Conscious of non-violence

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Being conscious of Animal Rights doesn’t stop at dietary change because it suggests the need for all-round non-violence. The way we treat animals, the way we treat each other – violence and violation have always been used for a quick-fix. We see a forest and think of the timber we can take from it - no regard for the inhabitants of the forest. We fish out the oceans, dump poisons in rivers, plant ugly pylons in the landscape– we justify it by believing we need the fish, the timber, the electricity. Perhaps we can boycott fish by no longer eating it but we can’t easily boycott timber and electricity. If we did, we’d be the only ones to do it, and we’d be resentful about that.

It’s almost impossible not to have double standards, or to be a non-violator. Even if you try to boycott just the animal cruelty products you run into trouble. The Animal Rights Movement is still a very young grouping, comprising people who aren’t always clear how to act - be a strict vegan, be a hard-working activist, run an animal shelter, be a nice person? We have vegetarians who still can’t take on a vegan food and clothing regime. We have dietary vegans who can’t let go of their leathers. We have sincere animal lovers who take on the care of a carnivorous companion animal (albeit rescued) for whom many other animals are killed to feed it. We are seen to be preaching one thing and doing another. This Animal Rights consciousness is new to all of us and is the testing ground for the deeper practice of non-violence.