#animallovers

I’m a firm believer in harm reduction.

The decreased sales of animal based products is ultimately what I aim for because I know a full-on boycott is very difficult. So when someone tells me that they would go vegan if it weren’t for bacon, I respond with the usual, “go vegan except for bacon.”

As much as I agree that a thousand imperfect vegans are better than 1 perfect vegan, there is that one part that leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth.

Obviously the hypothetical person is aware of the exploitation and abuse that has to happen to maintain the current population’s lust for animal products (hence why they say “I would go vegan, BUT…”) so I don’t understand why you would still happily consume those products knowing what has to be done to make them.

Is that single bite worth the lifetime of pain that came before it? That second of “bliss” when your teeth sink into the flesh of a being, do you not think of the cruelty that had occurred to create this product?

It is not a cut of meat but a sentient being that had their own distinct personality and feelings. This being had also dreamed when they slept much like you and I.

“And what about dairy? I can’t imagine cutting out cheese!”

A slice of cheese comes from the forced impregnating of a cow by a human artificially inducing her heat to “ready her for breeding”, inserting their hand into her anus, grabbing ahold of her cervix and pumping her with an other bull’s semen that they harvested by prostate milking. Two acts of rape against two animals for one outcome.

That cow then carries to term. Once her calf is born, it’s only a short amount of time before they are stripped away and taken to either be raised as an other dairy cow (if female), having to live a life of being bred and milked, or if male, having to be slaughtered for veal.

The cow has a maternal bond with her calf that begins at birth. Of course, there isn’t an enough time to nurture that bond as the baby is taken away 24 hours later.

So, no, dairy is not a fun indulgence. It is a devastating cycle.

I am vegan because I know that suffering is not worth indulgence. I will pick the bland vegan option at a restaurant because the other option is a result of cruelty and unnecessary death.

So, yes, I will continue to say “go vegan except for bacon,” “go vegan except for cheese.” But at the end of the day, I will still never understand how convenience and indulgence would ever come before a life.