If you don’t communicate with your
representatives, who will? While you’re
complaining to your friends about gruesome
animal experiments, someone who disagrees with
you is communicating with your lawmakers.
Former New York Governor Mario
Cuomo twice vetoed a bill that would
have allowed medical technicians to
practice human intubation (inserting
tubes through the mouth or nose into the trachea) on
cats; Cuomo’s aides said they received more mail on
the bill than any other piece of legislation.
You’re probably not going to singlehandedly
convince your legislators to outlaw the fur trade.
But many legislators share your objectives and just
need to be convinced that there is public support
for them. The Advocacy Institute explains: “When
votes are secured or changed, it’s most likely the
aroused constituent-activists—the grassroots—who
can claim the credit.”
Here’s how to make your voice count:
• Find out who your federal and state
representatives are. Check PETA’s Legislative
Guide in the Action Alert section. To get the
names of your U.S. senators and representative,
call the congressional switchboard at 202-224-
3121. Give the operator your zip code, and he
or she will give you the names of your legislators
to use with the following addresses.
Senators
The Honorable (name)
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Representatives
The Honorable (name)
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
To get the names and addresses of state
representatives, consult the Blue Pages in your
phone book, or call your local courthouse or
Remember! “To whom
municipal building.
Right now
• Identify yourself as a concerned citizen, NOT
as a member of an organization; legislators want raccoons are chewing off their it may
to get feedback from voters, not lobbyists. paws to escape from
• Keep letters brief—no more than one page. If leghold traps.
you’re writing about a specific bill, mention the
bill’s name and number, if you know it, and
concern ...”
whether you support or oppose it in the first Right now
paragraph. Include reasons and supporting data
in the next paragraph or two. Conclude by baby chicks’ beaks are being
asking for a response. burned off.
• Focus on a specific topic. Don’t ask the
legislator just to “support animal rights bills”;
very few legislators vote in favor of all animal Right now
protection bills because different issues are at animal performers are being
stake with each one.
• Be polite and concise. Keep everything relevant beaten backstage.
to the bill or issue in question. Never be
threatening or insulting.
• WRITE! Remember: Each letter pertaining to a
Right now
particular piece of legislation is usually counted millions of dogs, cats, cows,
as a “yes” or “no.” Don’t get overwhelmed by the sheep, pigs, chimpanzees,
project. Just get those letters written and in the
mail! rabbits, mice, and other
animals are being tortured
As few as 10 letters on any one topic can sway a
legislator’s vote. Several hours of letter-writing
in laboratories. THE PETA GUIDE
TO LETTER-WRITING
every month can make a big impact. And don’t be
discouraged if you receive unfavorable responses; Write now!
the more we communicate with public officials,
the sooner they’ll change their positions. or, how to
PEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL
Fight Fire With Facts
TREATMENT OF ANIMALS flex your activist muscle
Itching to write a scathing letter but
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facts at your fingertips with PETA’s collection of
factsheets on more than 70 animal rights topics!
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PETACatalog.com.
Sometimes the pen—or word processor—really is
mightier than the sword—and you don’t have to
be Shakespeare! Writing letters to newspapers,
businesses, and legislators is an easy, effective
way to help animals. Here’s how ...
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
When you write letters to the editors of local
newspapers instead of writing to just one
person, you reach thousands! It’s easier than you
think.
• Read local papers and magazines for fuel for
letters. Watch for articles, ads, or letters that
mention animals. Some examples:
4 ads for rodeos, circuses, and fur stores
4 articles about medical experiments
4 features about local humane groups or
companion animal care
• Letters don’t have to be rebuttals. Circus in
town? Noticing a lot of strays? Or use the
calendar for inspiration: At Easter, tell readers
why they shouldn’t buy bunnies. On Mother’s
Day, remind your community of the animals
whose babies are taken from them on factory
farms.
• Write on good news as well as bad. Thank the
paper for its coverage of an anti-fur protest or for
running profiles of animals available for
adoption at shelters.
• Be brief! Often one short, pithy paragraph is
enough. Try to stay under 300 words (about one
typed page). Editors are less likely to print long
letters.
• Type, if possible. Otherwise, print legibly. Be
sure to use correct grammar and spelling, and
remember to have it proofread.
