VARI (Vegan Animal Rights Initiative) is a little animal rights group based out of Kingston, Ontario. However, since the need for a clear and cogent message for the animal rights movement becomes dire, we have decided that we ought to be a little more global.
We are, as you may have guessed, an abolitionist group. This distinguishes us from many other “animal groups”, but shouldn’t turn any of you off. We promise that we have interesting things to say and that we can either make you question your omnivorous diet or perhaps simply question the type of activism you believe will help further the rights of animals. Either way, we aren’t boring.
As Francione puts it, animal rights: “(1) requires the abolition of animal exploitation and rejects the notion that animal use is acceptable if we treat animals “humanely;” (2) requires only that nonhumans be sentient in order to be full members of the moral community and to have the right not to be treated as human resources; and (3) regards veganism as the moral baseline of the abolitionist approach.”
If you’d like, you can join us for meetings in Kingston (send us an email to find out when and where the next one is). Or, if you are not located anywhere near this wondrous little black hole, then just post some comments and we will get back to you shortly.
*This blog is specifically for discussion and education. This isn’t some vanity project or somewhere we can censor those who disagree with us. It is a place to talk seriously about justice with regards to animals. So, please, post as many questions and comments as you like, because it is imperative that we are clear as to the message the abolitionist movement ought to be sending.
One other note, you will need to get one comment moderated before you are able to post freely. Sorry if this is annoying for people, but I don’t want to have people trying to spam the site or post too many anonymous comments.
Contact Info
- E-mail: vari [dot] kingston [at] gmail [dot] com
- E-mail List: vari [at] lists [dot] riseup [dot] net
- Facebook Group: http://queensu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2213053645
- Meetings: Tuesdays 7:00 PM Stauffer Library, Room 020B, Queen’s University
Thanks for the warm welcome! Your blog looks fabulous. I’m not much of a blogger; I really just want to be searchable. And I’ll tell you a secret – so far, I’m the only one in the group, so I’m VERY open to recruiting suggestions!
I’m a big fan of Gary Francione whom I first heard interviewed on Vegan Freak podcast series a couple of years ago… hope you can keep up your good efforts into the future!