Vegan Education

Hunters Are Bloodthirsty Barbaric Cowards

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Hunters Are Bloodthirsty Barbaric Cowards

Hunters Are Bloodthirsty Barbaric CowardsThese are the words spoken by self proclaimed animal liberationist Felicity Anderson when she appeared on a recent episode of SBS’ Living With The Enemy. These words have also been echoed by a number of other vegans claiming that hunters will never go vegan.

I wonder if any of those people have stopped to consider how close to the truth are those comments really are?

If the comments are just sweeping generalisations, is any consideration paid to the damage both to the movement and to other activists that they may be causing?

Are Hunters Bloodthirsty?

Having been a hunter for a number of years before and after turning vegan, I can tell you that the majority of people who hunt actually aren’t bloodthirsty monsters.

Sure there may be a few who enjoy and participate in hunting because they view it as a blood sport, though in my experience they are in the minority.

This would be the same as saying that all vegans are left winged misanthropic hippies who are out of touch with reality.

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“Ag-Gag”: Scaremongering or Legitimate Concerns

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Ag-gag. Scaremongering or legitimate concern
Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A little over two months ago I wrote a piece saying that as far as I was concerned, I believed that so-called ‘ag-gag’ laws would be the best thing that could happen to the animal advocacy movement as it would change the focus from treatment to use of other animals.

Since then, more and more ‘animal advocates’ have started to fly the anti ‘ag-gag’ flag.

Even though they are starting to sound like chicken little with their endless preaching of doom and gloom the reality of things is more then a little different to what we are being told.

Sure the media and politicians are branding talk of draft bills as ag-gag, though that hardly means that they are. We all know that sensationalism is what the media thrives on, and politicians only respond to that which will get them votes and time in the media.

That being said, and understanding that both sides will say whatever will get them the most publicity, it is time to sort out fact from fiction

Activists Are Not A Law Unto Themselves.

First and foremost, we need to realise that those new laws have come about because ‘activists’ are ignoring the laws that we currently have.

Despite whatever altruistic reasons are being given for breaking the law, the law is still broken.

If these people are willing to break the law with trespass and property damage to get incriminating evidence, where will they draw the line?

On the other side of the coin, seeing as digital piracy is another issue that is gaining attention, I am sure that these activists wouldn’t mind if a farmer broke in a placed a camera above the area where they use their computer to ensure that have purchased the correct licenses for the software they are using.

After all, fair is fair.

Disregard For Animal Safety

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Animals On Show

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Please indulge me with this hypothetical for a moment.

Let’s say that the time is 50,60 or even 100 years ago.

The female human is thought of as an object that the males of the species can do with as he wants.

Females are readily kept in cages, denied access to education, socialisation and forced to perform tasks against they wouldn’t normally do through behaviour modification.

Let’s also say that there is a growing movement that wants females to be treated and considered as equals.

How would they go about achieving this?

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The Speciesist Nature Of Animal Advocacy

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3345Have you noticed how it is becoming more and more popular and acceptable to ‘advocate’ for a particular animal at the expense of another?

We see it most weekends at our local supermarkets/hardware store where a Save The ‘X’ group is having a sausage sizzle to raise funds for their designated animal.

Unfortunately for the animals, these types of campaigns aren’t only reserved for those ‘small’ groups that don’t know any better.

Animals Australia does it with their Make It Possible campaign, and their continual focus on land based food animals who are kept in factory farms, show total disregard for those animals raised for research or aquatic animals raised in aquaculture.

The Animal Liberation franchise does it in nearly everything that they do.

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Following The ‘Fruit Bat’ Sh*T Crazy

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With a number of vegans being concerned about the ‘damage’ that former vegan foodies are doing to the cause, very little attention is paid to those current ‘personalities’ who are possibly doing it even more harm.

A number of these vegans come to mind (and I do use the term vegan loosely as I think they are more focused on a plant based diet) unfortunately the worst by far happen to be Australian.

That’s right folks, I am talking about Leanne Bell(?) Ratcliffe and Harley Johnstone otherwise known as Freelee and Durian Rider.

Are they really vegan?

While it is easy for someone to throw on a t-shirt with a catchy slogan and talk about plant based foods, does that really make them a vegan?

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Open Letter to Angus Taylor, Member for Hume – New South Wales

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Dear Mr Taylor,

I am writing this letter to you out of concern over comments that you have made regarding the actions the alleged extreme animal rights group Aussie Farms, and its operations director, Mr Chris Delforce.

You have said that because Mr Delforce has the view that animal agriculture shouldn’t exist that he is un-Australian and their behavior is unacceptable.

Well Mr Taylor, just like Mr Delforce, I am also of the belief that animal agriculture doesn’t have a place in the modern Australian farming landscape.

Does this also make me un-Australian?

Mr Taylor, whilst the actions of Mr Delforce and Aussie Farms may get the approval of some within the animal advocacy movement, I personally believe that they are actually setting the movement back, and making it harder for those of us who want to have a legitimate discussion about the use of other animals. In fact, the recent piece that I wrote regarding this appeared in the same publication as your comments, some 2 days earlier.

What really concerns me about your comments Mr Taylor is that as a Federal Member of Parliament for the seat of Hume, you are supposed to the people’s representative in Canberra. Not an industry representative as you appear to be.

Mr Taylor, please understand that like Mr Delforce, I will do whatever it take to shut down animal agriculture, an industry that I believe to be archaic and out-dated.

Though unlike Mr Delforce, I will do it within the confines of the law. So please do not tar us all with the same brush.

Mr Taylor, you have said that you have worked hard to understand where the animal welfare lobby comes from, though have you taken any time to understand where the ‘animal rights’ lobby comes from?

Remember they are two totally separate groups with different views and goals.

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What ARE You?

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What Are You? - AusVegan.com.au
Image courtesy of hywards / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The recent piece that I wrote about the activities of Aussie Farms, that was picked up by the media seems to have had people making all sorts of outlandish statements, telling lies, and spreading rumours.
Whilst I am not going to give the lies and rumours credibility by responding to them, I am going to address some of the more important questions that were asked.

Are You An Animal Liberationist?

In a nutshell the answer is No.
This is because I have not performed an act that liberated other animals from captivity/oppression.
To disappoint some, being a member of the animal liberation franchise does not make you an animal liberationist either.

Are You An Animal Rights Activist?

Once again, in a nutshell the answer is no.
Whilst calling yourself an animal rights activist may be the new black, the reality is that attaching that label to yourself doesn’t actually make you an animal rights activist.
To call yourself an animal rights activist, you will need to define what animal rights you are seeking to achieve. From there, you will need to establish a process/procedure for these ‘rights’ being granted, and who /what will be put in place to ensure that these ‘rights’ are not infringed upon.

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