To Birth or Not to Birth; That is the Question

I’m told people think you are selfish if you don’t bring new life into this world. I suppose this is the general way of thinking, since most people do have children. However, many scientists are reporting that overpopulation is the main threat to our planet and that we urgently need to level out and reduce human numbers. They predict that there is no way that the forecasted population of nine billion by 2050 can meet its energy needs without unacceptable harm to the planet. Conservative environmental assessments found that humans are now exploiting about 20% more renewable resources than can be replaced each year. So perhaps there is another perspective as to whether or not it is selfish to have children?

When scientists are even wondering if we will have a planet left in the near future, it certainly seems we should consider whether it is appropriate to be reproducing at this time. According to National Geographic, some likely conditions if ‘climate change’ continues are: species loss and extinction, reduction in sea ice, diminishing glaciers, rising sea levels, loss of biodiversity, drought, heat waves, severe storms, reduced growing seasons, etc. If humans don’t do something about the numbers we are bringing to the planet, the planet could possibly free herself of the human pest.

I’ve never seen too many deer that we heartlessly “cull”, but I have experienced too many people! Hmmm… People need to look at the big picture and stay informed of the environmental devastation, slavery, war, rampant violence and depression that plagues are planet and admit that this might possibly not be the best place to bring a child? When there are many starving, unloved children already here that need to be cared for, perhaps we should consider not bringing another child to a planet with over 6.5 billion people, just so they can be from your genes. People are so egotistical that they want to make “little molds of themselves”. But the fact remains that your offspring come through you and often turn out to be quite different than parental hopes for them.

Some people have many children in order to add to the members of their religion or bring in new members to their way of thinking. We have to be sure our motives are pure when considering giving birth. I firmly don’t believe everyone should have children; it is simply not for everyone, as witnessed by the amount of inadequate parenting going on. I want to let people know that they don't have to have children. There is a choice to be child-free. Until someone told me this (30 years ago), I never even stopped to think that there was an alternative. Everyone had kids where I grew up; it was just something you did. I am grateful to the woman who told me you don’t have to have children if it is not your calling in life. I wanted to give my life’s energy to educating others about veganism and the evolution of human consciousness (by evolving my own). I believe all who are here should help get us out of the mess we find ourselves in, rather than contributing even more to the demise of our planet. The last thing Earth needs is more natural resource-guzzling inhabitants.

Why bring a child to a planet that may die? Resources are dwindling, deforestation is out of hand, pollution is widespread, highways are congested yet global population grows steadily! Whether it is ignorance or lack of access to birth control, or welfare enabling children that are otherwise unaffordable, or religion condemning condom usage and abortions, or ego-maniacal behavior, we are facilitating the destruction of the planet and many of us need to STOP reproducing.

The Lies We Teach Our Children!

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but this is not so. I taught a 17 year old Collie to eat from chopsticks! However, it does seem harder to convince the older generation to change their ways; therefore I’m proposing that we focus on the youth! Vegan education does seem to go over much easier with a child who has not been “adulterated”. Children naturally know, with proper instruction, that other animals are friends and not a commodity. An excellent way to spread veganism throughout the world is to “indoctrinate the youth, by telling them the truth!” 

Children are filled with lies, so much so, that they are taught to kill gentle, magnificent nonhuman animals. I’ve witnessed an 8 years old child hunting accompanied by adults. From ages 12-16 a youth can get a junior hunting license (in some states). Teaching a child to hunt is the worst form of horrific upbringing. Perhaps people should question having children, as they don’t seem to be fit for the job, and they are overpopulating the planet like pests. Since the Earth is dangerously inhabited by over 6.5 billion humans and since many are doing an inexcusable job of choosing what to put into an innocent child’s psyche, yes maybe, people should give more serious thought as to whether they should bring ANOTHER human to our ailing planet. If you decide it truly is your calling to parent a child – bring this child up vegan.

The expanded compassion of the vegan ethic is the most important thing I would want to teach any child. If I were a parent, I would not likely send my child off to a public school. Public school is an environment that teaches children the history of humanity from war to war, and makes heroes of mass murderers. Schools then reinforces what they teach with lunches made from murdered sentient beings, even though the American and Canadian Dietetic Associations say that a pure plant-based (vegan) diet is appropriate for all stages of life. From early on, we train our children that violence is acceptable, even honored. We fill their sweet, beautifully innocent minds with lies about how we should treat other species with which we share the Earth. We serve them lunches derived of enslaved, tortured, and brutally murdered animals and products of their exploited reproductive system.

We were taught in school about Count Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist & philosopher,(1829-1910), but we were taught half truths. What they omitted was that Tolstoy said: "If a man earnestly seeks a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from animal food." In school, we were taught about Albert Einstein, physicist and 1921 Nobel Prize recipient. However, we were NOT taught that he said: "Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." -or this-: "It is my view that a vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind." We were taught about Mahatma Gandhi, Hindu pacifist and spiritual leader, (1869-1948), but we were NOT taught the whole truth that he said: "It is very significant that some of the most thoughtful and cultured men are partisans of a pure vegetable diet." -or this: "I do not regard flesh-food as necessary for us at any stage and under any clime in which it is possible for human beings ordinarily to live, I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species." We learned about Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian sculptor, artist, inventor, (1425-1519), but somehow our public school teachers did not teach us that he said: "The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men."

Any mother should not accept and support what is being done to nonhuman sisters. How can a woman go through the birthing process and not have empathy for a cow who is tormented in the farmed animal industry? They are some of the most abused females on the planet. A mother knows the bond of ‘mother and child’, and should therefore feel for an enslaved animal that has their newborn stolen from them. Separation is a distressing process for mother and calf. The removal of the calf is so upsetting for a cow that she will submit herself to considerable personal discomfort or risk, to nourish and protect her calf. Examples of this are cows that have escaped and traveled several miles to find their own calf after it has been sold on to another farm.

Not only are we feeding our children cruelty and lies, we are simply feeding them putrefied, disease-ridden, bad bacteria-laden rubbish: According to The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine: “One long standing barrier to schools serving more healthful meals is the USDA’s commodity foods program, which distributes large quantities of unhealthful “entitlement foods.” Every year, the USDA purchases hundreds of millions of dollars worth of pork, beef, and other high-fat, high-cholesterol animal products, primarily as an economic benefit to American agribusiness.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture should provide wholesome food for our children. It should use the school lunch program to improve health, rather than to subsidize the meat and dairy agribusiness. Under the mandate from the U.S.D.A.'s National School Lunch Program, school cafeterias routinely serve highly processed meals laden with saturated fat, cholesterol, hormones, and salt; such as chicken nuggets, pizza, cheeseburgers, and hot dogs. This diet promotes obesity, diabetes, hypertension, other chronic conditions, and food poisoning. We feed our children a diet and an education that holds them back, keeps them down, and retards the progress of humanity.

Vegan children are healthy, happy, and highly aware little persons. The baby boy pictured below is my youngest friend... Soul; vegan since conception. His nose doesn’t drip like other children his age. He is a perfect size. Animals are his friends, and he loves consuming vegan food and mama’s breast milk! The children are the hope of the future; let’s direct our non-violent vegan education on them!

THE WORLD'S NEED (A Poem from over 100 years ago)

So many gods So many creeds, 

So many paths that wind and wind 

While just the art of being kind 

is all this sad world needs. 

I am the voice of the voiceless 

Through me the mute shall speak 

'til the deaf world's ear be made to hear 

the cry of the wordless weak. 

From lab, from cage, from kennel, 

from slaughterhouses, comes the wail 

of my tortured kin who proclaim the sin 

of the mighty against the frail. 

For love is the true religion 

And love is the law sublime 

And all that is wrought where love is not 

will die with the touch of time.

Oh, shame on the mothers of mortals 

who have not stopped to teach 

of the sorrow that lies in an animal's eyes; 

 the sorrow that has no speech. 

The same power formed the sparrow 

that fashioned man; the king 

The god of the whole gave a living soul 

to furred and to feathered thing.

 

And I am my brother's keeper 

And I will fight his fight and 

speak the word for beast and bird 

til the world shall set things right.

