“Let’s Create A New World Together” – VEGAN VOICES writer, heart activist and storyteller, Gwenna Hunter

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Gwenna Hunter.  

Gwenna is the creator of LA, Vegans for Black Lives Matter, and Health Campaign. She also manages several Vegan Food Aid programs for Vegan Outreach, working with organizations such as Black Women for Wellness, Black Lives Matter LA, Black Women Farmers of LA, and the LGBT Center South. In addition, Gwenna is involved with the Animal Save Movement; she manages the Mutual Food Aid program, working with the Downtown Crenshaw Coalition, and the Los Angeles Health Save Campaign. Gwenna has resided in Los Angeles since July 4, 2014, having previously lived in Cleverland, Miami, Charlotte, Texas, and Atlanta.

 

Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“We are all born sovereign. Rights are not to be taken or given. You are here to stand in your power. You are the solution. You are the bringer of light. You are the good news…. One of the most powerful forms you can take on is that of an activist. You can help activate and awaken people’s hearts and transform their minds… You were born for this. We are activists and are here to help transform and heal the world… We may fuss and fight, but we cannot do this work without love. Remember who you are and why you are here. Let’s create a new world together.”

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

A Momentous Time To Be Living Through – VEGAN VOICES writer Sandra Isobel Kyle

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Sandra Isobel Kyle.  

A vegan since 2010, Sandra lives in Whanganui, New Zealand, and has been a writer and activist for animal rights since the 1990s.  Her book ‘Glass Walls’ and her website endanimalslaughter.org call for all slaughterhouses in New Zealand to close by 2025.  Sandra produced and presented the animal rights radio show ‘Safe and Sound’ for four and a half years.  She is a former Country Liaison for the Save Movement in New Zealand, and a short film, ‘2025’, was made about her solitary slaughterhouse vigils. In 2018 Sandra received the Philip Wollen Animal Welfare Award. Dubbed by the mainstream media as “The Singing Vegan” she was nominated in 2021 for the Assisi Award, named after the patron saint of animals, St Francis of Assisi.

 

Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“In the town I am currently living in, there are two slaughterhouses, which I visit once or twice a week, often by myself. One is for sheep, lambs, and bobby calves, the other for cows and pigs.  If I’m lucky, the truck arriving at the sheep and bobby slaughterhouse has to stop at the gates to let another vehicle out, and I can have a few moments with the animals.  The frightened, bewildered eyes of the babies relax a little as I stroke their noses and ears, speak softly, play music, or sing to them before they are taken onto the premises and out of sight. The cow and pig slaughterhouse is on a main thoroughfare, and it is possible to have a good view of the animals arriving and being unloaded into holding pens.  Anyone who has heard a pig cry knows how bloodcurdling the sound is – something between a scream and a roar…  They cower in the corners of the truck, as workers wave sticks with plastic bags in front of their eyes.  As soon as they are locked inside their pens they begin to scream, triggering the cows next door, who bellow and moo plaintively. Standing on my stepladder, I get a good view into the cows’ pens and much is revealed. Their behaviours – mooing, stamping, eye rolling, slumping, head hanging, restlessness – show that they are stressed and depressed, and that inside their body vehicles, superficially so different from our own, they are emotional, sentient beings with the same capacity as our own to feel joy, fear, and pain, and with the same desire not to be killed.  Knowing I cannot save them is the worst feeling, but what I can do, I do …  

“The vegan revolution is an essential part of the evolution of consciousness that humanity has to undergo in order to solve our problems. It is the first step in creating a nonviolent world.  Aided by, among other things, the Internet and rising plant-based protein technologies, just as mountains are eroded by constant wind and precipitation, a tiny minority of animal activists are breaking the iron chains of habit and tradition to create a better, brighter future for all Earthlings. I feel humbled and give thanks that I and my fellow activists have a part to play in this momentous point in history that we are living through.”

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

How I Became A Voice For The Animals – VEGAN VOICES writer Shweta Borgaonkar

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Shweta Borgaonkar.  

Shweta is an animal rights activist from Pune, India. At the time of this essay, she is twenty years old, and her mission in life is to create a world where all animals are respected and treated as individuals. She started out volunteering at adoption camps for stray cat sand dogs and joined a vegan activism group at the age of sixteen.  She co-organized Pune’s first Animal Libertion March in 2018 and the Pan-India Animal Liberation March in 2019. Shweta has also led training sessions to help activists become better organizers.  She co-organized the Pune chapters of Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) and the Animal Save Movement. Currently, she is doing undergraduate work in the field of commerce and is an aspiring law student.  

 

Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“I grew up in a city with not many animals around.  Growing up with a lack of interaction with animals, I was scared of them. This changed when Girija, a street dog, came into my life. In the beginning, I used to be so scared of her that I would walk on the edge of the road to avoid being in close proximity to her. But slowly, with her beautiful black eyes and wagging tail, she made my fear go away and became my best friend. This was the first time I had connected with a nonhuman animal so deeply. Something inside of me loved her unconditionally and she loved me back unconditionally.

One day, I went to class and everyone told me that Girija was no more. She had been hit and killed by a vehicle. I was devastated. I somehow controlled my tears in class… but I knew she didn’t deserve to die like this. She deserved a safe home with a loving family.  She deserved to live in a world where everyone respected her, where she had access to medical care and food, and where her life was valued. As Girija left my life, she left me with a purpose in life – to create that world for her fellow Earthlings”. 

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

“We’re Preparing For Our First Hen Liberation” – Mother and Daughter Vegan Activists 4 – Tess and Mollie Ford

Next in our series of mother and daughter vegan activists we meet Tess and Mollie Ford.

 

Tess, as a new vegan, you must have a clear idea of when and why you gave up meat and dairy.   Can you tell us about that?

About three years ago my husband James and I watched a documentary on Netflix called “Game Changers”. It was a very convincing documentary mostly coming from a health point of view, and was the first time I discovered that not only was meat not necessary in my diet, but that it could even be causing me harm. More importantly, we have 3 growing girls. We are responsible for what is going into their perfect little bodies. Needless to say, we were convinced. We straight away decided to cut meat out of our diets – literally overnight – and cut down on dairy also. At this point our decision was largely based on health and less on ethical reasoning. However… I was eager to learn more. Over the next couple of years I went about my new vegetarian life, patting myself on the back and proudly declaring my moral highground wherever I went. I remember seeing the Anonymous for the Voiceless group out in central Wellington at one stage and making sure to mention to one of the activists, I was “almost there”. I continued to educate myself with all the vegan documentaries I could find, the first one being “Dominion”. Anyone who has watched this knows how eye-opening it is in terms of how animals are used and abused all over the world. Bizarrely, I didn’t at that point want to make the next step I knew in my heart I needed to. I’m an enthusiastic baker and justified my continued purchase of dairy as necessary, telling myself that what I was doing was enough. Besides, how can anyone possibly bake without eggs/milk/butter?! Yet I kept watching more and learning more about animal cruelty. My new heroes were animal activists: Tash Peterson, Joey Carbstrong, Leah Doellinger, Earthling Ed to name just a few. I remember very clearly, one evening I was sitting in bed watching some hidden camera footage of a farm where mother pigs (sows) were kept. I sat there crying and watching and crying. The switch finally went on in my head. I could no longer participate in/pay for the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse/murder of gentle, trusting, innocent, sentient beings. The 28th of August, 2021 was the first day of being vegan and I know I’ll never look back.

 

You have not imposed veganism on your children, but Mollie made her own decision to go vegan, is that right?

I have not shied away from showing my girls some footage of what happens to animals, as well as discussing it. I don’t believe it’s okay to lie to kids about something so violent that they unknowingly are too, participating in. When I became vegan I became intensely passionate about it overnight! However, the girls when out and about with friends and absolutely had the choice to continue eating meat or dairy. A few months ago, Mollie, my oldest, who was 12 at the time,  just came out and said she was ready to “go vegan”. She had watched and learned enough that she was ready to make that choice. I had made sure to say to the girls, it is a commitment. I didn’t want them to be people who would say they were vegan “most of the time”. In my view, it’s all or nothing. I know that when they say they’re ready, it means they absolutely are.

