Animal Rights is not a new concept, in ancient times Hinduism and Buddhism promote vegetarian lifestyles for ethical reasons. As time has passed slowly but surely the fight for animal rights has gathered more traction and coverage.

Here is a small part of the timeline of Animal rights, the ones included seem to have the most effective in society, most of them are based in America. They will all be explained as well below the actual explanation and some links for your further research.

“1635: First known animal protection legislation passes, in Ireland, “An Act against plowing by the tayle, and pulling the wool off living sheep.”

• Important because it is the first-ever written legislation about animal rights
• Shows that farmers were aware of the harm they were doing to their animals

“1641: The Massachusetts colony’s Body of Liberties includes regulations against “Tirranny or Crueltie” toward animals”

• This is the first introduction of rights in America

1687: Japan reintroduces a ban on eating meat and killing animals

• Firstly, the word “reintroduces” means there had already been banned prior to this
• Secondly, they are reintroducing it knowing that is bad to kill animals

1835: The first Cruelty to Animal Act is passed in Britain

• First official Act against cruelty

1866: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded by New Yorker Henry Bergh

• An official society begins making headway in the newspaper the New Yorker

1906: Upton Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle,” an excoriating look into the cruelty and appalling conditions of the Chicago meatpacking industry, is published

• This book is a must-read for almost anyone interested in animal rights, truthfully it is a must-read for everyone who eats meat. At least in my opinion.
• This is the first book to truly go into dept about the actual industry of meatpacking
• A summary of the book.

1980: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is founded; “Animal Factories” by attorney Jim Mason and philosopher Peter Singer is published

• PETA is the most notorious group of animal right activism
• This book follows in Sinclair’s footsteps and provides the public with more understanding of the idea of animal farms and factories
• His website about the book.

1987: California high school student Jennifer Graham makes national headlines when she refuses to dissect a frog; “Diet for a New America” by John Robbins is published.

• A massive movement against using animals in school becomes massive in new coverage because prior to this there had been no question about the ethics of it.
• This book explains how eating animals is affecting climate change and animal rights
• A video of Robbins at Google discussing his book and more.

1990: Revlon stops testing its products on animals.

• A step after the discussion of using animals for dissection leads to people questioning the use of animals for chemical testing.

1993: General Motors stops using live animals in crash tests; The Great Ape Project is founded by Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri.

• Another step following steps for using animals as a means to an end.
• The project focuses on giving basic legal rights to non-human great apes: chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans.

1994: Tyke the elephant goes on a rampage, killing her trainer and escaping from the circus before being gunned down by police.

• This was massive coverage and brought about the question of animal treatment in circuses, zoos and any type of animals used for amusement

1997: PETA releases an undercover video showing animal abuse by Huntington Life Sciences.

• Finally, the treatment of animals in the world is brought to the public by showing inside the places.

2009: The European Union bans cosmetics testing and bans the sale or import of seal products.

• After 19 years The European Union bans it completely being a huge step in the fundamental rights of animals.

2010: A killer whale at SeaWorld kills his trainer, Dawn Brancheau. SeaWorld is fined $70,000 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

• Huge media coverage and lawsuit brings to the public the aggressive nature caused by animals in enclosed exhibits.
• Brings about a question of using wild animals for amusement and monetary means

2013: The documentary “Blackfish” reaches a mass audience, causing widespread public criticism of SeaWorld.

• After the 2010 incident, this is a massively controversial piece of information to release to the public as they learn the 2010 incident was not the only death and that SeaWorld has been aware of the aggressive nature caused by them.
• A very good film, personally I have watched it probably 10 times.

2018: Nabisco changes its 116-year-old package design for Animal Crackers. The new box is cage-free.

• After numerous years of arguing about caging wild animals in zoos and circus, this is a seemingly small change on packaging however for animal activists it is a large deal.

 

Why is this still relevant to the everyday person?

Although a timeline of animal rights is quite boring, I personally believe you need to have some sort of background to understand why it is relevant then and is still relevant today. It is important to think about how your grocery store gets its meat, how your lipstick got that beautiful red color, and how the animals feel as we poke the glass at zoos. It is not something the news covers constantly that is correct, but I think that is why it is very relevant and a massive civic issue. It makes one question their morals, expectations, ethics, and personal choices and beliefs.