Everything Under The Sun: Animal Activism In Poland

Monday, February 29, 2016

Animal Activism In Poland

Marta Cendrowicz, from Open Cages, at VegFest in Prague.

An animal rights activist, Dobroslawa Karbowiak, was one of a group that started Animal Rights Workshop, now known as Open Cages (otwarte klatki), designed to educate other Polish people about the issues involved in animal rights advocacy. Formed just a few years ago, with the goal of providing a series of workshops in Poland's ten largest cities, the organization has continued to grow.

The workshops provided education on how to make social change, showed the conditions to which animals were subjected on factory farms, and sought to develop positive attitudes towards animals.
Dobroslawa had a number of years of experience in animal welfare, as well as in training and organizing workshops, and she put that to work in the organization's beginning mission. She said, "We want to increase our impact by multiplying it. Our aim is to empower new activists with knowledge and skills and bring about bigger and more professional animal rights movement in Poland."

But that wasn't all that the organization planned. They also wanted to develop an online educational database, with information on forming grassroots animal rights groups in Poland. Open Cages has done all of that and more. They are running six petition drives through their website, all issues pertaining to animal rights. There is a category under "Materials" that provides links with ebooks, posters, materials regarding forming a passion for animals at a young age, and the workshops that can be offered for any group that is interested in hosting.

There are also opportunities for participating with Open Cages, such as volunteering; membership in the organization, in exchange for a yearly fee; monetary donations; holding a benefit event; or even making a video about Polish practices in raising or breeding animals.

Visitors stopping by an Open Cages information table.

The organization also features a blog containing articles covering the topics of interest. Some recent articles had seasonal vegan recipes; discussed vegan lifestyle and named some restaurants with vegan dishes; providing a map of restaurants that serve vegan meals; announced a network of Baltic organizations in which Open Cages participates; and announced another organization joining their fur-free campaign. The site is in Polish and directed towards a Polish audience, but a few of the materials are in English.