Tag Archives: advocacy

Learning lessons

Posted on September 19, 2020 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Recently, someone died; someone who was everything to me. ‘How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand… there is no going back? There … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, dairy, Eulogies, Health and plant based eating, Speciesism | Tagged advocacy, animal rights, breast milk, commodification, consumer demand, dairy, Grief, harm, health, heartbreak, human superiority, loss, misery, moral choices, motherhood, veganism | 23 Comments

Petitions and single issues – where’s the harm? – FAQ

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

I was recently asked the following very well articulated question by a friend who is a committed activist and vegan advocate; I understand why we don’t want to put effort into single-issue causes, especially those that are so blatantly speciesist … Continue reading →

Posted in FAQ, Single Issue Campaigns, Speciesism | Tagged advocacy, animal rights, antispeciesism, betrayal, campaigner, campaigns, counter productive, death penalty, euthanasia, execution, harm, Harm reduction, innocent, otherisation, petitions, promoting harm, regulation, regulatory reform, rights, Single Issue Campaigns, speciesism, speciesist, veganism, welfare, xenophobia, xenophobic | 9 Comments

Compassion, kindness and love; not what we need to ask for

Posted on November 25, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

The words ‘kindness’, ‘compassion’, and ‘love’ are not what we should be asking for when advocating for the rights of our victims. I can almost hear the gasps of indignation and keyboards warming up already, but please bear with me. … Continue reading →

Posted in Terminology | Tagged advocacy, animal rights, breast milk, bred for eggs, cheese, Chickens and eggs, commodification, compassion, compassionate, consumer demand, dairy, honest, kind, kindness, milk, other people, property, property status, recognition of their rights, resources, respect, responsibility, rights, sentience, sincere, slaughter, stop, subjective, truth, vegan, veganism, victims, violence | 9 Comments

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

Heading in the direction of being vegan / Stuck in a loop

Posted on August 13, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

‘…or if we can’t be vegan we can at least head in that direction.’ I’ve seen so many variations on that theme as a comeback to the call to be vegan that appears in almost every piece I write. Today … Continue reading →

Posted in Awakening to veganism | Tagged advocacy, awakening, cheese, Chickens and eggs, commodification, compassion, consumer demand, Cruelty, dairy, ethics, harm, health, justice, slaughter, vegetarianism, violence, welfare | 3 Comments

Chickens and eggs – what about the males?

Posted on June 1, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

I find my thoughts returning frequently to chickens; these wonderful, gentle, friendly little birds whose species bears the brunt (in terms of sheer numbers) of our own species’ arrogant delusions of entitlement and staggering ignorance about necessity. I’ve written many … Continue reading →

Posted in Chickens and eggs | Tagged advocacy, chickens, Chickens and eggs, commodification, consumer demand, culling, dairy, egg-laying hens, ethics, harm, health, humane, justice, macerating, moral choices, resources, respect, rights, sentience, slaughter, Statistics, truth, vegan, veganism, victims, violence, welfare, well-being | 19 Comments

Hens and puppy mills – an analogy

Posted on May 8, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Not a day goes by that I fail to see someone contradicting a post that explains – often at some length – that there is no such thing as a humane egg. As soon as there’s a post about eggs, … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Happy' exploitation, Chickens and eggs | Tagged abolition, advocacy, backyard, chickens, Chickens and eggs, commodification, commodities, consumer demand, dogs, egg-laying hens, ethics, harm, health, hens, humane, motherhood, puppy farms, puppy mills, reproduction, resources, rights, selective breeding, speciesism, truth, vegan, veganism, victims | 25 Comments

We’re so vain – thoughts on intelligence

Posted on April 17, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Another comment that often appears amongst the arsenal of tired old excuses that humans cling to in their attempts to justify the use of members of other species, centres around presumptions of superior intelligence when compared with every other species … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, FAQ, Speciesism | Tagged advocacy, awakening, Chickens and eggs, commodification, consumer demand, dairy, death, Earth day, harm, human superiority, intelligence, moral choices, resources, rights, sentience, speciesism, truth, vegan, veganism, victims, violence | 7 Comments

Cruelty to animals

Posted on February 7, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Originally posted on 22 November 2015, reviewed and links updated 2021 Cruelty to animals. If ever there was a phrase that seems so clear but says so little, then this is it. We all say we hate it, we all … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy, Cruelty | Tagged advocacy, Chickens and eggs, commodification, compassion, consumer demand, Cruelty, dairy, harm, human superiority, humane, kindness, milk, nonviolence, resources, rights, sentience, slaughter, speciesism, truth, vegan, victims, violence, welfare | 28 Comments

Claiming exceptions

Posted on January 29, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

‘That’s not true. That just happens on factory farms. It doesn’t happen on all farms‘. This depressingly common statement appeared recently on a friend’s page in response to a post. It’s been lingering on my mind ever since because variations … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, Advocacy, Exceptions | Tagged advocacy, chickens, Chickens and eggs, commodification, compassion, consumer demand, Cruelty, dairy, ethics, exceptional circumstances, harm, health, human superiority, humane, justice, milk, nonviolence, resources, respect, rights, sentience, slaughter, speciesism, truth, vegan, veganism, victims, violence | 20 Comments