 

 

You and Mollie are now definitely vegan for the animals.   What kind of animal rights actions have you done together?

Mollie has come to two vigils with me to a Whanganui slaughterhouse where we have bore witness to animals before they are sent to slaughter. We have also joined Anonymous for the Voiceless in Wellington,  and participated in a Cube of Truth together, as well as “Make the Connection” outreaches. In our day-to-day life we do small things whenever we can for the animals. The area we live in has a lot of bush and farmland. When we are out walking, we often stop and spend time talking to and loving on the sheep, horses and cows. We are preparing for our first hen liberation and hope to create a home for them with us. This is just the beginning for us I’m sure!

 

You must have been proud of Mollie when she told you she wanted to go vegan.   What else about Mollie’s advocacy for animals makes you proud?

Mollie has had some kids at school make some ignorant and quite frankly revolting comments over the last few months. I am proud that although she is shy by nature, she has been learning to stick up for herself and her morals in a tactful way. I’m extremely proud of the fact that she is so intentional with her vegan journey. She is diligent with checking the backs of packets at the supermarket and is adventurous with trying new foods! I have an Animal Save hoodie which Mollie proudly wears everywhere.  She is an inspiration to me.

 

Thankyou for your time Tess!

Patting a praying mantis – Mother and Daughter Vegan Activists 3, Summer Aitken and Nova

Next in our series of Mother and Daughter vegan activists, we meet Summer Aitken and her two-year old daughter, Nova.

 

Summer, can you outline your journey towards veganism/animal rights?

I grew up in a small rural community on a lifestyle block and was indoctrinated with messages like ‘cows turn grass into milk’ and ‘animals give us meat.’ I was always the child that brought home strays and bottle-fed dozens of lambs for the farmer next door, but due to my upbringing the disconnect was strong and I continued to eat animals well into adulthood.

I worked for a long time in dog rescue and a comment from a rescue colleague was a major turning point in my thinking. She said, “I wonder how many of us who spend hours and hours of every day saving dogs’ lives go home and put the body of some other poor animal in the oven and eat it.”

That really shook me and I stopped eating meat.

Soon afterwards, I was invited to a friend’s dairy farm to feed the calves. While I was there I learned about ‘colostrum cows’ – they had coloured tape around their tails to identify them, and a desperate, grief-stricken look in their eyes. These depressed looking animals who had so recently given birth were marched into the milking shed before the rest of the herd, and their colostrum brought to the calf shed on the back of a tractor trailer. At the calf shed some of the tiny newborns had yellow ear tags and were fed the colostrum from the milking shed, and other calves in separate pens didn’t have ear tags were fed powdered milk replacement. I asked a lot of questions and the answers devastated me.  It was around nine years ago now, and I’ve been vegan from that day on.

Activism helps me cope in a non-vegan world. I feel that the least I can do for the animals is actively try to help change things for them.

Activism helps me cope in a non-vegan world. I feel that the least I can do for the animals is actively try to help change things for them.

 

Nova has been attending animal rights demonstrations and vigils since she was in the womb, and has always been vegan. Tell us why you think veganism is the best diet/lifestyle for her?

As a long-term vegan I’ve done a lot of research on nutrition over the years and I’m confident that a balanced plant based diet is the healthiest way for Nova to eat. She gets all the nutrition she requires for optimal growth and development from whole plant foods and breastmilk. Nova’s been vegan since her conception and is an absolute picture of health – she had an unassisted homebirth, has never had any illnesses, is in the 91st percentile for height, and is ahead of all her developmental milestones.

But veganism is more about ethics to our family. I am teaching Nova compassion for all beings. I want to instil in her that it’s never okay to harm someone else for your own benefit, and that absolutely includes our friends of different species. Veganism comes naturally to small children who would never instinctively hurt an animal, so I believe this lifestyle allows Nova to keep her indiscriminate compassion intact.

Veganism comes naturally to small children who would never instinctively hurt an animal, so I believe this lifestyle allows Nova to keep her indiscriminate compassion intact.

 

Tell us some stories about your little girl that show her ‘vegan-ness?

When Nova sees cows in a paddock she’ll say, “oh he’s so cute,” just the same as when we see a puppy or a cat. She doesn’t see the separation between pets and farmed animals and ‘pests’. A praying mantis made their way into our kitchen recently and she asked if she could pat him. I thought that was a beautiful example of how she doesn’t discriminate between species.

Nova has been to several slaughterhouse vigils and shows genuine empathy for the animals there. She’s only recently turned two but she understands that we are trying to help them.

She also eats a lot of things that other children her age wouldn’t, including raw tofu, broccoli, mushrooms, and hemp seeds by the spoonful!

What do you hope for Nova in the coming years?

I hope that in the coming years the world will move away from animal agriculture towards plant based food systems, so that Nova and her generation can live in a kinder, more peaceful world.

Through our animal rights activism I hope Nova will learn that it’s important to speak up for what you believe in. I try to show her that advocating for those who are oppressed, exploited, and otherwise less fortunate than ourselves is the right thing to do. I hope she’ll see that even when you stand in the minority, if you stand peacefully on the side of love and non-violence you can make a difference.

 

 

Thankyou for your time, Summer.

An Untold Story That Had To Be Told – Director of ‘MILKED’, Amy Taylor

The dairy exposé MILKED is reeling in the awards while the Dairy Industry remains silent… In this article End Animal Slaughter’s Sandra Kyle talks to its inspirational Director, Kiwi filmmaker Amy Taylor.

 

Amy, you have had enormous success with your latest feature length documentary, ‘MILKED’, that is an expose on the Dairy Industry. We’ll get to that soon, but can you begin by telling us a bit about your background, including where you were born and went to school?

I was born in Christchurch but moved around a lot and then spent 7 years in Whitianga as a child, so it feels like home for me here. I went to Mercury Bay Area School but we moved again when I was 14, and I left school at 15. I didn’t go to university until 10 years later, after travelling and figuring out what I wanted to do. Then I studied marine biology which led to a Bachelor of Applied Science at AUT, followed by a Postgraduate Diploma in Science Communication at the University of Otago.

When did you become vegan, and why?  

Like most people I was totally addicted to dairy as a child, especially cheese and butter, and although I was vegetarian as a teenager (for ethical reasons, because there wasn’t much science available then about the impacts of animal agriculture on the environment and human health) it took a while for me to learn about the dairy industry. Then I discovered that surplus newborn calves were taken from their mothers and sent to slaughter, and I gave up dairy in my late teens. I also completed a diploma in Naturopathy and had written a thesis about the benefits of a vegan diet, so I was aware of of the health impacts too. It’s interesting that there’s a reason why dairy is so addictive too, it contains casomorphins so it can take a few weeks to get over the cravings. But a few years later while travelling and struggling to find vegan food – luckily things have changed! – I began eating dairy again because I somehow convinced myself it must be ok now, they must have found a way to make it without killing the calves that are seen as a byproduct of the industry. I kept those blinkers on until I had my son and somehow I instantly saw milk for what it is – a product made by mothers for their young – and how wrong it was to be consuming it from another species. Both my son Jai and my husband Mike are vegan also, I think that providing information for them (documentaries for Mike, and vegan-themed kids books and films for Jai) has really helped them understand the reasons for being vegan so they have their own motivation for doing that.

I had my son and somehow I instantly saw milk for what it is – a product made by mothers for their young – and how wrong it was to be consuming it from another species.

Did you always know you wanted to make films? How did you get into the film business?

I had always loved programs like Our World as a child, and when I was studying science at university I realised that I was also drawn to the idea of filmmaking, so I decided to combine both. Once I heard about the Postgraduate Diploma in Science Communication at the University of Otago I knew that was what I wanted to do. The teachers were world-class (including many from Natural History NZ) and they drilled into us that story was the most important thing. I loved learning about filmmaking, and my student film about Hector’s Dolphins (Beyond the Kelp) was broadcast on Māori TV, which helped give me the confidence to pursue it as a career.

Tell us about the other documentaries you have made.

