Questions and Answers

The moderators of info@calmaction.org get all sorts of questions. Some are simple, some can't be answered in an email, and some are just ridiculous. The purpose of this page is to answer any questions people might have about CALM and act as a resource for decentralized CALM activists who might need to be answering similar questions.

Ridiculous Frequently Asked Questions

I am with the police department: Can I talk to someone from your organization?

CALM is not an organization - it is a movement. We have no interest in talking to you as a police officer. Police and government have done nothing to stop animal cruelty and in fact often have played an active hand in supporting the industries that profit off the pain and suffering of animals.

You can't outreach here [principal on sidewalk outside of highschool]

We can and will. It is completely legal. This is public property. Outreach is free speech and education. The public school system has neglected to teach the students that Canada kills near a billion animals every year subsidized by the government at the cost of workers' rights, the environment, and the health of Canadians. We are outraged students are lied to about where their food comes from and want to remedy that.

Less Frequently Asked Questions

Can I own a pet and still be part of CALM?

CALM is against pet ownership in the same way it is against slave ownership. We want a world where all are free. However, we do understand that at this time rescuing animals is needed and helpful. Many CALM Activists have animals in their lives that would be in worse conditions if they had not been rescued.

So simply put, CALM supports rescuing animals and fights to stop the pet industry that breeds and abuses animals for profit.

Do CALM activists do anything illegal?

We fully support any action that fights for animal liberation and follows the guidelines. This includes illegal actions.

This is not an admission of guilt. It is the animal exploiters who are guilty. Legality does not equal morality. The authors of this website have no insider knowledge of any illegal actions taken for animals.

It is crucial we understand and support all effective actions that fight for animal liberation. See a frame work for illegal, legal, below ground, and above ground activism here.

Why doesn't CALM Action have a facebook page?

While some activists have found facebook to be a useful tool for increasing social connections and event awareness, a serious discussion of the drawbacks of facebook has yet to emerge. For the below drawbacks, CALM has chosen not to have a facebook page.

User Privacy: Facebook does not take adequate steps to protect user privacy. Information such as photos uploaded on facebook often end up in the public domain and facebook actively shares some of its data with third-party users. Users often disclose large amounts of information on facebook, which can be and has been used to track activists and their connections with others. Put simply, information on facebook is not secure.

Ineffective Action: People are often willing to sign up for groups, post a message, or say they are attending (but not attend) an event promoting social justice. The question is whether all this online activity actually creates change for animals, or does it just give the perception of change while more and more animals die? Maybe we need to learn from past social justice movements and remember we create change in our communities, not in the web.