November 1st - World Vegan Day

 

Happy World Vegan Day! I was happy to read on the In Defense  of Animals website that today - November first is WORLD VEGAN  DAY. I am pleased that a day has been designated to bring  attention to those who have taken the big step to improve  their health and the environment, and help suffering farm  animals. 

 

Re the latter, I remember George Bernard Shaw saying at one  time that he envisioned seeing all the animals he DID NOT  EAT, at death coming en masse to his bier to pay homage.   I love the thought and wish the same for myself.

 

Today is All Saints Day for Catholics - and so I now have two

reasons to celebrate this day.  As Catholics, we are taught

that we are all saints with a small "s"- so long as we try to

live by the principles of Jesus Christ and His church.  The

big "S" saints are those like St. Francis of Assisi who went

over and beyond just trying to be good. Their everyday lives

reflected a very special love for God.  I find the stories of

so many of them each day at liturgy where I read their abreviated  lives  in my little Magnificat missal. But St. Francis is and  will always be my favorite saint.

 

 

 

This week I got into an e-mail exchange with someone who I have

come to appreciate in his concern for people, the environment,

and animals.  But I was surprised to find out that he is not

vegan or even vegetarian.  A two way conversation ensued. 

 

He said that he ate meat, and he didn't think animals had to

suffer because of that- in reference to my opposition to

Heifer International which sends animals to impoverished

countries as gifts from us.

 

My response: I forgot to mention that we, as a supposedly

civilized people, don't even treat our own animals with compassion. 

In one country which received goat gifts, I remember reading

one who was slaughtered in sacrifice in expiation for a crime

a young man had committed. 

 

As for compassionate treatment generally re our food animals,

the only way one  can be sure that the animal you eat has been

treated compassionately is if you raise and kill it yourself.

I was surprised to hear that he read Mercy for Animal posts

and still kept on eating meat.       

 

He then reminded me that every being lives and dies.  Of course

I could not help thinking -but isn't it important to know how

they live and die?  Most of our farm animals live horrible lives

confined to cages, crates, or stifling factory farm barns. And

slaughtering practices often leave much to be desired.

 

And then he reminded me that some animals eat others and this

seems to  be "natural."  Of course it is, and it is called -

balance of nature.  It is something that I personally have difficulty

coming to terms with myself, but it is beyond my scope to do

anything about. 

 

However, what I put into my mouth is within my power to make

compassionate choices.  Being vegan for many years is a gratifying

lifest yle for those of us who have embraced it for the right

reasons.  How could it not be? We are not responsible for animal

suffering in the cafos or the frightening deaths of food animals

in slaughterhouses.   

 

His next comment I often hear from other meat-eaters. If all meat-

eating would be abolished, what would happen to the cattle. pigs,

chickens, etc. if we didn't eat them?

 

Well, I think it would be a much easier problem to address rather

than the problem of animal suffering in cafos and slaughterhouses. 

But then I told him he should rest assured -that this would never

happen.  I wou ld be supremely happy if only HALF of the world would

become vegan. 

 

Some people will never change their eating habits and will demand

to eat meat.  However, if half of the world would become vegan,

I see the cafos from hell being dismantled first of all because there

would be no need for them anymore, and the small farms of yesteryear 

could now return. T he fewer animals could now enjoy the sun and

fresh air once more.  They could intermingle with their own and be

able to move around- no longer being restricted to life in  cages,

gestation crates, or milking lines.

 

And some of us living in rural areas could even enjoy having

calves, cows, lambs, etc. as companion aimals if we choose.  Some

people already do use them this way.  I would love to have a lamb,

calf, or piglet as a companion animal and yes, of course they would

mature and become sheep, cows, and pigs.  But if I had the wherewithall,

I would love to make them a part of my animal family. 

 

While I have to admit, I don't love all God's creatures equally, I

do have a special love for those who do no harm, and  certainly farm

animals belong in this category.