Green Party Platform Includes Ethical Treatment of Animals and a Vegan Lifestyle

Ethical Treatment of Animals

2010 Proposed Language
Chapter 3: Ecological Sustainability
Section J: Ethical Treatment of Animals

Submitted by: Green Party of California

CA Contact: Peggy Koteen

Platform Committee Contacts:

Lou Novak (MI)

Asher Platts (ME)

Woody Hastings (CA)

*******************************

Our position: Cruelty to animals is objectionable and unacceptable.

The mark of a humane society lies in how we treat the least protected among us. Humans do not have the right to exploit and inflict violence on other animals simply because we have the desire or power to do so.

We reject the belief that other species exist only for our use and enjoyment. Our ethic upholds not only the value of biological diversity, but also the value of individual lives and the interest of individual animals.

We call for an intelligent and non-exploitive relationship between humans, other species and the natural world. Nonhuman species do not exist only to serve the needs of the human species.

Green Solutions

1. Redirect wasteful publicly funding from animal experiments and towards health care, preventive medicine, and biomedical research using non-animal scientifically valid procedures.

2. Phase out the use of animals for consumer product testing, tobacco, alcohol, drug and psychological testing, classroom demonstrations and dissections, weapons development and other military programs.

3. Mandate clear labeling of products disclosing whether or not they have been tested on animals and if they contain any animal ingredients.

4. Amend the Humane Slaughter Act and the Animal Welfare Act to cover those animals currently excluded in agriculture and research.

5. Phase out animal cruelty practices in Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) at the federal and state level.

7. End international and national trade in wildlife.

6. Ban the use of goods produced from exotic or endangered animals, and promote the use of non-animal, sustainable materials in all manufacturing.

8. Prohibit the use of inhumane and indiscriminate wildlife control methods to address human-wildlife conflicts.

9. Prohibit large scale commercial breeding facilities, such as “puppy mills,” mandate spay and neuter laws, subsidize spay and neuter clinics, and discourage further breeding of companion animals while millions of animals are being killed at the “pound”.

10. Ban the exploitation of animals in entertainment, gambling and sports.

11. Ban canned hunts and the corresponding trade in animals from zoos and other commercial “entertainment” industries. Ban other hunting and fishing for sport.

12. Eliminate free-trade laws that weaken or revoke efforts to end animal cruelty in commerce.

13. Ultimately, we acknowledge that it is rarely possible to treat farm animals in an ethical manner. In the interests of ecological sustainability, health and non-violence, we support transitioning from an animal-based agriculture system toward the direction of a higher emphasis on a plant-based system, and encourage more individuals to adopt a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.