Animal Rights Coalition
Board of Directors

Brenda Burchfield has been active with ARC since 2010, and became aware of ARC through attending Petland demonstrations. Brenda grew up in a southern Minnesota community with a slaughterhouse and was always deeply disturbed by the practices going on there, but never knew how to take action against it. This is what led her to ARC and transitioning into a vegan lifestyle. Brenda is committed to educating others about animal rights and abolitionsim, and on how a vegan diet can impact health and help to manage illnesses such as diabetes. Being a diabetic herself, Brenda can often be spotted speaking to others about a plant based diet and animal rights issues. Brenda and her husband, Gary are caregivers to their much beloved rescue cat, Kringle

Charlotte Cozzetto has been active with ARC since 1988, currently serving as ARC's president. Highlights of her time with ARC include working on the campaign that led to the abolishment of the University of Minnesota's live dog lab for first year medical students, ARC's successful lawsuit against the University of Minnesota for previously denied access to research records, and ARC's successful campaign to persuade the Animal Humane Society to discontinue use of the gas chamber for euthanasia. Charlotte works in the computer field and is caregiver to several rescued cats.

Heidi Greger has been active with ARC since 1991. She has served on the board of directors as vice-president and president, currently serving as ARC treasurer as well as editor of the e-newsletter. Her primary interest in the animal rights movement is animals used in research. Heidi holds a Ph.D. in sociology with a specialization in health and medicine.

Colleen Timmer has been active with ARC since 2006. She was raised on a farm in rural Minnesota and has been an animal advocate for many years. She is a licensed attorney and believes firmly in the abolitionist view on animal rights. She has two dogs and five cats. Colleen currently serves as ARC vice president.

Lindy Venustus has been active with ARC since 2006. She was drawn to ARC's non-violent, peaceful approach to educating the public and by ARC's broad focus on the treatment of all animals: companion, farmed, and those used in clothing, entertainment, and research. Through commitment and persistence, she believes concerned individuals can help move society to a new and compassionate status quo. Lindy works in the insurance field and is caregiver to three rescued animals: Tommy, a St. Bernard, and Loki and Lily, shorthaired domestic cats.

Kim Socha has been active with ARC since February 2010. Her past volunteer experiences include working with an environmental/animal rights group, a no-kill dog and cat rescue, and with survivors of domestic and sexual violence. An East Coast native who moved to Minnesota in 2009, she was immediately drawn to ARC's philosophy that enduring change for animals comes through education, outreach, and abolitionism. Kim holds a Ph.D. in Literature and Criticism and works as a community college English teacher. In her free time, she enjoys bonding with her life partner Patrick and canine companion Siouxsie Chihuahua.

Vonnie Thomasberg, named President Emerita of ARC in 2005, is a founder and past president of ARC. For over 30 years, Vonnie has defended the rights of non-human animals and has advised, counseled, and provided effective leadership and inspiration to others in this ongoing effort.

Our Mission and Core Values
The Animal Rights Coalition is dedicated to ending the suffering, abuse, and exploitation of non-human animals through information, education, and advocacy. We believe that animals matter for their own reasons and that they should not be used by human beings for profit, pleasure, amusement, or simply because it is our habit to do so.

Read our Core Values here.

What We Do
The Animal Rights Coalition is the oldest and most successful animal rights organization in Minnesota, with over three decades of helping animals. ARC was founded in 1980 and formally incorporated in 1981. ARC's membership has grown significantly over the years and it is a locally and nationally recognized voice for animal rights.

ARC has remained a grass-roots group because we believe that real and lasting change for animals will happen and needs to happen at the grass-roots level; that is, it's going to take a critical mass of people at the local level to reach a tipping point in our culture's treatment of animals, not policies created and enforced by people higher up in traditional power structures. All this is a fancy way of saying that we believe it's our members and volunteers who are the animals' real heroes and the people who will move our society toward justice for all species.

ARC's programs focus on spreading the word about compassionate living. We believe we can continue to achieve our goals through practicing non-violence and compassion for all (including the human animal) and that positive change comes about from connection, communication, and education. Our programs include:

ARC Book Group holds monthly discussion groups where participants discuss member-selected books about animal rights and other issues.

ARC Speaker Series regularly brings in nationally known speakers such as Dr. Michael Fox, Harold "Farmer" Brown, Karen Davis, pattrice jones, and Will Potter.

Community Outreach activities range from booths at large events and professional conferences such as the Twin Cities Pet Expo, May Day Festival, GLBT Pride Festival, Education Minnesota Professional Conference, and Twin Cities Book Festival, to staffing booths at First Avenue, to leafletting with the ARC Outreach Team at concerts and other events, to helping the hundreds of individuals who call or email us for assistance with animal issues.

Cuddle Coats educates the public about fur and encourages people to donate fur coats to aid orphaned baby wildlife in their recovery at our wildlife rehabilitation partners.

Dissection Choice provides information and assistance to students who choose not to dissect and provides information on alternatives to local high schools and colleges (over 50 so far!).

Humane Farming Myth challenges the myth of "humanely" produced animal products and is a compelling resource to share with family and friends. We've received requests from all over the country for large quantities of this brochure, most recently from the organizers of a national bus tour promoting the sustainability of a plant-based diet (don't worry - the bus runs on waste vegetable oil).

