Having been an animal lover- well Xtreme animal lover- my entire life, I first tried to be Vegetarian while in 6th grade.My family was not supportive at all,and given that my mom would not cook anything different for me,I at a salad or scoop of veggies each day.Needless to say that didnt last long.I started blacking out at school and decided i better start eating what my mom cooked for dinner and sent for lunch.At this point in my life I was a fiery,spunky animal activist on my own in the meat eating,"animals are servants" world.I fearlessly stood up to anyone for any animal whenever I felt it was needed.Even telling my own Uncle that if he was killed in a hunting accident,he got what he deserved and I wouldnt feel sorry.Dont get me wrong,I loved him,but hey - what goes around comes around.As I grew up I never lost that stubborn,whole souled devotion to animals.The wierd thing is that I never met any person like me.I had no idea that organizations like PETA, and The Sea Shephard exsisted.I can honestly say that if I had,my life would have been dramatically different.My life would have had meaning,I would've been fullfilling my purpose in the world instead of flailing around like a fish out of water. It has taken this long(31yrs),to realize why I have this almost super-human ability to feel,in my heart,pain,joy, and love FROM animals.Why I can throw caution to the wind when confronting an animal abuser,or stopping traffic on the Thruway,yes thruway, to pull a snapping turtle out of harms way. I HAVE TO BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED in animal rescue and animal rights.Unfortunatly I dont have the convenience of being able to up and move anywhere,however I am very interested in either starting something up on my own(eventually) or becoming employed with Farm Sanctuary.I would love to discover other animal rights/rescue organizations in the Rochester,NY area; however I have yet to find info on any.
This blog was supposed to be about my deciding to go Vegan,but obviously the two subjects go hand in hand for me.I recently watched Vegucated.It's a great documentary.There isnt much I dont know about the atrocities that take place in Factory Farming,but I learned something new.At egg farms,while seperating the female chicks from the male(which are useless to them) they either throw the male babies into a large grinder and grind them up alive,or toss them into a big plastic bag.Once the bag is about half way full it is taken out to the garbage where the chicks either
1) become crushed
2) starve to death or
3) are smothered in the plastic. This information and seeing it occur, was all I needed to realize why its SO important to be vegan - not just vegetarian. Now for my beloved ice cream,cheese oh how i love thee, and creamy dressings and such.I watched a mommy dairy farm cow give birth to a baby(ewww) and immediatly begin cleaning him,loving on him,and protecting him.Much as I have always done with my beautiful son.Then,within minutes of his birth,a worker came over,grabbed the baby cow by his back leg,and drag him away from his mother.I watched as she chased after him,trying to catch up,only to have the worker use a rod to scare the mother away.Baby male cows are either sold for veal,or killed.Suddenly cheese isnt so appealing.
So I have been vegetarian since that day,almost 100% vegan,and within a week will be completely vegan. I am excited,nervous,and happy.Come with me on this journey and feel free to give tips and ask questions.I am going to have fun in this journey to being the me I was always ment to be!
