In Defense of Animals

In Defense of Animals (IDA) is an animal rights organization based in San Rafael, California, USA. Its slogan is "working to protect the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals".

Established in 1983, IDA's core philosophy is that all animals – whether wild or domestic, feral or farmed – are worthy of concern and empathy. However, the group treats the welfare of pets as one of its top priorities.

History

Elliot M. Katz has presided over IDA since founding the organization in 1983. A graduate of Cornell University's School of Veterinary Medicine, Katz's help was sought by animal rights activists seeking to end animal experimentation at the laboratories of the University of California, Berkeley. After finding these animals living in overcrowded and dirty facilities, Fact|date=November 2007 and being experimented on in their hundreds, he helped found Californians for Responsible Research, which campaigned successfully for the university to provide decent care for the animals in their labs. Fact|date=November 2007 After this success, the group broadened the scope of its mission and IDA was born.

Since then, IDA has grown into one of the foremost international animal advocacy organizations, Fact|date=November 2007 with over 85,000 members worldwide. Headquartered in Northern California, it has offices throughout the United States and branches in India and Africa. The group has received numerous honors and accolades over the years for its achievements in the field of animal protection, the most significant of which was Katz's induction into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame in 2003, twenty years after he founded IDA.

Programs and campaigns

IDA works for the protection of animals used in scientific research, food and clothing production, entertainment and sport, and other areas. Its methods include coordinating protests and nonviolent civil disobedience actions including sit-ins, lock downs and banner hangings.

Ongoing programs include a chimpanzee sanctuary run by IDA-Africa, located in the forests of Cameroon and rescuing animals from the illegal bushmeat trade; and a campaign aimed at improving conditions for elephants in zoos and circuses. IDA also claims it was the first animal protection organization to force an animal research laboratory - the Coulston Foundation, once the largest chimpanzee research center in the world - out of existence.

The organisation's other achievements include: Fact|date=November 2007

* IDA investigator Ben White setting free 40 dolphins off the coast of Japan by swimming underwater to cut the nets that imprisoned them.

* Securing the transfer of eleven Bonnet Macaque monkeys from the University of Colorado (where they had been used in experiments on alcoholism and maternal separation) to a Texas sanctuary.

* Preventing the U.S. Army from breaking the legs of 120 retired racing greyhounds.

* Closing down puppy mills, dog fighting rings and abusive sanctuaries and shelters.

* Saving the lives of hundreds of Catalina Island goats and buffalo.

* Creating a chimpanzee sanctuary and education center in Cameroon and a sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals in rural Mississippi.

* Freeing 180 beagles scheduled to be dissected by UC Davis veterinary students.

* Spearheading the rescue of hundreds of dogs and cats after a devastating "firestorm" swept through the Oakland/Berkeley hills in California, destroying more than 3,500 homes.

* Preventing the bow hunting of Tule elk at the Point Reyes National Seashore.

* Canceling a proposed slaughter of thousands of baby seals off the coast of South Africa.

* Ending New York University's crack cocaine experiments on monkeys, Rockefeller University’s vomiting experiments on cats, and Michael Berens’ brain cancer experiments on beagle puppies.

* Convincing fifteen U.S. cities, two counties and one state to officially recognize their citizens as animal "guardians" by incorporating the term into their city laws.

* Blocking the construction of an animal research facility within the National Park system.

* Pressuring the San Francisco Zoo to transfer its elephants to a sanctuary.

External links

IDA sites and campaigns:
* [http://ida-africa.org IDA-Africa]
* [http://www.helpelephantsinzoos.org Help Elephants In Zoos]
* [http://guardiancampaign.com/ Guardian Campaign]