This February 20-26 is National Justice for Animals Week, which was created by the Animal Legal Defense Fund and is recognized every year to raise awareness about animal cruelty and crimes involving animals. It’s astounding that there must be such a theme for a week, but through our Justice for Animals campaign, we’re working toward a world where there won’t be a need for this yearly observation. 

From the beginning, our human history seems to be one of conquering kingdoms, villages, and yes, the burrows, caves, and nests of other animals who are unable to defend themselves against us. How can we not see that our domination and cruelty have corrupted even our own lives, not to mention the lives of other species?.

The struggle for justice has no beginning and as long as the nature of the most fearsome beast scoffs at compassion, the cry will be for uniquely compassionate people to give their all to seeking and forging justice for all of us, a kind of justice rooted in compassion -.not in sympathy, but empathy.

Jericho the horse was starved nearly to death. Here he is with his rescuer Doll Stanley and his healer, Dr.Tom Abernethy.

In Defense of Animals and like-minded individuals and organizations around the world are now able to be heard at any moment anywhere. While we may not be awakening the cruel-hearted, we are catching the attention of the awakening population of “kind souls.”

Legislation can be a restraint for calloused hearts, but the truly cruel may always be with us. Awareness, speaking out, forging alliances with any and all agencies and organizations with common interests creates a platform for standing against cruelty. Just look at what we’ve accomplished just in our lifetimes.

You can help create a more just world for animals by learning about the animal protection laws in your state and supporting anti-cruelty legislation. If you haven’t done so already, you can also sign up to receive our latest news and alerts to help animals. 

To learn more about what we’re doing and how you can get involved, visit our Justice for Animals campaign.