Vegans

How can you speak for all vegans?

Not everyone is the same.

There are people who are vegans to the point of not having a pet, people who eat a vegan diet, and lots of people in between who have their own red lines of what it means to them.

She used to eat cheese before becoming intolerant to lactose, eggs and honey. Now she chooses not to. It’s her choice. She is pretty healthy and runs regularly as far as marathons, so it’s not doing her any harm. Live and let live.

Pillars of Hercules near Falkland Palace.

Yeah - some (most?) vegans would be ok with adopting from a shelter as the animal already exists and isn’t being brought into the world specifically to be your pet. There are definitely some grey areas within veganism though and this is one of them. Some vegans are completely against pets full stop whereas others do think adopting from a shelter remains ethical. Whereas things like the egg industry are obviously not vegan, no debate.

I joined a vegan group on Reddit, all the posts were about how disgusting meat was, how many litres of water to produce meat, look at these fat people eating meat, and so on. That was such a good opportunity to talk about it in a positive way instead of looking for the negatives I thought.

There is a really good sub for vegan recipes though.

The vegans I know fall into one of two camps - ‘I’m vegan, I’m political, what are you doing to help the animals? This is what I am doing’, and the other type is more ‘I’m vegan, would you like some cake? I also have samosas and other things and I always share my recipes’. I love the second type 😁.

@4Lightz
Just a hypothetical. Would you say that adopting a dog from, for example, DogsTrust could be done by a vegan? You'd be exploiting it by keeping a sentient animal as a pet but DT uses dogs in its care to raise money which is a bigger exploitation imo. Could you still be classed as a vegan if you followed all the other vegan rules but adopted a dog from a shelter especially a long stay resident that no one else wanted? Just interested, nothing more.

I don’t think you really know what veganism is. It’s not about meat substitutes.

I don't eat animals at all. Not too bothered if other people want to eat meat.
I don't like the labels. Everthing I've eaten today was suitable for vegans but not delierately so.
My pets aren't vegan or vegetarian.

Where was this please?

Agree. I’m glad the venue listened and cancelled the event

Hey thanks for your response.
Just to clarify (not having a go, I know it can be a contentious topic), vegan is a moral stance against animal exploitation so it does includes pet ownership, clothing, horse racing, animal testing on cosmetics etc.
Someone who doesn’t eat animal products for whatever reason is following a plant-based diet.
so - that is to say, all vegans eat plant-based diets, but not all people on a plant-based diet are vegan.

I’m a committed omnivore. But I recently stayed on a vegan campsite with friends and ate most breakfasts at the café there. It was lovely. I didn’t feel I needed to try and educate the people I was with or anyone else about what they should be eating. I couldn’t care less what people have for dinner. And if anyone tries to tell me what to eat I’d just ignore them. No business of anyone else what anyone is eating.

They are concerned about the welfare and exploitation of the birds. Sounds like they’re right. We shouldn’t be using them like this.

Some vegans force their views about the actual animal and its welfare, it just sounds like your DD doesn’t like the taste/texture of meat and she doesn’t have dairy because she’s lactose intolerant, not because she cares about the animals

Agree with pp that people following a vegan diet don't all think the same.
I am against pet ownership and would like to see it end. And I think there is a strong argument to say that some compromised breeds would be better off be euthanised than rehomed. But I do have a dog from a rehoming shelter.
I hope she has a better life with me than she would have had otherwise but who am I to say?

The article is pure clickbait. I've had friends and family who were the most annoying, insufferable vegans (in fairness, they were that way before they became vegan), and their smarminess pales in comparision to the most irritating of meat eaters. Give me a preachy vegan over a preachy meat eater any day.

It’s unbelievable the ignorance and idiocy from supposed intelligent adults regarding vegans on this thread. In fact, on any thread about vegans.

I’m sure it comes from a place of shame that they cannot be disciplined and compassionate so it’s easier to just ridicule and dismiss.

I am quietly happy that my choices in life do not cause suffering to other living things. I’ll carry being insufferable in my own, smug and guilt-free way.

Disclaimer - I'm not a vegan.

There isn't one single ethos that everyone who follows a certain diet has to follow otherwise they are "not doing it properly".

Vegans can be vegan because they object to farming practices but have no issue with pets. They can be vegan because they believe the diet is healthier and not care about animals at all. They can literally follow the diet for any reason they like, it's their business.

The myth is that vegans go on about being vegan, but honestly, my experience is that it's a certain type of meat eater that whinges on about other people's diets in a judgemental way the most.

Then you are a very silly person.

I’m not going to communicate with you anymore

No need to be sarky - I didn’t say it was a novel perspective. I asked why it’s such a big deal, you haven’t been able to answer.

YABU - let them get in with it.

This! ^^

it has a click bait title and looks like it’s worked reading this thread.

It’s perfectly clear from reading the article that there were two separate groups who expressed concerns about welfare, The Darlington Vegans and North East Animal Rights.

The concern was that displays like this ”force wild animals to perform unnatural behaviour such as flying to human cues... purely for crowd spectacle"

We should all be applying critical thinking to things that involve animals for the benefit of human entertainment. I welcomed the ban on greyhound racing in Scotland and Wales and like @CrowsInMyGarden have expressed concerns at country shows and village fetes where animals were being exhibited and/or in classes when the weather temperature exceeded 27 degrees.

Do you know how low the bar is for free range? It’s not chickens outside in lots of space like on the happy eggs adverts. In reality they have very little space and many won’t see outside.

I also love the top of the food chain argument XD most people are so out of shape they can’t run 100m, but sure they are all apex predators

Great …the weekly VB thread