People who exploit animals for profit or entertainment should know that animal rights protests come with the territory and are a cost of doing business. But instead arguing their point of view, exploiters often resort to vulgar personal attacks that validate the very argument that the activists are making — that they are abusive people.

Horse-drawn carriage driver in New York City

Personal attacks are quite common, but they’re rarely caught on camera. The few incidents that have been captured show the true colors of people who gratuitously exploit and abuse animals:

Fur vendor says, “Drop dead, you faggot. Get AIDS and die.”

Horse-drawn carriage driver says to Latina protesters, “What a whore you are. Are you a married woman with children, or are you barren? This one might have six or seven kids because, you know . . .”

A rodeo supporter in Canada says to a protester, “I like the color you are because it comes out of my ass. I will fucking blow your country up, you fucking shit-skinned goof.”

https://youtu.be/BXss9yuwZRQ

A horse-drawn carriage drivers says, “You are one of those faggots. I’m not into guys, man. I don’t fuck guys.”

In the early 1990s, the Ku Klux Klan conducted membership drives at pigeon shooting events. In a video highlighting some of the violent attacks against them, the animal rights group SHARK noted that “the kind of people who shoot pigeons tossed out of boxes are the perfect candidates for those hate organizations.”

KKK at pigeon shooting event

Perhaps some animal exploiters employ personal attacks because they can’t argue on the merits of the issue. Activists, on the other hand, have the truth on our side. We should therefore stick to the issue and avoid the temptation to fight back with personal attacks in the heat of the moment.

It has all the trappings of a thriller, but, like The Cove, it’s a real-life documentary that exposes the plight of one of the planet’s most beloved and intelligent animals. The film is called Virunga, and the animals are the majestic mountain gorillas.

Photo: Virunga Movie

On one side, a British energy corporation called Soco bribes government officials in the war-torn Congo so that it can explore for oil in a protected national park called Virunga. On the other side are locals who risk – and often lose – their lives to protect the park, which is their lifeline. Caught in the crossfire are some of Africa’s last remaining mountain gorillas.

Because tourists are willing to spend hundreds of dollars a day to see them, gorillas, along with many other animals in the park, are a priceless renewable resource for the communities around Virunga. But Soco and the officials they bribe appear willing to destroy the park to make a quick buck off of a finite amount of oil.

Photo: WWF

Among the many extraordinarily people in the film is a French journalist, who, wearing a hidden camera, films Soco executives making bribes and threatening those who oppose oil exploration in the park. In a particularly jarring moment, a member of the British entourage said, “I can’t believe that people are protecting the park just for monkeys. Who cares about fucking monkeys?”

Photo: Joe McKenna

The world’s last 950 mountain gorillas live in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. In spite of sporadic civil unrest, gorilla tourism is returning to the Congo. And it is thriving in Rwanda and Uganda. In this video, wild gorillas wander onto the grounds of a tourist lodge in Uganda and give an unsuspecting guest the encounter of a lifetime.

To find out how you can help save the remaining mountain gorillas, please visit Virunga Movie, which is now available on Netflix.

By observing the actions of adults, we are taught as children that animals exist to serve our needs and desires, not their own. Our sense of superiority to other animals is so ingrained that society gives virtually no thought at all to imprisoning them in zoos, labs and factory farms, thereby stripping them of the freedom that they instinctually desire just as much as we do.

Our behavior can best be described as speciesist. As a word and as a concept, speciesism is not yet a part of the public discourse. In an effort to help animals, however, social justice groups are working to change that, employing creative methods from provocative street theater to dramatic protests.

Launched just two months ago, a NYC-based organization called Collectively Free has been stopping people in their tracks with their “Swap Speciesism” events. At Meatopia, a carnivore festival where whole animals were cooked, Collectively Free turned the tables – and turned many heads – by serving samples from a whole human.

