| When
people asked, "So are these the pigs we eat?" or some similar question,
and I explained, "No, these pigs are turned into dog or cat food;
we eat their babies," (generally elaborating a bit more along these
lines) there was universal horror. Some people asked more questions,
I answered. One fellow threw away his hot dog after we spoke and said
he wouldn't eat meat again. Of the more than 500 people who signed
for me, I'd guess that very few were veggie; they just had no idea
that animals were treated so abusively.
One burly young
fellow with a crew cut and many tattoos was a butcher, and when
his butcher buddy started mocking him for his hypocrisy in signing
our petition, this fellow totally ripped into his friend about the
importance of compassion for animals. This sort of thing held true
throughout my three days: People you don't expect to care based
on "profiling" are almost as likely to care about animal abuse as
everyone else. Very few people say they support animal abuse. Everyone
is horrified by what's going on.
Of course, there
is some cause for pessimism, on the basis of these sorts of stories
(e.g., the Humane Society selling hot dogs, the level of ignorance),
but there is far more cause for optimism. People do not realize
what the meat, dairy, and egg industries are doing to animals. People
do not realize that one can be perfectly healthy on a vegan diet.
People don't realize that resources are being trashed in order to
supply animal products. In many instances, all that is required
is education.
To the pessimists
who take the former view, I point out that we've made amazing progress
in what is, historically, almost no time at all. A defeatist
attitude that is horrified, rather than heartened, by fur wearers
and butchers signing the petition should consider history and how
long it took for women's suffrage and an end to slavery. The 13th
and 19th amendments (abolition, suffrage) were passed just 137 and
82 years ago. That's nothing, historically speaking. Abolition and
suffrage came 89 and 144 years after the Declaration of Independence
was signed. And yet the societal conversion has been virtually complete.
This is not, of course, to say that we're where we need to be on
feminist and civil rights issues; it is just to say that on suffrage
and emancipation, the popular view of the 1850's is diametrically
opposed to the popular view today-an amazingly fast conversion.
Hog
Heaven |
Rev. Andrew
Linzey talks about the anti-vivisection conferences of the late
1970's, explaining that vegan meals weren't even available. Now,
non-vegan meals aren't available. Five years ago, no one had ever
been prosecuted for abusing a farmed animal. Now there are three
cases that I know of. Five years ago, no corporation or government
had taken birds seriously as animals who can suffer. Now, the tide
is turning.
There are so
many more examples, and they just keep coming in. This is not a
time to write anyone off. If Howard Lyman, Don Imus, and Jeff Nelson
can go vegan and speak and write so eloquently about animal abuse,
anyone can. Who thought just 2 years ago that we would hear Sen.
Robert Byrd (W.Va.) speaking from the floor about animal cruelty,
and the Washington Post running repeated front page stories about
farmed animal abuse? Writing anyone off is a large mistake, and
we make it at the animals' peril.
So the things
that I find most valuable about the gestation legislation in Florida
is that it raises the issue in a way that makes it easy for people
to listen. Who opposes democracy? "The right of Floridians to cast
an educated vote" requires that they learn about the issue; every
paper in Florida will run "voters' guides" that explain all the
issues, including what factory farming has done to pigs. Every TV
station will include bits on the news. Many, many people told me
that they had read about the campaign in the paper, and were horrified
that pigs were treated so badly. More than a few people told me
they were not going to eat pork ever again (it's a start), and listened
as I explained that this sort of thing is endemic to animal agriculture.
Find me some other action/activity that finds millions of people
seeking out more information on factory farming.
Fly to Florida
for the Animals
Among the most
effective methods of advocacy, it seems to me, are initiatives like
the one in Florida. The initiative has the advantage of reaching
an entire state (and a big one at that) in a way that almost everyone
wants the public to know what they're voting on. Try to reach that
many millions with one-on-one contact!
Flights to Florida
are relatively inexpensive right now. The Florida Campaign for Humane
Farms can use all the help they can get to gather signatures. The
experience is just amazingly uplifting, and you'll be a part of
history-this is the first legislation ever that will ban something
that is "standard" across the agricultural industry. Whether the
issue makes the ballot or not, the initiative will be a crucial
chapter in the fight for animal liberation. Please take a few days
(or a few weeks) off from work and go to Florida. The campaign can
put you up in Miami (and some other places, I believe) and assign
you to good areas for signature gathering.
Bruce Friedrich
coordinates PETA's vegan campaign. For both easy and involved vegan
advocacy ideas, he suggests that you click here http://www.goveg.com/vegideas.html
Bruce and
friends.
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