Dominion Outreach

Dominion Outreach is the street activism branch of the animal rights organisation, Farm Transparency Project. FTP strives to help end commercialised animal abuse and exploitation through public education about the reality of modern farming and slaughtering practices.

Outreach basics

🎥 What is Dominion?

Dominion, released in 2018, is a feature length documentary which explores humans 'dominion' over the animal kingdom. It shows the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture.

It is not just about animals used for food. It shows how humans treat companion animals, wildlife, animals used for scientific research, entertainment and clothing.

The majority of the film uses footage taken in Australian farms, slaughterhouses, saleyards, hatcheries and knackeries. It shows current practices that are legal and happening in countries around all over the world.

The film presents the moral argument about the treatment of non-human animals.

The documentary is free to watch - either on YouTube or at watchdominion.com

It is two hours of viewing and many people attribute Dominion as the reason they went vegan.

🔑 Key Messages

At Dominion Outreach our mission is to educate consumers about the food choices they make, by showing the reality of animal agriculture.

We focus on the industry whilst also holding the person in front of us accountable for their actions.

• 🗒️ "This is legal standard practice."
  
  Dominion focuses on recurring, standard, legal industry practices.
  
  The footage is not of 'isolated incidents', it shows things that are written into industry codes of practice. Many of the cruel acts done to farmed animals would be illegal if not for exemptions in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.
  
  Our role is to highlight this hypocrisy, and to show that something legal isn't necessarily moral.
  
  

• ❎ "It's not a question of better ways of doing the wrong thing."
  
  The message of Dominion is one of abolition.
  
  Welfare reforms and terms like 'free range, ethically farmed, humanely slaughtered, sow stall free, local' are used as marketing slogans, used to justify and continue the exploitation of non-human animals.
  
  These industries are inherently violent and barbaric, by showing them for what they are, we are helping people understand the suffering of individuals in these industries.
  
  

• 😣 "Good people are being deceived"
  
  Industries that profit from the exploitation and abuse of animals hide behind a wall of secrecy – they know that if consumers were to see for themselves what actually occurs in the production of meat, dairy, eggs, leather, etc, they'd stop being consumers and those industries would quickly cease to exist.
  
  Dominion shows consumers of animal products what they're actually paying for – giving them the chance to make informed decisions and hopefully, encouraging a more compassionate and critically-thinking society.
  
  

• ✊ "We have the power to change this right now"
  
  Animals do not want to die and it is within our power to make this stop.
  
  Unlike other social justice issues, which depend on trying to persuade a backwards government to do the right thing – this is up to us as consumers.
  
  We do not have to wait for the government or industry to change. It's in our hands and it's our responsibility.
  
  

For more information about Dominion, I highly recommend reading this Q&A with the Director, Chris Delforce.

About the Film - Dominion Movement - Animal rights documentary DOMINION | We Will Rise Together

💚 What is veganism?

Most people think of veganism as just a diet, but it is much more than what you eat. It also extends to things like - fashion, entertainment, transportation, cosmetic animal testing, research, companion animals, wildlife and more.

Veganism is an ethical stance against all animal exploitation - Vegans do not eat animals, wear animals or use animals.

"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude-as far as is possible and practicable-all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose..."

Definition of veganism

📋 What is Dominion Outreach?

In practice Dominion Outreach seeks to expose the behind the scenes of animal exploitation. 

It is an extension of the organisation Farm Transparency Project.

Farm Transparency Project (FTP) is an animal protection charity and independent media outlet dedicated to ending the exploitation of non-human animals. FTP exposes the hidden realities of industries that profit from non-human animals, revealing the brutality they endure and forcing transparency so consumers are faced with the consequences of their choices.

Farm Transparency Project operates under the belief that these industries rely on secrecy and deception, using marketing ploys such as "humanely slaughtered", "free range", and imagery depicting happy animals surrounded by "desirable pleasant environments". rolling green hills in the sunshine; By breaking down this secrecy and confronting consumers to see the truth about what their purchases are responsible for.  Commercialised abuse and exploitation of animals will slowly but surely come to an end. We believe that information and individual accountability - freely and readily accessible - is our greatest and most powerful tool.

Our aim at Dominion Outreach events is to share the reality of modern animal farming through video outreach and engagement with the public.

📆 Attending events

Melbourne 

Dominion Outreach Melbourne runs fortnightly outreach events around Melbourne. The format and locations can differ from fortnight to fortnight. Events usually run for three hours (2-5pm) on a Sunday afternoon.

