Author Archives: There's an Elephant in the Room

‘It’s time to re-evaluate our relationship with animals’ by Lesli Bisgould

Posted on July 16, 2019

This is the first time I’ve shared a transcript as a blog, but this very special talk deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible. In this lecture, Ms Bisgould explains in compelling and rivetting detail, why legislation does … Continue reading →

Posted in property status, welfare | Tagged animal rights, Cruelty, fundamental interests, kinship, laws, legal, legal person, legally justifiable, legislation, Lesli Bisgould, morally justifiable, necessary, necessary suffering, person, property, property status, regulations, respect, suffering, unnecessary suffering | 2 Comments

Straight talking about ‘factory farming’

Posted on July 11, 2019

There seems to be some sort of blind spot in our collective consciousness about the term ‘factory farming’ and all the various types of *CAFO in which our numerous species of victims are incarcerated. For a start, the creating of … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, FAQ, Global disasters, Terminology | Tagged animal agriculture, animal rights, CAFO, ecological disaster, environmental destruction, ethical, factory, factory farming, family farm, farming, feed conversion ratio, health, humane, locally raised, organic farm, planetary collapse, planetary destruction, welfare | 3 Comments

What are eggs for?

Posted on June 28, 2019

Most of us are raised to eat eggs. I was. Probably you were too. We are taught that laying eggs is just what hens and quail, ducks, geese and several other species do. And to a certain extent, that’s true. … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, eggs | Tagged birds, blackbirds, blue tit, cage, chaffinch, crow, ducks, egg-laying hens, eggs, geese, genetic modification, hawks, hen, hens, jay, prison, profit, quail, rescue, robins, selective breeding, self destructive, shed, sparrows, spent, woodpeckers, wrens | 5 Comments

Talking about weather, fruit and vegetables

Posted on June 18, 2019

Reading the daily litany of the disasters that we humans are wreaking on our dying planet through our irresponsible actions, my attention was snagged by news of the storm-wrought crop failure and the resulting declaration of a ‘natural emergency’ in … Continue reading →

Posted in Global disasters, Uncategorized | Tagged animal agriculture, animal rights, berries, climate, climate change, climate emergency, France, fruit, natural disaster, planetary destruction, potatoes, tatties, vegan, veganism, vegetables | 2 Comments

Life is cheap when it’s not respected

Posted on June 10, 2019

Every day we see media reports of human actions that seriously beggar belief. Last week I read about extreme violence being inflicted on motherless calves in a victim ‘farming’ establishment of the breast milk trade (aka ‘dairy‘); I read about … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Cruelty | Tagged breast milk, calves, Cruelty, dairy, defenceless, eggs, entertainment, escape, feathers, helpless, helplessness, innocent, justice, meat, non-vegan, raccoon, right, shark, sports, three chickens, two piglets, unthreatening, vegan, veganism, wrong, zoos | 3 Comments

A brief thought about words: euthanasia

Posted on May 31, 2019

A recent comment sought to amend my terminology when I described the killing of Emma the shih tzu as ‘slaughter’. The terms ‘put to sleep’ and euthanasia’ were not only preferred, but my use of the word ‘slaughter’ was condemned. … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Terminology | Tagged burial, death, Emma, euphemism, euthanasia, execution, killing, kindness, language, put to sleep, shih tzu, slaughter, speciesism, Terminology, veganism, words | Leave a comment

Being property – what it means

Posted on May 26, 2019

There’s a story that’s causing outrage in the media at the moment, about a healthy dog named Emma who was slaughtered and cremated so that her ashes could be buried along with her deceased owner. The comments were predictably scathing, … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonhuman family members, property status | Tagged animal rights, betrayal, burial, consumers, Cruelty, dog, Emma, funeral, healthy, indoctrination, law, laws, legal, legislation, Nonhuman family members, outrage, pets, possession, possessions, property, property status, shih tzu, slaughter, speciesism, vegan, veganism, welfare | 1 Comment

Veganism; do motives matter?

Posted on May 18, 2019

Recently I saw a comment that ‘most people define veganism as the same as a plant based diet‘, before they went on to say, ‘Why does it matter? If people go vegan for health or environment it’s still good for … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Global disasters, Health and plant based eating | Tagged anti-vegan, climate change, climate emergency, definition, diet, environment, ex-vegans, health, injustice, motivation, motive, opression, plant based diet, vegan, vegan for health, vegan for the environment, veganism | 16 Comments

Wool; it’s been pulled over our eyes for too long

Posted on April 27, 2019

‘ Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full! One for the master, And one for the dame, One for the little boy Who lives down the lane. Able to recite this before … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, FAQ, wool | Tagged alpaca, angora, cashmere, castration, crotching, crutching, docking, domestication, ear notching, ear tagging, exploitation, goats, history of domestication, industry, llama, mouflon, mulesing, myths, natural, profit, rabbits, selective breeding, shearing, sheep, sixth extinction, victims, waste, wool | 3 Comments

Ending life as we know it – humanity on the edge of the abyss

Posted on March 30, 2019

Every day I see posts using fanciful estimates about the number of individuals our species slaughters each year. There are even suggestions (often circulated by those seeking to claim credit – and frequently, donations) that slaughter numbers are falling. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Global disasters, Statistics | Tagged 6th extinction, abyss, bees, climate, climate change, commodification, consumer demand, existence, global warming, habitat destruction, male chicks, marine destruction, planetary collapse, planetary destruction, silk worms, sixth extinction, slaughter, slaughterhouse, species extinction, Statistics, vegan, veganism, victims | 14 Comments