Want to See the Elephant Dung? Have You Got One on You? I will be the first to admit that I have been guilty of this. I have written and I have spoken that I wish that there were no need for the needless suffering of animals at the hands of the meat, dairy, egg, and leather industries. I have used words like “trash” and “disgusting” to try to describe the inhumane practices of industries whose motto seems to be: I have argued vehemently that we should do whatever is possible to end it. I have called out when companies have used the public perception of animal welfare and veganism to drive profit—selling us dairy-free butter and milk in a can that says “LIVE MILK” while simultaneously killing innocent calves. I have decried the use of those same animals as products. I have called out the veal industry’s unwillingness to accept that some babies are not meant to grow up to be veal. The meat and dairy industries, and the industries in which their by-products are used, have long made vegans and animal rights advocates a target. People have been hurt, people have been ostracized, people have been scared, people have had eggs thrown at them. But that is the problem with society in general, not the vegans and animal advocates. Why We Must Continue to Condemn Animal Abuse, Part 1 In a recent Facebook post, I shared the story of a man who got his head bashed in for wearing a leather jacket—a jacket made from a living being, someone who would not have wanted to be killed. This is not an isolated incident. It is a part of a culture of violence that is rampant within our society. There are countless instances in which victims of violence are abused for being vegan, assaulted for the crime of wearing a shirt or a hoodie. That is what we must continue to condemn—not veganism. And, while we should indeed condone peaceful protest, when those peaceful protests veer into violence and threaten innocent lives, and the lives of the people who have been brave enough to speak out against animal abuse, we must speak out against that violence. People are dying as a result of this cruelty, for example at KFC locations, where people have been beaten for being vegan. They are dying because of the inhumane practices of the industry, which includes a method of slaughter that is both horrific and inhumane. But what I do not need to see is people dying or assaulting others because they have the audacity to wear a leather jacket, a denim jacket, or a vegan jacket, a vegan T-shirt, or a vegan hoodie. I do not need to see that and I never will. In Part 2 of this blog post I will explain how the perception of animal abuse by our society has now turned on vegans and animal advocates, and as I have spoken against the practice of eating animals, I have experienced and shared first-hand how vegans are still attacked by the meat, dairy, and egg industries despite what they think of the violence that is committed against animals. As someone who has written about the violence and suffering of animals, I understand how hard it can be to ignore, condone, and stay quiet when we are on the receiving end of prejudice or persecution for our beliefs, so I sympathize and understand completely. But I have always spoken out against the inhumanity of the industries that create and use animals, no matter how hard it can be. [Image source: WittyKittyUK/Pixabay] * Note: This blog post may contain affiliate links. If you click on one of the affiliate links and buy something, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you. It helps to pay for the maintenance of this site and keeps the lights on. This does not affect my opinions of any products or companies mentioned in this blog. Stefania Barzilai, R.D. has been a vegan since 2005. She is the co-founder of nutrition websites NutritionFacts.org, a Registered Dietitian, a certified plant-based nutritionist, a freelance writer, and a new mother. She is considered an expert in plant-based nutrition and is often cited by national media for her work. Stefania was named one of the Top 30 Under 30 in the San Francisco Bay Area by the Silicon Valley Young Professionals in 2012. Stefania is also an international speaker, with a growing following of people interested in living a healthy lifestyle. In 2014, she was a speaker at the TEDx conference in San Francisco. Stefania’s vegan journey began with a health crisis and in discovering the healing properties of a vegan diet. She is now living a healthy, sustainable, compassionate lifestyle. Want to Learn More? For those of you interested in learning more, please check out my new eBook, Veganism: What Everyone Needs To Know–What Even You Haven’t Considered, and watch my presentation Vegan Diets: The Health Implications of a Plant-Based Diet. You can also follow me on my blog, and on social media and YouTube. I would like to thank you for all your hard work and dedication to making the world a better place. We are all here to learn from each other. From myself, Thank you. Your work has been extremely helpful for me, as it has helped many other’s realize the cruelty and unnecessary suffering that is caused by the slaughter, and breeding, of animals. Animals are here to serve us. We cannot be their masters. Please continue to help educate us all, the better people we can become. Also, thank you for making us question what we thought we knew. I have been struggling with my ethics lately. Although my journey started with being vegetarian I felt that as I began to learn more and more about the ethics of veganism, I was also really interested in my health (and I do believe this article by yours was really a starting point for me to understand how veganism is really beneficial to our health.) and it made me feel great. I, too, have been attacked when I chose to eat a vegetarian or vegan meal. And if I didn’t choose meat at the meal, I was attacked. And with my veganism, I’ve been attacked for eating vegan. Thank you for writing about it. It opened my eyes more and more about these people. And yes, how veganism has become this culture of hatred… Well, I will end it with the question that you have asked: “What do we need to know?” That question is a great one! Thank you for putting into words the fact that there are people out there who have been victims of the animal abuse and cruelty! That is something I never thought about. I, too, have been attacked because of my diet (and unfortunately as a very young girl, this happened more than once, as many of us can tell you.) and I can tell you this–I have tried so hard to respect the beliefs of the people attacking me. And I do understand why people would be angry, I understand what they are saying. I cannot see what I’m doing that is wrong. I know it’s wrong to cause suffering to another living being, but it’s a different thing when you eat meat. I eat a plant-based diet. I don’t know if everyone would agree with me, but I see it as different from eating meat. I feel my body doesn’t agree. And as a person who doesn’t eat meat, it’s a good feeling. I’m happy that you have written this article because of the cruelty of the dairy industry and some of the things I’ve read about slaughterhouse workers taking sick animals home with them at the end of their shifts because they are depressed at the slaughterhouse