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Guiding Principles of the Animal Rights Position

These principles were adapted from Gary L. Francione's The Six Principles of the Animal Rights Position with some slight modifications:

• All sentient beings, humans and other animals, have a basic right not to be treated as the property of others.

• Our recognition of this basic right means that we must abolish, and not merely regulate, institutionalized animal exploitation--because it assumes that nonhuman animals are the property of humans.

• Just as we reject racism, sexism, ageism, and homophobia, we reject speciesism. The species of a sentient being is no more reason to deny the protection of this basic right than race, sex, age, or sexual identity is a reason to deny membership in the human moral community to other humans.

• We recognize that we will not abolish overnight the property status of nonhuman animals, but we will support only those campaigns and positions that explicitly promote the abolitionist agenda. We will not support positions that call for supposedly "improved" regulation of animal exploitation, as doing so promotes one form of exploitation over another. We reject any campaign that promotes sexism, racism, homophobia or other forms of discrimination against humans.

• We recognise that the most important step that any of us can take toward abolition is to adopt the vegan lifestyle and to educate others about veganism. Veganism is the principle of abolition applied to one's personal life, and the consumption or use of any animal products is inconsistent with the abolitionist perspective.

• We recognise the principle of nonviolence as the guiding principle of the animal rights movement.