World-renowned author, philosopher, and activist Dr. Tom Regan will present a talk on "Empty Cages: Animal Rights and Why They Matter." Author of over 20 books including the landmark work The Case for Animal Rights, Dr. Regan is widely recognized as the intellectual leader of the animal rights movement.

Among his other well-known works are The Struggle for Animal Rights(1987), Defending Animal Rights (2001), and Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights (2004).

A powerful, entertaining, and thought-provoking speaker, Dr. Regan has presented hundreds of lectures throughout the United States and abroad. Co-sponsored by UGA's Speak Out for Species and University Union. FREE!

Praise for Dr. Regan's latest book, Empty Cages: Facing the Challenge of Animal Rights (2004):

"Every so often a book is written that is destined to change the way people think. Tom Regan has written just such a book. Empty Cages is compelling because it is logical, rational and written in an elegantly simple style. It will educate and sadden you, and make you angry, but never is it inflammatory. Reading it may not convert you into an animal rights advocate, at least not immediately, but it will most definitely give you an understanding of and sympathy for the movement. And all animals, everywhere, will benefit. Please buy this book, read it and tell your friends about it. Everyone needs a copy on their bookshelf."
-- Jane Goodall, Ph.D.

"Empty Cages, by Tom Regan, brings the philosophy of animal rights to a hesitant and skeptical audience in an accessible and persuasive manner. Empty Cages offers a firsthand account of the philosophical quest of one of the most important contemporary philosophers and an in-depth account of the issues central to animal rights, making it clear why the issue of animal rights is one of the most controversial and important contemporary philosophical topics."
-- Lisa Kemmerer, Ethics, volume 115, issue 1, October 2004

"In a world where exploitation of other species has become mechanized and institutionalized, the animals need a spokesman. That voice belongs to Tom Regan, whose Empty Cages is a clearly written, eloquent argument in favor of compassion for the beings with which we share the planet. Far from a polemic, it's an appeal to reason. Like Matthew Scully's Dominion , the book is both a personal story of Regan's own evolution to animal rights and a ringing critique of the casual cruelty that has come to inform our daily lives. Read this book and you'll think twice about eating meat, watching a circus, wearing fur or supporting animal-based research."
-- Jim Motavalli, Editor, E: The Environmental Magazine

"Tom Regan delivers a searing indictment of the way we treat animals in the world we have made for ourselves, and presents a trenchant case that animals have or should have rights in the same way that human beings have."
-- J.M. Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature

"Empty Cages is a long-awaited and much-welcomed personal and heartfelt book written by the 'dean' of the modern animal rights movement. Covering a broad range of important topics in an easy-to-read style, Tom Regan dispenses with misleading stereotypes about animal advocates and shows how nonsensical it is to label those who work on behalf of animals as 'radicals' or 'extremists' . . . Empty Cages is a must-read and deserves the widest of audiences."
-- Marc Bekoff, Ph.D., University of Colorado