Activism & Signing petitions

Hey Kylie. It's great you have so much passion for animals that you strive to use the for of petition to attempt to make differences in the world! That's a great thing! I know when I first started getting into activism, I experienced similar frustrations with people. Unused to deem them as arrogant insensitive, selfish people too... But that's because I had not yet learned an important lesson. As a volunteer for a number of organizations, and the coordinator/spokesperson for animal welfare in the Australian Alliance, I soon realized through doing this work for about five years now, I have had so many new experiences that have developed my perception on others for the better. Whilst petitions are a great way of getting people on board and raising awareness, a lot of people do not sign due to receiving numerous emails and phone calls from the organizers of the petition aski g for donations rather than giving updates on the cause. That can be a frustrating thing for people, so a lot do not bother to sign online petitions due to that fact. But even if these people are not signing not because of that reason, it could be perceived by others as rather harsh of you to call them the thi gs you did, as do you truly know these people? You do not know what they do for animals in real life, they may be part of organizations that are directly tackling the issues you have created or shared petitions against. They may have already signed it. Even then, is negative critiicism a good way to encourage people to try and make differences for animals? Or would it not be better to thank and encourage those that do sign the petitions, and also encourage other forms for activism outside the online aspect? Some food for thought for you. As in my years of volunteering, I soon realized getting angry at people only ever resulted in upsetting myself, and hurting others, resulting in losing friends and swivel new ones. When I started positively encouraging others to make differences, and thanking them when they did, even if it was only a small thing, my social circle broadened, and I was given opportunities such as becoming a spokesperson for animals. Do you think it is better to train a pet by hitting them when they don't do what you want, or giving them a treat when they do?

I personally find that 99% of the time the petitions are a waste of time as nothing seems to change even when you get enough signatures. When signing a petition i don't know about any one else but i don't like posting my Home Address, area code or phone number due to personal safety reasons.

I much rather get out and physically help animals as it is much more effective and productive then signing petitions online that generally don't do anything to help animals. I foster and volunteer for the local no-kill shelter, i only started in October and already both of my foster cats have been adopted out and i have worked with the other volunteers and we have rescued 17 kittens and cats over the last month from horrific conditions.

I also do my own rescues with Livestock as i live in a large farming area of Dairy and Beef Cattle. over the last 2 years iv rescued 6 bobby calves, 3 sheep, 3 cows, 1 cat and 1 turkey. Over the last 8 years since i went veg iv rescued and re-homed numerous animals and i personally think this is more effective as you are personally rescuing and helping the animals. I'm hesitant of donating money as to many times before its been proven that money donated to organizations has been mis-used.

Your right, criticizing isn't the right way at all... I didn't mean it that way at all except I was soo upset at the time due to lack of people caring and I'm pretty sure thousands of wolves got slaughtered in the competition in Idaho yesterday and again today and it very well could have been prevented with just a couple of signatures but they didn't get the amount they needed till the night before the competition started  not to mention the Sea Shepard being used for purposes other then what it was built for which will subsequently result in thousands of whales and dolphins being killed by whalers this season... And all the other horrible things that are happening... And I guess I just wanted it to wake up their hearts... Oh and yes I know that sometimes petitions are useless but the majority of time they actually do work, I've seen so many be sucessful... A recent one I  remember was even on the news it was about that disable lady fighting the government to allow her to stay at home... Fair enough that its not regarding animals but the principle still stand... And this was a week ago and the most recent one I can remember Also I have never once received a call or email asking me for donations, unless I asked them to call or email me or I signed up for emails from a particular organistation. And yeah I do get this upset all the time about really sad stories but I don't usually post stuff like that, I usually just keep bumping them up or bite my tounge and the majority of the time I do thank people for signing and I also give further incouragements...


Oink moo: yeah I too am very cautious when I give money, though when it comes to putting my address up I'm not to fussed, most of them don't even ask for it and if they do its just the city and post code, occasionally there is the odd one that asks for your full address. I do inderstand you concerns though.

How is sea shepherd being used in appropriately?

Good on you Ox.Kylie.... I actually sympathise and admire your passion (even though it may be a tiny bit presumptuous ; ) you're right in drawing people's attention on what is also important, actual activism.  If people receive pesky emails they can always unsubscribe and I think it's a small price to pay regardless even if one does.

By posting this I personally think you've drawn people's attention to the fact they should take a look at a petition link that has been posted, boring perhaps and tedious but like you said it doesn't take long and it voices one's opinion.  It's really disheartening when some people have the attitude it won't make a difference, people seem to forget the power of numbers.

Thank you for your support glad someone understands me this

Great question though like it states in the original post for starters we pay for it to be out there the whole season, not to be used as a taxi for Christmas Island... Which is what Mr Hunt has decided it's use for this year... And if you volunteer for Sea Shepard you would already know that, as the head guy that runs it was on the news last week (I can't remember his name)... It should be out in the areas that is being attacked by whalers not being docked then the plane informing them and then sent out when the need arises, as by the time it even gets there whales and dolphins have already been killed, the Sea Shepard is meant to prevent not just stop them after they have already killed...

I don't know what your problem is but it seems as though you have attitude towards me... And I don't appreciate it, we are all entitled to our opinions even if they don't match yours.

And I thought you said you were to busy raising money for Sea Shepards fuel to even sign this 'according to you waste of time' petition, but yet you can find the time to nail at someone?? Also you didn't reply to my comment about we all pay taxes for it to be built and to fuel it every year for the purpose that it was built (saving our sea wildlife) and you obviously now see my point in petitioning and rallying, that it is the only way for the people of this country to voice themselves about what they want and don't want... And that would be the reason you replied with attitude towards me... I would appreciate if when you speak to me you speak respectively thank you

I understand your frustration at the terrible things that happen to animals, Kylie. We all share that sadness at what goes on. There could be many reasons why people are not signing petitions... especially at this time of year - when so many people are away from their computers and on holidays. Of course, there are also so many other ways that people can help speak up for animals, so I'd be careful to jump to conclusions and accuse others of not caring.

I can see that things are getting a little heated here. I'd encourage everyone to keep in mind that it's easy to read more into posts than is intended by the poster. Please also keep in mind that we're all on the same team. However we choose to make a difference for animals, we all care about animals and want see them free from cruelty. Attacking each other and criticising others for the way they choose to take action is sadly only going to make people feel less comfortable about getting involved at all (for fear of being attacked themselves) and doesn't help to create a supportive and collaborative environment that can create change for animals.

As a bit of an aside, I've found that petitions have the most potential for making an impact when they allow the signers to send an email to the target of the petition. You'll see that usually when AA or Unleashed create an action we usually allow people to send a personalised email to the target of the action. Fortunately some petition sites also give people this option, for example www.Change.org. So I'd recommend when setting up petitions that you check for that functionality to maximise the impact you can have with your petitions.

In the years I've been campaigning for animals I've found that petitions (like those that allow you to email targets) can, at times, be a valuable tool for campaigning. They usually are most effective when not used in isolation, but rather to compliment a range of other strategies (such as offline campaign efforts) to bring about change. And so if someone is more involved in offline campaigning, then I say all power to them. Just as I would congratulate anyone who takes the time to support campaigns online. We're all working towards the same goal after all.

Thanks again Jesse for bringing some respect and level-headedness into these discussions! Nobody is on this forum because they don't care about animals and we all do what we can.