Do you know a small organization doing great work for animals? If so, please make sure they hear about HRC’s Grassroots Research Fund, the deadline for which is now just one month away (January 1st). The group(s) we select will receive pro bono research projects of up to $5,000 to help them evaluate and improve their work and help more animals. Also, any donations to HRC during the month of December will be earmarked for the Grassroots Research Fund so that we can help even more small groups in 2012. And be sure to check out our two guest blogs from the past month covering the topics of Big Black Dog syndrome and vegetarian/vegan recidivism. Thank you for reading!
Check out the Grassroots Research Fund application
Donate to HRC for the Grassroots Research Fund
This month our guest blogger Amanda Leonard continued her exploration of Big Black Dog Syndrome, which is the discrimination against black dogs (and cats) when it comes to shelter adoptions. Her latest blog -- Why Color Matters: How Color Symbolism and Social Memory Impact Big Black Dog Syndrome -- is another excellent read and offers this advice for advocates:
“(The research) demonstrates that children are taught the symbolism of colors at a very early age, and as such, there is no way around the unconscious and deeply engrained associations of the color black as the color of malevolence and evil. However, the social memory of black dogs as menacing and dangerous can be overcome through the dissemination of knowledge about BBD Syndrome. If made knowledgeable about BBD Syndrome, potential adopters will be made conscious of the prejudices they may have been operating under, thereby making them more likely to adopt a black dog or cat.”
In another guest blog last month, Jaime Hecht uses her master’s thesis research to closely examine why and how people return to eating meat after they have become vegetarian or vegan. The first of a series of blogs on this topic, Jaime provides a great introduction and some practical feedback for vegan advocates:
“Many studies will tell you (Mcdonald 2000, MacNair 1998), that people tend to engage in veganism in a typical fashion. Usually beginning with vegetarianism (by products included, and occasionally fish) and move slowly toward removing all by products from their food and skins from their wardrobe. However, what I have found is that while the initial path to becoming vegan is important, it holds very little bearing on a person's ability or propensity to sustain the practice. Other social factors such as relationships, cultures and traditions, labels and identities, approaching the practice as a cleanse/diet and unsupportive social networks have much more profound effects on the consistency and dedication to veganism or vegetarianism.”
Lastly, here are some interesting items you may have missed from the past month:
- What do people think of animal advocates? Get the results of the landmark study by the National Council for Animal Protection, available exclusively from HRC.
- ANIMAL PEOPLE’S Merritt Clifton editorialized on the accuracy and usefulness of HRC’s Humane Trends study, and we took the chance to respond.
- HRC’s Research Director Carol Glasser discusses the role that sexually provocative advertisements have in marketing animal rights issues.
- One recent study finds that labeling animals as “food” reduces moral concern for those animals among consumers.
- Nonetheless, other research indicates that the marketing messages used by animal agriculture companies often have negative associations for consumers.
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