To understand why I am an animal rights activist it is important to firstly understand why I am a vegan. (I’ll try to keep this part brief- I promise). In a nutshell, I see myself as an equalitist: meaning I see all beings as equal regardless of their ethnicity, sexuality, gender or species. I believe that all living beings deserve to be free from harm and that no life is worth more than another. As an equalitist I am able to recognise all forms of oppression regardless of whether they are inflicted on humans or animals. Despite the arguments people have tried to make against it, animal cruelty is a form of oppression- abusing, using and killing another being based on the fact they are less able than you is oppression. Using your power and privilege to inflict harm over another in order to gain a benefit to yourself is oppression. (This does not mean to say that I am claiming human and animal oppression is the same; nor is the experience or the struggle of victims from different social groups the same, but I am saying that oppression should be recognised as oppression and that it should never be tolerated.)
In the same way that Feminists stand up against patriarchy, LGBT+ movements stand up against homophobia, and Civil Rights Activists stand up against racism, Animal Rights Activists aim to stand up against speciesism. The hardest part about raising awareness for animal rights issues however, is that unlike humans, animals are unable to speak up for themselves. These victims are entirely helpless and the only hope that they have of survival or liberation is from animal rights activists.
Speciesism isn’t only relevant in explaining the difference between humans and animals, but in explaining why it is that we treat certain animals differently from others too. Why society has convinced us to love some animals (cats and dogs) and yet to use and abuse others (cows, pigs, chickens). Let’s say a slaughterhouse opened up down your road tomorrow and it was only producing dog meat, how would you feel? How many people do you think would be stood outside in outrage, campaigning to have the place shut down for animal abuse?
Why then do people not feel anger for chickens, cows and pigs that are inflicted to this pain and torture every single day? After all, pigs are more intelligent than dogs are. Why is it that an entire nation expressed outrage a few years ago at the viral UK video of a cat being put in wheelie bin when these same people were also paying for animals to be slaughtered everyday for their meals? The meat and dairy industries have somehow successfully managed to manipulate the majority of people into believing that there is a difference between certain types of animals in order for them to make money from us. They have managed to normalise animal cruelty to the point where they even use images of the animals to advertise these products and no one questions it (such as ‘the laughing cow’, for example). These industries have convinced inherently kind, good-willed people to consume terrible and harmful products.
Although you may not believe me, I don’t judge anyone for eating meat, dairy or eggs. I, myself (along with most other vegan activists that I know) was raised as a meat, dairy and egg eater. I have simply made an educated decision to opt out of contributing to cruelty based on the exposure I have had to these horrendous industries and I genuinely believe that given the same circumstances, the majority of people would do the same. This is why as activists we encourage others to look into the realities of meat and dairy production in order to help people come to this decision on their own. We do not simply just want to ‘not contribute’ to animal cruelty, we want to play an active part in stopping it. When asked, the majority of the population have said they wouldn’t take the life of an animal themselves. So the question remains, why would they pay someone else to do it for them? As activists we simply encourage others to align their actions with their beliefs and to stop consuming these products. In most cases, the compassion is already there, it just needs unlocking.
I would like to clarify that I am not a vegan activist because I want to make people feel bad for their choices. If anything it’s for the opposite reason; I want to connect with people and help to educate people on the realities of the meat, dairy and egg industry as well as to help them better their own health and reduce their carbon footprint. I would also like it to be clear that although my intentions have always been to educate and raise awareness for the oppression of non-human animals that I am aware I do not always get it right. Before any of us are activists or vegans, or daughters, sisters, brothers or friends, we are human beings; and human beings sometimes get things wrong. I have often led with my heart over my head and I’m sure in many cases I have pushed people further away from veganism (which is ultimately the opposite of what I have wanted to do). I therefore wish to express that I am always trying to better my forms of outreach, better my conversations with close friends and family but most importantly I am more than open to criticisms or questions from anyone that is interested to help me with or ask me about veganism or activism. I want this to be a platform where people can discover veganism and animal rights activism without the fear of being judged or ridiculed.
I really do hope that this post has made sense – but if you do have questions related to anything I have discussed then please feel free to leave a comment or message me privately.
Be Kind 
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