Sam I Am

[Sam Hillyer]

I do not eat green eggs and ham.

 

Or any eggs and ham for that matter. I've been a vegetarian for the majority of my teenage years and am now 20. I have just finished reading Animal Liberation by Peter Singer and have decided how can I get upset about the dolphins in Taiji, the black bears kept for their bile in Vietnam and China or even the minks farmed in Denmark and other nations for their fur if I continue to support the suffering of just as equal animals in my own country for their milk and eggs. I toyed with the idea of becoming vegan many a times, but my heart was never really in it and cheese was the one thing I could never avoid.

 

But I woke up, I was being speciest, choosing to ignore that mothers and babies are separated just so I could please my palette. I needn't say this because I am sure you will, but I hope you will all be supportive in helping me maintain a vegan diet and lifestyle.

 

A couple of other things you should know about me are I go to university, in the UK, Bournemouth to be exact and am studying a degree in Animal Welfare and Behaviour. I've come to understand that animal welfare isn't a term some animal rights folk are happy with because of the belief it's aiming and accepting below what should be aimed for, animal liberation. Although I agree, I believe it achieves more good than harm, and is a step at least. 
I've worked on a couple of farms, a dairy farm a few summers ago, and this year during the summer I was at a veal farm (and before people chuck me out, it wasn't the traditional European veal, but English rose veal, no crates, no milk only diet, and the calves live for quite a long time, they are the males the dairy farms don't want), as well as attending to agriculture colleges with farmed animals. I always enjoyed having the contact with the animals, it's my favourite thing in the world, and for a long time I have thought that I wanted to be a farmer. But now I don't know what I want to do, raising animals for their meat as if it were my right to do so just doesn't sit with me, I wouldn't do it with my dogs, they're my sisters and children, and that is how I view all animals now. This is something I may start another topic on, because people ask me what I want to do when I tell them what course I am on, and I never know what to tell them.

 

I've spoken to a couple of you already, and you've made me feel very welcome, you are lovely people I can tell, and already your posts have inspired and educated me.

 

Thank you,

from Sam :) x

[Lisa Qualls]

That sounds really great.  My personal issue is finding the time to work the garden.  Thank you for the advice!  :)

[Lisa Qualls]

Sam, are you familiar with this group?

www.animalequality.net

 

I don't know a lot about them, but they seem pretty cool to me.

[emma dilemma]

Im new here too sam so thought i`d say hi :)

I had similar experiences to you when i was a teenager. I was working abroad in an outdoor sports centre that also raised their own animals for meat etc and somehow i ended up in a sheep slaughterhouse one day....needless to say i never looked back.

I think the fact that you have experienced life on a farm and have still ended up on the path that you are on, gives you a really strong foundation for your new found veganism. The strongest arguments for a cause deffo come from the people who fully understand both sides of the debate.

I`m sure you`ll get loads of support here for your veganism and hopefully we can all learn off each other! :)

[Sam Hillyer]

I wasn't, but I believe they go by the name Igualdad Animal, who I have seen posted around on peoples blogs and videos. They seem like a great organisation, the only international one I have come across that takes animal exploitation and speciesm as it's main concern. WOuld you agree?

 

Thanks again Lisa, you are always great help :)

[Sam Hillyer]

Great to have you hear emma, I'll friend request you because I'm sure we can learn off each other on this journey.

 

Slaughterhouses are horrible, regardless of how humane they are. I don't think the people working in them, or the farmers are bad people, to them it's a job, and animals are something they have become desensitised to, along with killing. All, or at least most children love animals, and it is just that, we're desensitised by society to animals. They go from friends to things. Not many children have it explained to them that they are eating animals, it just happens, and then when the child does eventually find the curiosity to ask, the habit, and taste for animal product is usually engrained by then. 

 

What I'm trying to say is. I believe that children are the future, teach them well and let them lead the way.

 

Yes that's a song :)

[Lisa Qualls]

True.  In fact, in farming families there often comes a time when the adults force the children to kill their compassion.  They need the kids to continue the business.  It is child abuse.  One of the best stories of it is here http://www.johnrobbins.info/blog/the-pig-farmer/

I was brought up around killing and taught to objectify other animals.  My family lived on 97 acres on a mountain where wildlife were entertainment (bunnies and lizzards), enemies (snakes, groundhogs, and wild cats), and food (deer).  I was taught that if you find an animal who is in any sort of pain, even curable pain, you kill them to be merciful (I once, at least 30 years ago, found a groundhog in a trap that had been set by my brother and I was worried that the groundhog was suffering, so I beat her to death.  To be merciful!  It is now one of my worst memories that I live with).  I was taught that any animal who could be considered scary at all, should be killed instantly. 

It took a lot of education to get me to unlearn those attitudes.

[Sam Hillyer]

I will read a pig farmer in a minute. I will not judge people for being speciest before I talk to them because I was the same. We all were, it's not an idea that is proposed at any point in life. I would like to see the concept discussed in schools.

I'm interested to know what you would do if you found that groundhog now?

Thanks Lisa

[blackpanther]

yes, it's a spanish organisation, they free animals. I put a video here where they free many beagles from a lab.....

and there was a chat here with one of the members:

http://arzone.ning.com/profiles/blogs/transcript-of-jose-valles

[blackpanther]

lisa, it's a beautiful story! it shows people can change, I'm sure of that!

[Lisa Qualls]

Today, if my brother tried doing something like that I would throw a complete fit and if he still tried to plant the traps I would do anything necessary to stop it, but if I happpend upon anyone in a trap I would help them. 

Depending on their size and other factors, I would get someone to help me put a breathable bag or sheet over them to protect myself and calm them.  Then I would release the trap (keep it to destroy asap) and examine the wound if possible.  I would put the victim into a secure holding container and then contact the Wildlife Hotline (it is in my area) to get the name of a wildlife rehabilitator who can treat the victim.  I would stay in contact until the victim was healthy  again and then I would return the victim to his/her home area.

Last spring a neighbor came to get my help because she had found an injured goose who had fishing line wound around her leg and it was embedded in her leg.  I contacted the wildlife hotline and a goose rescuer came out and helped me catch the goose.  It was quite difficult because she was well enough to get around pretty well. It took a very long time to finally catch her. 

When I caught her we put her into a container with bedding and the rescuer took her to a rehabber.  I kept in contact with the rehabber and found out that the goose's leg was so deeply cut by the fishing line that she would never be able to return to the wild.  The rehabber provided a forever home for her and she had made friends with another goose there.

 

[emma dilemma]

h

[emma dilemma]

Argggg can anyone tell me how to reply with a quote to a specific part of the conversation without your reply going to the very bottom?