Animal Stewardship

I didn't write this but I feel that this is a very important message in dealing with animal advocacy:

I hope animal advocates will allocate a lot more resources to farmed animal issues because 99 percent of exploited animals are dying to be eaten. Here are some things I've learned about practical advocacy. Nothing is cheaper than teaching by example. Since we are the ambassadors for animals and people don't separate the message from the messenger, we need to be and look like the kind of people other people will want to be and look like - "he looks great and he's vegan!"

I used to say I would "die" for animals but wasn't even willing to wear a nice shirt for animals - my identity was more important to me than being an effective advocate. To be effective we need to be as close to other people as we can. Lecturing on diglycerides to people who are gnawing on an animal's leg bone, giving them lists of 100 ingredients to boycott, is not effective. We should applaud people for even small steps, which for them may be big steps, like being vegetarian 3 days a week or choosing a "free-range" egg over a battery-hen's egg. Imagine if we could bring each person down from consuming 300 eggs a year to 200 - what a downturn for the egg industry! At the same time, we should not encourage people to substitute one animal for another - that's not progress. Here's a list of some of the cheapest, easiest ways to promote veganism:
* Leafleting on busy street corners and campuses.
* Letters to the editor and op-eds.
* Library displays including free literature: many libraries are delighted to have attractive free displays.
* Feed-Ins - choose a place to feed people delicious vegan "chicken nuggets," say, and bring the box.
* Restaurant Outreach: going to restaurants and getting one or more vegan meals on the menu; getting your local deli to carry mock turkey and ham; getting the meat distributor to carry mock meats to receptive outlets. These are all things that COK has done, and does, success-fully in Washington DC. It works better than picketing the meat distributor.
* Put videos on cable access: it's usually free and people watch!

It's important to show people exactly what happens to animals as a result of meat, dairy, and egg consumption. Even if we don't do undercover investigations ourselves, we should use the footage that COK and other groups provide. We must show people that meat means misery. The least we can do is to bear witness. As I lie in my comfortable bed at night, I think of the hens on wire mesh floors with no comfort ever. People should know exactly why we are so adamant about standing up for animals.