By Johann Taylor, animal rescuer
Why do people choose to become vegan or follow a plant-based diet?
Firstly let’s see what the difference is between vegan and plant-based. Generally, people who are vegan eat a vegan diet and are also interested in animal welfare, do not believe in any animal cruelty, don’t wear any animal byproducts, and wouldn’t use anything tested on animals. Generally speaking, those who eat plant-based only eat a plant-based diet and are not necessarily worried about wearing or using animal byproducts like leather, honey, skin care products, etc.
The plight of animals be it farm, companion, marine or wildlife animals is one of the foremost reasons why many people around the world choose to eat a vegan diet. People who care about the animals of the earth believe that, like humans, animals have rights and deserve to have their best interests taken into consideration regardless of whether they are useful to humans.
Those that are vegan believe that animals are not ours to use for food, clothing, entertainment, experimentation or for any other reason, and by switching to a plant-based diet we can alleviate the needless suffering and deaths of countless animals, the irreparable damage done to the earth that raising and eating meat leaves which is an environmental toll that generations will be forced to pay.
Modern high-pressure agriculture commonly keeps cows, calves, pigs, chickens, turkeys, ducks and other animals in overcrowded stalls, cages, crates or sheds where they are often unable to turn around or even take a single step for their entire lives. They are deprived of veterinary care, exercise sunlight and even the feel of grass beneath their feet. These living, breathing, thinking, feeling beings die at the rate of millions per day just so humans can have a snack. Deciding what we eat means choosing between the horror of factory farming or the respect and the right to live for animals.
More than 25 BILLION animals are killed every year by the meat industry, they are killed in ways that would horrify any compassionate person. The average westerner is responsible for the abuse and death of around 90 animals per year. Cognitive dissonance means that people have separated themselves from the food that they eat, and the reality of the animals, short, painful, abusive life.
Many of the diseases that are commonplace today are caused by the amount and quality of the meat that is eaten. In modern factory farms, animals are routinely injected with hormones and stimulants to make them grow bigger and faster. The USA is particularly bad with many dairy farms use recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to enhance milk production, despite the fact that this chemical - which has been implicated in causing cancer and other diseases - shows up in milk. Feedlots are over-crowded, dirty, stinking places with open sewers and choking air. The animals would not survive at all but for the fact that they are fed huge amounts of antibiotics. In some farms, cattle are fed dead and grounded up cows. To induce and increase egg production, chickens are kept in tight cages and kept awake under bright light 24 hours a day.
Aside from animal agriculture there is the animal testing side of even more cruelty which vegans do not agree with. Hundreds of thousands of animals are poisoned blinded and killed every year to test shampoos, household cleaners, cosmetics, hair sprays, and other personal-care and household items. These tests are not required by law, and they often produce inaccurate or misleading results - even if a product has blinded an animal, it can still be marketed to the general public. Some corporations force substances into animals' stomachs and drip chemicals into rabbits' eyes. What goes on behind the doors of laboratories is horrific.
Then there is the clothing industry that uses fur, leather, animal skins, silk and by products. Animals are unnecessarily being trapped, caged, hurt, and killed to make clothing, accessories, feathers used for pillows and duvets and even furniture for human use to name just a few.
So, the above are some of the reasons that people are vegan due to the animals right to a safe, free from harm existence.
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