Author Archives: There's an Elephant in the Room

“For a mouthful of meat …”. A veterinarian student in a slaughterhouse. A report by Dr Christiane M. Haupt

Posted on March 30, 2024 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Introduction I have been vegan for 12 years. It’s been 12 years of discovery and despair, of grief and frustration. The one thing that hardens with every day that passes, however, is my resolve to advocate for the rights of … Continue reading →

Posted in Awakening to veganism, slaughter, Transcript | Tagged animal rights, Christiane M Haupt, consumer demand, ethics, rights, slaughter, slaughterhouse, vegan, veterinarian, violence | 7 Comments

We wish you a merry….cheeseboard?

Posted on December 9, 2023 by There's an Elephant in the Room

In recent times, I have written fewer blogs while concentrating on the Facebook page. There are however, some particularly long posts that lend themselves to to WordPress and this is one of these. I’ve recently been focusing on dairy, particularly … Continue reading →

Posted in dairy, Festivals | 1 Comment

Victims in the shadows: donkey fur and skin

Posted on November 18, 2023 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Honesty forces me to admit that whilst I appreciate that in many countries the use of donkeys and other equines for haulage and heavy lifting currently has no obvious alternative that I can suggest, as an animal rights advocate I … Continue reading →

Posted in donkeys, Leather and skin, Victims in the shadows | 1 Comment

The minefield of careless words

Posted on August 25, 2023 by There's an Elephant in the Room

There are things that we all need to know and remember when we set out to effectively advocate for the rights of our species’ victims. The majority of humans have been indoctrinated into nonveganism from an early age. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Terminology, words | Tagged animal rights, avoidable, battery, caged, compassion, consumer demand, cruel, Cruelty, get-out, harm, high welfare, honest, honesty, humane, injustice, justice, kindness, necessary suffering, reducing harm, respect, rights, slaughter, subjective words, suffering, unavoidable, unjust, welfare, words, words as wedges | 4 Comments

Seeing through the hype

Posted on July 19, 2023 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Today I’ve been thinking of the way those who seek to justify continued exploitation of other individuals – including industry supporters who promote themselves as ‘representing victim interests’ – habitually grasp at any available straws, and the way in which, … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, dairy, Uncategorized | Tagged advocacy, animal rights, breast milk, calves, cheese, consumer demand, dairy, father, infant, milk, mother, newborns, sexed semen, slaughter, speciesism, transport, victims, violence | 4 Comments

Veganuary – is it a game changer?

Posted on January 6, 2023 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Note: For the purpose of this blog, the term plant-based is used to describe items composed entirely of plants. This is to differentiate from those unscrupulous suppliers that disingenuously use the term to describe products which contain animal derivatives but … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy | Tagged big brand, campaign, consumer demand, diet, ethics, fad, festival, food festival, health, human, lifestyle, plant based diet, plant-based, plant-based eating, profit, respect, rights, supermarket, veganism, Veganuary, victims | 8 Comments

Human insect use and consumption – a compilation

Posted on September 27, 2022 by There's an Elephant in the Room

I was shocked to read recently that around 1 TRILLION (1 trillion = 1,000,000,000,000) individual insects are currently raised for consumption and killed on farms every year. It’s a staggering number, all the more so for the fact that it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in insects, Uncategorized, Victims in the shadows | Tagged African palm weevil (Rhynchoporus phoenicis), cricket (Acheta domesticus), domesticated silkworm (Bombyx mori), environment, honeybee (Apis mellifera), insects, invertebrate, mopane caterpillar (Imbrasia belina), sentience, sentient, yellow meal worm (Tenebrio molitor) | 3 Comments

Thoughts on avoidable harm and being veganish

Posted on September 13, 2022 by There's an Elephant in the Room

I can’t count how often I’ve seen declarations from people who claim to be vegan despite indulging in some form of avoidable use of members of other animal species. However before I go any further I must stress the word … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Celebrity culture | Tagged avoidable, celebrities, celebrity, Cruelty, dog, ethics, fur, harm, non-vegan, nonveganism, veganish | 6 Comments

Professor Tom Regan: A Case for Animal Rights Speech

Posted on December 12, 2021 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Here, with what is still seen as one of the greatest animal rights speeches of all time, is Professor Tom Regan (1938 – 2017) who opened the debate “Does the Animal Kingdom Need a Bill of Rights” at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Transcript | Tagged bill of rights, case for animal rights, does the animal kingdom need a bill of rights, justice, peace, Professor Tom Regan, respect, scientific, Tom Regan, utilitarian, utilitarianism, video | 2 Comments

Let’s talk about mutilation

Posted on November 19, 2021 by There's an Elephant in the Room

A recent post on Facebook was illustrated by the image below which is the work of the highly acclaimed animal rights artist and advocate, Jo Frederiks. The text read; ‘The distinctions we make between the species that we love as … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Imagery, Mutilation, Nonhuman family members, Terminology | Tagged animal testing, artificial insemination, beak trimming, branding, castration, de-beaking, de-horning, de-snooding, de-spurring, de-toeing, disbudding, dubbing, ear notching, ear tagging, it doesn't hurt, it's for their own good, mulesing, nose ringing, pinioning, tail docking, teat removal, tongue reshaping, tooth clipping, udder flaming, vivisection | 4 Comments