The first feature documentary I made was about Moko the friendly wild dolphin who had turned up in Whakatane, just down the coast from where I was living in Mount Maunganui. I spent 6 months living in my van down there and filming in the water with Moko every day, it was an incredible experience but it had a tragic ending which is shown in the documentary I made (Soul in the Sea). That film was broadcast here in NZ and was shown in film festivals around the world. It was also nominated for an award at Jackson Wild, a festival known as the nature equivalent to the Oscars, and it was up against National Geographic and the BBC so unfortunately it didn’t win but it was an honour to be nominated. Since then I’ve been a lot busier being a mum so I focused on making short films for a while, including some for RNZ (Pig Man, Captain Aunofo, Apollo: Rise of the Poly-vegan Soldier) and one for Loading Docs (The Cube of Truth) which led me into making MILKED. 

Why did you make ‘MILKED’?

The motivation for making this film came from a growing awareness I had about the dairy industry’s impacts on people, the environment, and on animals. I began looking into the dairy industry more and seeing the damage it does to the environment, as well as the water pollution, one of the most obvious being the huge amount of native forests and wetlands that have now been turned into a monoculture of grass and cows that covers a massive amount of the country. When I saw Chris Huriwai’s social media videos about the industry we began talking about the need to do a feature documentary about it, that was in 2018 and I began filming in 2019. 

MILKED presents the reality of an industry that has a huge marketing budget to present it’s side of the story, which it does relentlessly and without reflecting the truth. I hope that people will watch the film before deciding for themselves which side of the story they believe. It’s an independent documentary and I spent nearly 3 years working on it because it’s an untold story that had to be told.

I began looking into the dairy industry more and seeing the damage it does to the environment, as well as the water pollution, one of the most obvious being the huge amount of native forests and wetlands that have now been turned into a monoculture of grass and cows that covers a massive amount of the country.

The dairy industry have been mostly very quiet about the film, they seem to be hoping that if they ignore it, it will go away. I’ve seen a lot of comments accusing the film of being fictional and propaganda etc but all of our sources are available on our website (milked.film/facts), and as yet no one has pointed out anything specific that is inaccurate. It’s easy to make general statements to try and damage the credibility of the film (one reviewer did this by calling it ‘deeply flawed’ in the headline, without any real basis for doing so), but it’s obviously not so easy for them to find any actual fault in the research and information we presented. We have had quite a few dairy farmers contact us saying that they’re aware that these issues are real and that we need to be urgently transitioning away from dairy, so it’s not everyone in the industry with their head in the sand. 

There are some solutions featured in the film, but basically we want the industry to be honest, the government to help dairy farmers transition, and for consumers to know the truth about what they’re buying.

There are some solutions featured in the film, but basically we want the industry to be honest, the government to help dairy farmers transition, and for consumers to know the truth about what they’re buying.

I felt rather teary when I watched it at the Palmerston North premier, because I was so moved by it. It felt like a game changer to me; so convincing, and so well filmed and edited. I’m positive it is changing hearts and minds all over the world. Don’t tell me you did all the filming and editing yourself on MILKED?? Would you say it was a ‘labour of love’ for a number of years?

I would say it’s the hardest project I’ve ever worked on, that’s for sure! It was a labour of love, but it wasn’t an easy experience. It started off as a very small budget project which meant I had to juggle multiple roles, including producer, director, cinematographer, and sound recordist. I was also researching for the film and working out the story and the animations as well (Cam Orr created the animation). Then I edited a roughcut of the film alongside Annie Collins, before finishing the film with Debbie Matthews (from Farmwatch, she is featured in the film also). There was over 100hrs of interviews to go through, so the edit took a lot longer than the shoot, which was only about 3-4 weeks in total. Covid slowed things down a bit, but I’m happy that the film was made in around 3 years, I found out that Seaspiracy took nearly 6 years and I’m not sure I would have the patience for that length of time!

Tell us about the awards and nominations MILKED has received so far.

MILKED has won the following awards: 

  • IndieFEST – Best of Show
  • Spotlight Documentary Film Awards – Gold Award
  • Impact Docs Awards – Best of Show, & Award of Excellence (Women Filmmakers)  
  • IndieFEST Humanitarian Award – Grand Prize 
  • Monaco Streaming Film Festival – Best Documentary 

MILKED has also been nominated at the 20th Anniversary of Cinema for Peace.

What do you think the future holds for dairying in New Zealand, and worldwide?

I really hope that governments around the world help farmers to transition out of dairy sooner than later. As well as the fact that it’s unhealthy for people, destructive to the environment, and cruel to animals, something that most people aren’t aware of is that real dairy products can now be made without cows, and huge money is going into scaling up this industry – Perfect Day Foods is one example of a company focusing on this. The dairy proteins casein and whey are being produced in fermentation tanks from microbes, instead of in the mammary glands of cows. This precision fermentation process is how the majority of rennet for the dairy industry is already being made, and it’s been predicted to wipe out the global dairy industry in the next 10-15 years. NZ’s milk powder exports will be one of the first to go. 

Something that most people aren’t aware of is that real dairy products can now be made without cows, and huge money is going into scaling up this industry – Perfect Day Foods is one example of a company focusing on this.

Finally, are there any other projects you are working on?

I’m planning a film that follows a dairy farm transitioning out of dairy… early stages for now but I’m excited about learning more and documenting it to hopefully help inspire more positive change. I have some other ideas also, but one thing at a time!

We know that you’ll be taking some time in France after the latest awards ceremony to cycle around the French Riviera and meet up with friends. We hope you have a wonderful time! Hopefully, we can catch up with you again on your return.

Thank you Sandra! 

 

 

Mother and Daughter Vegan Activists 2 – Mel Wilson and Lily Carrington

Next in our series of Mother and Daughter vegan activists, we meet Mel Wilson and Lily Carrington.

 

Mel, can you describe your own journey to veganism?  

I grew up eating meat every night at dinner, and I didn’t think anything of it, it was just what my parents gave me to eat. My little sister, Tracy, realised much earlier than me that it wasn’t ok, I think she was around 10 years old when she first said she didn’t want to eat meat/animals. When I was pregnant with my first child at 22 years old I finally stopped eating animal flesh. I went vegetarian, and then about 3 years later fully plant based but still wasn’t vegan. I hadn’t fully connected what happens to animals in the egg and dairy industries as I went back to eating milk chocolate and cheese for a few years. I don’t have a clear memory of a moment when I realised that as a vegetarian I was contributing to so much death, it most likely was partly due to my awesome sister’s influence again.  I stopped buying cheese and milk chocolate for ethical reasons around 10 years ago, and my 3 children went vegan with me.  When they visited their father they were sometimes given dairy and eggs but very soon started refusing to eat it as they knew the reasons why we’d stopped at home and didn’t want to be contributing to the hurting and killing of animals.  All three of my children are still vegan and none of them have even considered deviating from that path.  It’s not a diet, it’s not wanting to hurt and kill animals or pay someone to do it for us.  They all enjoy food immensely and none of them have ever felt they were missing out. 

 

When did you begin your animal activism?

It took me a bit longer to get into activism.  I am fairly awkward in social situations, and quite an introvert.  I remember seeing that Anonymous for the Voiceless were looking for someone to take over organising cubes in Hamilton. I’d never been to a cube before and I was nervous, not sure I could do it, but I knew that someone needed to and no-one else was coming forward so I just decided to do it.  I contacted a few people looking for co-organisers, in particular someone a bit more outgoing than me.  Luckily my awesome sister agreed to help with organising, and also another friend, Chris, agreed to help too.  We’ve done AV cubes monthly for around 3 years.  There were some suggestions from other activists that I start up an Animal Save Chapter in Hamilton, so I said ok to that too and we did a few vigils. We moved on to doing SAVE Squares fairly soon, as talking one on one to people seems to have a big impact on getting people to change their behaviour, especially while watching footage of the agriculture industry. Lily, my youngest child, decided that once a month wasn’t enough, and starting at the beginning of this year we’ve been doing weekly street outreach events.  We either do a SAVE Square or an AV cube in Hamilton, or sometimes go to Mt Maunganui to join with activists there.  We organised a live export event last weekend, and we’ve been to 2 animal rights marches.  Lily does online activism daily and has her own tiktok, facebook, youtube and Instagram accounts purely for activism.  Supermarket visits are spent partly shopping but also stickering and we have a large supply of stickers.  We don’t visit a supermarket without putting stickers on a few things to hopefully make people think about their purchases. The more we do, the more we know we need to do, and it’s frustrating knowing so many people either don’t know or don’t care, but we’ll never stop trying.  We’re lucky to know lots of hardworking activists who are an inspiration to us both.