Upcoming events are posted on Facebook:

Dominion Outreach: Melbourne | Facebook

Please read the following before coming to Dominion Outreach events:

Dominion Outreach Melbourne

Core Values Statement - Farm Transparency Project (FTP) | Australian animal protection charity

Screens

Screen holders should hold the TV looking straight ahead. They should not engage in conversations with members of the public or each other.

Screenholders may raise their fist to alert an organiser of when they want to swap or if they see an opportunity for an outreacher to approach a member of the public.

Swapping TVs should only be done by the organiser, or someone directed by the organiser who has been shown how to swap the TVs.

In the interest of fairness, it is expected that all volunteers will hold a screen for some amount of time during each event - except for those who physically are unable to.

Table

The table should appear tidy. Leaflets should be displayed in holders and volunteers belongings, such as water bottles, should not be placed on top.

One volunteer should be attending that table at all times. 

Outreachers

Outreachers should be wearing neutral colours and an FTP/Dominion shirt if they choose. They should look presentable (shoes and shirts are mandatory).

Outreachers should remain a couple meters away from the TVs and wait for someone to pay attention to the screens, chalking or placards before approaching.

Outreachers should not group together, as they may become distracted and can look intimidating when trying to approach members of the public.

Outreachers should have open body language and only engage with people who are open to having a conversation.

Outreachers should never chase, follow, shout at or harass members of the public. Let them walk away.

Leaflets

Leaflets should only be used at the end of the conversation, when someone has shown an interest in learning more and taking action. 

The leaflets should be placed in pockets or bags, and not immediately visible. 

Our main goal is to have conversations with members of the public, not to leaflet to them. Leaflets forced onto people without a conversation are not effective and will likely be thrown out, wasting time, money and opportunity for conversation.

Chalking 

Quotes, URLs and drawings associated with FTP campaigns, or quotes from Dominion are recommended.

Examples of Dominion quotes:

Their suffering unseen and unheard. Their value determined only by their usefulness to humankind, rationalised by a belief in our own superiority and the notion that might equals right. A notion that must be questioned.

If the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated... what does that say about Australia?

Their entire lives, from birth to death, are controlled by industries who care only for profit. An empire of suffering and blood.

The truth is, there is no humane way to kill someone who wants to live.

It is not a question of treatment, or better ways of doing the wrong thing. 

We tell ourselves that they have lived good lives, and in the end, they don't know what's coming and don't feel a thing. 

In their final hours, minutes and seconds, there is always fear, there is always pain. 

Never a willingness or desire to die, but rather, a desperation to live, a frantic fight to their last breath. And never are they shown mercy or kindness.

We take their children. We take their freedom. We take their lives.

Watch Dominion - watchdominion.com

House keeping

Volunteers should be informed of the nearest bathroom and water taps.

Small items should be tucked underneath the table and hidden by the table cloth. We are not responsible for these items and volunteers are encouraged only to bring what is necessary.

Breaks should be taken away from the event space.

Dominion Outreach should not be treated as a social event - there is a social dinner afterwards where volunteers can catch-up.

All FTP events are smoke, alcohol and drug free events. Smoking or vaping should be done away from the event space.

🙋 Who to approach

Talking only to people who are open

Only approach people who stop or slow down to look at TVs, table, chalking or placards.

Outreachers should have open body language and ask an open ended question. You will be able to assess their willingness to engage in conversation.

Outreachers should never chase, follow, shout at or harass members of the public. Let them walk away. 

Addressing trolls

Consistent with our commitment to non-violence our policy is not to engage with trolls.

This means ignoring insults, taunts or attempts to intimidate.

If already in a conversation which escalates or you begin to feel unsafe, disengage from the conversation and inform an organiser of any concerns.

If any violence occurs, do not retaliate more than what is necessary to defend yourself and make sure to film the incident.

Talking to kids

Try to locate a guardian or responsible adult before engaging with a child.

If the adult indicates that it is ok, change your language and simplify concepts to be age appropriate. Keep the conversation short and try not to refer to the graphic imagery.

Talking to police, staff, security

Dominion Outreach events take place on public land. We have a legal right to protest and should not be moved on by police. 

Volunteers should take care not to block entrances or exits of nearby establishments. They should not enter private property during the event, and be mindful of members of the public.

Organisers should be alerted to the presence of police, managers or upset members of the public.

🗨️ Language

Inclusive language

Often animal rights activists can find themselves in an 'us versus them' mentality, where non-vegans are the enemy. This is often not productive and leads to conflict.

Whilst still not pandering or trying to be liked by non-vegans, we can position ourselves on the same side - as people who respect animals and don't agree with them being harmed unnecessarily.

