[sorrowthepig]

Dutch Party for the Animals may win two Parliament seats next week.<br><br><a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/19/europe/EU_POL_Netherlands_Animals_Party.php" target="_blank">http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/...mals_Party.php</a>

 

[missbelgium]

They did !!! They won 2 seats !!! Yay !!!<br><br><br><br>
From the New York Times:<br><br><br><br><i>In a first for Europe, a party advocating animal welfare will have two seats in Parliament. Marianne Thieme, the leader of the Party for Animals, has campaigned to curb experiments and inhumane large-scale industrial breeding and slaughter.</i><br><br><br><br>
For the full article, see <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/23/world/europe/23dutch.html?_r=1&oref=slogin" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/23/wo...=1&oref=slogin</a><br><br><br><br>
I think this is not so much about animals as such (the party had a full program, on all issues) but it is a big shift in mentalities, and huge progress because these issues will systematically be addressed in Parliament now by people who think animal rights are prioritary and are not just going to be used by other politicians when deemed inescapable (re. something shocking which happened in the news) or interesting in order to attract more votes...

 

[Schoska]

This is brilliant!!!<img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/images/smilies/carrot.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title=":vebo:">

 

[Sevenseas]

<div class="quote-container"><span>Quote:</span>
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by <strong>missbelgium</strong> <a href="/forum/post/0"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style=""></a><br><br>
and huge progress because these issues will systematically be addressed in Parliament now by people who think animal rights are prioritary and are not just going to be used by other politicians when deemed inescapable (re. something shocking which happened in the news) or interesting in order to attract more votes...</div>
</div>
<br>
One should point out though that it's unlikely that the Parliament or the party is going to deal with animal <i>rights</i> issues. A party in Parliament will be able to present only very conservative animal welfare improvements. That being said, this does reflect a growing awareness of the ethical issues around animals.

 

[Tuffenoughtoroc]

Conservative animal welfare improvements are better than none.

 

[Sevenseas]

One big debate in the AR movement right now is about whether that's true or not.