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

My Vegan-Sexual Stance

There is no ‘vegan ruling’ on who vegans can be sexual with. It just seems to be a natural occurrence for some vegans (especially long-time vegans) to lose desire to be sexually intimate with non-vegans. Someone asked me “Don’t you find it hard to be a vegansexual?” My response was “No, not at all. We carry the vegan ethic with us in all our daily actions. I simply am not attracted to a person that won’t see the Truth that we should not enslave, exploit, kill, and torment other conscious and feeling beings. What kind of a relationship could we possibly have if we didn’t share this?" For me, the more expanded compassion and sense of justice that a person has, the easier it is to love them and be attracted to them.

When we enter into a relationship with someone, we know that it is going to shape, reform and influence us...I want to be surrounded by a vegan consciousness; whether the person came to me that way or needed a shove in the form of 'a love reality' to get there. If someone were open to changing because of my inspiration, I would be attracted to this. I believe in the ‘power of Love’ as a tool of elevation and growth. If someone has been exposed to veganism and leans towards it, but doesn’t make the commitment, I would not be intimately attracted to this person, even if they were brilliant in many other ways. It is a very deciding factor, for me, for being sexually attracted to a person.

Secondly, it is a bit repulsive to kiss/exchange fluids with a non-vegan, for obvious reasons. When I “rose in love” with a man (in years past) and he was not vegan, but willing to become vegan, he would go on a ‘cleansing of the body’ regime. In this scenario, I took the sexual thing more slowly (more snuggling and talking) and helped the person “veganize”. When I converted from being a carnivore, I did many fasts and colon cleanses. I wanted to get all the putrefied flesh and animal secretions out of my system! (I have a "clean" thing...this could just be my own obsessiveness; nothing to do with ethics.) I've climbed to higher and higher consciousness with the vegan ideal through our 33 beloved years together; reaching for different ledges. One level was to make “a stand” that I would never be intimate with a non-vegan. I felt if someone really loved me for who I am, they would surely ‘rise to the occasion’. (And I'm not the type that wants sex without love (fairly popular these days); the whole purpose of sexual encounters for me is to create more love, literally.)

I chose the stance that I want to live my life by. For me, having ideals, principles and ethics are more important than having a relationship with a person. However, having them both together can be a real high! If I can recall from memory, there’s not much better in life than the uniting of souls that commit to evolving together. And since veganism is humankind’s next evolutionary step, a quality relationship would have veganism as its foundation, from my perspective. Remember, my vegan-sexual stance is my perspective and not necessarily what other vegans feel. Other vegans are welcome to leave their thoughts in a comment.

Rising Above Speciesism

“And maddest of all is to see ‘life as it is’ and ‘not as it should be’!” cried Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha. These words have been a lifelong inspiration for me in the envisioning of “a world the way it should be” and trying to make myself befitting to live in it. To live in a world “as it should be”, one could start by climbing above their unjust mindsets such as racism, sexism, ageism, nationalism and speciesism.

The term ‘speciesism’ was coined by British psychologist Richard D. Ryder in 1973 to denote assigning different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species membership. To quote him, “I use the word ‘speciesism’ to describe the widespread discrimination that is practiced by man against other species. Speciesism and racism both overlook or underestimate the similarities between the discriminator and those discriminated against."

I understand the plight of fellow animals and recognize that they are persons in a furry or feathery suit; therefore I am compelled by moral duty to be a voice for our friends of non-lingual communication. Even vegans, (including myself), who greatly love  animals, have remnants of a speciesist mindset to overcome. Even if humans don't exploit animals, they still have some part of them that thinks they were made for them. They were made for bringing us joy, calming us, entertaining us with the tricks we had them learn, or having them as a play toy for our children, and having them do what we want them to do, basically. People have a human supremacy stance that carries them through life.

We call ourselves “owners” of our dog. This is to be expected because we grew up in a world that teaches and even legally states that animals are ‘our possessions’. Often, people will pay money for an animal; which I find unthinkable. Commodifying another breathing conscious being is immoral. We were taught by society that we have dominion over other animals; that they were put here for our use. This is but one more example of erroneous and speciesist indoctrination. Society is selling an assortment of lies and people are buying them.

Television commercials are some of the worst forms of lying that goes on in the world. When I see how people listen to the TV commercials that entice them to eat sizzling muscle of a butchered gentle animal and think it is a “delicacy”, or accept as true the commercials that lead you to believe that an enslaved nonhuman animal is HAPPY to give you her/his bodily secretions or dismembered body parts, I can see how Nazism was able to ‘come to be’. Apparently, it’s easy to sell lies to people. Society programs us with illogical lies about animals just as Nazism has regarding races of man. The oppressive conduct of society towards animals can be compared to the oppressive nature of Nazism. There are strong parallels between racism and speciesism.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, the 1978 Nobel Prize recipient, had this to say:

“What do they know-all those scholars, all those philosophers, all the leaders of the world –about such as you? They have convinced themselves that man, the worst transgressor of all the species, is the crown of all creation. All other creatures were created merely to provide him with food, pelts, to be tormented, exterminated. In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka. And yet man demands compassion from heaven.”

What if we could awaken ourselves to filtering everything through our own reasoning mind, and through our own conscience, rather than just following societal norms? In our discovering of Truth (with a capital T), we must evaluate what we've been taught through reasoning and through our own sense of right and wrong. We can know what is really true because it is written in our conscience. When I realized (at age twelve) that animals were not food, but friends, and that everyone else thought differently, I knew right then and there not to necessarily trust what mainstream perception is handing me; to take people’s words with a grain of sea salt! If they couldn’t see this obvious Truth that animals are beings not that different to us; (two eyes, a brain, a heart, a nervous system, emotions, families, loveable, communicative) and should not be killed and eaten, what else were they not seeing that they think they do see?

Humans prize their intelligence and use it as rationale as to why they have the right to dominate/own/enslave other species of animal. But to me, this seems like a fundamental lack of intelligence, like they really are not seeing very basic simple truths of life; truths that are easy enough for a child to comprehend (and they do). Some say being vegan is too eccentric and difficult, but it is actually the very least we can do to respect the inherent rights of others. It is just the first step. I am a staunch vegan of 3 decades, and yet I have work to do in regards to speciesism, as well as racism, ageism; the entire kingdom of ism’s. We all have work to do in these areas. The work never ends.

All species and the natural environment are interconnected. By living vegan, we liberate ourselves from the guilt, (however hidden), of imposing suffering on other beings, and thus we free our higher nature to emerge. I believe that this evolution of the human consciousness, (which is not passive, but takes effort), is the way out of the critically threatening planetary problems we are facing. It is the non-violent approach to gaining rights for animals that will lead to their emancipation, and ours.

My 35 Years of Experience Proves that DOGS CAN EAT VEGAN!

Kisses; she ate 100% vegan diet for 13.5 years of her 14.5-15 years

The rescued dogs I've shared life with have all made remarkable transformations eating a 100% vegan diet, both in physical health and in temperament. For the committed vegan, it's the way to ensure your dog's health without intentionally harming other animals to do so. A dog is by genus classified as a carnivore, but metabolically, they are omnivores. You can feel safe knowing that you can feed dogs a 100% plant-based diet. In fact, with careful attention to their nutritional needs, (as you would give to your own), they thrive! (I have even raised 8 stray puppies on a vegan diet, successfully.)

The health of our dogs has surprised a few conventional vets, who had no choice but to change their position when they saw that our dog friends lived healthier than their nonvegan dog counterparts. The vegan dogs I've cared for have lived to be 14-17 years of age. Pictured here is little Mighty who lives with us and others who don't feed him vegan, so he goes back and forth. When he arrives with us, at first he turns his nose up at the food offered to him, but then the next day, he eats with gusto and loves it, once he realizes that's his only option. The food is not making him unhealthy; but quite the opposite. (Update: Mighty has been with Gentle World and on a vegan diet now for many years now.)

