Just The Facts Please
Brenda Shoss transcript from Free The Animals Conference - Effective Activism Against Vivisection
Gainesville, FL, March 2013

Hi, I am founder and president of Kinship Circle, a nonprofit focused in Animal Advocacy, Education, Disaster Rescue.

KNOWLEDGE CAN BE PATHWAY TO CHANGE.
Kinship Circle gives activists tools to speak, write, communicate on behalf of animals:

• ACTION CAMPAIGNS
• DOWNLOADABLE EDUCATIONAL LITERATURE - Over 50 animal issues for use in humane education, student projects, presentations, letters, articles, presskits...
• Gallery of Just The Facts Please, explores that question. And gives you the cliff notes on on effective literature and messaging: How to make it yourself, or how to select the best stuff that makes impact. AFTER MOVIE IS SHOWN: All Kinship Circle literature can be downloaded in high resolution, so you can print it, distribute it. Click Education Resources from an page on KinshipCircle.org
  
  This fact sheet, Writing With I-M-P-A-C-T, gives great tips for writing in general: Letters, articles, literature, etc. It breaks down methods to write convincingly in terms of: Content, Style, Words, even Grammar. So if you want to brush up writing skills for any form of messaging, pick one up from our table (or download Writing With I-M-P-A- C- T).
  
  KINSHIP CIRCLE LITERATURE COVERS ANIMALS USED FOR:
  Experimentation ♦ Food ♦ Entertainment ♦ Fashion ♦ Wild Animals ♦ Companion Animals ♦ Advocacy Tools
  
  
  A RUNNING THEME THROUGH ALL LITERATURE
  We use substantiated studies, stats, quotes, news… from:
  • Animal use-industries or institutions themselves
  • Official oversight/inspection agencies; watchdog groups
  • Online statistical databases
  • Reports in news media: Often first place you FIND OUT about new study, i.e., a breakthrough method to test chemicals without using animals.
  • Industry journals, papers, interviews, incident reports
  • Public records via Freedom Of Information request
  
  Try to avoid other animal rights groups as the definitive source or quote. Maybe you find info on their website, but trace it to the original source. Citing other activists can dilute our argument.
  
  
  WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL THIS DATA?
  On some level, show how a particular form of animal use harms humans, along with animals.
  
  • ILLEGAL AND/OR HABITUAL ANIMAL CRUELTY:
    Animal Fighting, Circuses, Traveling Animal Shows, Exotic "Pets"
    Stress that not just animal cruelty occurs habitually, but that it’s ILLEGAL, breaking the laws of society.
  
  
  • HUMAN HEALTH, WELL-BEING, SAFETY:
    A huge example of harmful effects from animal use, astoundingly so in two areas:
    
    • ANIMAL RESEARCH: Data from animal tests misleads experimenters with false conclusions that allow drug development or medical treatment to continue.
    • Testing progresses to human clinical trials and is then released to the human population.
    • ADRS (Adverse Drug Reactions) are the 4TH LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN U.S., as reported by U.S. Food & Drug Admin.
    • Some drugs never get to market because they test poorly in animals, but may benefit humans.
    • These are harmful effects on humans, who rely on medical science to find cures and treatments.
    • ANIMALS USED FOR FOOD, IN AGRICULTURE: Data is overwhelming in this area. Great fact sheet, Warning Meat Kills, details how animal consumption harms: human health: Heart disease, cancers, food poisoning, obesity, etc.
  
  
  • ENVIRONMENT, CLIMATE CHANGE, WORLD HUNGER:
    
    • Environment: Factory farms destroy drinkable water supplies, land erosion, air pollution.
    • Climate Change: Why I titled this fact sheet Inconvenient Lunch, and something that has eclipsed our friend Al Gore: Meat production churns out more greenhouse gasses each year than every car, truck, plane and ship combined, according landmark study by FAO (Food & Agriculture Organization of United Nations)
    • Meat Production depletes non-renewable natural resources, is unsustainable, and contributes to world hunger crisis by wasting grains people could eat to fatten farmed animals.
  
  
  • White-collar corporate corruption
  • Fraud, false public information
  • Violence link
  • Fiscal waste, misuse of taxpayer dollars
  • And more impacts found in specific circumstances.
  
  But we do not merely state these effects. All claims must be expressed through the voice of credible, industry-related sources.
  
