Animal Club Name Change
The club, famous for their delicious puppy chow, has began this 2012-2013 school year with a different name. Hannah Mohr, current co-president of C.A.R.E, explains that the “motive in changing our name was to better show the purpose of our club in our name, without the political connotation that our previous name held.”
The club had a guest speaker come speak with them at the end of last year. The speaker is a government employee for United Sates Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal Care Inspector and cannot be quoted. But she talked to the club members about the difference between animal rights and animal welfare.
Agencies like PETA are animal rights advocates. They believe in equality between animals and humans. They believe that owning a pet, having a farm, having any type of animal labor or animal testing is considered slavery and should be banned. In addition to these strict policies this has also become a political group.
This is in contrast to animal welfare, which believes in insuring the humane treatment and well being of the animals. This allows certain things like owning pets and having a farm, as long as the animals are being treated humanely and with respect.
When asked about previous knowledge on this subject, Evan Brown, a Junior at Urbana High School and a new member of the club, stated that he “had no clue that animal rights was what it was, and that there was a better word for the humane treatment of animals.”
Tessa Varvel, a senior at UHS and the Vice president of C.A.R.E, admitted that she knew “nothing” about the topic before the speaker came in to educate us.
Animal Rights Club decided that they would much rather be associated with being an advocate of animal welfare.
After searching for new names, they finally came up with C.A.R.E, which better describes the direction in which the club wants to go.
The new name is not necessarily a new direction for the club but it is a spark to ignite more passion in the cause.
Changing the name of the club has come with a few difficulties. Mohr stated, “The most difficult part of our name is having to explain to people the abbreviation, because C.A.R.E doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with animals.”
There is hope still that the name will catch and spread in the school and in the community. C.A.R.E. is very hopeful for a year full of exiting events and great causes.
Keep a look out for this club and get involved in their Animal Welfare movement.
About The Author
I think this is fantastic! Good for you guys! And thank goodness for the speaker! I just learned something new as well!