So what does a dog eating a plant-based diet eat?  A varied diet consisting of:

Legumes: tempeh (the highest vegan source of L-carnitine and a whole food soy product; an excellent food), tofu (not a staple), well-cooked beans mashed, lentils, split peas, sprouted or cooked chick peas or hummus, or lentil sprouts. I like the small red lentils that cook in 15 minutes.
Well-cooked Whole Grains: brown rice, quinoa, millet, corn grits, whole grain bread or pasta (preferably spelt, not wheat), buckwheat, oats, barley, amaranth, etc. (Buckwheat and Quinoa are both complete protein foods and the grain I give them most of the time.)
Orange Colored Vegetable: sweet potatoes and yams - seasoned and oiled to make them  palatable (in small pieces or mashed, to make them more digestible), butternut squash, pumpkin, cooked carrots. Butternut squash is a food source of omega 3 fats, so a good food for dogs on a vegan diet, as well as human vegans.
Seitan (wheat-meat) made of gluten flour (high in protein) - as a treat.
Vegetables (in small pieces or mashed, to make them more digestible) (grated raw carrot and beet mixed in with food). Sprouts mixed in with meal. Best vegetables are squashes, zucchini, small amount of broccoli, greens chopped into small pieces and mixed in with meal, but not greens that are high in oxalic acid such as Swiss chard. Spinach only sometimes.
Fruit in small amounts, if they will eat it. Cranberries are excellent.
Ground Seeds can be added in raw, and as a supplemental part of the meal. Ground sunflower, flax-seed, almond mixture is good. Some oil for making the food palatable and also for nutrition. The best oil is hemp seed oil for the omega 3 fats in the best ratio. The next best choice would be flax oil for dogs that don't poop a lot already. Or organic sunflower oil if you can't afford the premium. But many dogs won't eat their meal without some oil.

Supplements, some vegan marketed kibble, and daily sunshine baths! 

Approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the meal will consist of a protein source (from the paragraph above). About 1/4 to 1/2 of the meal can be made up of a variety of whole grains and vegetables.

Meals should be served at room temperature or slightly warmed, along with a clean bowl of water. Dogs fed vegan should receive two meals daily, and snacks, (portions are dependent on amount of exercise, as well). Oil requirements can be met with hemp seed oil, flaxseed oil, etc. (There is some disagreement over the issue of including avocado in a dog's diet because of many vet reports of avocado being toxic to dogs. I used to feed it to dogs and have stopped after researching it and seeing that it might contribute to enlarged heart and pulmonary edema in dogs, though this is not widely known information. Avocados contain a substance called persin; toxic to dogs and other animals.) Another source to include is 1 teaspoon of tahini (sesame seed butter), which is a source of calcium. Their calcium requirements can also be met by adding finely chopped raw dark greens to their meal or steamed broccoli in bite-sized pieces (too much broccoli is toxic to dogs apparently.) You can supplement calcium or offer calcium-enriched soy milk as a treat. I mix some of the vegan marketed commercial food in with meals to help meet nutritional requirements, and vegedog powder (which contains taurine, B12, calcium, and other minerals and vitamins) and/or other supplements. Pregnant and elderly dogs require extra calcium supplementation.

In the United States, quite a few companies (see below) produce a complete, plant-based, canned moist dog food. They are a superior in quality to most commercial dog foods, which contain slaughterhouse by-products and other unimaginable ingredients. My practice is to offer both commercial vegan dog food, but mostly offer wholesome homemade meals. To ensure they receive the necessary essential fatty acids (omegas 3, 6,and 9), you can add 1 t. - 1 T. of a vegan oil blend that is balanced with Borage Oil, Evening Primrose Oil and Certified Organic Flax Oil. An alternative (though it's not as complete), would be flax seed oil, hemp seed oil, or 1 teaspoon of ground or soaked flax seeds/chia seeds. The ALA short chain fatty acids are really important. I now believe in supplementing dogs with algae-derived DHA/EPA unless they are receiving natural plant sources of omega 3's on a daily basis (chia seeds, purslane, ground flaxseed, hemp oil and raw hemp seeds, walnut oil, but walnuts themselves are toxic to dogs.) Flax or 'Total EFA' oil also helps joint function and coat health. There are many studies that confirm the powerful healing benefits of giving dogs flax seed oil. These oils are especially important for senior dogs.

For enzymes and fiber add: grated raw carrots, beets, sprouted lentils and other sprouts. Also add chlorella, green mush, or barley grass powder. Raw hemp seeds contain complete protein. Both soy and hemp seeds have more protein than animal "foods" and are complete proteins. (soy is a popular allergen, though.) Hemp seeds and hemp oil are high in omega 3 fats in good proportions for dogs. Some sources say hemp seeds are a food source of taurine; but I don't see any scientific studies to back this up, as of yet. The raw food additions are essential for vitality. Some authorities recommend adding digestive enzymes to a dog's diet and the particular kind that dogs need are: Amylase, Protease, Lipase, Cellulase and Lactase. (This is optional and can be purchased from the makers of VegeDog.) Also, vegan acidophilus or probiotics can be included. Dogs manufacture their own vitamin C, but you can supplement the meal with 1/2-1 teaspoon of vitamin C powder (It MUST be Ester-C, non-acidic or buffered, to be gentle on the stomach). Holistic vets have recommended 1,000 milligrams twice daily for healing purposes. But if you supplement too much they could lose their ability to manufacture their own. If your dog will eat bits of fruit and/or salad with dressing, that is wonderful. Some dogs will and some will turn their nose at such foods.

Taurine is an amino acid (naturally found in animal flesh) that SHOULD be supplemented in a vegan dog's diet. Without taurine supplementation, dogs can develop a fatal disease called dilated cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart). (Vegetarian dog specialists and most companies that sell vegan dog food recommend adding taurine (an amino acid) to the diet of a dog eating 100% plant-based. It is inexpensive and a preventative measure. L-carnitine, also an amino acid naturally found in animal flesh, and a vegan version can be supplemented. (It is also naturally found in high quantities in tempeh; so you can get a vegan food source if you don't want to use synthetic supplements.) A deficiency of this nutrient in dogs fed vegan can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy, a serious illness in which the heart becomes large and flabby and can no longer function. This illness generally strikes middle-aged dogs who are deficient in L-carnitine or taurine because of breed, size, individual genetic makeup, or lack of it in diet. L-carnitine is expensive and can be bought at your local health food store. Include taurine and in a meal every day, but only a small amount as I've found it can upset the stomach. Include l-carnitine 4-5 times a week. Too much l-carnitine is linked with negative consequences, but not so much for vegans and vegetarians, who may have different gut flora than those who eat meat. (Many vegan commercial kibble brands include both - or one or the other - but I have learned from experience to supplement a bit more in addition to what is in the kibble.)

Please note that it is reported that onions and raw garlic are toxic to dogs. Onions can cause the oxidization of red blood cells and lead to anemia. Chocolate can be toxic to dogs and can even be fatal if consumed in large portions. Many animals love the taste of chocolate; however, chocolate contains a stimulant called theobromine, which causes over-stimulation of an animal's body. All body systems, including the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, and nervous system, are affected by theobromine. Also toxic to dogs are nutmeg, raisins, walnuts and macadamia nuts. Because there are reports of avocado being toxic to dogs (even though many love them), I don't give them to dogs anymore. (The persin in them is the toxic substance.) Dogs cannot process excess salt so avoid too much salt.

Be gentle when switching dogs from an animal-based diet to a vegan diet. Any switch in diet can cause digestive disorders. It may take a few days for some dogs to even want to try this new cuisine and others will take to it right away. We've watched our dogs evolve from killing small animals to protecting and cuddling our pet rabbits! Vegan dogs are a wonderful species to get to know! Keep dog's teeth brushed and clean. I recommend vegan dental chews for this, too. You can feel confident that on a balanced cruelty-free diet, dogs can have a sleek body, a healthy and shiny coat, and plenty of energy to join you for tail-wagging walks in the country!

