Bruins for Animals debuted an exhibit on human and animal exploitation in Bruin Plaza on Tuesday, and organizers said the purpose was to show the connection between human and animal suffering.
The exhibit, called “Liberation: A Project by peta2,” was presented in conjunction with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animal’s youth division.
It featured displays with graphic pictures of both humans and animals in pain, and also featured a “Tools of Torture” presentation, which showed tools that were once used to harm human beings, as well as modern tools used on animals today, which had many similarities.
“We want students to recognize that animal rights is one of the most important social justice issues of our time,” said Sangeeta Kumar, education coordinator for PETA.
Many students stopped to look at the displays and ask questions from organizers, but some were concerned about relating the historic suffering of humans to the animal rights movement.
Kumar said the focus of the presentation is how current and future societies try to justify the exploitation of both human beings and animals. She added that the organizers do not want to equate human rights with animal rights but rather show the connections.
“We’re very gentle with the way we approach it … we’ve explained it within the context of history,” Kumar said. “(It’s) very sensitive and very strong at the same time.”
Lisette Molina, the vegetarian food coordinator for Bruins for Animals, said this is the second year the exhibit has been shown on campus, but this year’s presentation, which she called more museum-like, was geared toward college students.
“Last year’s (presentation) didn’t quite get the message across,” she said. “I’m hoping students will broaden their circle of compassion (through the exhibit).”
The exhibit is set to be displayed in the Court of Sciences today and again in Bruin Plaza on Friday before touring college campuses nationwide later this year.
Kumar said the exhibit was from her organization’s youth division, peta2, which works with bands such as the Used, Fall Out Boy, Rise Against and Hellogoodbye to promote animal rights.
In addition to appearing at concerts, she said peta2 tries to “bring animal rights to the mainstream” through events such as the Liberation Project.
Kumar said peta2 organized a letter writing campaign last year urging retail clothing store J.Crew to discontinue the sale of fur products.
“If consumers demand compassion, that’s what they are going to get,” she said.
Though the images in the exhibit are violent, Kumar said they are important because they depict the plight of animals.
“It’s really important that students see what is happening to animals today,” she said.
She said the images were obtained through people who have gone undercover with hidden cameras. She added that other information was taken from industry-published reports, such as the debeaking of chickens and the castration of young male pigs.
The presentation also included historical examples of human suffering, such as slavery and the Holocaust.
“It’s so important for us to look at history,” Kumar said, noting that the exhibit also highlights many human rights issues from the past.
She encouraged students to consider adopting a vegetarian diet, which she said would spare at least 100 animals a year and help work against environmental destruction.
Daniel Lemor, a third-year psychology student, stopped to look at the exhibit with his friend on his way to class.
While he said he found the images in the presentation provocative, he did not see how the examples of animal suffering were the same thing as the examples of human suffering.
Julia Kuznetsov, a second-year political science and Russian language and literature student, said she believes human rights issues should not be compared to animal rights issues, because PETA is an organization focused on just animal rights.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to juxtapose (the two),” she said.
Lemor said when he asked organizers to elaborate on one display’s claims of better alternatives than animal testing, they gave him vague answers.
But Lemor said they identified with the causes.
“I will try to be more responsible as a consumer,” he said.