 

Is Lily primarily vegan for the animals?

Animals are the victims and they are lily’s main priority. She also cares about the environment and state of the planet, but only because what happens to the planet affects all the earthlings on it. Her activism covers topics like health but mainly just to debunk the argument that we need to eat animal products for our health, and then she puts the focus back to the animals.

How is Lily influencing her friends, teachers and so on, with her activism for animals? 

I know Lily has influenced a few friends to go vegan, at least two are fully vegan and she has definitely influenced others. I hope some of her teachers and other students have been influenced by her speeches, presentations, formal and creative writing and other schoolwork she has used as a voice for the animals. Recently her English teacher was so moved by a narrative she wrote about a lamb in a slaughterhouse that he decided to have vegetable curry that night instead of the lamb curry he had planned.

 

Lily is certainly very active on social media, and has also written stories and given speeches, very impressive for a 16 year old.   Tell us some of the things Lily has done.

Lily has done 2 speeches for school which were well written and persuasive.  She would never choose to enter a speech competition for fun, or to compete, but she did it to try to influence others towards veganism. She has written creative pieces, formal pieces, and carried out school projects in both primary and secondary school which highlight the cruelty in the meat, dairy and egg industries. She posts on social media daily, she is now creating her own videos to share on social media. She replies to comments on her posts which would drive me crazy but she hopes to influence people who show an interest.  Activism is an essential daily activity for Lily. This is on top of caring for our 10 small animal companions, schoolwork and gardening.

 What makes you most proud of her?

Her dedication and her bravery.  As a natural introvert, it doesn’t come naturally to make a speech or to speak to strangers at cubes.  But the most important thing to Lily is trying to help animals, so she puts herself out of her comfort zone over and over again with this in mind. She spent lockdowns watching Earthling Ed over and over, and making cue cards of common arguments against veganism and good responses to those.  Then when we started doing cubes again she started doing outreach (she’d mostly stood in the cube up til that point).  Now she is one of our best outreachers (I may be a little biased but she is really good!)  She isn’t scared to confront people with their hypocrisy, and firmly holds them accountable, without allowing them to derail the conversation.

 

What do you hope for Lily in the next five years?

I hope that Lily gets to see some progress with more and more people going vegan.  I hope that she feels the change she is contributing to and knows she’s making a difference. I hope she continues to accept challenges, knowing how capable she is.

Thankyou for your time, Mel. 

Link to Lily’s activism page

 

Vegan Mothers and Daughters_1 – Maya Cohen-Ronen (author M. C Ronen) and her daughter

In the first of our series on mother and daughter vegan activists we feature author M C Ronen, and her 10 year old daughter.

 

Maya, why did you become vegan?

When he was just a toddler, my son developed a keen interest in sharks. Back then my knowledge and understanding of sharks were very limited. My vocabulary encompassed, at best, three kinds of sharks. But as any dedicated parent might do, I wanted to deliberately nurture this new fascination of his, and through his eyes full of wonder, my world expanded.

That’s how I first came across Sea Shepherd. Through them, I was finally exposed to the shocking extent of the atrocities perpetuated on oceanic lives, among them billions of sharks. Several years passed, until in 2012, about six months after my daughter was born, through some reading, I realised that all Sea Shepherd ships were strictly vegan. This caught me by surprise. ‘A bit extreme’ I thought to myself. ‘There goes my dream of chasing whalers in the Southern Ocean…’

Veganism seemed so over the top, that I simply had to understand the reason for it. Defending whales was all well and good – but being vegan? Why? I decided to research it. I looked for vegan sites and read everything I could find. And, to my horror, the penny had finally dropped, and with a crashing resonance. It turned out cows don’t really ‘give us milk’ after all… and chickens, they don’t ‘give us eggs’.  I was embarrassed at the level of my own ignorance. As a mother, it never occurred to me that all mammalian females must be pregnant first in order to lactate, just like me. That was my watershed moment. I decided to go vegan, no detours or baby steps. My husband, then a vegetarian, followed me and after a short while the entire household became vegan.

 

Why did you decide to bring up your children vegan? Why do you think it is the best diet/lifestyle for them?

When I became vegan, I knew of no other vegans. It felt like jumping into a big, wide, black-hole of the unknown. The resources for new vegans were few, and I had to navigate this new life that I had chosen completely by myself.  With the passing of time I made many friends, became an animal rights activist, and the exponential growth of the vegan community made vegan food readily available everywhere.

But only ten years ago it wasn’t so. Compound this overnight introduction to veganism, for me an uncharted territory, with the disapproving faces of Plunket nurses who insisted I had to feed my baby daughter with dairy, and you’ll get some real challenging decisions to be made. But I knew that for me there was no way back. Once you know the atrocities perpetuated against billions of innocent animals by humans, there is no way of erasing this knowledge from your mind. Once you see, you cannot unsee. There was no way for me to keep living life as it was once those societal blinds were removed.

I had to learn the right way to be vegan and provide my children with healthy, nourishing, and desirable meals that include plenty of healthy nutrients, but without the cruelty. I confess I’m not the greatest cook, but I’m improving all the time. There are three posters on the pantry in my house, designed by ‘Simple Happy Kitchen’ that show, in a cute and accessible way, sources of plant-based iron, calcium, and protein. The children still refer to it, even today.

 

When did you notice that your daughter was also beginning to share your passion for animal rights?

Being vegan in a non-vegan world can be rather challenging. This is true for us adults, but even more so for young children. Being vegan forces you, as an adult, to constantly validate the decision you took to avoid animals’ suffering.

For us it might be easy, because we know the truth, but for children who don’t understand, the decision is hard. Imagine going to a birthday party and being told the cake wasn’t vegan so you ‘can’t eat it’. A child doesn’t understand that as vegans there is no such thing as a food we ‘can’t’ eat – rather we choose not to. As a parent, I decided not to lie to my children, and to let them know exactly why we choose not to. Knowledge is power. From a young age my daughter knew exactly what happens in dairy farms, in egg hatcheries, in pig stalls. I did not cover her eyes when she joined me at  a ‘Cube of Truth’ outreach action and watched slaughterhouse footage on the screens the activists were holding. Knowing the truth means that she is never tempted by non-vegan food. The truth empowers her.

That strength also means she aches to speak up for the animals and share this uncompromising truth widely, in the same way I do. At a young age she started tagging along to various animal rights activities: street outreach, vigils, and marches, and still often does. Activism for the animals is something we live and breathe in our house, and as the saying goes, the apple did not fall far from the tree.

 

Tell us about the difference she is making with her peers, at school, etc. 

At every opportunity she gets, my daughter speaks up for the animals. When children chase a poor bug on school grounds, she defends it and moves it to a safe place; when they rave about the deliciousness of sausage-shaped flesh, she tells them exactly what part of the animals they are eating.  She brings vegan food to every shared-plate occasion, and the children love it (it’s usually the plate that clears all the food first).  When the school goes to the zoo for an educational experience ‘to learn about the animals’, she explains loudly and clearly why she won’t be joining them. When she was younger, she would bring vegan children’s books such as ‘Esther the Wonder Pig’ to share with the class. She would make excellent and compelling speeches about animal cruelty, and the benefits of veganism. She will never be silent. When a classmate recently brought the antler of a dead deer that his father hunted, as part of a ‘Show and Tell’, she counteracted this with a presentation about how magnificent animals are, and how cruel it is to kill them. She does this with ample charm and dedication that keep me in constant awe of her. There are occasions when another child might try to deliberately rattle her, and other times she had to face an ignorant teacher. She deals with such setbacks with enviable maturity and resolve.

Many times, her classmates have reacted with a genuine expression of wanting to change their way of life; however, as can be expected, this is often blocked at home by a horrified parent. My daughter knows that all she can hope for, at her age, is to plant enough seeds in her friends that will hopefully one day mature into beautiful change.   I am so immensely proud of her and everything she does is magic.