Related contacts for vegan pet food:

Link: Vegan Dog Marketed Products sorted by country

V-Dog – vegan dog food now in Sacramento, CA. They ONLY sell vegan dog food, so I like to support them. They also have breath bones.
Evolution Diet offers ONLY vegan food for dogs, cats, and ferrets.
Vegan Pet - Australia's own all-vegan pet food company, especially knowledgeable on feeding cats vegan. They have superior vegan dog and cat kibble. All ingredients are human-grade.
VeganPet N.Z. - distributors in New Zealand of Vegan Pet.
All natural Pet Care - New Zealand, plant-based
Pet Guard - is a U.S. based company that offers two vegan moist dog foods: Vegetarian Feast and Organic Vegetarian Vegan Entrée with the word VEGAN on the label! They also offer Mr. Barkey's and Mr. Pugsley's vegan dog biscuits (and many non-vegan products)
Natural Balance Pet Food – highly recommended plant-based kibble called Natural Balance Vegetarian Formula which contains no soy products.
Harbingers of a New Age - H.O.A.N.A. (compassioncircle.com) - offers supplementation products to add to your home-cooked whole food meals for vegan cats and dogs and is a source of information. Owner, James Peden, was the first to sell vegan pet food products and has authored a book: Vegetarian Dogs and Cats. This link also sells Green Much; another great supplement to add to home cooked meals for dogs; rich in enzymes, etc.
Ami Vegan Dog Food  - veterinarian designed diet that is all plant-based.
Whimzees - All natural dental chews - sold internationally - vegan - my review
www.vegancats.com/ - offers a range of vegan pet products.
BiOPet -100% vegan formula sourced within Australia (they have a non-vegan formula also). The Vitamin D3 in their recipe is synthetic and not sourced from animals.
Vegan Essentials offers a variety of vegan pet products
Eco Dogs and Cats (all vegan)
Halo Vegan Garden Medley  
Video on Ami Vegan cat/dog food.
EcoEars for Dogs by Vet-organics.com
A book entitled: Vegetarian Dogs: Toward a World Without Exploitation. The book offers recipes for vegan dog food and information about nutrition, ethics, supplements, exercise, and care for dogs.

Please note that there are a number of nearly vegan dog foods marketed internationally (Wysong Vegan), but they contain one or two ingredients that are not strictly vegan. For example, they include non-vegan Vitamin D3. Purina HA (hypoallergenic) is an example of a nearly vegan except for the Vitamin D3 and maybe some of the other vitamins. (Update: Wysong may have fixed this issue after decades.)

3 vegan vets included in this post of Plant-powered doctors, vets, RD's

Join Vegan Dog Nutrition group on Facebook

VEGANISM is ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISM

One can’t logically be for animal rights while paying someone to rape, enslave, and brutally kill nonhuman animals. On a daily basis, non-vegans (including vegetarians) pay someone to do just that. For those who want to be an animal rights activist – become vegan. Vegans actively protest the shocking behavior of humans towards animals - 24/7.

Some animal rights people identify with being vegan, but they “cheat”. Cows are perpetually kept pregnant, hand-inseminated, and endure torturous conditions. “Cheating animal rights activists” should consider this before they partake of some cheese or pizza. Living a vegan lifestyle is a moral foundation; especially for those who are an inspiration to others. It’s not difficult to be a vegan if one grasps how profoundly meaningful it is. Some activists work to save the whales, while they contribute to the persecution of cows. People want to punish others for their ‘cruelty to animals’ while they are cruel to animals every day by consuming animal products. Being members of an evolving human race, it becomes our obligation to change - in order to advance human consciousness.

It makes much more sense to spend our time, money and resources to promote non-violent vegan education, encompassing all animal rights issues, instead of working on bettering the conditions within a system that should simply be abolished; a system that stems from a misinformed culture. We must unite and work for empty cages, not better cages. I don’t believe in extending ‘a pat on the back’ to institutionalized exploiters because they enlarged the prison stalls where they hold innocent animals captive or because they agreed to use cage-free eggs. It makes more sense to change the mindsets of people; the purchasers, who are creating the demand for these products.

Veganism and animal rights are synonymous; and, not a ‘wavering’ - “when it’s convenient” type of veganism that some organizations espouse. They are lowering the standard of the Vegan Ideal; to the point that they are replacing the word “vegan” with “vegetarian”, which has come to mean dairy consumption, etc. Dairy cows are kept in hideous conditions. It’s sad that humans are so out of touch with their natural feelings of compassion; so much so, that they could be complicit in this crime against nonhumanity. We cannot rise to who we are meant to be, if we are inflicting (or paying someone else to inflict) misery on others. We free the animals and our own higher nature by living vegan.

Vegans do oppose factory farms, however if there were no factory farms, most vegans would still be vegan. Veganism is a protest against a speciesist society that believes nonhuman animals were put here for our use, to be our property, to be subjugated by us. There is no such thing as humane enslavement, exploitation or murder. There is nothing “humane” involved in farming animals, even if a product is labeled “humane”. These labels are merely marketing schemes to make people feel good about themselves while they directly support cruelty. So called “humanely raised” animals have a number of torturous practices inflicted on them. “Free-range" farmed animals are still subjected to excruciating mutilations without painkiller. They are still slaughtered in the same violent way as factory-farmed animals. Sentient beings are filled with fear as they are prodded down a narrow chute. They can hear and smell what is happening to those before them. They desperately try to turn around, but can’t, until it’s their turn to be sadistically murdered. The whole abysmal system must be abolished and that is the only solution worth working for.

All forms of slavery MUST be abolished, including: child slavery, indentured servitude, forced marriages, debt bondage, human trafficking to serve sexual slavery, and the mass enslavement of nonhuman animals. All life forms deserve the unquestionable right of liberty. There are more (human) slaves than any time in history! The numbers of nonhuman slaves seems beyond calculation. The history of man is appallingly oppressive. It is difficult to end slavery in Sudan if you live in the U.S., however, one can choose to live vegan - a universal protest against slavery. Vegans do not pay someone to enslave, rape, exploit and kill other conscious beings. 

I understand the anger of ‘militant vegans’. However, we should redirect our anger and use it to educate others of the many benefits of vegan living. We need to lead by example that there is a better way. I’m suggesting that evolution be our form of revolution. Let’s bring about a gentle world, where no one lives in fear. There is a lot of internal conflict between the differing factions of the animal rights and vegan movements. If we all were vegan, (not pseudo vegan), we could achieve that much needed unity to actually win rights for animals. We carry our veganism with us 24 / 7 - it is the most genuine form of animal rights activism.

Redefining and Elevating our Veganism

There were people who understood the ‘vegan concept’ long before the actual word was invented in 1944 by Donald Watson (of The Vegan Society, in the U.K). A Webster’s dictionary, published in 1987, defines the word ‘vegan’ like this: ‘(1944) a strict vegetarian: one that consumes no animal food or dairy products.’ Another dictionary published in 1988, and the fattest dictionary I’ve ever seen, does not include the definition of the word at all. The Random House Webster’s College dictionary, published in 1999, defined the word as ‘A vegetarian that omits all animal products from the diet’. In 2004, The On-line World Net Dictionary defines the word like this: ‘A strict vegetarian; someone who eats no animal or dairy products at all’. As we evolve, the dictionary definitions begin to follow suit. In 2007, TheFreeDictionary.com defines the word as “A vegetarian who eats plant products only, especially one who uses no products derived from animals, as fur or leather.” Also in 2007, the Merriam-Webster On-line dictionary defines it as such: “a strict vegetarian who consumes no animal food or dairy products; also: one who abstains from using animal products (as leather). Most vegans and vegan organizations would define veganism far beyond these dictionary definitions to be more inclusive of what vegans exclude from their diets and lifestyle choices.

Once again, it is time to update the meaning and raise the standard of the word in dictionaries (as well as in our lives) to: (Vee-gun) 1. One who does not eat animals or animal by-products, wear items made of animal skins or use any products that contain animal ingredients or that were tested on animals 2. Does not support industries that exploit animals 3. Does not profit or benefit from turning the life of an animal into a commodity.