Minneapolis Vegan Meetup is an ARC-sponsored meetup group. The group organizes dine-outs and other activities to promote a sense of community among people who want to enjoy life without eating/using animals.

No Pain In My Name exposes Marilyn Carroll's hideous experiments at the University of Minnesota, in which she “researches” the effects of drug addiction by training monkeys and rats to self-administer drugs that humans misuse such as cocaine, heroin, and alcohol. The site gives voice to the community this "research" is supposedly benefiting: addicts and recovered addicts.

Rhymes With Vegan, an online cooking show hosted by local chef Meagan Holtgrewe, introduces viewers to the delights of compassionate eating (with up to over 600 website hits in one day!).

Teaching Compassion workshops help kids develop compassion and empathy while empowering them to take action for animals themselves. With presentations at schools, community events, and camps this program has met with glowing reviews from kids, parents, and teachers.

Twin Cities Vegan Drinks is a social networking event for people interested in veganism and animal rights. Vegan Drinks' mission is to bring together a diverse group of people to build new coalitions and promote the sharing of resources.

Vegan University is designed to promote compassionate eating and to help you go (and stay) vegan. Vegan University consists of three elements: "Help, I'm Going Vegan" workshops and discussion groups, vegan shopping tours of local markets designed to teach people how to shop vegan, and a vegan mentor program.

VegKins is a unique social networking program for families raising vegetarian/vegan children. This program offers the opportunity to come together to exchange ideas and information with other parents and build a community of parents raising compassionate kids.

ARC History
Some highlights of past campaigns include stopping the University of Minnesota Medical School from conducting live dogs labs for first year medical students, successfully suing the University of Minnesota for access to records concerning the use of animals in research, persuading the Animal Humane Society to discontinue using a gas chamber for euthanasia, persuading several local school districts to recognize students’ rights to non-animal alternatives to dissection, breaking the story that caused the Make-A-Wish Foundation to ban hunting trips, providing information to local news media which was the basis of a televised undercover investigation about companion animals stolen for research and the dog auctions that sell these animals, persuading a nationally known annual conference on spirituality to serve only vegetarian meals, and funding the first mobile spay/neuter unit in Minnesota devoted to spaying/neutering of feral cat colonies.

For first-person accounts of the early history of animal rights in our community, read ARC History and History of an Activist

Meet Dallas Rising:
ARC's Program Director

Chances are, if you’re involved in the Twin Cities’ animal rights and rescue communities, you recognize her dedicated and hard-working face. Dallas is the Program Director for ARC, and we're thrilled to have her with us! “It’s more than a job to me,” Dallas said. “It’s a calling.”

Dallas went vegetarian in the 4th grade, after she made the connection that eating animals meant they were being killed. By 15, she had dropped the cheese and dairy products too, and become a vegan. In high school, she started an animal rights group that worked to get veggie burgers in the lunchroom and vivisection out of the classroom.

Dallas has been active in many local and national animal groups and in addition to ARC, she currently volunteers for Friends of Kevin Kjonass and Support Vegans in the Prison System.

A big part of her decision to work for ARC was her belief in animal abolitionism, rather than animal welfarism. As an abolitionist, it was vitally important to work for an abolitionist organization, like ARC, whose values regarding animals, are in line with hers. She explains: “I am of the belief that it is critical that we not compromise our values as animal rights activists in the name of a short term "victory" for the animals.

Running campaigns based on getting universities or restaurants to go cage-free, for example, is a hot trend in our movement right now. But in the end, I think it is wrong to give the impression that cage-free eggs or meat labeled "free range," are okay to purchase and eat. Whether directly or indirectly, any promotion or endorsement of this "happy meat" is not only a betrayal to the animals (who are still kept in horrible conditions, transported in the same way that most farmed animals are, and end up being slaughtered in the same brutal, violent ways that all farmed animals are), but also to consumers who are concerned about the way farmed animals are treated. We cheat both parties when we stop short of advocating for anything other than veganism.”

Dallas is also aware of the divide these different philosophies are causing in the animal rights community: “This [abolitionism] is not a very popular attitude to have right now in our movement's history. It took me a while to get over feeling like the bad guy for "raining on a cage-free parade,” but I am unwilling to compromise my values in the name of a short-term gain. I would rather march forward toward total liberation, no matter how slowly, than to perpetuate the myth that any animal products can be produced in a humane way. They cannot. Period.”

Dallas tries to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved in animal issues, be active, and feel satisfied with their involvement. She focuses much of her work with ARC on educating and involving young people. She firmly believes that if young people are given the opportunity and education to make the connection that eating animals means killing them, they will make the choice not to eat them. “Kids are naturally compassionate.”

Dallas understands the huge challenges in our culture when it comes to educating people about compassion toward animals. But she also has great hope. “We are pulled in to being complacent and unconscious. But, if you think about who you really want to be, most people don’t want to be contributing to cruelty.”

For Dallas, the best way to get the animal rights message across is to ask people if they really want to know. “If they say yes, then they will listen.” She favors a more relaxed approach to animal rights education, and feels it is extremely important to be approachable and available for people.