Programs

To implement ISAR’s educational mission, over the years our programs have addressed a wide spectrum of issues.

ISAR distributed dozens of books and countless pamphlets, making the philosophic, moral, legal, and practical case for animal rights.  

ISAR prepared form letters-to-the-editor, which activist-supporters could send to local newspapers and national magazines in support of animal rights issues.  (For a sample, CLICK HERE.)

ISAR exposed and fought against the abominable practice of “pound seizure,” in which animal shelters surrendered unwanted companion animals to laboratories where they are subjected to cruel experiments.

ISAR focused public attention on animal dealers who auction dogs and cats to experimenters, where more often than not a fate worse than death awaits these companion animals.

ISAR revealed the truth about the infamous Iditarod, Alaska’s alleged “sporting event” that kills puppies deemed unsuitable for racing, and then “mushes” the surviving sled dogs across a thousand miles of barren snow.

ISAR condemned the obscenity of so-called blood “sports,” such as hunting, bull fights, cock fighting, and setting dogs on foxes.

ISAR disclosed the true nature of the alleged “entertainment” provided by zoos, rodeos, circuses, television, and motion pictures and distributed author Peter Batten’s classic condemnation of zoos, his book Living Trophies.  ISAR’s nationwide petition campaign aimed at obtaining One-Hundred-Thousand signatures demanding that movie producers, television companies, and advertisers and their agencies, desist from simulating harm to animals in order to sell “entertainment” and other products can be viewed HERE.

ISAR contributed substantially to the work of those seeking to end the horrendous conditions under which “factory farming” is conducted, and the inevitable fate awaiting the unfortunate animals once their useful life is over. To view our Report on Suffering vs. Profit CLICK HERE.

ISAR encouraged its supporters and other members of the public to obtain information pertaining to animals—including vivisection policies, abandonment of military working dogs, and other government activities involving animals—by taking advantage of the federal Freedom of Information Act.  (For our Report on how to use the act, CLICK HERE.)

ISAR initiated a worldwide campaign to end the use of animals for cosmetic testing, after an exhaustive investigation of the cruelty and abuses perpetrated in the name of “beauty.”

ISAR helped convince the United States Postal Service to create two spay/neuter commemorative postage stamps (a puppy and kitten), which reached tens of millions of people around the world with our overpopulation message. To read about our victory CLICK HERE.

ISAR attacked the annual Canadian baby harp seal slaughter, urging the Prime Minister to end that barbaric practice.

ISAR organized animal rights conferences, featuring movement leaders from the United States and abroad.  (Attending ISAR’s “International Symposium on Dog and Cat Overpopulation” was Hon. Menaka Gandhi, India’s former Minister of the Environment who noted that she had “learned a great deal and you [ISAR] probably changed all of India as a result.”

ISAR waged many other battles as well, against: hunting, pet theft, live animal food markets, puppy mills, greyhound racing, live bird shoots, “bloodless” bullfighting, chained dogs, and more.

At the same time, a major program of ISAR throughout all the years of its existence has been addressing the problem of companion animal overpopulation.  As ISAR’s Chairman and general counsel, Professor Henry Mark Holzer, wrote a decade ago: “there are too many strays wandering the streets and roaming the countryside; too many puppies being cranked out of mills; too many purebred dogs being produced by backyard breeders; too many – far, far, too many – healthy, but homeless unwanted dogs and cats killed in shelters because people are not spaying and neutering. For many years, ISAR has worked diligently to make a dent in the overpopulation crisis and for . . . years it has been a program priority for us.”

Some of ISAR’S spay/neuter educational programs include:

• Our nationwide highway billboard campaign, in partnership with local humane organizations, brings the spay/neuter message to hundreds of thousands of motorists annually.  To view are Billboard Campaign,  CLICK HERE.

• Our public service announcements, carries our spay/neuter message over the airwaves on TV and radio stations throughout the United States, featuring prominent celebrities such as Bob Barker and the late Steve Allen.  Some of our PSAs can be heard HERE.

• Our International Homeless Animals’ Day™ —candlelight vigils held in hundreds of locations throughout the world—annually commemorates the millions of unwanted companion animals who perished the previous year for lack of homes.  To view our newsletter on International Homeless Animals' Day™, CLICK HERE. 

• Our effort continues to convince the United Nations Postal Administration to issue a spay/neuter postage stamp. To view the petition, CLICK HERE.

• Our ongoing petition drive to include the phrase “pet overpopulation” in new American language dictionaries, both to give the concept intellectual credibility and to raise the reading public’s awareness of this important policy issue, shows great promise. To view the petition, CLICK HERE.

• Our publication of a lengthy original monograph entitled “Harming Companion Animals: Liability and Damages,” aimed at educating the public generally and lawyers in particular about the law of negligent and intentional harm to companion animals, has been well received by both the lay and professional community.

• Our various Reports in English — and now Russian, Croatian and, Romanian are shipped to various foreign countries. To view Reports, CLICK HERE.

• Our expertise has been sought by like-minded organizations in various foreign countries, with whom we have consulted.