At Dominion Outreach it is our belief that the majority of Australians are animal lovers. Therefore we have aligned values and can have an honest discussion about what we collectively, and as individuals can do to prevent this, whilst still holding the individual in front of us accountable for their participation in a system that routinely breeds, confines, mutilates, exploits and kills animals.

Name calling

We do not call non-vegans names: Animal abusers, murders, rapists etc.

Doing so makes people become defensive, aggressive and harder to get through to. It can create a dangerous situation for volunteers. Furthermore, it erodes credibility, trust and gives a bad impression of vegans/animal rights activists.

Guilt and shame are often ineffective at getting someone to listen to the message. At Dominion Outreach we hope by showing the reality of the industries we can empower people to change in their own lives.

Human comparisons

Nothing can compare what humans do to animals. The scale, intensity and normalcy in which violence is inflicted upon animals is unmatched. Comparing what happens in these industries to injustices against humans, diminishes the suffering of animals.

Drawing comparisons to slavery, rape, domestic violence, the stolen generation and the holocaust, can be inaccurate, triggering and derail the conversation.

It is better to target the underlying values and frame them as questions.

"Do you think it is wrong to be exploited for someone to be exploited for their labour?"

"Do you think it is a violation to be impregnated without one's consent?"

"Do you think it is wrong to kill someone based entirely on something they can not control?"

*We do not use the word rape to describe artificial insemination. We only use the term when describing bestiality, like with what happened to Olivia.

✌️ Non-violence

Farm Transparency Project strongly opposes all violence towards human and non-human animals.

At events we are non-violent in words, actions and tone. This means the words we say, the volume we speak at, how we position ourselves, our body language and more.

Intersectionality

Whilst we focus our energy on advocating for non-human animals, we aim never to do this at the detriment of humans.

FTP stands for animal justice, rights and freedom, within a framework of collective liberation and consistent anti-oppression. We strive to be allies to other struggles for justice and do our best to challenge injustice wherever it arises in society.

Intersectionality recognises that the systems of oppressions that harm animals, harm us all.

Our policy is to not work with, accept money from, or knowingly platform individuals or organisations that are at odds with FTP's values and positions.

❓ Socratic method

Asking questions is the most effective tool we have, because the most powerful conclusions are the ones that someone brings themself to.

Overloading someone with information does not get them to care. We can strike a balance between being informative, whilst also getting the person we are talking to to engage with that information critically.

The Socratic Method involves asking questions about what someone believes and asking more questions based on their answers. This way we can point out inconsistencies and contradictions they may have.

🧱 Conversation structure

There are five sections to an outreach conversation:

1. The opening

2. Establishment of values

3. Introducing accountability

4. Handling objections

5. Closing the conversation

The opening 

Begin with an open question.The goal is for them to make a values statement about animal abuse. 

"How does watching this make you feel?"

"How do you feel about animals being treated this way?"

"Are you against animal abuse? Would you call this animal abuse?"

Most people will respond negatively to the footage, calling it 'bad' or 'horrible'. This is their baseline response and we need to get them to justify that response.

Establishment of values

The goal is to get them to acknowledge that what humans do to animals is fundamentally wrong and should be prevented from happening.

"Is it wrong for humans to treat an animal this way? Why is it wrong to treat an animal this way?"

"How would you feel if you were treated that way?"

"Do you think that animals should be respected?"

"Do you think that if we could, we should stop this abuse from happening?"

Introducing accountability

The aim is to point out the contradiction in their values and their actions.

"Do you think you can be against an injustice whilst also directly contributing to it?"

"Do you think you can be against animal abuse, whilst also eating animals?"

"Do you think that it is hypocritical to believe in one thing and then do another?"

Handling objections

After pointing out the contradictions, many people will come up with objections to veganism and try to explain why they will continue to exploit animals.

No matter what the objection is, we must always bring it back to the victim's perspective, as there is no justification for what is being done to them.

"How would you feel if you were treated that way?"

"If that were you as the victim, what would you want humans to do? (Keep funding your exploitation, confinement, mutilation and death, or to stop?)"

"How convenient/healthy do you think it is for your victims to be in the position they're in?"

"You have a choice. Do you think animals in these industries have a choice?"

Concluding the conversation

The aim here is to get a commitment that they will refrain from consuming animals and to instill a sense of urgency. 

"Have you heard of the term vegan? Do you understand what it means?"

"How many more animals do you want to suffer because of you?"

"Are you going to align your morals with your actions and go vegan?"

Ask them for a commitment to watch Dominion, or a commitment for going vegan.