It is virtually impossible to be completely vegan in this ‘non-vegan world’, with animal derivatives in many practices and products of our everyday lives. For example, animal products may be found in: glues used for making furniture and binding books, plastics, rubber, cellophane, wax paper, ink, plywood, drywall, insulation for walls, ceramic tiles, foam rubber, laundry detergents and fabric softeners, refrigerators and air conditioners using freon; a cooling agent that reportedly contains a derivative from animal fat, disinfectants, household cleaners, and polishes, asphalt, concrete blocks, the steel in trains and planes, fire extinguishers, brake fluid, anti-freeze, tires, all sorts of mechanical machinery, and clothing dye. Most contraceptives are not vegan. Animal ingredients may be used to make computers and photocopiers work. Also they are used in making the electrical circuitry and in the ink toners to print. Steel ball bearings and lubricants contain animal products that help machines run smoothly. This overwhelming list is information gathered from the internet (meaning it may or may not be true) but here is a realistic list of things we CAN do that will bring us closer to the vegan ideal.

*Elevate our understanding of ‘Veganism’ to embrace a compassion for ALL who live; knowing it to be ‘A Great Truth’ that can heal our ailing planet.

*Be a guardian, care-giver, and protector of animals. Gently escort insects and birds out of dwellings, find homes for abandoned dogs, protect animals from hunters, and help a turtle cross the road by carrying him (in the direction he’s headed) out of harm’s way.

*Eliminate white refined sugar that has been processed through bone charcoal, as well as honey that has been taken from bees. There are many plant-based alternative sweeteners, such as organic evaporated cane juice or agave nectar which is also much more healthy.

*Say NO when relatives pass around a pastry made with animal products. It’s no temptation at all to the vegan who really understands. So many times we’ve heard people who call themselves a vegan except they ate someone’s meal so they wouldn’t hurt them. You can’t really hurt them by enlightening them to a more compassionate and healthy way to live. It is really kinder to not eat their meal. Let relatives and friends know before they prepare the meal that you eat only from the plant kingdom and what that means. Be gentle, but be firm. You may inspire them to eat less animal products, now or sometime in the future.

*When ordering a sandwich in a restaurant, ask the ingredients of the bread. The new paradigm vegan may not care to dine in establishments where animal products are sold.

*Bury old leather shoes.

*Use digital photography rather film made of gelatin.

*Purchase supplements in vege-caps, rather than the more widely used gelatin capsules, and verify the source of all ingredients or look for the ‘vegan approved’ label. Support companies that sell only vegan products. There is an ever-growing list of such companies. Do an on-line search for my article on Vegan Companies and Businesses.

*Read labels. Make phone calls or send an e-mail to companies to verify the source of ingredients they use in their products. For example: a label may say calcium carbonate listed as an ingredient. The company would need a phone call or e-mail asking for verification of the source of the calcium carbonate in this product, because, in some instances, it is from ground oyster shells collected from restaurants. Another example: If a label reads vitamin D3, it is almost definitely from a non-vegan source. There are pet food products claiming to be vegan while using animal derived vitamin D. Vitamin D2 is the plant-based source of the vitamin. To summarize; read labels and question the source of ingredients in order to support truly cruelty-free products. This oftentimes, will bring the concerns of the consumer to the attention of the manufacturer and they change their products to meet the requests. We’ve seen this happen many times by talking with CEO’s of companies about something non-vegan in an otherwise vegan product and the next thing you know, the product comes out altered and with a big VEGAN label on it!!

*Don’t purchase bone china, ivory products, silk products (derived from boiling silk worms) medicines (like Premarin or shark cartilage) made from animal secretions or parts. The new paradigm vegan will know that true health and beauty couldn’t possibly come from wearing cosmetics with animal ingredients or that have been tested on animals. Pharmaceuticals have been tested on animals. Keep yourself healthy with preventative measures and try to avoid pharmaceuticals, if possible.

*Don’t give support to circus animal act shows, zoos with cages, horse/dog races, marine parks, Las Vegas animal act shows, horses pulling carriages of people, etc. Never give monetary support to ANY business that is involved with animal exploitation or imprisoning innocent beings, including pet stores that support puppy mills.

*Feed pet dogs a balanced vegan diet, which they thrive on. Replace a bone for chewing with a safe hard stick.

*Cats are a difficult issue for vegans as they are carnivores. Some vegans choose not to live with cats in order to avoid feeding them animal products and supporting that system. Others keep cats indoors and reportedly feed them a supplemented vegan diet. I've heard both successful and non successful reports of this. Male cats may not be able to thrive on a vegan diet due to painful urinary tract disorders. Their urine ph levels need to be monitored. You can feed cats vegan meals (some suggestions are: mashed tofu, nutritional yeast, and seeweed bits. They like squash and Tofurky!) and let them outside to fend for themselves. Cats are metabolically carnivores, whereas a dog is metabolically omnivore. For instructions on feeding cats a balanced vegan diet supplemented with taurine and other nutrients that they must have when being fed a vegan diet, visit the site of 'Vegan Pet' in Australia.

Don’t feed rabbits (or other natural vegan animals) store-bought pellet mixes that contain animal derived vitamins, whey, etc. Instead, feed them dark green leafy vegetables, (Timothy) hay, weeds such as dandelion, clover and plantain, vegan kibble if you can find it, sprouts, 1-2 t. selected fruit as a treat, and a small amount of other vegetables like carrots and beetroot, also as a treat.

*The new paradigm vegan will rescue a dog from the pound or elsewhere when seeking a companion animal. Don’t pay money for an animal. This is something we are working to end. No sentient being should be reduced to a commodity that can be bought or sold. There are plenty of nonhuman animals that need rescuing.

*Use ‘Have-Heart-traps’ (purchased on-line by mail order catalogs) to catch unwanted rodents and relocate them to an appropriate location.

*Use synthetic art brushes to replace sable bristles. Alter drums and other musical instruments to free them of leather, catgut and other animal by-products. Don’t use sporting goods made with leather. In these times, there are synthetic alternative to leather for most products (such as ballet shoes, sporting equipment, shoes, bags and accessories) when shopping on-line.

*The new paradigm vegan may even attempt growing his/her own food, ‘veganically’; without blood and bone, fish meal, animal sludge or manure sourced from the exploitation of animals. Instead he/she will use plant-based compost and mulch, rock dusts, crop rotation, nitrogen-fixing cover crops, and other non-animal based and chemical-free fertilizers to replenish the soil; a more sustainable, compassionate and healthier method of growing.

*The new paradigm vegan will not claim to be vegan while having a fur coat (bought in the past) in the closet. Instead, he/she will come out of the closet, and donate the coat to animal rights organization for use in an anti-fur campaign.

*Order a vegan meal on airlines just to make a statement, even if the fruit plate is preferred. Pack your own meals.

*Don’t choose books for young children that will indoctrinate them that nonhumans are made for human use.  Be sure to put gentle and kind vegan thoughts into the minds of children via words, books, visits to Gentle Barn or other rescued animal sanctuaries. Children will meet and naturally learn to love animals this way.

*Refrain from saying ‘go fish’ when playing the child’s card game, but change the words to “go jump in the pond.” The evolved vegan won’t use derogatory phrases towards animals (or anyone for that matter!)

*Some vegans make a stand not to make-love with non-vegans, as they find it unappealing to be intimate with someone whose body is made from dead carcasses or animals’ bodily fluids. Others don’t want to have sexual relations with someone who doesn’t see eye to eye on the compassion of the vegan concept. This has inspired some to become vegan who might not have! Love is a powerful tool for helping to change someone (for the better, of course!)

*Convey the vegan message with Love, always having in mind to SAVE THE ANIMALS, first and foremost. Don’t let our anger towards the treatment of animals lead us to be violent in any way, in order to save animals. This will only make vegans look bad in the eyes of non-vegans and hurt the movement.

Veganism brings with it FRIENDSHIP WITH ANIMALS. As the years go on and the more vegan we become, the closer to animals we get. There are many other species to love beside humans!

A vegan does not ever cheat!! The vegan diet is not like a raw food diet that you can cheat with. Being a vegan is a moral stance. It’s a character-defining quality. It's a statement in protest of slavery. It’s a solution to world hunger. It’s a health plan. It’s a panacea; that even encompasses our spiritual health.

Let’s keep the word ‘vegan’ alive with this, updated, more real definition! I implore all vegans (including myself) to raise their standard of veganism. If we are ‘all one’ and all connected, then elevating our veganism is perhaps a way we can elevate the whole world. The desire not to cause harm or suffering to other living beings is a soulful endeavor that should forever be nurtured.