 

What hopes do you have for her in the future?

I hope my daughter grows into a world where animal rights are made into law, veganism into norm and exploiting animals into a criminal offence. A world dominated by true kindness and deep compassion. A world where one’s success is not measured by how much money they have amassed, but by how many good deeds they have  done, and how many living souls they have helped.

However, thanks to human ignorance, apathy, and greed, I live in real fear that there will be no future for any of our children on this planet. Only recently an attempt by New Zealand officials to remove all reference to ‘plant-based living’ from a formal climate change document, made the news. Too little is being done, and too late.  Governments are still too fearful of touching the strong animal agriculture industry. The only way to avoid destruction is to diversify into a plant-based economy immediately, but this is not really happening.

I can only hope that all parents truly care for the future of their children, and as conditions on this planet start turning against us, more will choose to become vegan to preserve whatever we have left of the paradise we once had, but were too arrogant to share with all beings, in peace.

 

Thankyou for your time, Maya.

Thirty Years Of Radical Compassion – VEGAN VOICES Writer Hope Bohanec

Next in our series on the writers of “VEGAN VOICES –  Essays by Inspiring Changemakers”, is Hope Bohanec. 

Hope has been active in animal protection and environmental activism for over 30 years and has published the book ‘The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat’? She is the Executive Director of Compassionate Living and the host of the Hope for the Animals Podcast. She co-founded the Humane Hoax Project, the Ahimsa Living Project and has organized hundreds of online and in-person events including the Humane Hoax Online Conference, the Humane Hoax Chicken Webinar, and the Sonoma County VegFest. Over the last three decades, Hope has worked for the national non-profits United Poultry Concerns and In Defense of Animals and contributed chapters to two anthologies. Her forthcoming edited volume, The Humane Hoax Anthology, will be coming out in Spring of 2023 published by Lantern Publishing and Media.

 

Extract from her essay in VEGAN VOICES:

“With the group SPAR (Sonoma People for Animal Rights), I had been organizing protests against all the small traveling circuses that came through Sonoma County, California, in the summers of the 1990s, and we were gaining sympathy and media attention. Any circus that dared to come to Sonoma County was surrounded by brave activists who would videotape its every move with cameras as big as toasters on their shoulders. We called animal cruelty violations into the local Humane Society and would leaflet attendees at every show, sometimes for two or three shows a day. Attendance went down every year, and after several years, the circuses started skipping Sonoma County on their tours of Northern California.

Just a few decades later, in the US, like in many other parts of the world, wild animals are no longer dragged around the country in circuses, no longer beaten and starved to perform tricks. Because of dedicated activists who continued this fight into the 2000s, we won that battle”.

 

Review of Vegan Voices by Bruce Friedrich, Co-founder & Executive Director, The Good Food Institute:

“There are as many reasons to be vegan as there are vegans, as this lovely anthology makes clear. So many of my heroes in one place—what a treat. Read it and be inspired.”

 

Vegan Voices: Essays by Inspiring Changemakers
Available at Lantern Publishing & Media

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59056-650-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-59056-651-0

Animal Rights Activists: Who They Are And What They Do

Animal Rights Activists come from all walks of life, nationalities, and age groups.  What they have in common is their commitment to bring about justice for their animal kin, and to reduce their suffering.

In this article published by Sentient Media, they pose the question:  ‘What can you do to help end animal suffering?’

 

Read the article here:

 

(Feature photograph shows Animal Save activists at a slaughterhouse vigil in Whanganui, New Zealand).

Voices For Animals Over The Years: Henry Bergh, Founder of the ASPCA

As part of our series ‘Voices for Animals over the Years’ in this article we profile Henry Bergh, the founder of the American Society for the Protection of Animals.

 

Henry Bergh (August 29, 1811-March 12, 1888) was the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and was also involved in founding the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Bergh was the first to successfully challenge the prevailing view that animals were property with no rights of their own.

Bergh was born to wealth in New York City. His parents were Elizabeth Ivers and Christian Bergh, a ship builder.  As a young man he attended Columbia College in New York, but never completed his degree, instead travelling to Europe, where he dabbled in the arts and attempted a career in writing. In 1836 he married Catherine Matilda (née Taylor) and after his father’s death in 1843 he was rich enough to become a man of leisure, and he and his wife moved to Europe, where he wrote several unsuccessful plays.

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed him to the American Legation at the court of Czar Alexander II in Russia. While in Europe, and particularly in Russia, Bergh witnessed extreme abuse of animals, which was commonplace.   At that time life was extremely hard for animals, and they had absolutely no rights or protection.   To see the way animals were treated, particularly horses who at that time were the main mode of transport and visible everywhere, made Bergh very sad.   While he was in Russia, whenever he noticed a peasant beating his horse he would step between the abuser and the animal, and command that the beating stop at once.  In this simple and courageous way he began his journey speaking out for the rights of suffering animals, and encouraging others to do the same.   

On his way back to the United States from Russia, Bergh stopped in England where he observed the work of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and he became determined to form a similar organization in America. Once home he began to talk to people about animals’ rights, enlisting the support of many influential friends.  Because of his contacts, people skills and his own money, he was successful in getting the first animal protection laws in America passed.  In 1866 he and his supporters formed the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, generally known as the SPCA.

The idea that animals had rights was laughable at that time, but Bergh and his followers were passionate.  They gave speeches on street corners, raising the awareness of the public, who began to be see that to treat animals cruelly is morally wrong.

Through the fledgling SPCA’s outreach, city dwellers also came to be aware of the suffering, not only of overworked and exploited horses drawing carriages, but also of farmed animals.  Out in the country dairy cows were suffering.  Many were half-starved, and were living in filthy barns.  As a result of their advocacy for dairy cows,  Bergh and his followers succeeded in getting regulations passed that dairy cows had to be well fed,  and were to be given decent shelter in clean barns.

Bergh fought for the rights of not just horses and cows but also of dogs, sheep, and other animals. He believed that all animals were important, including those on their way to slaughterhouses.  An empathetic and caring man, he later extended his concern to abused children, being instrumental in the founding of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

When Bergh died in 1888, he was greatly respected. His life had been devoted to improving the treatment of the most innocent and helpless – animals and children.    Today the ASPCA carries on the work of its compassionate founder Henry Bergh, friend of all animals.

‘Be Vegan, Be Active, Get Serious!’ – Interview with ex-slaughterhouse worker Carl Scott

Well-known New Zealand animal activist Carl Scott is a former slaughterhouse worker and ex hunter, who also worked as a medic in the Army.   At the age of 40 Carl made the commitment to go vegan, and has been a passionate and outspoken advocate for animals and veganism ever since.  In this interview with End Animal Slaughter’s Sandra Kyle, Carl talks about his background, his slaughterhouse work, his ‘conversion’ to veganism, and his activism.  Carl also shares his personal struggles, and offers radical advice to those working for the liberation of animals in 2022 and beyond.

Reading time: 12 minutes

 

High School Art project.  Carl made it at the age of 15 in honour of his father and his slaughterhouse worker friends. 

 

Q1:  Carl, when and why did you start working in a slaughterhouse?

It was not long after my 20th birthday, in November 1989, that I started work at the Pukeuri freezing works.  ‘Freezing works’ is a common Kiwi term for slaughterhouses.  It is located near Oamaru, in the South Island of New Zealand and it is still operating.  Employment was sky high at the time, and I couldn’t get a job in Waimate, where I was living.  It was definitely not my dream job, but my father knew the personnel officer at Pukeuri, and he helped me get in.  The money was really good too, so that helped.

Q2:  What did you do there?

I mainly worked on ‘the mutton chain’ where they processed the lambs and sheep.  My first job was on the gut trays, processing the hearts, lungs, livers, kidneys, intestines, and so on.  In my second or third season there they also had me working on ‘the detain rail’.  On the main chain there are meat inspectors who check the dead bodies for disease, damage, and contamination.  If they find something, then the body goes onto a separate rail called the detain rail, and we would clean them up before they went back onto the main rail.

