Pet awareness

[benwl]

I couldnt find a way of attaching a picture to a reply, so this is a new post.

It reminds me of this piece of vegan outreach I saw stuck to the back of a train seat

[andyswarbs Volunteer]

Now, pets is a whole new subject. I have not had a pet since my parents had a terrier dog when I was a child. It should have had a dog type as "terror" rather than terrier! I fully respect people who get "pets" from animal sanctuaries in a foster home style way.

What I had not realised until I started watching some documentaries is how for every pet bought in a pet shop there are others who are not so pretty / liked and therefore eventually killed to make way for fresh young pets.

And then there is all the animal rights issue of "owning" a pet.

Where do I stand now? Probably in a "companion" place. So providing a "pet" is much more of a companion and - for people who know about the pet industry issues - is ethically sourced...

Will I ever own a pet/companion? I have no urgency in my mind to do this, but given the cruelty I am increasingly aware of in the animal industry it sparks in me the thought I ought to do something here to right wrongs, however small.

[benwl Volunteer in reply to andyswarbs]

Thanks for those thoughtfull words. I've lived with cats much of my life but not really thought much about the ethics of the pet industry.

I guess the meat and pet industries both share and benefit from the idea that non human animals can be owned/treated as property/exploited by humans.

Perhaps one negative of the current growth in veganism - if indeed it's driven by environmental and human health concerns - is it sidesteps the issue of the rights of non human animals.

[andyswarbs Volunteer in reply to benwl]

Anything that reduces cruelty to animals and treats them with respect dignity, and also an eye to no hypocrisy of treating animals differently just because...

[Agoodenough]

Wow, I love things like that. A friend of mine kept seeing vegan notices someone put up around Canterbury, just randomly on lamp posts etc. She took it as a sign and became vegan. 🐷

[benwl Volunteer in reply to Agoodenough]

That's wonderful, nice to know this sort of thing can have an effect like that

[Hidden]

We might end up with several...whaling, killing dolphin (either intentional/deliberate)...Maybe, they ought to sell these (to raise awareness/raise cash) for Vegan Pound.

[benwl Volunteer in reply to Hidden]

That's an interesting idea

I did a bit of searching and came across this BBC article about someone who puts vegan stickers up in the supermarket. They found someone to interview who had been 'distressed' by them, but of course not as distressed as the animals are.

bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/...