Why do some people take the law into their own hands, shirking conformity and risking everything to liberate animals from abuse and torture? Longtime Animal Liberation Front activist Keith Mann, who’s spent several years in British jails, shares his account of a raid on a battery hen complex in the UK, offering an insight into the motivations of those who engage in illegal direct action.

When we think that we’re hungry for a specific thing – an omelet, a French dip sandwich, whatever – often we’re hungry for feelings and a time in our past, writes Marla Rose.

In the absence of pressure and demands from a social movement against an industry, there’s nothing for a government agency or counter-movement to respond to. In the face of such a movement – one which demands nothing from industry at all – the industry will remain unchanged, writes Tim Gier.

We know too well the human cost of natural disasters. People are displaced, homes are destroyed and communities feel the tremor of death. But amidst the panic and chaos, the plight of animals is ignored. In the wake of the recent flood disaster in Australia's north and the fury of Cyclone Yasi, Sarah Langston looks at the impact animals face when catastrophe strikes.

Free speech and civil liberties – key tenets of the US Constitution – have been severely curtailed by harsh legislation against animal rights activists engaging in non-violent protest, writes Dara Lovitz.

Are white animal rights advocates who promote veganism inherently racist by not taking into account different cultures’ perspectives on animals? Are non-white people who argue that meat is a part of their tradition being speciesist? Katrina Fox lays out some of the arguments stemming from these seemingly polar opposite positions.