Category Archives: Terminology

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

Looking at language: Pests

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

I recently posted about fireworks and the devastation they cause, illustrating the post with a tragic picture of countless dead birds on a city street following new year fireworks. It is well documented that fireworks terrify all the living individuals … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, Global disasters, Terminology | Tagged animal rights, badgers, balloons, bears, consumer demand, death, decency, fireworks, foxes, harm, insects, litter, littering, pest, pests, pigeons, poison, pollution, rabbits, rodents, slaughter, speciesism, strays, toxins, trap, vandalism, vermin, wedding doves | 3 Comments

Eggs – careless talk costs lives

Posted on November 23, 2020 by There's an Elephant in the Room

‘Time to quit eating eggs unless you’ve toured your local farm and actually see how the chickens live and lay eggs and are they ever abused in any way.’ This was a comment on a post that was shared on … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Chickens and eggs, Terminology | Tagged abuse, abused, backyard, egg laying, environment, factory farming, language, local, locally raised, selective breeding, Terminology, treatment, words | 1 Comment

‘To finish’; looking at language

Posted on April 10, 2020 by There's an Elephant in the Room

‘Finishing’ is yet another of the words with which the animal use industry glosses over the monstrous activities of our species. ‘Finishing’ is part of the practice of making victims out of gentle and defenceless individuals for nonvegan consumers to … Continue reading →

Posted in Terminology | Tagged consumer, consumer demand, euphemism, feel-good, finish, finished, finishing, glossy, sentient, slaughter, slaughterhouse, welfare, welfare standards | 3 Comments

About the words we use: ‘waste’

Posted on November 19, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

The concept of ownership of members of nonhuman species and every single one of the uses we make of them, stems from the ugly prejudice known as speciesism, a prejudice with which almost every one of us is indoctrinated from … Continue reading →

Posted in Speciesism, Terminology | Tagged breast milk, Chickens and eggs, consumer demand, corpse, dog, food, leather, nonvegan items, ownership, respect, respectful, speciesism, waste, wasteful, wool | 6 Comments

Say ‘cheese’ – but there’s nothing to smile about

Posted on October 21, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

I’ve just been watching a mainstream TV program in the UK about ‘meat free eating’. As a blogger and an animal rights advocate I’ve written extensively about the difference between veganism and the various dietary permutations that are adopted so … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer demand, dairy, Terminology | Tagged calf, cheese, kid, lamb, newborn, rennet, stomach, vegan cheese, vegetarian cheese | 4 Comments

Looking at language: Cull

Posted on September 13, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Cull. We see the word applied increasingly to the mass killing of numerous species; to deer and to foxes and to seals, to pigeons, crows and even swans. The word is in the news at the moment, being applied to … Continue reading →

Posted in Speciesism, Terminology | Tagged animal agriculture, badgers, cull, environmental destruction, habitat destruction, nonveganism, profit, slaughter | 6 Comments

Straight talking about ‘welfare regulations’

Posted on July 24, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

It’s common to read on social media that because the writer of a comment claims to support ‘better welfare regulations’, they assert that whether or not they are vegan, they are doing something to help our victims that those of … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer demand, Terminology, welfare | Tagged animal rights, autonomy, better, code of practice, consumer, consumer confidence, consumer demand, experience, experiences, feelings, gassing, guidelines, inanimate objects, maceration, regulation, regulations, regulatory reform, right, rights, thumping, veganism, welfare, welfare organisations, welfare standards, well-being, wellbeing | 27 Comments

Straight talking about ‘factory farming’

Posted on July 11, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

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, factory farming, 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 | 9 Comments

A brief thought about words: euthanasia

Posted on May 31, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

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