It's so gratifying to see this change in attitude by the media.
Only seven years ago The Province editors scolded AAS and others for being animal rights activists in an editorial where Dr Dear, the President of the Vancouver Regional SPCA, was quoted saying the SPCA was an animal-welfare organization, not an animal rights organization. It was far from popular at that time to be seen as actively promoting animal rights and this statement from the SPCA was repeated to AAS as a reason not to support us.
Now, in much of the world, media is headlining animal rights issues - even the biggest and most conservative of them. Animal activism now is not only legitimate, it is seen as morally right and big news. It is attracting readers in perhaps even more numbers than global warming stories, as the suffering of what are now seen as sentient beings, is exposed. More people personally relate to animals. More people understand that animal activism is the best way to truly protect animals from cruelty. It always was.
Hands-on animal welfare saves individual animals and plays a very needed role, but unless accompanied by aggressive spay/neuter, it changes little or nothing; in fact it can contribute to an increase in animal-breeding and excess pet animals that need to be disposed of. And if it is not -no-kill, it can actually entrench an animal-disposing/dumping public attitude. For example, no-kill Pacific Animal Foundation on the North Shore and no-kill Happy Cat Haven on the Sunshine Coast have so aggressively rescued feral cats in their areas for many years that both now report significantly fewer feral cats. They are only two of many cat rescue groups in BC who practice no-kill cat welfare. In addition, PAF very actively advocates at the municipal level for no-kill care for feral cats.