Animal Welfare & The Power of Positivity

"Ugh, please stop grouping vegetarians and vegans together."

This was the tweet that sparked a debate on twitter the other day between myself and a very vegan proud tweeter. I originally retweeted the tweet claiming it was counterproductive to the message of compassion and wasn't celebratory of the efforts of vegetarians in the fight for animal welfare. She retaliated by claiming that dairy was worse than meat and there was no difference between a vegetarian and a carnivore. So, I posed her a question that she neglected to respond to and ultimately, our conversation was over at this point.

"If the idea is to help ANY animal, is telling someone who makes any kind of effort that they aren't doing enough a good way to promote veganism?"

I've dealt with my fair share of vegans who claim that nothing is good enough unless you have gone fully vegan. While I agree that veganism is extremely just and something to be extremely proud of, we must never turn our backs on someone who is making any kind of effort. 

Someone who is trying to be vegetarian for the first time in their lives is someone you should be supporting. Someone who's family is committing to meatless mondays is someone who we should be celebrating. Someone who gives up using products tested on animals is someone who we should be celebrating.

You see, when it comes to animal welfare, ANY animal saved is a positive thing. Could there be more with more aggressive changes to one's life? Sure, but why would we not celebrate any kind of milestone?

I remember back when I was living in Dublin and I had gotten into an argument with a group of vegans after I accused them of being unsupportive and self-righteous which I explained to them was counterproductive. After nearly 400 messages blasting me for being clueless, they then decided that it was in their best interest to contact the animal shelter I worked at to inform that I was only a vegetarian which in their minds, would effectively get me fired from my volunteering position. I'm sure you all can see how this is counterproductive and actually the opposite of true compassion. How does trying to get me fired from a position where I am voluntarily helping animals at shelters effectively helping animals? This is where I believe that the power of positivity is so much more effective than trying to demean and embarrass people who are trying. 

After going to a few of their personal pages, it was clear to me that their idea of animal activism was almost entirely relegated to animal agriculture. The meat and dairy industries were their only targets and those who didn't fall in to the vegan spectrum simply weren't doing enough. The interesting thing about this is that animal welfare encompasses so much more than factory farming and dairy shaming. What about the hundreds of animals rapidly going extinct in Africa? What about the hundreds of horses dropping to the ground from exhaustion after carrying around carriages all day? Where was the outrage at any of those things?

The Power of Positivity

It is so important to share in others' success when it comes to animal activism. Spreading a message through positivity and support will always yield better results than attacking and shaming people for their efforts. We are taught at a very young age that the way we deliver a message will affect how it received. If we are repeatedly negative with people who are making an effort, what motivation do they have to continue to try? How does this help animals if you've turned away someone making an effort? That person gives up and starts consuming animals again, effectively working against what the message is supposed to be.

Listen guys, whatever you're doing out there is amazing. If you're giving up meat for the first time in your 50 years on this planet, I salute you. If you're abandoning products tested on animals and making a conscious effort to buy cruelty-free, that's amazing. If you've gone fully vegan, amazing job! We must lift eachother up and be supportive if we truly want this momentum to continue.

Remember, the idea is to help every animal we can and the only way to do that is to show support for anyone making a conscious effort. The power of positivity in spreading a message is unparalleled. 

HAPPY VEG