For the Times; They are a Changing

“Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons & your daughters are beyond your command, Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one,
if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'…"
~ Bob Dylan



Gather ye vegans; come hear what I say; oh, the times; they are a changing! When I was a young woman just becoming vegan over 30 years ago, vegan alternative products were scarce. I can remember when The Cookbook for People Who Love Animals by Gentle World, published in 1981, was the ONLY vegan cookbook on the shelves of South Florida health food stores. NOW, there are hundreds of vegan cookbooks worldwide. I remember becoming vegetarian at age 12, in Cleveland, Ohio, and my mother’s friends were saying: "Where will she get her protein? She will die!" And NOW, Neal Barnard, M.D (president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine), Michael Greger, M.D., John McDougall M.D., T. Colin Campbell PhD. (The China Study), Michael Klaper, M.D., Dr. Milton R. Mills, M.D., Caldwell Esselstyn, M.D., Joel Fuhrman, M.D, Ruth Heidrich, PhD, William Harris, M.D., Kerrie Saunders PhD, Will Tuttle, PhD and others will verify that a plant-based diet is most suited to our species and that too much protein (from animal consumption) can possibly lead to osteoporosis, heart failure, cancer, and other diseases. NOW, 41 years later, I receive impressive results upon physical examination, while those old friends and relatives are all grossly overweight and a physical mess.

I remember when my dad used to try to sneak meat into my food. I suppose that he had a fear of nutritional deficiency. And NOW, my parents keep a vegan kitchen at home. I remember when my brother teased me and told me what meat actually was (so he could get my dinner). My brother did get my dinner! I became a vegetarian instantly from that exchange. And NOW, my brother is a long-time vegan activist and author of several vegan recipe books.

I remember when I stopped buying leather products and all I could wear was sandals or tennis shoes. I got married in sandals. NOW, all-man-made material shoes are readily accessible at on-line vegan shoe stores or some retail stores.

I remember when I couldn't explain my 'new found veganism' without being verbally attacked or ridiculed. NOW, no matter in which hemisphere I find myself, that never happens anymore. Sometimes I think that peoples' reactions might be a reflection of our own assurance, or lack of it, on being a vegan.

There was a time when I didn't even know another vegan!!! NOW, as fast as one can type 'vegan' and push a button, one can find him/herself speaking with a vegan anywhere in the world. NOW, there are forums just for vegan abolitionists worldwide! NOW - vegan activists the world over chat daily using Facebook, Twitter and Animal-Rights forums.

I remember when vegan food was bland and not alluring. I remember when neither I nor anyone else, could, or knew how to, prepare delicious vegan food. NOW, there are award-winning vegan chefs and restaurants. I remember when the word 'vegan' wasn't even in the dictionary, and the word was so unfamiliar that I called myself a 'vey-gan'. NOW, the word pronounced: 'Vee-gn' is so familiar, there is a vegan alternative for just about everything non-vegan, produced by hundreds of new vegan companies.

When I was growing up in Ohio, I never heard of a health food store. NOW, there are establishments that supply meat analogs and plant-based replacements for cheese, milk, ice cream and eggs, and they are thriving. Even grocery stores worldwide carry a range of dairy milk alternatives, as well as tempeh, tofu and soy/wheat meats. Portland, Oregon has a vegan mini mall! There was a time I didn’t know what tofu was and NOW it is in every grocery store. I remember when vegan ice cream and cheese were beyond my wildest dreams. I stopped eating ice cream and dairy at a time when there were NO alternatives! NOW, we have been rewarded with Organic So Delicious and Purely Decadent, Tofurky meat analogs, Vegenaise, Fair-Trade-Organic-Vegan chocolates that make it easy for mainstream type eaters to convert to the vegan diet.

I remember when it was difficult to buy vegan toiletries and cosmetics in a natural food store. Labels used to read 'not tested on animals' but still contained animal-derived ingredients. Or they read 'cruelty-free' while containing lanolin or bee products. The times; they are a changing, because NOW we have the 'Vegan Seal of Approval' stamped on toiletries or the word 'vegan' on product labels. The organization, Vegan Action, certifies vegan companies. NOW, growers can be certified veganic!

There was a time when dogs were carnivore; end of story. NOW, we know that dogs have evolved to being able to thrive on a pant-based diet. Dogs are evolving along with their human companions. I remember when zoos were nothing more than animal prisons. With human evolution, some modern zoos have evolved to allow humans to view protected animals in their outdoor, natural-like habitat. This, of course, is far from ideal, but greatly improved. Empty cages will come next!

I remember the birth of the animal rights movement. I used to collect and save newspaper clippings. I remember when animal rights organizations were run by people who ate animals themselves. None of them were vegan! And NOW, this is no longer true. NOW, vegan organizations gather together in conference. NOW, Vegan Festivals are attracting 6,000 attendants! NOW, abolitionist vegans from all over the world will be meeting in France. I remember when The American Vegan Society and Gentle World were the only U.S. vegan organizations I'd ever heard of. NOW, there are countless vegan organizations popping up on a web search. NOW, if I want to send my mom a gift of vegan chocolates or baked goods, I can go on-line and do so. In recent years, many vegan on-line web stores have emerged. There must be an increasing number of people wanting to purchase 'cruelty-free' and thus the web sites are born to supply the demand.

I remember asking a physician about a friend's arthritis. He recommended glucosamine. I commented that it wouldn’t be possible since it was not vegan. He replied with you're really limiting the options.' NOW, there are, at least, 3 U.S. companies producing vegan glucosamine. Now there are vegan companies that offer supplements made specifically for vegans, like Deva or NuTru, for example.

I remember being vegan when NO ONE else around me was, or had even heard of it!! This was prior to computer technology. I was absolutely SURE of the 'rightness' of it, and yet, NO ONE ELSE agreed! I was rewarded for my absolute 'sureness' with a life of living with and knowing many beautiful vegans throughout the years. I was rewarded for having that certainty when surrounded by opposing viewpoints.

I remember reading AHIMSA magazine (the original magazine put out by H. Jay and Freya Dinshah of the American Vegan Society) and first being exposed to the truth of dairy. I remember saying 'NO, let it not be true that I have to stop eating dairy. Too hard! How can I possibly stop eating my rennetless cheese and ice cream?' NOW, 31 years later, the thought of eating the secretions and bodily fluids of a cow is a repulsive thought; the other end of the spectrum from 'no, not my cheese too' way of once thinking.

Human consciousness is evolving. We can reprogram our thoughts. We can alter our habits. We can change our viewing, for a higher one. I remember NOT KNOWING what it will be like to be vegan and will my health fare?  NOW, I KNOW, that the vegan diet and lifestyle was an immeasurable help to my physical and spiritual health. I remember when I was young, pondering why people didn't see the truth of veganism. 'What was wrong with them; were they blind?' I wondered. Why couldn't they comprehend, see, feel something so obvious to me? And NOW, many more people DO agree with me! And yes, the times; they are a changing, but those same questions still live inside my mind; unchanged after all these years 'why can't people see the TRUTH of veganism? It seems so easy to see.

Even though many countries are at war, crime and violence is rampant, humans enslave and abuse children, wasteful consumerism is on the rise, clear cutting of old growth forests is practiced and it looks like the world is a real 'nut house'; don't give up! Human consciousness is obviously evolving as seen from the growth of the 'vegan movement'. We vegans are the forerunners of a 'super humane' race. NOW, vegan information is readily available on-line. So yes, the times; they are a changing! And we're all a part of it. As vegans, we are voting with our dollars, for which way it will all go. There is a dichotomy in existence on the planet; both are expanding simultaneously. Wars, overpopulation of Earth, and pollution of our natural resources are all escalating. At the very same time, veganism and a RESPECT FOR BEINGS BEYOND OURSELVES, is also growing.