I also worked in the pet food department a couple of times.  The pet food guys would put all sorts of offcuts deemed unfit for human consumption into a giant vat.  It was kind of like a giant cake mixer, that mashed it all up, and then it was made into pet roll.  The main thing I remember there is the disgusting smell.  It wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of shit and pus ended up in those pet rolls.

I also relieved in the chiller room occasionally, moving the dead bodies around and transferring them from one overhead track to another, sorting the carcasses by what international destination they were going to.  It was pretty cold in the chiller, and the people working there had to wear extra layers of clothing.

I did a few other jobs on the mutton chain, and once or twice I also worked in ‘the beef house’ where they processed the cattle.  Down there, I had to stamp the carcasses with red ink to verify they had passed inspection, then I had to move the bodies between different rails.  Although the cows’ bodies were cut in half, they still weighed a lot, and it was reasonably physically demanding.

 

Photo of Carl when he worked in the boning room during his mid-30s at Silverstream Meatworks near Dunedin.

 

Q3:  Do you think it was a well-run and well-regulated slaughterhouse?

I don’t have much to compare it to, apart from another slaughterhouse I worked at in the mid-2000s while I was in my mid-30s.  That was Silverstream ‘meatworks’, (another Kiwi term for a slaughterhouse), near Dunedin.  It was a much more modern and better run slaughterhouse than Pukeuri.

Health and safety was pretty slack at Pukeuri, but at Silverstream standards were better.  I never really saw what happened in the ‘stockyards’ at Pukeuri, and Silverstream didn’t kill the animals on site, so I don’t know about their animal welfare practices.  But I did see a lot of botched killings at Pukeuri.  A high percentage of the animals died pretty horrific deaths.  I’ll spare you the details, but I don’t use the word ‘horrific’ lightly.

As far as quality control goes, the meat inspectors at Pukeuri often used to laugh and joke around and have a casual attitude that led to them not doing their job properly.  I’m sure many of the dead bodies would have ended up being exported with pus and shit on them, and broken bones and diseases and so on.

Speaking of diseases…  Animals from certain farms would come in with cysts on them, which were basically infected lymph nodes.  Some of these cysts were enormous.  They could be the size of a grapefruit.  They were full of this revolting yellow-green puss, which was the most foul-smelling substance I have ever smelled!  Seriously.  If there is a worse smelling substance I don’t know what it is.  I would gag and wretch and almost vomit sometimes when I was dealing with it.  Quite often these big cysts would burst and spray their contents out onto the animals, the equipment, and occasionally onto us.  It was hideous.

Speaking of diseases…  Animals from certain farms would come in with cysts on them, which were basically infected lymph nodes.  Some of these cysts were enormous.  They could be the size of a grapefruit.  They were full of this revolting yellow-green puss, which was the most foul-smelling substance I have ever smelled!  Seriously.  If there is a worse smelling substance I don’t know what it is.  I would gag and wretch and almost vomit sometimes when I was dealing with it.  Quite often these big cysts would burst and spray their contents out onto the animals, the equipment, and occasionally onto us.  It was hideous.

Animals with bruises and broken bones would often come through too, and there were often animals with dog bites on their bum.  Some of the sheep had live maggots crawling in their bums as a result of being fly blown.  Some animals had parasites in their bodies, and others had pleurisy or other diseases.

These problems seemed to correlate with the farms they came from.  You could tell because the sheep and lambs came through in batches.  It was obvious that some of the farmers didn’t care very much, and weren’t trying very hard.  It was disturbing to think that they had been suffering on the farm, then again on the trucks, and then finally at the slaughterhouse where they met their violent, terrifying death.

 

Q4:  Looking back, how would you describe the workplace culture?

I think some people have a perception of what people who work in slaughterhouses are like.  Some people think you have to be some sort of monster to work in those places.  But the truth is, most of them were nice people.  There were a few idiots at both slaughterhouses, but you get idiots in any industry.  The majority of them were reasonably decent people.  People there do become quite desensitised though.  You have to really, or you wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

Some people I met had university degrees.  One guy I worked with was a concert pianist.  He was a gentle, cultured, softly spoken young man who was working there only because he couldn’t make enough money from his music.  You could say there was a certain macho workplace culture at Pukeuri and Silverstream, but perhaps not as bad as you might expect.  But we were definitely desensitised.  No-one ever expressed concern about the animals.  I think you would have been laughed at if you did.

Some people I met had university degrees.  One guy I worked with was a concert pianist.  He was a gentle, cultured, softly spoken young man who was working there only because he couldn’t make enough money from his music.  You could say there was a certain macho workplace culture at Pukeuri and Silverstream, but perhaps not as bad as you might expect.  But we were definitely desensitised.  No-one ever expressed concern about the animals.  I think you would have been laughed at if you did.

I remember one incident where a young lamb escaped from the kill floor and ran up to where we were working on the mutton chain.  The poor thing was terrified and confused, not knowing where to go or what to do.  I found it quite disturbing that a lot of the workers started laughing.  Some of them were so hardened and desensitised, they didn’t seem to have any empathy.  I couldn’t laugh though.  Even though I had become quite desensitised, I knew the lamb would have been terrified.

 

Q6:  How did you feel about your job as you were doing it?

My dad was a hunter, so I had grown up around dead and dying animals.  I had trapped possums as a kid, and although I never enjoyed it, I had gotten used to killing.  It all seemed kind of normal to me.  Still, there were moments at the freezing works that disturbed me.  Watching the sheep and cattle being killed was not a nice experience.  A lot of them died awful deaths.  And seeing the injuries and disease on the detain rail was a stark reminder of the suffering they had endured on the farms and the trucks.

 

Surrounded by dead and dying animals most of his life, trapping possums seemed normal to 12 year old Carl. 

 

  Carl butchering a goat.

But mainly it was just an unbelievably boring job.  It was hot, noisy, smelly, repetitive, and mind-numbingly boring.  A lot of us used small radios or ‘walkmans’, (portable tape cassette players), with headphones, to relieve the monotony.  Workers also chatted to each other, but I wasn’t a very sociable person.  As a young man I was shy and awkward and didn’t talk very much.  I used my walkman while I was working, and in the smoko room I would usually just read books.

Repetitive strain injuries were quite common, and I ended up with significant pain in my wrists and hands at one stage from pulling fat off from around the kidneys.  Cuts from knives were also very common.  We probably saw an average of two or three cuts a day.  Usually we would just put a sticking plaster on, but occasionally someone would cut themselves so badly they needed stitches.

I hated the job.  Mostly because of the boredom and monotony, but also the heat and noise.  It was not a nice working environment.  I also never felt like I was contributing to the world much.  It was just something I did to pay the bills.  I definitely didn’t want to be a freezing worker for the rest of my life, so at the age of 23 I went back to high school as an adult student.  But to be honest, I would have done just about anything to get the hell out of there.

 

Q7:  Were your days long?

The days were quite long.  I lived in Waimate, which is about a 50 minute drive from Pukeuri.  Most of us travelled in the bus the slaughterhouse provided, and then took the bus home again at the end of the day.  I had to get up quite early, and didn’t get home till late in the day.

On arrival we would collect our uniform, then go up 4 stories to the top of the building to the locker room.  There we’d put on our white pants, shirt, hat, and gumboots, then we’d go up to the smoko room and wait for the start of our shift.  We worked for eight hours, with fifteen minute breaks for morning and afternoon smoko, and a half hour for lunch.  Even knowing about the blood and the guts and the pus and shit, I would still buy mutton pies for lunch.  You just become that desensitised.

The “gut trays’ which Carl worked on, on the mutton processing chain at Pukeuri.

Q8:  How did you go from being a slaughterhouse worker to a vegan animal rights activist?

I think I was always an empathic person.  I hate seeing anyone suffer.  And I think my involvement with a Christian church and the Scouting movement when I was younger helped me develop a reasonably strong moral compass.  Having family pets helped me develop a rudimentary understanding of other animals, and some degree of empathy for them.

I remember seeing campaign material from SAFE, (and possibly the NZSPCA), about factory farming.  That was probably in the 1990s or early 2000s.  As a result, I became quite committed to only buying free range animal products, because that’s what those organisations were telling us to do.  They weren’t talking about veganism back then for some reason.  But it does go to show how important activism is.  You never know what seeds you might be planting.

