As we all know by now Haiti has had a devastating earthquake. This, as you can imagine, has hit those in the worlds poorest nation hard. The old slogan 'words mean nothing, action is everything' really does apply and this time that means money – even if we don't have much of it!

The people who are the victims of this crisis need our help and we should try to ensure our funds reach the people acting at the grassroots. It can be hard knowing who to trust with our cash to help the working class people of this state. We want to see our funds defending the poor rather than upholding the power held by the developed nations own trade interests.

But we need to act fast because the people of Haiti need help now, whether we fund the bigger aid charities or smaller projects we must act fast. Innocents are dying.

Clearly the crisis is not a specie specific issue, the non-human animals also need our help as well. They are suffering as well. The big animal welfare orgs seem to be helping with this and donating to these orgs may be a way of helping the animals in Haiti right now.

There will be people saying “why worry about animals at a time like this?”, there will be people that want to help the humans more than non-human animals and there will be people who want to help the animals more than the people. It is natural to want to help the groups you feel most connection with however we can help both groups. Suffering is suffering, pain is pain regardless of species.

It is time for all sides to stop bickering and act in solidarity we need a world that is good for all animals, both human and non. As Martin Luther King put it “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

I'm not going to suggest specific charities to give to, that is up to you. But please give to ALL those effected.

Thank You!
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This article is by a member of Animal Rights Cambridge and does not necessarily represent the views of the whole group.