Don’t approach me, I’m an animal activist

Currently, animal activists are responding to animal abuse in the only way they know how, the only way they think will work - by protest! We are out there, insisting that we strongly object to the use of violence towards animals. Surely that’s unarguable. But as activists we can appear to act aggressively towards non-vegans, often in an unrestrained, intense and vehement manner, to get our point across. We think it’s okay to be pushy if it’s in a good cause, telling ourselves we have a duty to be forceful … on behalf of the animals. But how close is this to ‘fighting violence with violence’? Confronting any negative reactions or abusive language with sharp invective of our own?
As animal rights activists we believe we have a better chance of winning significant welfare reforms for animals by being uncompromising and assertive. By using this approach we’ve brought issues to public attention and ended many of the worst abuses of animals. The shaming of vivisectors and other animal exploiters has worked to some extent. But it hasn’t convinced the majority of consumers, who haven’t felt the opprobrium personally and therefore haven’t felt responsible enough to change their daily habits. We might say that the collective conscience has not been tweaked.
Instead, a group of animal activists, who seem angry, have made it hard for most people to identify with them. That has encouraged disagreement with their arguments. Consumers have successfully convinced themselves that these are people you wouldn’t want to know, so they shut off from them. They never even get to first base in understanding the issues, because they don’t like the look of the people who are talking to them. The vegan activist can’t afford to appear like this.