Tag Archives: Cruelty

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

On taking things at face value – when ‘cute’ is a lie

Posted on December 16, 2020 by There's an Elephant in the Room

I’ve written short posts in the past about my extreme discomfort at seeing animal videos on social media being presented as ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’ or ‘funny’ and ‘hilarious’. They are clearly very popular, very widely shared, and the comments range … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, Advocacy, Imagery | Tagged adorable, advertising, baby goats, baby monkey, circus, Cruelty, cute, cute monkey, cynical, exploitation, fainting goats, funny, mother, performance, performer, speciesism, staged, video, videos, viral, viral video, where is the mother | 5 Comments

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

Posted on July 16, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

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, Transcript, 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 | 13 Comments

Life is cheap when it’s not respected

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

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, Chickens and eggs, Cruelty, dairy, defenceless, entertainment, escape, feathers, helpless, helplessness, innocent, justice, meat, non-vegan, raccoon, right, shark, sports, three chickens, two piglets, unthreatening, vegan, veganism, wrong, zoos | 4 Comments

Being property – what it means

Posted on May 26, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

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 | 2 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

Thinking about things other people do

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

When confronted with information about what is done to members of other species at the hands of our own species, have you ever caught yourself saying, ‘at least things like that don’t happen here’? I know that in the past … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, consumer demand, welfare | Tagged breast milk, Chickens and eggs, consumer demand, Cruelty, dairy, milk, myths, not here, other people, others, sentience, slaughter, speciesism, truth, vegan, veganism, victims, violence, welfare | 14 Comments

The way it’s always been and if we stop they’ll become extinct

Posted on April 9, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

‘ Humans have been using other animals since the beginning of time.’ ‘It’s always been this way.’ ‘If we stop farming them they’ll become extinct.’ The idea that ‘nothing can change from the way it’s always been done’, is commonly … Continue reading →

Posted in Addressing resistance to change, FAQ | Tagged backyard, battery, chickens, Chickens and eggs, consumer demand, Cruelty, domestication, environment, extinct, extinction, factory, free range, genetic modification, harm, hens, humane, justice, sanctuary, selective breeding, slaughter, Torture, vegan, veganism, victims, violence | 9 Comments

Living in a land of make-believe

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

Today I find myself reminiscing, mentally retracing paths of the clouded past, trying to find the point at which I lost the warm feeling of kinship with all other species of animal that so many of us experience in childhood. … Continue reading →

Posted in Awakening to veganism, Nonhuman family members | Tagged awakening, bloodbath, breast milk, brutality, cats, chickens, Chickens and eggs, childhood, children, commodification, companions, consumer demand, Cruelty, dairy, dogs, fantasy, harm, health, humane, imagination, love, make-believe, milk, oppression, resources, respect, sentience, slaughter, speciesism, truth, victims, violence, welfare | 12 Comments

Memories of leather and fur

Posted on March 22, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

A persistent memory has plagued me all my life. I must have been quite young (possibly in the 1960s) because what I saw then would never be seen nowadays. I had spotted a truck in traffic. It drew my attention … Continue reading →

Posted in Harm reduction, Leather and skin | Tagged awakening, Chickens and eggs, Cruelty, dairy, fur, harm, leather, milk, Single Issue Campaigns, slink, speciesism, Torture, veganism, victims | 24 Comments