A demonstration is a great way to express outrage
towards an establishment or company,  highlighting
their treatment or policies regarding animals in
order to raise public awareness about the inherent
cruelties in raising animals for food. It
can also generate a lot of negative publicity for
your target, if well-thought-out.
If you are working on a campaign in your area, consider incorporating it into World Farm Animals Day by staging a protest on or around Gandhi's birthday. Making your campaign part of an international day of action makes it much more news-worthy.
When planning your protest, be sure to read up on local ordinances regarding the size, location, timing, and noise levels of protests. Depending on local laws, you may need one or more permits. If you are not planning to engage in civil disobedience then remember to stay on public property.
 1) Determine your place and time-This is important because the location and timing affects the amount of people reached. It is more “news worthy” if a demonstration is in reaction to a mainstream news item, such as swine flu or large meat/dairy recalls, etc. For example, in the wake of the largest beef recall in U.S. history, FARM
staged a protest outside the USDA demanding
that USDA recall ALL animal products because they
all come from sick, abused and exploited individuals.
Location: Good locations for protests and demonstrations are: slaughterhouses, fast food chains, or offices of meat/dairy/egg industry. The more foot and car traffic the better.
Time: Depending on the location you choose to protest or demonstrate, the time may very. For instance, if you plan to protest at a office, then early morning or lunch time would be the best time. If you are protesting at a fast food chain, lunch or dinner rush would be better to maximize impact the protest or demonstration has on the target.
2) Register your event with us and request an
Event Pack for materials - This also publicizes
your protest or demonstration to get more people
to either help plan or at least participate. Your
event will be searchable by city and state on the
international events directory.
 3)
Request a permit (if needed based on anticipated
numbers) - You can request permits from
the city or county where the protest is being held. Generally,
if you expect more than 25 people for a legal protest
or demonstration (not civil disobedience), you
would need a permit. The number varies from
state to state, county to county, so check your
local laws and ordinances.
4) Do outreach to local veg and animal-friendly
groups to gather participants - Good
places for outreach are local listservs, animal
rights/vegan meetups on meetup.com, social networking
sites such as Facebook or Myspace as bulletins
or events. This also helps with estimated
participants.
More information on effective outreach is available here.
 5) Send a news release to local media.
Click here for more information on local media.
6) Please TAKE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS of your activities and send copies to us.
Photos: high resolution jpgs by email are best
Videos: e-mail a link from uploaded video on Youtube or
equivalent site.
There are different types of add-on activities to complement demonstrations, such as information tables, leafleting, cage-ins, and civil disobedience.
|