On the menu: Rack of Man, Human Chops

Wearing a pig mask, Kate Skwire, a Collectively Free performer, used humor to capture the attention of passing carnivores:

“You look like you’d like a piece, m’am. Are you hungry?”

“These are humanely raised, grass fed, local, happy humans.”

“Now tell me that isn’t delicious.”

“This one had a very good life. You don’t have to feel bad about eating this meat.”

The execution (of the event, not the human), was so creative that some Meatopia attendees stopped to give them props. Robert Jensen, one of the participants, said, “A few people said things like ‘I’m not vegetarian, but this is really creative.’ Others said, ‘that’s sick!’ to which we responded ‘it’s sick the other way around too.’ Then they became lost in thought.'”

Photo: Collectively Free

Another participant, Miriam Lucille, said, “I was holding a sign that says ‘Why love one but eat the other’ showing a dog and a pig, and one man looked at the sign, nodded and said, ‘That’s very true.'” A lot of people took photos because it was eye-catching, and that’s always a good thing.”

photo: Collectively Free

A San Francisco based group, Direct Action Everywhere, is also aiming to “Disrupt Speciesism” through dramatic and controversial actions inside of and in front of restaurants and grocery stores around the world. A video of one such protest not only went viral but also made national news. In the video, activist Kelly Atlas enters a restaurant and delivers an emotional account of her baby girl Snow, who is an injured chicken rescued from a battery cage.

https://youtu.be/LmfRMeU6pQ8

In 2013, filmmaker Mark Devries made made a critically-acclaimed documentary about the issue. In Speciesism: The Movie, Animal Liberation author Peter Singer sums it up nicely: “The fact that animals are not human isn’t a reason to give less consideration to their interests.”

Humans might be more powerful than other species, but we are far from superior. In fact, because we are the only species that is destroying the planet, some might argue that we are inferior.

To learn more about and get involved in the provocative #DisruptSpeciesism and #SwapSpeciesism campaigns, please visit Direct Action Everywhere and Collectively Free.

Jane Velez-Mitchell, former host “Jane Velez-Mitchell” on HLN (Headline News Network), has created a new show dedicated to animal rights. On “Jane Unchained,” Velez-Mitchell, who has been America’s most prominent spokesperson for animal rights, reports on the day’s news with the same dedication and emotion that turned this TV news anchor into an icon in the animal rights movement.

Donny Moss from TheirTurn was lucky enough to a guest on her first two shows. On the first show, Velez-Mitchell and Moss discuss the impact of meat on the climate, the horse-drawn carriage fiasco in NYC and how a single issue can draw caring people into a cruelty-free lifestyle.

If you’d like to follow Jane’s program, you can watch her YouTube channel and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

In moments of frustration and anger, many of us demonize an entire country when we learn about the atrocities they commit against animals, but those feelings are misguided. Only a small percentage of people in any country participate in the abuse, and most are probably unaware. In addition, whatever country we happen to call home is probably committing abuses that are every bit as bad, so why point a finger?  Every nation is culpable:

The French insert tubes down the throats of ducks and force feed them:

The Spanish set some bulls on fire and chase others through city streets:

photo: Jose Jordan/AFP/Getty Images

The Chinese skin animals alive for fur:

Americans lasso young animals, wrestle them to the ground and twist their necks at rodeos:

Canadians club baby seals:

Africans tear the tusks out of elephants’ faces:

Photo: Mark Deeble & Victoria Stone

Australians hack flesh out of sheep to keep insects out of their wool:

Mexicans stab bulls to death to cheering crowds:

The Danish drive pilot whales into the shore and butcher them:

Photo: Sea Shepherd

The Japanese shoot harpoons with explosives into protected whales and serve animals at restaurants who are still alive:

Photo: sundayworld.com

This list goes on. Instead of vilifying entire countries, which does nothing to help their animals, we should target our anger – and energy – toward those who commit the atrocities and the authorities who have the power to stop them.