Martin Balluch: Difference between revisions
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*[http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/07/403521.html Balluch's address to the court], ''Indymedia UK'', July 7, 2008. |
*[http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/07/403521.html Balluch's address to the court], ''Indymedia UK'', July 7, 2008. |
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*[http://www.vgt.at Website of Verein Gegen Tierfabriken (Association Against Animal Factories). In German.] |
*[http://www.vgt.at Website of Verein Gegen Tierfabriken (Association Against Animal Factories). In German.] |
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*[http://www.vgt.at/index_en.php Website of Verein Gegen Tierfabriken (Association Against Animal Factories). In |
*[http://www.vgt.at/index_en.php Website of Verein Gegen Tierfabriken (Association Against Animal Factories). In English.] |
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[[Category:Animal rights movement]] |
[[Category:Animal rights movement]] |
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Revision as of 21:43, 27 October 2008
Martin Balluch is an Austrian physicist, philosopher, and prominent animal rights activist. He co-founded the Austrian Vegan Society in 1999, and has been president of the Austrian Association Against Animal Factories (Verein Gegen Tierfabriken) since 2002.[1] The philosopher Peter Singer has called Balluch "one of the foremost spokesmen in the worldwide animal rights movement for pursuing the nonviolent, democratic road to reform."[2] He has been invited to run as a Green Party candidate in September 2008.[3]
Balluch is notable for his role in persuading the Austrian parliament in 2004 to add a clause about non-human animals to the country's constitution, which now reads, "The state protects the life and wellbeing of animals in its responsibility for them as fellows of mankind." He also helped to establish "animal solicitors" in each province, who are empowered to start court proceedings on behalf of animals,[4] and he was prominent in the campaign to have battery chickens outlawed, as a result of which battery farms will be illegal in Austria after January 1, 2009.[5]
On May 21, 2008, Balluch was one of 10 leaders of Austrian animal advocacy groups jailed without charge under a law aimed at organized crime. The court recommended that the activists be held until September.[2] Balluch responded by launching a hunger strike, which led to his being artifically fed.[6] He was released on September 3, 2008.
Early life and career
Balluch was born in Vienna. He obtained diplomas in mathematics and astronomy from the University of Vienna in 1986 and 1987, and his PhD in physics from the University of Heidelberg in 1989.[7] He worked for 12 years as a lecturer and researcher at the Universities of Vienna, Heidelberg, and Cambridge, before leaving academia in 1997 to become a full-time animal rights advocate.[1]
Animal rights advocacy
Balluch became active within the animal rights movement in 1985, moving to full-time advocacy in 1997 while at Cambridge.[8]
He was one of two protesters who abseiled down Great St Mary's Church in Cambridge in November 1998 in support of animal rights activist Barry Horne, who spent 68 days on hunger strike in an unsuccessful effort to have the government order a Royal Commission on animal testing.[9]
In an article in Peter Singer's In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave, Balluch describes his activism in Austria, which he says has given Austria animal protection legislation that, he writes, is among the most advanced in the world. He attributes the effectiveness of the activism to a united front among animal advocacy groups, which are elsewhere often divided by ideology and arguments about tactics. The first Austrian animal rights conference was held in Vienna in 2002, leading to a united press conference, which, he writes, signaled the start of a campaign to change the law.[8]
By 2006, there was a ban on battery farms for chickens; a ban on the trade in dogs and cats in pet stores; a ban on the public display of dogs and cat in order to sell them. It is against the law to kill any animal without good cause; kill shelters are outlawed. Each province must appoint an "animal solicitor" financed by the state. The solicitors may take action on behalf of any animal, and must be kept informed about trials involving animals. When police or prosecutors are made aware of breaches of animal legislation, they are now compelled by law to act. Every two years, the government must write a report on advances made in animal protection. An "animal protection committee" has been set up, with one member elected by animal advocacy groups. The use of wild animals in circuses is prohibited. And the following statement has been added to the constitution: "The state protects the life and well-being of animals due to the special responsibility of mankind with respect to animals as their fellows."[8]
Notes
- ^ a b Singer, Peter. (ed.) In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave. Blackwell, 2006.
- ^ a b Singer, Peter. Of great apes and men, The Guardian, July 18, 2008.
- ^ Jailed campaigner to run for Greens, Wiener Zeitung, September 1, 2008.
- ^ Balluch, Martin. "How Austria Achieved a Historic Breakthrough for Animals," in Singer, Peter. (ed.) In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave. Blackwell, 2006.
- ^ Interview with Martin Balluch, Abolitionist-Online, first published in Biteback.
- ^ Press release, Association against Animal Factories, June 18, 2008.
- ^ Balluch's CV, University of Cambridge, retrieved September 11, 2008.
- ^ a b c Balluch, Martin. "How Austria achieved a historic breakthrough for animals" in Singer, Peter (ed.) In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave, Blackwell, 2006, pp. 157-166 (paperback edition)
- ^ Banner protest at tower, an unnamed Cambridge newspaper, possibly the Cambridge Evening News, November 1998; the man in the photograph is Martin Balluch.