or screen saver on your computer at work (there are many you can download off the internet). Wear t-shirts, and use bumper stickers to spread the word and to get great conversations started. 11. Keep informed Read animal rights books and other literature that will inform you on how to get involved, be effective, and find out what is really going on behind closed doors, as well as right out in the open. The internet is also a great resource for all kinds of animal rights information. Using the Internet, you can start your own Web site, email newsletter, newsgroup or bulletin board to educate others about animal issues. 12. Leaflets Leafleting is a great way to spread the word. Focus on an important issue and hand out leaflets in front of a busy location, like the post office on a Saturday, or in front of a known temple where animal sacrifices are conducted, or place them on car windshields in a parking lot at the movies. Also stick brochures on outgoing bills/mail. 13. Share Knowledge Offline Hand out information (newsletters, brochures or leaflets) in a busy public area or post flyers or posters. Most animal rights groups have material that they would be happy to send you. There are certain points to consider when starting a newsletter or bringing out a brochure -how big will it need to be; what is your printing budget, or do you plan to photocopy it; will you be mailing it out, giving it out or trying to sell it; how much time and energy can you put into each issue; how often will it come out – monthly/quarterly/weekly; where are you going to get material for the content from; when starting out it is best to think small rather than big. Try one or two double-sided A4 sheets. You can always expand your newsletter as it grows. 14. Peacefully Protest You may want to protest the actions of a particular business or institution such as a circus, a pet store or an animal laboratory. Established animal rights groups often plan protests and need individuals to show their support. 15. Join an animal rights group Join, start and/or an animal rights group like Blue Cross, Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) or People For Animals (PFA). If you want to be more actively involved, join an established animal group or you can form your own. It does not have to be a registered non-profit organisation - it can simply be a small group of dedicated animal lovers. These organizations will help you to build knowledge and confidence. They also provide a wealth of information on current issues, animal welfare laws and opportunities for active involvement.
LOBBYING FOR ANIMALS
	To lobby means to pressure, to influence, to sway, to advance a point of view and ultimately, if successful, to be able to alter the status quo. Lobbying means the representation of the interests of animal rights activists before governmental entities. A lot of positive change can be brought about if many people make a lot of noise. For example, for stopping the killing of homeless dogs by the municipalities all over India, several animal welfare groups such as PFA, SPCA, Blue Cross came forward and filed legal cases in court against them. Now there are High Court judgements completely banning dog killings in all states. Effective lobbying can be achieved by contacting politicians, the managers of commercial companies, animal industry leaders, local and daily newspapers, and other media and influential Government officers, and telling them of your concern for the welfare of animals over whose treatment they have some control. The spoken and the written word are powerful tools. That power is available to you. The alternative to lobbying for animals is to leave decisions in the hands of the government, or totally under the control of animal users! First, it is important to learn about the issue you are about to tackle and it is also important to keep informed of any new developments regarding your issue. It is most important to first consider what you want to achieve when preparing your case. Ensure that you are addressing the correct person or department. If you are not sure confirm on the telephone as you do not want to waste time writing to the wrong people. Depending on the issue, it may be considered or resolved by an animal owner or industry body, a public servant, a department or a minister. Always take the simple path! You may be able to convince an animal owner or industry body, to alter their practices without a political battle. In some cases, you will need to persuade the bureaucracy first, even if it is a minister or the cabinet that makes the ultimate decision. Sometimes it is worthwhile to get approval from the Opposition and other political parties as well as the government so that they may push your case too. Take care not to alienate any of the people you deal with. Remember - Oppositions often become governments! There are three levels of governance: – The district – The state – The Central Government Within the district there are different authorities: elected and appointed – The village head – The town corporators and head – The district magistrate or deputy commissioner and his juniors who are SDMs/ADMs – The superintendant of police and his policemen Apart from that there are all the various departments: the animal husbandry officer, the forest and wildlife people etc and each not only reports to the district magistrate but also to their own department heads in the state capital. The state government has different state ministries that handle aspects that you might need to address yourself to for animals: for instance , the urban development ministry for land to make an animal shelter, the animal husbandry ministry etc. Each state has its own state laws for animal sacrifices, slaughter of cattle, etc but the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 and Wildlife Protection Acts 1972 are applicable to all. The Central Government in Delhi issues policy regulations for the whole country. For instance let us see who does what: – The Central Government allows the export of meat – The State Government gives licences for setting up abbatoirs for export – The local district government in combination with the panchayats gives the land for the abbatoir and regulates the maintenance of the slaughterhouse There are many animal issues where local governments have power, such as municipal killing of animals, meat shop licences, bird markets, cattle fairs, approvals for intensive farming enterprises, wildlife habitat preservation, and allowing circuses using animals. Lobbying with your local government officials or putting your views to the department heads can assist, as can writing to local newspapers about local issues. Remember: Your chance of a favourable outcome is increased greatly by going through the correct channels. Use the power of your hand - Letter writing is a very effective method of communicating and also creates a permanent, verifiable record. It can prevent confusion or denial. It also enables you to think about what you want to say, and check what you have written before sending it. It is best to keep letters short, simple and to the point. A lengthy document will often not be read by busy people. Do not overload the reader with criticism or bad news -try to be constructive. Ask specific questions, and indicate what solution you prefer. Your opening paragraph must seize the readers attention. It should preferably be of one sentence and come straight to the point. Provide the information the reader needs to reach their decision in orderly paragraphs. Your final paragraph should also be short, and should clarify what you want the reader to do. When presenting your views, remember that a submission is a view expressed by an individual or group for consideration and is a way of putting your views to people in power. They can be made to local government officials, pressure groups, the media or anyone. Governments often seek submissions from individuals and welfare groups when reviewing legislation concerning animal welfare and this is always a good opportunity to express your opinion. When preparing a submission, the first page should contain your main points and a summary of the arguments. The following pages should contain the body of your arguments, backed up with references and footnotes. Details should be enclosed as attachments, so as not to overwhelm the reader. Use the media to build community awareness – This has already been dealt with in detail above Tips for successful lobbying – Do not be intimidated by the thought of approaching elected officials. All over India the government an elected officials are now becoming receptive to animal welfare issues. – Be concise. Your message should be short and direct. Do not hesitate to express your personal opinion. – Use all available resources. Request status papers, fact sheets, or other documentation from animal protection groups. You do not need to be an expert, but the more facts and arguments you have on with you, the better. – Persona

1.	HOW TO BE AN ANIMAL ACTIVIST
2.	CAMPAIGNING
3.	FUNDRAISING
4.	USING THE LAW
5.	LOBBYING FOR ANIMALS
6.	GOING TO COURT