  
  FACT-BASED INFORMATION IS AN ANCHOR OF STRONG LITERATURE.
  PERSONAL OPINION - LEAVE IT AT THE DOOR
  Important not to interject our own judgment about the cruelty aspects. For example: How can anyone call themselves human and do this to animals? Yes, we may all think that, but for words to really take hold and move a person, they shouldn't feel manipulative. Truly effective literature is like a good news report: Here are the facts. I don't make them, I only report them.
  
  COMPELLING IMAGES
  With that said,I believe you should frame those facts with what really does happen to animals. You can do that with strong, compelling images. Not necessarily gory, horrible shots, but photos or video that show the emotion in an animal's eyes. His or her pain, surrender, fear. Emotions we can relate to as humans.
  
  STRAIGHTFORWARD ACCOUNT, NO MELODRAMA
  If describing what happens to an animal, there is no need to layer on a million adjectives and melodrama. The straightforward account, of say, debeaking a young chicken or an experimental procedure, is horrible by itself. I see a lot of AR literature, that even though it's true, is so overwrought, so dramatic, the average person may think it's exaggerated or made-up.
  
  
  SEARCH TIPS
  
  • Keep animal topic files.
  • TIMELINESS OF FACTS: Record most recent studies available. While literature always cites earlier findings, should weave in more recent studies/stats to feel relevant.
  • Save resources and links you can repeatedly use.
  • Search engines are your friend: The more you investigate, the better you get at finding hard-to- find facts. Pull key words or "clues from news stories, social media and other informal web structures, animal organization websites (NOTE WHAT SOURCES THEY CITE!). And go on investigative searches to uncover ROOT SOURCES.
  • Try reverse looks-ups: Got an email or phone number? Search that, to find whose it is and relevant info.
  
  
  SOURCE OF INFORMATION
  
  • Do your best to cross-reference and confirm information.
  • Always cite SOURCE for anything published as fact.
  • With animal rights literature: Not just WHAT you say, but WHO it is attributed to that has most clout and influence.
  
  
  WRITING TIPS
  Background research can sprawl for pages. How do you select and organize the points for well-reasoned and influential writing?
  
  CONSIDER ESSAY APPROACH TO STREAMLINE DATA INTO DYNAMIC, WELL-REASONED WRITING.
  INTRODUCE * ARGUE * PROVE * CONCLUDE
  
  1. Introduction: For letters, literature, essays: Introduce the main subject with a creative lead paragraph that commands attention.
  
  
  2. THESIS: Express the main objective, a summary of your argument.
  
  
  3. TOPICS: Now prove it. Support your thesis with to-the-point paragraphs, each with a topic sentence, plus facts, statistics, quotes, studies, etc. to back it.
  
  
  4. CONCLUSION: Exit with a powerful recap and sense of urgency.
  
  An ESSAY APPROACH helps you organization info and present it influentially.
  
  AVOID MELODRAMA: Makes readers feel manipulated. Strong images and a frank account of what happens to animals speaks louder than emotional rants, extra ADJECTIVES, and !!!!!!!!!!!
  
  ALWAYS HIGHLIGHT ANIMAL-FREE OPTIONS: Use examples of their superiority, cost- effectiveness, health/safety value, etc.
  
  NEVER CALL AN ANIMAL "IT" OR "THAT:" Only use person pronouns such as he, she, who. Write about animals the way you want people to perceive them: As individuals.
  
  
  Animal use is behind nearly part of a person's daily life. It frames choices for food, medicine, makeup, household products clothing, entertainment...etc. We face defensive response. A public that wants to believe we're exaggerating, making it up… so they don't have to look at the gruesome reality and how they contribute to it.
  
  And most just DON'T WANT TO LOOK AT IT. Dominion + Animal Welfare is so firmly entrenched, people don't think about it, or even grasp the notion that animals might have rights to not be used.
  
  Tough to argue for absolute compassion in world that doesn't recognize animals as separate beings with value.
  
  MOST OF US ARE ABOLITIONISTS. We know animals are unique individuals who deserve same primitive rule of morality we have: Immunity from Slavery, Violence, Torture, Murder.
  
  This is NOT about ANIMAL WELFARE. All Kinship Circle literature urges TOTAL REPLACEMENT OF ANIMAL USE.
  We never suggest:
  - More toys to stimulate animals in the research lab
  - Or wider veal crates...or pig crates at the hog factory
  We urge ways to replace those animals altogether, with animal-free technology.
  
  BUT WE DO CATER TO A DOMINION-OBSESSED WORLD. By revealing extreme animal cruelty, and at same time, showing people how this animal use affects them in many adverse ways.
  
  Compelling content, credible attribution, strong images and writing are central to fact-based messaging with impact.