What Comes after Defund?: Lessons from Police and Prison Abolition for the Animal Movement
![handle is hein.journals/anim28 and id is 95 raw text is: WHAT COMES AFTER DEFUND?: LESSONS FROM
POLICE AND PRISON ABOLITION FOR
THE ANIMAL MOVEMENT
By
Michael Swistaral
Abstract
As the mass incarceration crisis skyrocketed, the animal protection
movement adopted many of the mechanisms of the carceral state. Improving
the status of animals was equated with pushing for lengthier sentences for
those who caused harm to animals, placing more people into cages for
longer periods of time. This disproportionally harmed Black, Indigenous,
and People of the Global Majority (BIPGM) communities who are the most
heavily policed, surveilled, and imprisoned. Allying with the carceral state
has also harmed animals-advocates are labeled terrorists, potential allies
are dissuaded from action, and companion animals are killed by officers of
the state. This approach is both cruel and ineffective. It does nothing to ad-
dress the root causes of harm to animals and betrays the core liberationist
values of the movement. Many in the mainstream animal protection move-
ment have begun to agree with and incorporate criticisms of an overly
carceral approach but remain unsure of where to go next. This Article pro-
poses an alternative paradigm, drawing lessons from the prison abolition
movement, that adopts a harm prevention approach to animal protection.
Through divesting from carceral solutions and investing in new ways to pre-
vent harm and respond to those who cause harm, the animal protection
movement can effectively ally with other social justice organizations and be
true to its core values in creating a world that is better for all living beings.
I. INTRODUCTION ....................................... 90
II. BACKGROUND ........................................ 91
III. DISCU SSION ............................................ 98
A. How Working with the Carceral State Harms the
Animal Movement ..................................... 98
i. Repeating Cycles of Violence and Hindering
Movement Building ................................ 98
ii. Failing to Address the Root Causes of Harm to
Animals .......................................... 103
B. Anti-Carceral Alternatives.............................. 104
i. Lessons from Other Anti-Carceral Movements ........ 105
ii. Divesting from the Prison Industrial Complex ........ 108
* J.D./M.P.P., expected 2022, The George Washington University; M.A., Economics,
2016, Columbia University; B.A., Political Science and Economics, 2015, McGill
University.
[89]](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/anim28&div=8&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
What Comes after Defund?: Lessons from Police and Prison Abolition for the Animal Movement
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most