Animal Rights Activist Speaks for the Voiceless

by Natascha Bruckner

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If Eric Mills hadn’t volunteered to be a spokesman for animal rights, the animal kingdom would have elected him. Impassioned, inspired, and seemingly tireless, Eric is a walking encyclopedia on animal welfare, and he blends expertise with emotion to persuade his fellow humans that all animals have rights. From turtles sold in live food markets, to gorillas eaten as bush meat, to calves injured in rodeos, no “critter” escapes Mills’ concern.

Founder of the Oakland-based group Action for Animals, Mills has fought on animals’ behalf for decades. He’s drafted legislation to outlaw inhumane rodeo events, worked to improve conditions in live animal markets and county fairs, served on Boards of Directors for animal advocacy groups, and written countless letters to publications and politicians.

Mills’ radical style has not gone unopposed. He’s been called “anti-Mexican” because of his work to reform charreada, the Mexican rodeo. He counters this accusation by quoting a letter he received from Cesar Chavez, who wrote: “Racism, economic deprival, dog fighting and cock fighting, bullfighting and rodeos are cut from the same fabric: violence. Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well ourselves.” This underscores Mills’ belief in a web of ecological and social connections, which drives his activism. “If you do anything good,” he explains, “you help everything.”

In a recent interview, Mills discussed some of his causes. Despite his baritone Kentucky drawl, Mills speaks quickly, with a sense of urgency, as if the time to help animals is running out.

What led you to this path of helping animals?

I remember, as a small child, visiting my grandparents’ farm in Kentucky. They always had animals: horses, mules, chickens, sheep, puppies, kittens. All kids have a natural affinity for animals until you educate it out of them. My grandmother says that when I was about four, a neighborhood boy was sitting on a puppy he’d just gotten as a pet. I threatened him: “If you don’t get off that puppy, I will knock you off.” I used to do a lot of bird watching, and spent a lot of time outdoors when I was a kid. I didn’t like the shooting part, but I liked tracking animals down and finding them. I always had a dog (but for the past 25 years or so a couple of cats have taken over our home; less demanding). This is a little ironic; I used to read all the hunting magazines.

When I moved out here, I got involved with the Whale Center, Earth Island Institute, Greenpeace, Sierra Club. I read Cleveland Amory’s book Man Kind? about hunting and trapping, and got to meet Cleveland. He made an impression on me. He was the founder of the Fund for Animals (which merged with the Humane Society of the United States this year). I got involved with the Fund and am still involved.

Why did you focus on reforming rodeo?

In 1984, I went to [an annual] rodeo, and a bucking horse caught his leg in the slats and broke it. He was out in the arena, down, couldn’t get up. The handlers were kicking him and using electric prods. Finally they got him on three feet and got him out of the arena. We were photographing behind the fence; they threatened us with God-awful language. Within an hour, they shot the horse to death with a police officer’s gun. No veterinarian was on site. They had no signage on the fence, and three calves crashed into the fence head-on. I thought their necks had been broken. The second year, a calf broke his nose and palate. They had promised me to have a veterinarian there that year and signage on the fence. They didn’t do any of it.

Many of them do an event called steer dressing. They let a small steer out with a short rope, and three cowboys try to force women’s lace panties over the hind legs. [At this rodeo] they were rolling around in the dirt, the steer is bawling, and the announcer says to a crowd of mostly children, “Take him down, boys. Spread them legs. Get them panties down.” Bad grammar and all. I said, “My God, that sounds like a gang rape.” This was a fundraiser for Special Olympics for kids. I went to the city council and the police department. I said, “Don’t you find it ironic that peace officers are crippling animals to help crippled children?” I wanted some controls there. I ended up writing the rodeo policy for the ranch: banned the steer dressing event, banned electric prods, put up signage on the fence. They even pad that arena now. We have a state law now, pertaining to rodeo animals. It requires an on-site (not on-call, but on-site) veterinarian. But by definition it exempts the Mexican rodeos, the charreadas; over my protestations, they weakened it to do that.

What is another issue you're working on?

One of my biggest concerns is live animal food markets in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Sacramento. My [animal] warden friend thinks 15,000 turtles are coming into the Bay Area markets alone, every year, for the food trade. There are a number of problems involved: human health, environment, cruelty. The cruelty is staggering. They used to (they probably still do, quietly) cut off the turtle’s top shell and leave it out on display so people would know it’s fresh; you could touch the beating heart and lungs. It takes them hours to die. I’m afraid we’re going to lose an entire genus of animals to soup and superstition. People who eat these turtles, they say they do it to gain the turtles’ longevity and wisdom, and for aphrodisiacs. But hope is on the horizon. The Fish and Game Commission is supposed to have a hearing [in July] to ban the importation of frogs and turtles in live animal markets. People say, “This is our culture.” I say we need to do better by the critters. We’re losing between four and five species of plants and animals per hour. I’m a big fan of tradition and culture, until it crosses the line of animal abuse. When you talk about culture, I come from a culture of slavery, incest, and child abuse in the South. We’ve gotten beyond that. Tradition justifies nothing.

What can people do?

Go to city council meetings and speak your peace. Animals have no voice, no vote, no dollar. At least people can speak up and raise hell and fight back. The animals cannot. That’s why it’s incumbent upon people like us to speak up. Pay attention to what’s happening at the county fair. Know your politicians. Vote. Spend your money locally. Read the newspaper and write letters to the editor. It’s free; you can reach tens of thousands of people. You might get some hate mail as a result. Years ago, I wrote a letter that was one sentence: “In 25 years of animal work, I’ve come to the conclusion that most Americans would eat their own grandmother if it tasted good and was cheaper than chicken.” I got some funny emails after that.

What would the ideal world look like?

I’d like to see a more humane, compassionate world. I’d like to see people in legislative office who care about animals. Animals have a basic right to be treated humanely. It starts out with being a mensch, sitting down with people and saying, “We have some differences here, but let’s make things better, improve ourselves, and help the critters. Look at it from their point of view for a change.” People ask me why I choose to do this work. I don’t really choose to do it. I feel compelled to do it. You see a kid getting beat up on the street, you stop to help. It’s the best part of human nature. You want to help.

To contact Eric Mills and Action for Animals, email afa@mcn.org or call 510-652-5603.