Category Archives: Festivals

Fireworks; harmless fun or wanton destruction?

Posted on October 18, 2021 by There's an Elephant in the Room

As someone who used to love the spectacle and the theatre of firework displays, the whizzing, whooping, whistling, screams, pops, and thunderous bangs, the sparkling, light-blazing skies and the gunpowder smoke hanging heavy in the crisp frosty air, the past … Continue reading →

Posted in Festivals, Fireworks and 'celebrations' | 3 Comments

December Days

Posted on December 10, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

The festive consumer extravaganza is in full swing here in Scotland. Wandering aimlessly in a supermarket, I see a myriad seasonal items depicting animals; curly-coated lambs, fluffy bunnies, pink piglets, yellow chicks and doe-eyed, long-legged deer delightfully adorning pyjamas, duvet … Continue reading →

Posted in Festivals, Uncategorized | Tagged bells, breast feeding, breast milk, cashmere, Christmas, consumer, consumer demand, festive, glisten, glitter, jingle bells, leather, milk, sheepskin, tinsel, wool | 7 Comments

New Year 2019, and I’m hoping for a miracle

Posted on December 30, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

I usually do a blog at this time of year – it’s an apt time to reflect on the changes that have taken place and a chance to evaluate the slow but steady progress that we’re making towards a vegan … Continue reading →

Posted in Festivals, Global disasters | Tagged 6th extinction, abyss, agriculture, animal rights, animal use, business continuity, catastrophe, climate, climate change, consumer demand, crisis, disaster planning, extinction, extreme weather, farming, global warming, gore, human superiority, human supremacy, miracle, New Year, peril, plant-based, plant-based eating, regulations, slaughter, supply and demand, vegan, veganism, weather | 3 Comments

Halloween – a spooky tale

Posted on October 28, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Here comes Halloween again, with putrefying corpses, clanking chains and the tormented screams of the damned. Adults and children alike, scream and giggle with spooky delight, their nervous shivers of horror heightened by icy frissons of fear and chilly unease … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Festivals | Tagged blood, bloodbath, body parts, breast milk, chains, Chickens and eggs, chill, damned, death, despair, every day, excitement, fear, flesh, gore, Halloween, Hell, Horror, injustice, meat, mortuary aisle, non-vegan, putrefaction, screams, slaughter, slaughterhouse, spooky, supermarket, terror, thrill, torment, vegan | 1 Comment

Nothing less than veganism

Posted on August 16, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Last night was a landmark for There’s an Elephant in the Room on Facebook. Becoming vegan August 2012, when I first became vegan, began a time of discovery; a new age in an unfamiliar landscape. Most new vegans will have … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Awakening to veganism, Festivals | Tagged advocacy, awakening, ethics, harm, justice, nonviolence, petitions, rights, speciesism, truth, vegan, veganism, victims, violence | 9 Comments

Thoughts for another Mother’s Day

Posted on March 5, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Every specially designated ‘day’ presents a shameless commercial opportunity to flood the market with consumer goods and Mother’s Day is no different. Shops and online commercial enterprises are filled with items targeted at those who gladly embrace this annual occasion … Continue reading →

Posted in Chickens and eggs, consumer demand, dairy, Festivals | Tagged chickens, Chickens and eggs, commodification, consumer demand, dairy, emotion, harm, health, human superiority, love, milk, moral choices, mother, motherhood, mothering, resources, respect, rights, sentience, slaughter, vegan, veganism, victims | 4 Comments

Wishes as another year ends

Posted on December 29, 2017 by There's an Elephant in the Room

It wasn’t always so, but the longer I advocate for the rights of the innocent victims of our species, the more difficult I find the festive season. In my usual way, I’ve tried to work out why this should be, … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Festivals | Tagged advocacy, cheese, chickens, Chickens and eggs, commodification, consumer demand, dairy, harm, human superiority, justice, milk, nonviolence, resources, slaughter, Torture, truth, vegan, veganism, victims, violence | 7 Comments

Festive thoughts, six years on

Posted on December 19, 2017 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Only a few more days to go and festive shops are reaching fever pitch. Freezers in the mortuary aisles are piled high, while stacks of roasting trays and tins are on special offer in prominent displays. Smiling, laughing gatherings in … Continue reading →

Posted in Festivals | Tagged commodification, consumer demand, festive, harm, holy, love, peace, resources, sentience, silent, slaughter, veganism, violence | 6 Comments

The importance of words: talking turkey

Posted on November 29, 2017 by There's an Elephant in the Room

The bizarre idea of ‘pardoning’ turkeys at the festival known as Thanksgiving has popped into my head several times in recent days. Even disregarding the cultural gap arising from my Scottish heritage, it’s such a strange concept, to cause a sentient … Continue reading →

Posted in Festivals | Tagged conscience, Cruelty, decency, ego, harm, honest, honesty, human superiority, humble, humility, justice, pardon, pardoning, respect, right, sincere, sincerity, slaughterhouse, thanksgiving, truth, turkey, turkeys, vegan, veganism, victims, violence, violent, wrong | 1 Comment

For Earth Day: thoughts about speciesism, biophilia and veganism

Posted on April 22, 2017 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Recently, I was introduced to a new word. Finding this one gave a name to a notion that has become more acute in my recent years as an advocate, prompting thoughts that I’d like to share in recognition of Earth … Continue reading →

Posted in Festivals, Global disasters, Speciesism | Tagged advocacy, awakening, biophilia, catastrophe, climate, climate change, commodification, destruction, disaster, Earth day, ecosystem, entitlement, environment, ethics, extinction, harm, health, human superiority, justice, love, moral choices, planetary collapse, pollution, resources, respect, sentience, slaughter, speciesism, truth, tyranny, vegan, veganism, victims | 5 Comments