I have been vegan for sixteen years and an animal lover my entire life. Growing up, we always had one dog and usually a handful of rabbits or guinea pigs. The day I (a sophomore in high school) buried my guinea pig Rusty in the backyard was one of the most heart-wrenching days in my life at the time.
I became vegan for animal reasons. As in I do not want to harm animals. The bigger picture is that I want to do as little harm to any living being as long as I am on this earth. From mice to whales to humans.
Now at 46 (well 46 1/2 as you know from a couple of blog posts ago!) I am even more stoked to be vegan for the health benefits. But back in the day, the only reason I became vegan was because I did not want to be part of the cruelty that inevitably happens for any animal to become my meal. This is still the driving force for my veganism.
I am still blown away when I catch news of the horrific things we as a human race do to animals, whether it is to celebrate a Saint, promote a religion, support a long term cultural deal, entertainment of any kind, or simply because we can.
A few minutes on my Facebook page or reading news blasts from around the country reminds me that not everyone believes about animals as I do.
Many times I just shake my head. How can anyone do anything like that to another living being. It's worse when one is clear that their action is creating great pain to that animal. Of course I realize that this is the reason for some people to cruelly torture an animal. Others simply pay another human being to inflict the cruelty and they don't partake until the former living being is presented all pretty at a restaurant or all wrapped in shiny plastic at the grocery store.
If there was a poll done I would bet that over 90% of people in the US believe that cruelty to animals is wrong.
Yet the cruelty continues. In all parts of our country, in communities big and small, gay and straight, rich and poor. The only thing that will stop the cruelty is us.
Going vegan is the best way. Knowing that we are all on our own path there are other ways to start. Vegetarianism, speaking out against cruelty in entertainment, promoting spay and neuter in your community, and the list could go on and on.
Yet for me, being vegan is the key to a life that simply does not accept the incredibly horrible way our society treats animals.
Thank you so much for reading!
I agree 100000%! Well said!
ReplyDeletewell said!
ReplyDeleteSimilar with you, the thing that finally pushed me over the fence to become vegan was basically factory farming and the horrific cruelty inflicted on animals by that industry. There are many, many excellent reasons to become vegan such as for personal health and minimize human impacts on the environment, but, for me, I just cannot support in any way the current practice of factory farming. Since becoming vegan (three years ago now), I physically feel terrific and am now at a perfect, lean weight for me. Vegan is definitely the way to go. Thanks for the blog post Gay Vegans!
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