A huge influence for me though, was a relationship I had with a dog named Jed.  That was in my 30s and early 40s.  He initially lived with my ex, Karen, and her son Ethan.  I got to know Jed when I was spending time with Karen, and formed a real bond with him.  In the last 4 years of his life he lived with me at Waitati, and we were best buddies.  We were practically joined at the hip.  Knowing him helped me develop a much deeper understanding of other animals, and therefore a far greater respect for them.

  • Jed, the first non-human Carl really bonded with.

 

But the reason I eventually went vegan is definitely not your typical story.  It was actually a ‘spiritual experience’ of sorts.  I was living in Waitati, and I was at a crossroads in my life.  I sent a prayer to the Universe asking for guidance.  I was basically asking, “What should I be doing with my life right now?”

After a while, the word ‘vegan’ started popping up on my radar.  I went to see a public talk by a spiritual teacher in the Waitati Hall, and that night, (or was it the next night?), I had a very powerful dream.  I was chatting with some kind of holy person – maybe Jesus or the Buddha or someone like that – and right at the end I turned to them and said, “I’m going to be vegan.”  I burst into tears and this incredible feeling of, “This just feels so right,” washed over me in a powerful wave.  I woke up suddenly, and somehow I just had a deep knowing that that was the answer I had been praying for.

I resisted at first.  “Me? Vegan? I can’t do that!”  I thought veganism seemed a bit extreme, and that it would probably be very difficult.  So I compromised and went vegetarian.  But after 6 days, it just didn’t feel right.  I was out walking with Jed and I found myself thinking, “You asked for an answer Carl, and you got one.  And it wasn’t vegetarian.  You need to at least give this vegan thing a damned good go”. The moment I made that decision, the exact same feeling I’d had in the dream came over me.  It was a powerful physical feeling.  The feeling of, “This just feels so right.”  That was on the 27th of May 2010.  It’s almost 12 years now that I’ve been vegan, and I’ve never looked back.

I resisted at first.  “Me? Vegan? I can’t do that!”  I thought veganism seemed a bit extreme, and that it would probably be very difficult.  So I compromised and went vegetarian.  But after 6 days, it just didn’t feel right.  I was out walking with Jed and I found myself thinking, “You asked for an answer Carl, and you got one.  And it wasn’t vegetarian.  You need to at least give this vegan thing a damned good go”. The moment I made that decision, the exact same feeling I’d had in the dream came over me.  It was a powerful physical feeling.  The feeling of, “This just feels so right.”  That was on the 27th of May 2010.  It’s almost 12 years now that I’ve been vegan, and I’ve never looked back.

If anyone can tell me a weirder story of how someone became vegan, I will honestly be very impressed. Ha ha ha.  But that’s what happened.  Your readers can make whatever they want of it.

 

Q9:  You’re well known for being ‘The Man in the Cage’.  Tell us about what made you decide to do that?

That was eleven years ago in March and April 2011.  I had been vegan for less than a year.  In late 2010 I read a thing on Facebook that described the life of a battery hen, and even if it was only half that bad as that, it still sounded utterly horrific.  Utterly intolerable.  I was both upset and outraged.

I realised the Mainland Poultry egg farm at Waikouaiti – NZ’s largest battery farm – was just up the road from where I was living.  I thought, “I can’t bear this.  I have got to do something!”  I didn’t know what.  But something.

It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but my first idea was to kidnap one of the directors of Mainland Poultry and force them to live in a cage.  I even started jotting some ideas about how to do it.  I know.  Crazy, right?  But fortunately, I eventually thought better of it.  I knew I couldn’t do that.  So I was walking around a friend’s garden pondering what I could do instead.  I honestly couldn’t think of anything and eventually I just gave up.

But a funny thing happened.  At that moment of surrender, when my mind finally went still and quiet, a voice popped into my head – it was almost an audible voice, but not quite – that said:  ‘Put yourself in the cage’.

I remember feeling like it was a spiritual insight of some sort.  It had this real feeling like someone or something was telling me that is what I needed to do.  When I was studying history at school I had learned about Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi.  Their philosophy was, rather than to inflict suffering for a cause, it is better to endure suffering for the cause.  So I got Gandhi’s autobiography out from the library, to try and get my head around his concepts of ‘satyagraha’ and non-violence.

Then in early 2011, the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) announced a proposal to replace conventional battery cages with colony battery cages.  They are a total sham.  They are hardly any better than conventional cages, but NAWAC had opened up a process asking for submissions from the public about the proposal.

The timing all seemed to come together, and I felt like, “If I’m ever going to do that thing about sitting in a cage, now would be the perfect time to do it.”  I wrestled with myself a bit though.  I found myself thinking “This is crazy.  I can’t do this!”  But I felt like it was something I was being guided to do by some kind of higher power or something.  So I did it.  I spent a month in the cage. Thirty-one days.  The last day of my vigil was the 29th of April: the day that submissions to NAWAC closed.

I took a few books into the cage with me because I thought boredom was going to be a problem, but the fact is I have never been so busy in my life while sitting down.  I set my cage up on the side of the road on State Highway One, in the township of Waikouaiti where the huge battery farm is.

There was a lot of traffic going past, and a lot of people stopped and chatted.  Friends, family, and locals would also come to visit me.  I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so sometimes I would be so exhausted, that I’d pull the curtain across the cage and hope no-one would bother me for a while.  I also drank a lot of coffee!

Friends and family would bring me food and other supplies.  My mum and my uncle Matt were my two main ‘support crew’ but others helped too.

During the entire month I only spent about two hours total outside of the cage.  The chickens can’t please themselves, so to make it as authentic as possible, I decided I wouldn’t either.  I had sponge baths, and even went to the toilet in the cage.  I relied on family members and a few good friends to come and empty my toilet buckets into a big hole I had dug in the paddock out the back.

Another thing that kept me busy was the internet, thanks to neighbours who let me run an extension cord from their garage.  I spent a lot of time on Facebook, sending and receiving emails, and doing phone calls and media interviews.

I did interviews with with TV One, TV Three, and the local TV station, Channel 39: Dunedin Television.  I was also on Marcus Lush’s radio show once.  I had a friend, Helen, who was a schoolteacher and she organised a phone conversation with the girls in her class one day.  I also had a visit from a bunch of kids from the Karitane school one day.  On a couple of occasions the local SAFE volunteers joined me for a few hours holding signs and wearing chicken costumes.  I never got time to read the books I had!

It was a long month, but I think having been in the army for five years stood me in good stead.  In the army sometimes you often have to push yourself to the limits of your endurance, and so you learn to cope with challenge and adversity.  And although I found the cage protest to be easier than some people might imagine, it definitely was very challenging at times.

Carl stayed a full month in his cage on the side of a main highway.  The total time out of the cage in that time wouldn’t have been more than a couple of hours.

 

Q10:  Do you feel your action was effective?

It’s hard to know really.  But I do know that it raised a lot of awareness: especially on mainstream media and social media.  At that stage SAFE and NZ Open Rescue (NZOR) were trying to raise awareness about colony cages, saying they didn’t meet basic welfare requirements.  Deirdre Sims and Marie Brittain from NZOR had done a lock-on on a battery farm silo, and some other actions, to get the word out.  SAFE was running a campaign too.

In 2011 practically nobody had ever heard of colony cages, so between my vigil, SAFE, and NZOR, we got people talking about them.  I also got over 1,000 people to sign postcards which SAFE had provided, and I sent them to NAWAC.  A number of people also sent emails to NAWAC because of my campaign, and I sent them a long email submission myself.  One very cool young girl got heaps of kids from her nearby school to sign a petition to NAWAC as a result of my vigil.

It was the first major thing I’d ever done as an AR activist.  The only other thing I’d done before that was to attend one SAFE volunteer meeting.  Seriously.  That was it.  I barely knew anyone in the movement.  I have been told that at first a lot of AR activists in the NZ movement were thinking, ‘Who is this guy? Is he some kind of a nut job? Is he going to be an embarrassment to us?’  And frankly, I don’t blame them.  It was definitely an unusual thing to do.

