'there are times, and these
not infrequent, when tears come
to my eyes when I see, or read,
or hear of the wretched plight
of animals in the hands of humans.
Their pain, their suffering,
their loneliness, their innocence,
their death. Anger. Rage. Pity.
Sorrow. Disgust. The whole creation
groans under the weight of the
evil we humans visit upon these
mute, powerless creatures. It
is our hearts, not just our
heads, that call for an end
to it all, that demand of us
that we overcome, for them,
the habits and forces behind
their systematic oppression.
All great movements, it is written,
go through three stages: ridicule,
discussion, adoption. It is
the realization of this third
stage, adoption, that requires
both our passion and our discipline,
our hearts and our heads. The
fate of animals is in our hands.
God grant we are equal to the
task.' Tom Regan 1985
