Traditional Animal Rights Tactics and The Backfire Effect 

How do these images make you feel? After attending numerous protests and re-posting graphic videos on the cruel treatment of animals, I started to question whether traditional animal rights tactics were becoming counterproductive. Even if the goal is to simply raise awareness, individuals actively resist information that challenges their existing worldview, in order to maintain their sense of self and identity. This is known as the backfire effect; where presenting evidence that contradicts someone’s beliefs, instead of changing their mind, actually makes them hold their original beliefs even more strongly. 

And so, I needed a new approach to my activism; one that inspires rather than guilts and sparks meaningful conversations rather than arguments. Instead of telling people that pigs deserve better lives because they are smarter than dogs or that mother pigs sing to their babies, how can I show them. Live performance and puppetry are a great visual medium to do so! Animals are individuals and have their own problems that they face and thus unique stories to tell. With each show I create, I center it on an animal and try to focus on one issue and see which style of puppetry best conveys that message.

Subway Creatures – Rats and Negative Stereotypes 

Rats are my favorite animal and I had four pet rats over the years. I know first hand how smart, funny, and loving they can be and I wanted to show other people with my first show; Subway Creatures. In the story a homeless man helps a pet rat who gets lost in the subway. Like rats, the homeless face many unfair prejudices and I wanted to break those negative stereotypes by highlighting the compassion, trust, and kindness they show for each other. 

Silence – Lambs and Animal Slaughter

Animals being raised and killed for food has always been a difficult topic to address. Silence tells the story of a girl already facing grief, who befriends lambs on a farm only to witness them being slaughtered. This piece utilizes shadow puppetry and silence to convey such a heavy topic and emotion.

The Cruel Fate of the Goldfish in the Household – Goldfish and Responsible Pet Ownership

Goldfish are one of the most neglected pets in America. Their cruel fate is being forced to live their lives in a tiny fishbowl and to then be flushed down a toilet bowl. In this teatro lambe lambe piece, one audience member at a time, learns about this cruel fate by looking into a box. The fish’s death is more impactful because of the intimate interaction formed between the puppet and the viewer. 

This 3 minute presentation was presented on May 28, 2025 as part of UNIMA Youth Commission’s Fishing for Fresh Ideas online session. This session offers the opportunity for UNIMA members to share new projects, artistic achievements and seek international collaborations. Come support the thriving of the global field of puppetry!