But I have also been told that after I gave my first media interviews, everyone was quite relieved to learn that I wasn’t in fact an embarrassing nut job.  In fact, they loved what I was doing, and loads of activists from around NZ got in behind me and supported me in all sorts of ways.  SAFE were especially supportive.

Once I had established some credibility, after I completed my protest I got asked to speak at conferences and expos, do media interviews, write articles, speak to different groups, and so on.  So there have been many opportunities to discuss veganism and animal rights since my cage vigil ended.

I love the Gandhi quote, “You may never know the results of your actions but if you do nothing there will be no results.”  My philosophy is ‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.’  That’s all we can do really.

Eventually, of course, we lost the battle and colony cages got passed into law.  Thousands of good Kiwis submitted their opposition to colony cages, but we were ignored, and the 43 egg farmers using cages got what they wanted.

That was the first time in my life it really hit home to me how our supposed democracy is often not really the ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ that it is supposed to be.  I discovered that the reality is, it is often controlled by wealthy, powerful business people who tend to get what they want. I feel the action helped me to grow as a person though, and I know I got a lot more people talking about veganism.  Right from the start I always used the word ‘vegan’ a lot.  It is funny to think about it now, but in 2011 most animal rights groups in NZ were not using that word much, if at all.  Even SAFE wasn’t using ‘the dreaded v word’ – as some people called it back then – very often.

That was the first time in my life it really hit home to me how our supposed democracy is often not really the ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’ that it is supposed to be.  I discovered that the reality is, it is often controlled by wealthy, powerful business people who tend to get what they want. I feel the action helped me to grow as a person though, and I know I got a lot more people talking about veganism.  Right from the start I always used the word ‘vegan’ a lot.  It is funny to think about it now, but in 2011 most animal rights groups in NZ were not using that word much, if at all.  Even SAFE wasn’t using ‘the dreaded v word’ – as some people called it back then – very often.

But I used it a lot.  Right from the start I’ve talked about veganism and rights, rather than welfare reforms.  In 2013 at the national NZ animal rights conference I gave a speech about how we need to be talking about veganism more, and a lot of other activists agreed with me.  I think over the years I have probably played a significant part in helping shift the NZ AR movement’s narrative in that direction.

Carl speaking to the Auckland Animal Rights March in 2018

 

Q11:  Carl, it’s no secret to those who know and love you that things haven’t been easy for you in your journey, and you’ve fought some personal battles.  Do you want to say any more about this?

Sure.  I don’t mind talking about it.  I’ve had mental health struggles on and off since I was 19 years old.  I had a couple of minor psychotic episodes between the ages of 19 and 22, and I’ve also had battles with depression and anxiety on and off throughout most of my adult life.

I’ve also had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) from the age of 27.  I think it just goes to show though, many people with mental health issues and physical health challenges, can still make valuable and meaningful contributions to society.

During my activism career, I have suffered from stress and burnout several times.  I knew I was burning out when I was feeling anxious, stressed, grumpy and irritable, and depressed and exhausted all the time.  For the past few years it has been rare to have a day when I feel like a normal person.

Eventually I ended with a bit of a drinking problem, although I’ve managed to get that under control now.  I also started smoking cigarettes again, after being smoke free for 15 years. I also ended up with heart disease, partly because of the stress and burnout.

For the longest time, I still couldn’t quit my activism though, even though all the signs were telling me I needed to.  I was just utterly driven to keep going.  I felt compelled to keep working, because I have been inside the factory farms of NZ and have worked in a couple of slaughterhouses.  I have seen the horror first-hand and I know how truly awful it really is.

I have often said, “The animals in factory farms are not moderately uncomfortable. They are not slightly unhappy. Their lives are a living hell.”  And that is the hideous truth of it.I know how many animals are suffering, how badly they suffer, and how few activists there are who are doing anything to help them.  So I pushed myself and pushed myself until I simply couldn’t any more.  But eventually I had to stop.  I had no choice.  So I’m semi-retired from activism for now.

I have often said, “The animals in factory farms are not moderately uncomfortable. They are not slightly unhappy. Their lives are a living hell.”  And that is the hideous truth of it.I know how many animals are suffering, how badly they suffer, and how few activists there are who are doing anything to help them.  So I pushed myself and pushed myself until I simply couldn’t any more.  But eventually I had to stop.  I had no choice.  So I’m semi-retired from activism for now.

For the next year or so, or maybe even more, I want to concentrate on getting myself well again.  I’m trying to be proactive though.  I’m working on improving my diet, (vegans can still eat too much vegan junk food, you know!), getting enough good quality sleep, doing more exercise, etc., and I’ve been putting things in place to get some counselling.

The reason I think it’s important to be open about my mental health and burnout is because I know I’m not the only AR activist who has experienced these things.  I’d like to see more activists, and would love to see activists doing more, but it’s important to recognise that there are limits to what one person can do.

Burnout is a very real and very serious thing.  The animals, the planet, and people, need as many of us as possible to do as much as we can.  But we absolutely must practise self-care, and support each other in order to prevent burnout.

 

Q12:  Do you have anything else you’d like to say?

To any non-vegans out there who read this, I would say that what our ancestors did, or what lions do is utterly irrelevant.  They either literally had no choice, or they simply didn’t know any better.

But we do have a choice, and we do know better.  There is no need in the 21st century, in a wealthy industrialised country like NZ, to exploit animals for food, clothing, entertainment, or any other purpose.  That’s not an opinion or a belief.  That’s a scientific fact.  There are other ways to meet our needs.

So I would encourage you to be vegan.  It’s not as hard as most people think.  I promise you that.  Being vegan is not only morally and ethically ‘the right thing to do’, it is also one of the most powerful things we can do as individuals to save the planet!

If you’re already vegan, then I would encourage you to please get active for the animals.  They need every activist they can get.  You don’t have to sit in a cage for a month, or get arrested or anything like that, if you don’t want to.  I mean, you can if you want to; but if that’s not your cup of tea, there are all sorts of other things you can do.  You can create online content, or simply just post and share stuff on social media. You can wear a vegan t-shirt, talk to friends and neighbours, or whatever.  Get creative.  Think outside the box.  Do some Googling.  Just be as active as you can in whatever ways you’re comfortable with.  Like drops in a bucket, it all adds up.  It all helps.

If you’re already vegan, then I would encourage you to please get active for the animals.  They need every activist they can get.  You don’t have to sit in a cage for a month, or get arrested or anything like that, if you don’t want to.  I mean, you can if you want to; but if that’s not your cup of tea, there are all sorts of other things you can do. You can create online content, or simply just post and share stuff on social media. You can wear a vegan t-shirt, talk to friends and neighbours, or whatever.  Get creative.  Think outside the box.  Do some Googling.  Just be as active as you can in whatever ways you’re comfortable with.  Like drops in a bucket, it all adds up.  It all helps.

To those who are already active I would say, if you are able to, then please, ‘Get serious!’  Radical, controversial action is what gets results.  It gets the public, the politicians, the media, and the business world talking.  Martin Luther King Jr., the Women’s Suffrage movement, and countless other activists and movements throughout history have proven that.  I know that not everyone can do that work.  But some people can, and if they want to, then they should.  Because it works.

But it’s not just all about being radical.  It’s also about working smarter.  I really believe the future of the global animal rights movement has to be highly organised pressure campaigns.  But that’s a whole other story…

If anyone does want to try some of the more controversial types of activism, in NZ we have people like the Farmwatch crew, some of the members of DAA, and others, who have many years of experience doing that work.  They have learned how to do it safely and effectively, and many of them will be more than happy to advise you.

I have 15 years of activism experience myself, and I’m also willing to talk to or advise anyone who wants to engage in any form of activism, including the more radical types of work.  If you want to bounce some ideas off me, or ask me any questions, feel free to get in touch.  I might not always be able to help, but if I can I will.

It has been said that, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is that good people do nothing.”  So each of us must do what we can.  No-one can do everything, but everyone can do something.  If you can do big things, then great!  But if you can’t do big things, you can do small things in a great way.

Step 1: Be Vegan.  Step 2: Get Active.  Step 3: Get serious.  The animals, the planet, and even the people who suffer because of the animal exploitation industries need all the vegans and all the activists they can get.

 

Thankyou for your time, Carl.