If you feel helpless when it comes to animal rights, perhaps you should consider joining a local animal rights group, or if one doesn’t exist, start your own!

One of my favorite times of the month is when David and Me attend our local Animal Liberation meetings. It is a great chance to be around like-minded people and think of ideas to help animals. It is amazing how when we all put our heads together we can get things done. Jobs like making placards are so much more fun when you are in a group. You can also do things just for fun like hold a vegan pot luck or bbq making it a great chance to socialize.

Not only can you organize leaflet drops, stalls and protests as a group. You can also enjoy the company of other animal activists and feel good knowing you are taking action for something you believe in.

If you live in Australia you can check out Animal Liberation and Animals Australia websites to see whether there is already an animal action group in your local area. If you live elsewhere just Google animal rights organizations in your area and see what comes up. You can also contact organizations like PETA to see whether they can put you in touch with a local group.

If there is no group local to you, then you can start your own.

You may wish to contact a large organization such as PETA, so you can use their pamphlets etc for leafleting and join in their action network. The other option is to start your own general group and not affiliate with just one organization. Some people prefer to start  a group specific to one area of animal activism. For example an anti-fur group or an anti-vivisection group. This is good for people who feel strongly about these issues, but not so much others.

Finding People to Join Your Animal Action Group

If you already have a group of friends who want to help animals then that is a great start, but ideally you want as many people to come together as possible to make the group really effective. Here are some ideas to promote your animal rights group:

• Place an advert in your local paper - This is how I found out about the first animal rights group I joined. A simple classified ad is very effective and it barely costs anything. Something like   -

Animal Rights Group Meeting (Date) at Town Hall.

Open to all animal lovers.

A great place to meet like-minded people and make a difference.

(Name and Phone Number)

It is a good idea to place an ad the week before every meeting and send out an email, so people don’t forget.

• Leafleting – Design a simple leaflet informing people of the meeting. You can distribute this to local mail boxes. You can also ask shops whether you can display it in the window. Be sure to include a contact phone number/email and the time and place of the meeting.

• Contact Large Animal Rights Organizations - Send Animal Liberation  or your countries main animal rights group an email. They may be able to put you in contact with people in your area who want to help animals.

• Word of mouth – Talk to people. Many people love animals and may not know that much about animal rights. Still they could add value to your group and you could help them learn more about animal rights.

How Often Do You Want to Hold a Meeting?

Organizing an animal action group does take work so don’t set your sights too high to start with. Most people will not be able to attend a meeting every week. A Monthly meeting is a good place to start. You may want to hold the meeting on a weekday evening (around 7pm) or on the weekend. Choose one and then listen to your members to see what would work best for them (and you) in the future.

Book a Venue

Usually a local youth club, church or leisure centre will have rooms you can rent out for the meeting. You will probably not need much room to start with. If there is a place you can plug the kettle in that is great. Ask for a gold coin donation from members to help you pay or talk to the venue and see whether they will give you a reduced price or a free room for the meeting. Another option is to hold the meeting at someone’s house until your membership grows.

When it comes to the day of the meeting put a sign on the door with your Animal Rights Group name  so people know they have come to the right place.

Agenda

Plan an agenda of things to discuss. If people want to add things to the agenda they can contact you before the meeting.

You may want to schedule in some multimedia to make things more interesting. Animal rights DVDs are available from most organizations and could provide a great intro to the movement for newbies.

There will be debate – there always is. This is fine, but the agenda will give you a frame for the meeting. The chairperson’s job is to lead the meeting and also to stop things getting off track.

Take Minutes

Jot down any ideas that the group comes up with in the meeting. You can then email the group a copy later (be sure to take everyone’s names and emails).

Make it your goal to plan at least one event every meeting whether it is having people run a stall, leafleting or a protest. You can delegate jobs to others as well.

See whether you can get hold of leaflets, stickers etc from one of the major animal rights organizations. That way people can take them before they go home. After all, a lot of people who come to the meeting may not have any idea of the cruelty involved in the dairy or meat industry. Be accepting and encouraging to these people and allow them to become informed. You should welcome all animal lovers who want to make a difference into the group.

Ask people how they would like to help animals. Everyone has different skills and it may be that the idea of leafleting does not suit someone, but they would be happy to write letters. Make sure everyone leaves the meeting with something to do and be sure to follow up by email/telephone to check their progress.

Don’t Be Ashamed of Small Beginnings

So only two people show up on the first meeting? No worries – it’s a start! Be sure to give people leaflets with the meeting time and place for them to distribute if they want to. This will help publicise the meeting for next time.

No matter how small a difference you can make to the suffering of animals it still helps and it is worth it. Even if one person picks up a leaflet and decides to go vegan that is a fantastic accomplishment.

So take action and make this year the year you really make a difference!