This piece is dedicated to Ryuji Chua (Instagram: @peacebyvegan), James Aspey (@jamesapey) and Joey Carbstrong (@joey_carbstrong) for their dedication to speaking out on behalf of the innocent animals and educating us on what really happens to the animals that end up on our plate; and the vegan community I have met on Instagram – bringing awareness and delicious plant-based recipes.
I titled this post Dominion, because it the name of a film that I just watched the other night (by recommendation of @peacebyvegan). In a nutshell, Dominion (www.dominionmovement.com) shows us the VERY graphic behind-the-scenes reality of the Australian meat/fur industry. I am sure that other countries’ meat and fur industries are similar if not exactly the same. You can check out the film for yourself by clicking on the word Dominion above.
What it means to be vegan
This is Day 24 as a vegan. I feel really strong and happy. I cannot believe it took me so long to stop eating meat – but one day at a time. I cannot kick myself in the butt -LOL!
Here are the top 3 comments/questions from non-vegans:
- What do you eat and not eat? I could never not eat meat.
- Make sure you get enough protein.
- Do you eat eggs and drink milk?
Being a vegan just means removing yourself as far away from inflicting harm to animals, not eating animals (such as eating steak) and not using their by-products (such as eggs, milk, leather, fur) and eating a plant-based diet. Contrary to popular stereotype, being a vegan does not automatically make you a radical animal rights activist. To me it is about finding peace knowing that I am whole, without the torture of animals. I believe that we can just work to educate and realize that we are brainwashed to believe that we need to drink milk from another species, etc.
When I was talking to my friend about the film, she told me that I was only seeing one side of things. I am not an argumentative type of person – but what other side is there?
About the film: Dominion
I started watching the film around 10:30pm the other night. I watched mostly out of curiosity, knowing that it can only be something frightening. And that it was. As I watched, my stomach started to churn. I felt like vomiting and was pretty darn close. I wasn’t sure that I could fall asleep after watching the film. So I don’t recommend watching it before you sleep.
I could not finish the film because seeing the animals tortured and skinned/fur or feathers plucked, often alive; and hearing a rabbit – yes, a rabbit (one of the quietest animals) scream is horrifying. What’s interesting about the film is that they breakdown the type of animals: chicken, cows, pigs, goats, goose, ducks, rabbits, dogs, mink, foxes, rats, etc. Often we only think of chicken, pigs and cows, but we abuse so many other animals.
Top 5 – Did you know?
- Baby cows are ripped away from their mothers almost immediately after birth. And then humans take their milk. After the mother cow cannot produce as much milk, she is sent to the slaughter house.
- Baby chickens that are deemed as not good enough are thrown into a shredder.
- Baby pigs are often crushed by their mother after birth, because the mother has grown so fat and has no room to move about, then she crushes them accidentally.
- Rabbits are skinned alive to save time -and maximize profits because the profit margins are slim.
- Foie gras – a popular delicacy in French cuisine is literally fatty liver. So ducks are force fed until their liver get so fat. Then they are hung upside down to have their livers removed.
In this thing called life, we need to discover for ourselves what we are all about. Hope you can check out the film.
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