Tag Archives: sentience

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 the price of folly

Posted on September 12, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Planet Earth is experiencing an escalation of extreme weather events. This escalation will continue for as long as we fail so utterly to grasp that one of the main causes – if not the main cause – is our own … Continue reading →

Posted in Global disasters, Sentience | Tagged anger, animal agriculture, climate crisis, climate disaster, death, death row, disaster, disease, disgust, ecological disaster, fire, flood, Flooding, folly, images, sentience, slaughter | 2 Comments

Speciesism and the welfare of property

Posted on February 15, 2019 by There's an Elephant in the Room

Sometimes we are told that someone ‘loves’ ‘their’ animals, or that they ‘treat them well’, but the claim that is always shouted from the rooftops is the one about ‘high welfare standards’. These claims may come from people in a … Continue reading →

Posted in property status, welfare | Tagged autonomy, business asset, commerce, commercial assets, companions, consent, feelings, guidelines, individual, property, regulations, rescue, respect, sanctuary, sentience, sentient, speciesism, welfare, welfare standards, well-being, wellbeing | 16 Comments

‘What are cows for?’

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

A recent comment on a post read, ‘What do you think cows are for?’ The writer was raging against the facts relating to dairy use and consumption. It was clear that they saw nothing wrong with their question as a line of … Continue reading →

Posted in FAQ, Nonhuman family members | Tagged breast milk, cats, chickens, Chickens and eggs, childhood, companions, consumer demand, cows, dogs, milk, pigs, sentience, sentient, sheep, vegan, veganism, violence | 4 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 | 10 Comments

On living our values

Posted on October 2, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

It is not necessary for human animals to use other animals for any reason, and only those unaware of the science, or those who have a vested financial interest in keeping us from realising the truth, will tell us different. … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer demand, Sentience | Tagged abdicating responsibility, bred for eating, bred for eggs, bred for milk, conscience, harm, mutilating, protection, responsibility, sentience, slaughtering, Using, values, well-being | 1 Comment

Inspiring veganism

Posted on August 26, 2018 by There's an Elephant in the Room

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to yearn for the endless immensity of the sea. ~ Antoine De Saint-Exupery Today I read … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocacy | Tagged commitment, compromise, consumer demand, environment, farming, health, passion, plant-based, sentience, sentient, tick list, trade off, vegan, veganism | 3 Comments

Not ‘chicken’. Chickens. Individuals.

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

The word ‘chicken’ has come to represent a cooking ingredient. Despite – or perhaps because of – a world where information has never been easier to discover, those with vested interest in making money from using animals, and the powerful … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Happy' exploitation, Advocacy | Tagged advertising, chicken, chickens, commodities, consumer demand, freedom, harm, humane, infants, life, mortuary, resources, rights, sentience, slaughter, truth, veganism, victims, violence, welfare | 2 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

‘Surely taking milk and eggs doesn’t kill?’ – FAQ

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

There are many who persist in the notion that taking milk and eggs from other individuals does not result in their deaths. It’s an assertion that’s frequently seen on social media and it simply could not be more incorrect. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Chickens and eggs, dairy, FAQ | Tagged breast milk, chickens, Chickens and eggs, commodification, dairy, death, harm, lactation, milk, sentience, slaughter, truth, vegan, victims, violence | 12 Comments