I’ve always considered myself to be an animal lover.
As a child I cared for two chinchillas, Tina and Tessa, whom I’d let roam around my room all day to the point where they’d literally eat half-way through my books and homework.
I adored my grandparents’ dog, Aga, and spent my entire childhood hand-writing over 200 mini ‘newspapers’ about our adventures hanging out together.
At the same time, three times a day I sat down to what I saw as a meal – eating a chicken, a cow or a pig, animals so much like the ones I’d been playing with. I was a hypocrite.
Most people already hold vegan values in their hearts; no one wants to make animals suffer. At its core, this is precisely what veganism is about.
Sadly, we’ve grown up in a world that conditions us to eat some animals (pigs, cows, chickens) and love others (cats, dogs, horses), and few of us question this.
My books and cartoons were full of cute, happy animals but my plate was full of the very same animals I admired.
Almost all vegans grew up this way too, but somewhere along the line stumbled upon some life-changing information.
It wasn’t until my 16th birthday when I made the connection and went vegetarian, two years later making a switch to veganism after watching a speech which is aptly titled ‘the best speech you will ever hear’.
I felt different right away. Lighter, with a sense of relief, as if the person I’ve always been deep inside finally came out. I wanted to tell everyone about my new-found passion.
I expected them to be shocked and touched like I was when I discovered the truth about how animals are used in nearly all areas of life.
I thought they’d agree that taking calves away from their mothers so we can drink the milk that’s meant for them is wrong. Or that gassing one-day old male chicks to death because they don’t lie eggs is cruel.
Nope.
Instead of opening their hearts to hearing the truth, people would quickly become defensive and angry, labelling me as preachy.
Desperate to get them to see the world through my eyes, I pressed harder. It had the opposite effect.
I couldn’t understand why, when we can live happy, healthy lives without contributing to the suffering of others, people wouldn’t choose so.
It wasn’t until later when I did some soul-searching that I managed to turn this anger at a world that doesn’t care into a passionate fight for animal rights.
I didn’t want to be a person who was content with how things are. Not being part of violence wasn’t enough for me; actively preventing it sounded more like it.
To be frank, there aren’t many things in life that truly move me but animal suffering has always been one of them.
It hurts me deeply when people argue against veganism – they’re literally arguing for animal abuse.
But veganism is of course about animals, not vegans; our decision comes not from a desire to be difficult, or a need to be noticed, but from a deep-seated belief that our lifestyle is the only way forward for future generations.
Becoming vegan was incredibly empowering for me. I began to live in alignment with my values of compassion in a world that makes it so much easier to follow others.
It shaped my identity and pushed me out of my comfort zone – who would’ve known I’d voluntarily give school talks or media interviews?
I know people can be prejudiced against vegans and have their reservations about us. Some of these are reasonable, others aren’t.
But hey – next time you get annoyed with a vegan, please remember that we chose this lifestyle for very important reasons, be they ethical, environmental or health.
So please understand that we’re just trying to do some good in a society where otherwise kind and caring people continue to participate in needless violence against animals.
It may be difficult to see the neatly packaged piece of meat as the sentient living being it once was but there’s a much deeper story behind it that vegans have discovered.
Once you open your heart to animal suffering, it’s hard to watch everyone else biting into their hamburgers and drinking dairy lattes without feeling you should say something.