In doing research into the history of veganism, I was interested to see that Lewis Gompertz (1783/84–1861), a vegan on moral grounds who also believed in the notion of human and nonhuman equality, was a co-founder in 1824 of the Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which became the RSPCA. The SPCA governing Committee […]
In human history, no conduct has generated more vacuous excuses than animal use. Attempts to justify animal use have generated some of the most profoundly silly statements ever made. The desire to consume animal products has clouded some of the most brilliant minds who ever lived, reducing them to making statements that a small child […]
All of the large animal charities are partnering with industry to promote happy exploitation. All of the large animal charities and their supporters reject abolition as it is presented here: * a rejection of the status of animals as property and recognition of nonhuman personhood based only on sentience; * an emphasis on veganism as […]
I have no formal affiliation with any organization, including those that characterize themselves as “abolitionist” or “abolitionist vegan” organizations. Some people who get exposed to my work get excited and decide to start “abolitionist” or “abolitionist vegan” groups. I am not sure why these people feel motivated to do this. After all, if they are […]
Someone from the The Farm Animal Protection Corporate Outreach Program at the Humane Society of the United States sent me a poster bearing the standard welfarist slogan, “don’t be divisive,” apparently to reprimand me for not getting with the corporate program: (Click to enlarge.) I liked the color scheme and general layout. Here is my […]
Marathan runner Fiona Oakes is an “Ambassador” of The Vegan Society. Here’s what Ms. Oakes had to say in a June 2014 BBC Radio interview (at 3:00 minutes in): I run in a positive proactive kind of way to promote a vegan diet…I’m not saying that it’s for everyone, I’m saying that it’s not probably […]
Jenna Woginrich, supposedly a former vegetarian/vegan (she has used both terms), has been aggressively pimping “happy meat” for about five years now. She claims: My beef, after all, wasn’t with beef. It was with how the cow got to my plate in the first place. One way to make sure the animals I ate lived […]
I get hundreds of emails and private messages every day. A common theme is “I agree with you but” and a common version of that theme is to criticize me for not patting people on the head because they are not vegans but are on “journeys” toward being vegan. Here’s one that greeted me this […]
I have been critical recently of the “rebrand” of The Vegan Society, which, as I have explained has a major flaw: it doesn’t promote veganism. I have in the past been critical of The Vegan Society for taking paid advertisements in in its magazine, The Vegan, which promote non-vegan restaurants and inns. For example, I […]
Are you new to abolition? There’s a lot to learn, and, if you have been a member of one of the large animal welfare charities, a lot to unlearn! If you are interested in learning about the abolitionist approach, I recommend you start with these four essays: 1. Animal Welfare Regulation, “Happy Exploitation,” and Speciesism […]