I remember when I was a young girl, saving a mouse from my cat's mouth, and NOW I have a much expanded calling from those I work to save. I want to save the deer, the rabbits, the dogs, the horses, the donkeys, the elephants, the pandas, goats, pigs, cows, turkeys, frogs, bees, giraffes, primates, butterflies, (and the humans). I LOVE nonhuman animals as much as superhumanly possible in order to combat animal exploitation; in order to STOP the hunter from shooting the magnificent deer, or the vivisector from coldly and cruelly torturing sweet innocent love objects, or a woman wearing a coat made from the stolen coats of a multitude of animals who had to suffer in agony for it, or the billions of farmed animals living a life of hell because of humans; whose capacity to feel is all clogged up with animal fat. The karma is clear. As vegans, let's lead toward the Light of Love, Truth, Justice, Gentleness, Integrity, Honesty and Soulfulness. Don't lose heart. Don't give up, for the times; they are a changing!

Chimp speaks in Sign Language - what does she say?

Please keep in mind that I don't agree that chimpanzees are more deserving of basic liberty over other animal species because of their intelligence, nor do I believe we have a right to use animals, like Washoe, for experimentation. However, I found the following clip to be very powerful and have saved it through the years. The article was published in a Los Angeles newspaper, on January 1, 1980 by Paul Harvey; nationally syndicated columnist (now deceased). 

CHIMPANZEE VOICES PLEA 

I've just endured one of the most cold-sweat experiences of my life. I heard the “voice of an animal”. Any hunter has heard animals cry before they die, yet we keep hunting. If that wounded animal instead looked up at us and through bleeding lips said, “Please don’t kill me”, could we then kill so casually? Would it make all that much difference if the animal could talk? I’m asking – because they can now. Pulitzer Prize winner Dr. Carl Sagan said it. “How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder? Indeed how smart would any animal have to be?” My new perspective on this matter came on recently and rather suddenly. I have always contributed what I can to animal rescue efforts. I am inclined to anthropomorphization of family pets, dogs, and cats. In recent years I have racked my considerable arsenal of hunting guns. I just don’t feel like killing anything any more. Yet I get a letter from Mr. Carbin in Fayette, Iowa, which says: ‘Hey, Paul Harvey, you eat your steak, your trout, your pork chops, your pheasant under glass—because somebody else did your killing for you. How do you justify that?’ I can’t justify it if I let myself think about it. Now something’s happened that demands that I think about it.

When I relate my experience of having heard an animal “talk”, I am not referring to the mimicry of a parrot. Here’s what happened. My son, Paul, researching a “Rest of the Story” story for broadcast, became acquainted with a research project at the University of Oklahoma. There they have been teaching an animal to talk---specifically a 15 year old female chimpanzee named Washoe. This is the basic recognition communication, mostly single unit: big, small, up, down. Since 1966 this chimpanzee has learned 140 signs in Standard American Sign Language. After all this learning and more learning, the project directors decided that Washoe was prepared now to “conceptualize.” In lay language, instead of imitating some human’s words—the chimp was ready to express thoughts of her own. She had learned enough words to cross-reference those words and “originate” expressions of her own. Now, understand Washoe is a pampered animal in the University Laboratory – well fed, physically comfortable, safe from harm. She had “security”. And yet—when she was able to put words together on her own into a phrase—these were the first three. And she has said them again – repeatedly. To visitors the voice from the cage is saying: “LET ME OUT!”

~~

Author's note: 

Washoe was really not safe from harm, as Paul Harvey mentioned. 

She was exploited and enslaved by humans

and unjustly imprisoned. 

VEGANISM: ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISM and A STAND AGAINST SLAVERY

Too often, I still hear about animal rights activists who are not vegan. The way I see it, ‘Animal Rights’ and ‘Veganism’ are synonymous. You can’t logically be for animal rights and still pay someone to rape, enslave, torture and/or brutally kill nonhuman animals. On a daily basis, non-vegans (and that includes vegetarians) pay someone to do the above mentioned acts on their behalf, with their food and product purchases.

For those who want to be an animal rights activist – simply become vegan; it IS direct action. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, you are actively protesting the shocking behavior of human beings towards fellow animals. Why have we not grasped The Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do to you?’ Why this ‘easy-to-comprehend notion’ is so hard for others to see in regards to all animal species - is an enigma.

Some animal rights people identify with being vegan but they “cheat”, as they say - they might have a little cheese while out socially. They need to keep in mind that cows are perpetually kept pregnant, inseminated by a human, and endure torturous conditions. These gentle friends have their newborn (whom they instinctively want to care for) stolen from them, sometimes, within 24 hours of birth.

Living vegan is a moral starting point for those who are an inspiration to others. It’s not difficult to be a vegan if one grasps how profoundly meaningful it is. On the contrary, when one recognizes all the suffering and damage that stems from consuming animal products, it becomes hard to imagine why people decide not to be vegan! Some activists work to save the whales, while they contribute to the persecution of cows. People want to punish others for ‘cruelty to animals’ or "animal abuse" while they're cruel and abusive to animals every day by consuming slaughterhouse products. This behavior is not only inconsistent, but speciesist.

It makes sense to spend our time, money and resources to promote vegan education, which encompasses all animal rights issues, instead of working on regulating the conditions within a system that should simply be abolished; a system that stems from a misinformed, flawed culture. We need to unite and work for empty cages, not better cages. I don’t want to be a part of extending ‘a pat on the back’ to mega corporations responsible for misery and death imposed on nonhuman animals day after day, year after year, because they enlarged the prison stalls where they hold innocent animals captive or because they agreed to use cage-free eggs. It makes more sense to educate and change the mindsets of the public; the purchasers, who are creating the demand for these products, by paying businesses to callously exploit non-human animals.

Vegans do oppose factory farms, of course, however if there were no factory farms, most vegans would still be vegan. It’s not about whether the process is “humane” or not. Veganism is a protest against a speciesist society that believes nonhuman animals were put here for our use, to be our property, to be subjugated by us; regardless of whether they are “humanely” raised or not. There is absolutely no such thing as humane enslavement, exploitation or murder.

There is nothing “humane” involved in animal husbandry, even if products are labeled “humane”. The “humane meat labels” are merely marketing schemes to make people feel good about themselves while they are still directly supporting cruelty. So called “humanely raised” animals have a number of torturous practices inflicted on them. Even when "free-range" farmed animals are allowed to live outdoors, they're still subjected to excruciating mutilations without painkiller, such as castration, branding, dehorning, tail-docking, and de-beaking. They are still slaughtered in the same violent way as factory-farmed animals. Sentient beings are filled with fear as they are prodded down a narrow chute. They can hear and smell what is happening to others before them, they desperately try to turn around, but can’t, until it's their turn to be hung upside down by one leg on a conveyor belt, to have their throat slit. Some are dismembered while still fully conscious. The whole abysmal system must be abolished and that is the only solution worth working towards.

We must work towards all forms of slavery and oppression being abolished! This includes; child slavery and indentured servitude in the coffee and cocoa industries of the Ivory Coast of Africa, women and children in Sudan, child carpet slaves of India, forced marriages, debt bondage in Southeast Asia, human trafficking to serve sexual slavery, forced labor, or child soldiery, and the mass enslavement of nonhuman animals of this world. All species of animals; both human and nonhuman deserve the right to live their portion of life free of enslavement and exploitation.

Estimates from various anti-slavery organizations range from a staggering 2.7 million to 27 million (human) slaves in the world today– more than any time in history! (These numbers are comprised of debt bondage/bonded labor slaves, forced labor slaves, trafficked slaves; slaves who were coerced or deceived then transported into a forced labor or debt bondage situation.)

The numbers of nonhuman slaves seems beyond calculation. According to the U.S.D.A. records of 2007 - 10,357 million land-based animals were raised and killed for food (in the U.S.). (This does not include fish or other aquatic animals.) Another 250 million animals were killed for “sport,” in vivisection laboratories, in pounds, or as “pests.” These statistics cover just one year in just one country. Thus far, the history of humanity is appallingly oppressive. It is difficult to stop the slavery in Sudan if you are living in the U.S., however, in most places in the world, one can choose to live vegan - a universal protest against slavery. Vegans do not pay someone else to enslave, rape, exploit and kill sentient beings.