• Make sure you include your name, address,
and telephone number in your letter. Some
newspapers verify authorship before printing
letters by calling you.
• Feel free to submit excerpts from PETA’s
Animal Times and other PETA publications to
your local newspapers. Our materials are not
copyrighted and may be distributed freely.
• Look for opportunities to write op-ed pieces
for local papers. These are longer articles of
about 500 to 800 words that summarize an
issue, develop an argument, and propose a
solution. Send the article to the Editorial Page
editor.
• You can also write television and radio
stations to protest glorification of animal abuse
or to compliment them on a program well done.
Some tips on style
• Increase your credibility by mentioning
anything that makes you especially qualified to
write on a topic: for instance, “As a nutritionist,
I know a vegan diet is healthy,” or, “as a
mother,” or, “as a former fur-wearer,” or, “as a
cancer survivor.”
• Try to tell readers something they’re not likely
to know—such as how chickens are raised to
produce eggs—and encourage them to take
action (such as to stop buying eggs).
• Avoid personal grudges and name-calling;
they’ll hurt your credibility.
The Today show reported that it
received more angry mail on its show
about how to kill lobsters than on any
other segment!
• Speak affirmatively. Don’t give lip service to
anti-animal arguments.
Example
“It’s not true that vegetarians are weaklings.”
Better
“Vegetarians are healthier and slimmer and live
years longer than flesh-eaters.”
• Avoid self-righteous language and
exaggeration. Readers may dismiss arguments if
they feel preached to or if the author sounds
hysterical.
Example
“Only a heartless sadist could continue to eat
animals when any fool knows their lives are
snuffed out in screaming agony for the
satisfaction of people who can’t be bothered to
take a moral stand.”
Better A WORD ABOUT FORM LETTERS
“Most compassionate people would stop eating PETA doesn’t recommend the use of “form” letters
meat if they saw how miserable the animals are.” to the editor—prewritten letters provided by an
organization—because many newspapers demand
exclusivity. Additionally, if papers get the same
Whenever appropriate, include letter from several different people or later see
something for readers to do. your letter in a different paper with someone else’s
name on it, it can cast suspicion on all letters on
animal rights topics and dissuade editors from
• Don’t assume your audience knows the issues.
printing them.
Example
“Don’t support the cruel veal industry.”
Use the information that many organizations
Better
provide, but personalize your letter so that it’s
“Calves factory-farmed for veal are tethered in
your own.
small stalls and kept in complete darkness. Their
mothers also endure sad fates, starting with the
LETTERS TO BUSINESSES
loss of their infants a few days after birth.”
Use your clout as a consumer to protest to
• Inclusive language helps your audience
companies that exploit animals. Tell cosmetics
identify with you.
manufacturers that you will purchase other brands
Example
until they stop testing on animals, or tell a store
“Eating meat is bad for your health.”
that you won’t shop there until it stops carrying
Better
live animals—and explain why. If a business offers
“We know that eating meat is bad for our health.”
a fur as a prize, explain why you object and ask
• Use positive suggestions rather than negative
the sponsor to offer a humane prize, such as a trip
commands.
or jewelry.
Example
“Don’t go to the circus.”
LETTERS TO LEGISLATORS
Better
While everyone’s good at complaining about
“Let’s take our families to non-animal circuses.”
politics to their friends, too few of us talk to those
• Personalize your writing with anecdotes and
who can do something about it: legislators. Your
visual images.
input really does make a difference!
Example
“Leghold traps can trap an animal by the face,
The governor of Virginia vetoed a bill
leg, or stomach.”
putting a bounty on coyotes because he
Better
received so much mail against it.
“Have you ever seen a yearling fox with her face
caught in a leghold trap? I have, which is how I
According to former member of Congress Billy
know that traps tear into an animal’s face, leg, or
Evan (D-Ga.), “Legislators estimate that 10 letters
stomach.”
from constituents represent the concerns of
• Avoid speciesist language. Instead of referring
10,000 citizens. Anybody who will take the time
to an animal with an inanimate pronoun (“it”or
to write is voicing the fears and desires of
“which”), use “she” or “he.”
thousands more.”
• Avoid euphemisms (e.g.,“negative
continued ...
reinforcement,” “culling the herd”); say what you
really mean (e.g., “painful electric shocks,”
“slaughtering deer”).