There are many polemics between vegans and omnivores. One that appears more often than not is the claim by omnivores that humans have the right to kill animals because we are intellectually and morally superior to them. They also claim that it is fair that those who are stronger and more dominant survive in the food chain. Let’s take a deep breath and discuss these two “arguments”.
What do Nikola Tesla, Leonardo Da Vinci, Leo Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, Emile Zola, Mahatma Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein, Pythagoras and Berta von Suttner have in common, except that they were geniuses in their fields? They were all advocates of animal rights. They had a great love and respect for animals of all kinds.
I was Nela, an intelligent, curious, affectionate, and sociable pig. Because of your decision to eat meat, I’m now a pork chop. By buying this product, you are supporting the torture and killing of animals, and endangering your own health and nature.
One of the provocative questions that meat lovers and vegan criticizers ask is: What would happen to all these animals if we all went vegan? Certainly, such questions do not arise from a great concern for animals, but they are easy to answer anyway. It would be wonderful if everyone stopped eating meat all of a sudden, but it’s also unrealistic to expect something like this to happen.
We have heard that you have been in lockdown in recent months because of some invisible enemy called coronavirus. It must be very hard for you to stay at home all the time. We want to tell you that we know how you feel. We tried to tell you this before, but you didn’t listen. Now you may have a little more time to read our letter, and now you may understand us better because you, too, have restrictions on your freedom.
‘Vegans say they love animals. So why do they eat all their food?’ You may have heard this popular joke about vegans before. There is no need to argue against jokes, even though Freud would agree that those who joke feel something deeper against the people they make fun of. However, it is often the case that this topic is brought up by omnivores: why is it okay for vegans to eat plants but not animals?
You know the famous story of The Little Prince a golden-haired boy who lived alone on the planet B612, caring for one sheep and one rose. It never occurred to him to bake his sheep and eat her for lunch. “Little Prince, why don’t you eat a sheep? The meat is healthy, and the mutton is delicious. Where do your proteins come from?” someone from the Planet of Carnivores asked him.
If someone tells you that you are as smart as chicken, thank that person for giving you such a compliment, because chickens are proven to be highly intelligent animals. Chickens are surprisingly clever and understand a lot about what’s happening in the world around them. Thanks to their cognitive and emotional abilities, they can be measured well against young children, primates or ravens.
The most important thing you can do to help animals is not to eat meat or, better yet, any animal products. It is essential for parents to be honest with their children and to tell them how burgers and salami are made. It is often the case that teenagers resent their parents for not telling them the truth about the origin of their food but have had to find out, unpleasantly, themselves.
This proclamation by the pigs who control the government in the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is a comment on the hypocrisy of governments that indicate the absolute equality of their citizens but give power and privileges to a small elite.
We usually hear animal rights activists speak on behalf of animals because animals cannot speak human languages, BUT … For the first time in history, animals themselves are fighting for their rights in a human court. In the story, The Turtle Who Fights For Animal Rights, animals come up with firm arguments and very respectable witnesses to support them such as Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Leo Tolstoy, Franz Kafka, and George Bernard Shaw (to name a few).
Vegan Fest is the largest vegan fair in Austria, where I had the opportunity to present my vegan books for children. I enjoyed talking to many inspiring people from the vegan community and one of them was Mr. Hubert Gassner, whose story is fantastic. He is a former conventional animal farmer who has become vegan. I would like to share with you his incredible story that shows how real change is possible.