The condition of cows exploited for their milk is often hideous. It is pitiful to see humans so coldhearted and not in touch with their natural feelings of empathy; so much so that they could be complicit in such crime against nonhumanity. We cannot rise to who we are really meant to be, if we are inflicting (or paying someone else to inflict) misery and suffering on others. We free the animals and our own higher nature by living vegan.

A (humorous) Glimpse into the Vegan Future

"It often happens that the universal belief of one age, a belief from which no one was free or could be free without an extraordinary effort of genius or courage, becomes to a subsequent age, so palpable an absurdity that the only difficulty is to imagine how such and idea could ever have appeared credible." John Stuart MillEnglish author and philosopher (1806-1873)

It’s the future. We turn on the T.V. to a half-hour, commercial-free news program. A reporter speaks: Today is the 10th anniversary of the last case of the deadly 'sad cow' disease that turned the whole world vegan at once, and amazingly, everyone is feeling better! We take you now to view a sampling of the general public walking the streets. They move with agility. Now we take you to a clip from ten years ago. Dare I say that we appear to be a more enlightened species, even than 10 years ago? It was TRUE what the pioneer vegans told us of veganism being the next step in the evolution of humankind!

Once overloaded hospital rooms are emptying at an accelerated rate. It appears that Americans are all getting healthier, leaner, less toxic and disease-ridden. New medical findings indicate children born in these vegan times don't have the typical runny noses so common in children of the last decades. The children are clear-eyed, bright and intelligent. Size 3X has been done away with at the International Clothing Convention, as gross obesity is a disease of the “not so good old days”. New medical studies show that heart attacks, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases are at an all time low.

'The Community Fruit Tree Project' is underway. People all across the globe are planting fruit trees on residential roads. The funding was ordered by the courts to come from the meat and dairy industries. A law was passed to close down all slaughterhouses and stop the breeding of sentient beings, 10 years ago today. The ruling stated that 10% of the companies' profits was to be allocated to fund the Fruit Tree Planting Project in neighborhoods. Let's go to one such neighborhood now. (Children and dogs are safely playing together in the streets.) Human's best friend seems to be taking to a plant-based diet, as well. Here we see a young boy who learns about 'loyalty' from his canine friend. He is learning to really love animals in a way that was unknown decades ago when people exploited animals and could not comprehend really loving them.

The neighborhood has gathered, dressed in smiles and grins, to plant various fruit trees. One woman is seen handing out Milkweed plants that attract the Monarch butterfly, to increase their population. It's Saturday morning and there is a stand on the street corner where neighbors gather to discuss issues that pertain to the community. They exchange seeds that they have collected from their gardens. They sell their excess fruit and vegetables. All the yards on the street are tidy and flowery. Birds, bees and butterflies are plentiful. Two young girls have set up a watermelon stand and are eating up the profits and giggling.

We take you to one woman seen petting a free-living deer in the woods adjacent to her back yard. "This deer and myself no longer feel the fear that as a young woman I lived with day in and day out, and I'm sure my friend here would agree. It's the most miraculous feeling to experience life without constant fearfulness. Who would have ever thought, 10 years ago, that life could become so peaceful for this deer and me? Who would have ever thought I could become friends with a non-domesticated, free-living animal? We certainly didn't know then what we are realizing now!" Thank-you to our roadside reporter, Will Dumore, and now back to Cher Wordsworth.

Good Day. There is not a single war happening anywhere on Earth for the first time in human history. Let's pause and ponder this profundity. When people all became vegan, they stopped wanting 'to kill.' Thus our crime rate has diminished greatly. All the money we used to pour into law enforcement, prisons, and the judiciary system would have been more wisely spent funding vegan education programs, we see now. We could have fed vegan meals to dangerous murderers in prisons to calm their temperaments. How could we have been so blind? Jails are emptying now. People want to live righteously, and so no longer require law enforcement. Parents are breathing easier in these vegan times as violence in our schools has ended. New research shows that children's scholastic achievements have greatly advanced. (Crime is such a thing of the past that it hardly makes the news.)

We take you now to meet a dog named Braveheart, who was found rescuing abandoned puppies and becoming their foster mother. Braveheart is taking the puppies to her people where they nourish them from the plant kingdom and supplement those necessary nutrients unavailable from plant food. A panel of renowned scientists from all over the world have merged and released a statement that the ozone hole is significantly decreased. Climate change is at a halt. The great polar ice caps have slowed down their rapid melting of decades past. This is all due to ending animal agriculture and its contribution to the green house gas effect. New species of gentle animals are emerging on the planet; being discovered daily.

The last slaughterhouse to close was reopened today, in Houston, Texas, as a memorial museum of the Farmed Animal Holocaust. On display are the actual trucks used to haul "livestock" (as they used to say). In actuality though, 'living animals' were hauled off to slaughter, reminiscent of the trains used to bring Jews and Catholics to the gas chambers in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. One 'livestock hauling truck' stands as an emblem engraved with the words ‘Lest it never happen again’. We go now to New Zealand where scientists have finally invented sterilization baits to replace the archaic and inadequate poison baits once used to eradicate the introduced-by-man and unwanted possum in the New Zealand forests. The new baits are proving successful. New Zealanders feel proud to have stopped using poison baits in their natural, and indeed beautiful environment, and has made peace with the persecuted possum in this way.

Back to the U.S. where Dennis Kucinich, the first appointed ‘Secretary of Peace’ is stepping down from office, heroically, after an accomplished long term in office and helping to usher us into an Age of Peace. It was a milestone in history when the American people saw the important need for a 'Secretary of Peace'. Not that long ago mass murderers were our heroes. Not that long ago we had only a ‘secretary of war’. We go now to Meta Morphosis, our reporter in the field, who takes us via airplane to visit L.A.'s restaurant scene.

The flight attendant asks me, 'Will you be having Tofuna Salad Platter, Meatless Loaf and mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, or Wheat-meat Lasagna?' Wow! Food was never so good! Here we are on a street in Los Angeles where I see a vegan pizzeria, Mama Mia's Spaghetti House, a Kentucky Baked Tofu Cutlets Take-Out, New McDonald’s Soy Burgers, An International House of Plant-Based Pancakes, A gourmet veganic 5 star eatery and winery, a Thai Cuisine Cafe, a Mendy's New Fashioned Vegan Burger joint, a Potato Palace, several raw food establishments, veganic soup and salad bar chains, a Chinese restaurant, fresh juice bars, bakeries, all vegan of course, that goes without saying! Now over to Barry in our capital.

Thank-you Cher. The clothing and shoe industry's losses are at an all time high, as we vegans tend to want to reuse, recycle, and participate far less in consumerism. Since we're not all clogged up with animal fat, our 'reasoning' has become clearer and it is now obvious to us that we must protect and preserve our precious planet. Recycling collection points have been granted more funding by the courts today. A star-studded celebrity event at the White House last night raised $100 million dollars for the new Clean Air/Clean Water Act. This is Barry Good reporting from Washington D.C., now back to Cher.

Tonight's heart-warming story is: There is NOT a single reported case of a starving child left in Africa, Cher happily announces. We have accomplished our task to put an end to world hunger. There seems to be plenty of surplus grains, legumes and potatoes since we stopped breeding and eating cows, pigs, and everything else that moves. Food is being shipped in from everywhere! There is a team feeling that has never been seen before on Planet Earth, says a spokesperson for the ‘Stop World Hunger Committee; Mr. Change Forthebetta.

Now we take you to a college in Australia where a woman is being awarded a medal of courage for being the first to introduce the vegan ideal to their school; leading the way towards the shift to present times. People are being honored worldwide today as the United Nations proclaimed this 'Heroes of the Vegan Movement Day'. War heroes of the past will no longer be celebrated. All national holidays honoring war heroes are hereby replaced with days commemorating the forerunners who brought us into a radiant Golden Age of Peace.

Now we go to the U.S. Parks and Recreation spokesperson: 'Visitors to our National Parklands and Forests is at an all time high. Since hunting was banned, the rubbish in the national forests is virtually nil, even though far more people are hiking our national forests. This is something we felt worth reporting to you…You; a person just like us. Thank-you and good night from Cher Wordsworth and the team here at BBC (Better Broadcasting Communications.)