Veganism

My path to Veganism started when I was a young teenager. I was constantly writing school papers on the plight of whales, seals, and other sentient beings. Back then I was fooled by the whole B.S. Peta campaign, but they are who started providing me information about animal rights, and it was through them I started to become who I am today, for this I will always be thankful, but I do find numerous flaws in their approach to animal rights and human rights, but I digress.

I begged and begged my parents to let me switch to a Vegan lifestyle, but for some reason, it wasn't going to happen. While writing one of these papers, my parents found me crying over the images of a battered baby seal. I was told that I was "torturing" MYSELF (!?!?!?) and that this had to stop. Shortly after, we started going back to church where we were told animals were here for our survival, to be used as food, clothing, and other ends to human needs. Unfortunately over time I lost the compassion that was once so strong.

About two years ago I moved in with my current companion. He was renting a small house out on a huge farm. I loved being out in nature, and started to grow bonds to the farm animals that were around all of the time. My consciousness soon returned, and I realized that to fully live out my ethics I had to rid myself of any and all animal by-products.

Since then I have done tons of research and saw the horrors of what happens to these live, sentient beings as they are being tortured, raped, and murdered. It's a sight that is forever burned into my soul.

I will never forget the look of fear on a cows face as her throat was being sliced and she was left to bleed out. I will never forget the downed cow having a chain put around her body, and watching the tractor trailer take off so that the cow would be tied in place and her weak, broken body would come crashing down to the ground. I will always remember the baby male chicks as they were thrown into a grinder while they were alive, cut to pieces, feeling the blades tear up their bodies, because they were not profitable due to their gender. The list goes on and on. These are not occasional practices they happen everyday, thousands and thousands of times, all over the place. How could I truly call myself enlightened, but allow these horrendous things to continue to happen in my name and for my money? I couldn't and I won't. Never again will I be the agent of death.