Karen Dawn

Karen Dawn
File:Karen Dawn 00.jpg Karen and Paula ready to ride
Born	(0000-12-00)December 0, 0
Occupation	Animal Rights Activist

Karen Dawn is an animal rights and welfare advocate and writer. She is the founder of the media watchdog website/list serve DawnWatch.com and the author of Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals.

Biography and Work

Karen Dawn was born in the United States and grew up and was schooled in Australia. She studied at the University of NSW and received a science degree with a major in psychology, colloquially known as “rats and stats.” Her Thanking the Monkey book jacket tells us that she “hopes her furry subjects will shine forgiving blessings upon this book.”

She got her first experience working with the media as a news researcher and writer for Australia’s national nightly news magazine show "The 7:30 Report," on ABC. She moved to New York City where instead of going into news media as she had planned, she pursued her interest in music throughout the early 1990s as a singer/songwriter. She was a regular at The Bitter End and CBGBs. Always interested in public service and activism, while pursuing music she worked at Saint Francis of Xavier soup kitchen in Manhattan every Sunday throughout much of the 1990s.

In 1999 she turned her focus full time to animal rights and started the DawnWatch.com list serve, which she created to “encourage activists to stay in friendly contact with the media." Her efforts helped her win a place as a voting member on the Genesis Awards committee, which she held from 2001-2004. In 2006 she returned to the Genesis Committee as the print consultant for the Genesis Awards. Through her involvement with the awards she met David Bale, a member of the Genesis Awards Board, and through him became close to his wife, and her activism mentor, Gloria Steinem – particularly after Bale’s death in December of 2003.

Animal Rights Spokesperson

Dawn is universally recognized as the premier animal rights spokesperson of the new millennium and a primary leader of the animals rights movement which encompasses all "those who devote themselves to advancing the interests of animals and who discourage the use of animals as objects of commerce." She is a popular speaker at colleges nationwide and hopes to spread word of animal rights issues to younger generations as seen in her trip to the University of Missouri and her intimate "lecture" at the university's bookstore.

During the 2005 Hurricane Katrina crisis in New Orleans, she published a piece called "Best Friends Need Shelter, Too" in The Washington Post to bring to light the Katrina Animal Disaster caused by the hurricane and was subsequently interviewed for a New York Times article covering the displacement of pets during the Katrina aftermath. A year later as a follow-up on her op-ed there was a one-hour program on Washington Post Radio devoted to the Katrina Animal Disaster and what we learned from it with regard to the need for disaster preparedness and policy changes.

As a prominent figure during the 2008 California General Elections, Dawn could be seen in one of the many video ad campaigns for Proposition 2, a ballot initiative which would change the standards for confining farm animals. She was also featured in a November 3, 2008 article in The Financial Times recapping some of the proposed ballot measures including Proposition 2. The proposition passed with 63.5% of the vote.

Hollywood

Dawn's book, Thanking the Monkey, as well as her general stance on animal rights has garnered widespread acclaim from celebrities and the entertainment industry. Everyone from Bill Maher (Host, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher) to Anthony Kiedis (Singer, Red Hot Chili Peppers) to Matthew Scully (former senior speechwriter for President George W. Bush and author of Dominion) has praised the book and Dawn's continued efforts as an animal rights activist. A star-studded promo video can be seen on the book's website, ThankingTheMonkey.com, and features Alicia Silverstone (Actress, Clueless), Bruce Greenwood (Actor, Star Trek) and Rory Freedman (Co-Author, Skinny Bitch) among many other celbrities.

A particularly cute November 27, 2008 celebrity-related article in the Los Angeles Times describes Dawn's Thanksgiving feast that year where she had two 20-pound turkeys for dinner — not as food but as guests. The rescued turkeys, Emily and Bruce (named after celebs Emily Deschanel of Fox Network's Bones and Bruce Greenwood of the 2009 Star Trek movie reboot), were attendees at the vegan dinner to promote awareness of the fact that the federal Humane Slaughter Act, which governs how animals are killed, does not protect poultry. After a leisurely stay at Dawn's ocean-view home, Emily and Bruce were retired to Animal Acres on December 14, 2008.

Pit Bull Advocate

Dawn is outspoken in her advocacy of pit bulls but she also fully supports the need for pit bull spay-neuter legislation, even testifying in favor of such a legislation in a California Senate committee hearing in Sacramento. Unfortunately pit bulls are often villanized by the media even though they consistently do better than many other breeds in tests given by the American Temperament Test Society. She hopes that with sites such as BadRap.org which dispels myths (both negative and positive) about pit bulls along with pro-animal rights media coverage such as the Michael Vick dog fighting trial in 2007, pit bulls will some day be viewed by the public for what they truly are: a ridiculously affectionate animal and a loving pet. It also helps when people can see firsthand just how lovable the breed really is as Dawn has been known to bring her two pit bull mixes out on the town. One such occasion was even detailed in an article which ran on the front page of The Los Angeles Times on August 3, 2006.

Radio Hosting

Dawn has hosted animal issues talk shows on Houston’s Pacifica station, KPFT and on the Los Angeles Pacifica station, KPFK, with guests ranging from Nobel Prize winner J. M. Coetzee (in his only radio contribution to date) and feminist icon Gloria Steinem to platinum selling pop-musician Moby.

Writing

Dawn has written opinion pieces published in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, New York's Newsday and the UK Guardian. She contributed to "Terrorists or Freedom Fighters: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals" a 2004 anthology edited by Steve Best and Anthony Nocella, and to "In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave," edited by Peter Singer.

Her first book, Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals, was published in May 2008. In Thanking the Monkey, Dawn targets, “young people, especially college kids,” because, “more and more these days, things like being a vegetarian are seen as something that’s attractive and hip and great for teenagers." She promotes animal rights with a fun and friendly image, stating, “There’s no reason that animal rights can’t be fun and inviting. For heaven’s sake—gin’s vegan!"

Thanking the Monkey, however, despite its fun presentation has been reviewed as a serious work and was chosen by the Washington Post as one of the “Best Books of 2008.” The book even has its own site, ThankingTheMonkey.com which showcases its content and enormous following, including reviews and celebrity endorsements.

Works

File:Thanking The Monkey.jpeg

Preview the book

Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals. Harper Paperbacks, 2008. ISBN-10: 0061351857

Op-Eds

The choice isn't seals or people. Los Angeles Times. December 4, 2007.

Tale of a Turkey who Changed Thanksgiving. Washington Post Radio. Aired November 23, 2006.

Shameful policy caused many pets' deaths. New York Newsday. September 14, 2005.

Best Friends Need Shelter, Too. Washington Post. September 10, 2005.

Got milk? You've got problems. Los Angeles Times. August 13, 2005.

Gandhi's way won't do: Animal rights activists do not want to resort to violence but many see it as the only option. The Guardian (London). September 6, 2004.

Commentary; Echoes of Abu Ghraib in Chicken Slaughterhouse. With Peter Singer. Los Angeles Times. July 25, 2004.

When Slaughter Makes Sense. With Peter Singer. New York Newsday. February 8, 2004.

Back at the Ranch, a Horror Story. With Peter Singer. Los Angeles Times. December 1, 2003.

There Should Be No Room for Cruelty to Livestock. With Peter Singer. Los Angeles Times. June 8, 2003.