Russell Simmons has signed it. So has Will Tuttle, author of the most important book I've ever read: The World Peace Diet. So have Jivamukti Yoga founders David Life and Sharon Gannon.

The Declaration of Compassion is traveling around the country as one vegetarian celebrity after another learns of it from a friend and wants to add her name.

It's en route now to Brooke Shields, then it will fly east for signatures from Moby, SNL's Kristen Wiig, and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Zana Briski (Born into Brothels). And the list keeps growing.

Below is both the text and a link to add your signature.

In form and tone, the Declaration of Compassion is modeled closely after the Declaration of Independence signed in 1776. Only our Declaration is not about England. It's about agribusiness.

100,000 signatures by July 4. That's our goal. Help us send a message to the corporations who perpetrate these abuses. Make a difference with your wallet... and your fork!

Please join Catskill Animal Sanctuary at our 7th Annual Sanctuary Shindig on June 28 (Rain Date June 29) from noon to 6. 175 critters to kiss. Great food, great music, animal talks, health talks, silent auction and the long-awaited "Upscale Tent Sale." Then, at 3 pm, the unveiling of the Declaration of Compassion and a very special Signing Ceremony. Spread the word. Come to Saugerties, June 28, to add your "John Hancock" -- and declare your independence from agribusiness.

AT CATSKILL ANIMAL SANCTUARY, JUNE 28, 2008

The Declaration of Compassion for the planet and its inhabitants

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for living beings to reconnect the bands which have separated them from one another and to assume the equal station to which the Laws of Nature entitle them, a humble respect of all beings requires that they should state what impels them to action.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all creatures are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That whenever any form of human activity becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new practices that shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. When a long train of abuses consistently and systemically harms them and all who share their planet, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such activities, and to provide new protections for their future security. In these United States, the history of Agribusiness is a history of repeated injuries and abuses, all intended to maximize profit to the detriment of animals, human beings and the planet that sustains us. To prove this, let the Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Factory farming has blocked Laws for the accommodation and humane protection of any species of animal it sees as economically useful, resulting in unnecessary terror and prolonged suffering.

It has resisted even such minimal improvements in animal husbandry as are common throughout the developed world.

Its inhumane standards and practices would be illegal if imposed on companion animals.

Agribusiness has consistently lobbied our Government against laws of immediate and pressing importance to protect our planet and our health.

It has unleashed health problems upon a trusting public by sacrificing safety and public interest in favor of economic gain.

It has contaminated our land, water and air with greenhouse gases, pesticides, waste and other substances that poison our environment.

It has wasted precious resources for the production of meat that could have fed many times more people than are fed by animal flesh.

It has conspired as a collective industry to knowingly deceive us with inaccurate claims, denying the truthful facts.

It has spewed waste into our air, water, and land, with devastating consequences to our planet.

It has prioritized profit above the health and general well-being of all creatures.

An industry whose character is thus marked by every act which may define an oppressor is unfit to be the economic beneficiary of a free people. We, therefore, the representatives of Catskill Animal Sanctuary and other like-minded organizations, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of the planet Earth, solemnly publish and declare, that we ought to be Free and Independent of meat-based diets and the ensuing damaging effects wrought upon humans, animals and our shared planet. And for the support of this Declaration, we mutually pledge to all fellow creatures our resolve, our fortitude, and our sacred commitment.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/DeclarationOfCompassion