Your Easter ham

I seldom click on videos showing animal cruelty. It's actually been a long time since I have watched one of those undercover videos showing animals being treated in ways that I honestly cannot believe anyone would support.

That changed today. I don't know why, but I clicked on a video from Mercy For Animals showing men torturing, beating and killing pigs. The men work for a pig factory that supplies Walmart.

On our blog and on all of our social media we do not post videos of animal cruelty. We do offer links to animal rights groups we support that have those videos on their sites.

I believe this type of cruelty happens everywhere animals are produced for food. It happens because there is little regard for the life of these animals and also, in a very simple way, because they can. They have the power to do terrible things to these animals and they do it.

I unequivocally support any group that does these undercover investigations. People need to see what happens to animals in order for them to become their dinner.

Or their Easter ham.

I cannot stop thinking about the video I watched earlier. These workers were hell bent on inflicting fear, terror and pain on these pigs. Nothing was going to stop them.

The only thing that can stop them is the consumer.

If you eat meat, in this case pork, you have the power to stop the cruelty. The video I watched is only the tip of the iceberg of what happens to pigs on a daily basis throughout the country.

Although I haven't looked into the purpose of the video, I am pretty sure it was part of Mercy For Animals campaign to get Walmart to stop using certain suppliers, including the one in the video.

We have the power to stop it. We can be a voice for these voiceless creatures who are treated in such a pathetically terrible way.

If you would like to see the video you can go to the Mercy For Animals website here: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/

The only way to not support animal cruelty like that shown in the video I saw is to go vegan. Don't support the inherent cruelty that is part of taking animals that are living and breathing and feeling to create your steak, pork chop or lamb chop.

Thanks for reading.

An 18-year vegan

At 47, it's difficult to believe that it's been 18 years since that amazing day when I was 29 and decided to no longer participate in all of the cruelty that was happening in order for me to eat meat. I became a vegan.

I have never really looked backed.

No, it hasn't been difficult.

Difficult is being tortured, living in fear, being constantly abused and beaten and then eventually slaughtered just so someone can eat.

In the last 18 years veganism hasn't changed at all. It still is the simple notion that I can be healthy and live an amazing life without having to consume meat or animal by-products. If you are just learning about veganism, it means no meat and also no dairy, eggs, honey, etc. For me it also means that I do not wear animals, products like leather or even silk.

It is super easy.

My annual physical with my doc has  become a testament to what veganism, and paying attention to putting good things into my body, means to my health. Uber-low bad cholesterol. Great numbers when looking at protein, B12 and other things that tend to be a concern for people who are not vegan. My doc even tells me now that there is a huge difference between blood tests of someone who eats meat and someone who doesn't. As in those who do not eat meat get better results.

Kale? Yep. I love it. I also love dates, blueberries, Swiss chard, collard greens and dark cherries.

Miss cheese? No way. To me dairy cheese means cruelty. It means veal calves and inhumane actions that I just can't support.

Last year I did my first half-marathon. I'm not saying that if I ate meat I couldn't do it, I'm simply saying that as a 47 year old vegan I did it.

Vegan athletes are everywhere. The strongest dude in the world is vegan.

And so are elephants. Yep. And rhinos.

Thinking about veganism? Go for it. There are a ton of helpful links right here on our blog page to help you out. And we would help you too.

Thanks for reading!

Action of the week: Write a letter

More specifically, write a letter to the editor at your local newspaper.

Almost every day you can find a story that is about something you care about. More importantly, it is about something or someone that could use your voice: an abused woman, a polluted river, a tortured dog or cat, a homeless person or a shot bull elk.

The shot bull elk example comes from a recent tragedy in which a Boulder police officer shot and killed a bull elk in a city neighborhood to the outrage of the community. Petitions have gone up, letters written and many are calling for the firing of the officer.

A letter to the editor is a fantastic way to support something or someone that you believe in. If there is an article in the newspaper about an animal that was tortured and you are outraged, write about it. Be a voice for the animal.

It seems that many people read the letters to the editor. It's a great forum to bring up issues that might be new to some readers and for people who are open to different thoughts and ideas.

And it's easy. Most newspapers are also online, and some have letter options online. One simply fills out the online form and adds the letter into the form. Other newspapers have it so you can just email a Microsoft word document to them.

I have had several letters to the editor published, from letters about gay marriage or anti-gay bigotry to letters about animals in labs or being vegan.

You never know if your letter might create a dialogue, and have someone think about something they have never thought of before.

Try it. And let me know what happens!

Thanks for reading!