Help raise awareness about animal rights in Sweden

Hello!  

This year’s summer tour may have passed its halftime mark but there are still a lot more events and places that Djurens Rätt is going to visit. As of now the tour has participated in events such as Almedalsveckan in Visby, West Pride in Gothenburg, Green Summer market in Uppsala, HX-festivalen in Helsingborg as well as several children’s festivals.  

You might be wondering what we do at this tour?  

The main focus of the tour is our chicken campaign, where we inform the public about the terrible conditions for chickens in factory farms, and what we and the visitor can do to change this abuse.Many visitors get upset over the suffering of the chickens and want to be a part of the change. As of now, around two hundred visitors have joined the movement as members. Each one of them is an important part in creating a better world for all beings and we welcome them with open arms. 

To raise awareness as well as create a change for the chickens we use different strategies. We always start by informing the visitors about the situation and encouraging them to act in different ways to support the chickens.

Some ways we help the visitors to act are:    

• We encourage a plant-based diet by handing out recipes and informing the visitors about Djurens Rätt’s app (Välj Vego) which has a challenge for a chicken free summer diet as well as many different recipes. The best way to help the chickens as an individual is to choose not to eat chicken. Only last week a visitor told me that he hadn’t eaten any meat since the day he met us last year and that he felt encouraged when we talked about how many chickens' lives that he had saved by doing so.  

• Creating empathy and knowledge for animals from a young age with our children’s club (Rädda Djuren-klubben) where kids who join receive fun and informative magazines. At the summer tour, we also offer activities for the kids where they can learn about animals. After hearing one of the children say: "is it too late to save the animals?” I realized that by joining the children’s club the children can feel that they are active in making a difference.  

• Adults as well as children can get temporary tattoos with animal rights messages. These tattoos have been very popular and almost all visitors choose to put them somewhere clearly visible, some people even choose to put them on their faces. The other day a man happily and proudly placed our tattoo of a chicken with its saying “I am not a nugget!” on his cheekbone.   

• New for this year is the possibility to sign our petition that urges the government to ban broiler chickens. When signing you also get to see a video of what a Swedish chicken factory looks like. Many people have a hard time watching this video and are horrified that this is still legal in Sweden. As of now the petition has about thirty thousand signatures.  

What has the summer tour taught me?  

During the last month I have met, discussed with and listened to hundreds of visitors and to be honest it has both been uplifting as well as sometimes discouraging. But one thing is certain, Djurens Rätt’s work is appreciated by many. There have been several times where people come up to us and say that they are happy that we are there. Some tell us about their attempts to make their family eat more vegan or struggles that they had in school from their peers not acknowledging the abuse of animals.

The summer tour therefore becomes a place for support and encouragement that reassures the individual that they are not alone in working to create a better world for all beings. Some people come up with the opposite attitude and tell us that they love to eat meat. We listen and tell them about the alternatives in choosing a plant-based diet. Even if they walk away saying they probably won't be able to stop eating meat I believe that a seed has been planted which in the future could lead to a more animal-friendly diet. I believe so because not a single person that I have met has said that the conditions that the chickens are living in are fair or right, even though they declare to love meat.  

The most important lesson that I bring with me from the tour is how few people know what the chicken industry looks like. Many are shocked to hear and see how the broiler chickens get to spend their short life and are disappointed bythe fact that this is legal, despite the Swedish legislation that is supposed to protect animals against suffering. Many feel pleased and grateful that Djurens Rätt is out there fighting for those who do not have the opportunity to fight for themselves. 

But we wouldn’t be able to do any of it without our supporters. Thanks to you we can advocate for stronger animal protection laws, influence companies to make more animal friendly choices and spread knowledge about animals to the public, such as the thousands of conversations we have during our tour.

Being a part of the summer tour has shown me just how many people care and want to see a change for the animals in the future, especially when we give them information about the suffering animals endure today. The fact that more and more people join the movement and show their support at our stops makes me so much more hopeful for a future where all beings will be respected and have rights. Together we can make a difference for the animals.  

Thank you for your support!