Here’s my usual morning routine:
My alarm goes off and I get up with our two dogs. We head downstairs and I let them outside to do their business. Then I feed them. I then repeat the same thing with my daughter’s dog, who sleeps in her kennel downstairs.
After the dogs are taken care of, I sit down in front of the computer with a cup of coffee and read through Facebook. Although I have the morning news on in the background, Facebook is really where the news is at, am I right? For some reason this morning, though, every other post was about an abused animal. And have you seen the pictures of the pig jumping out of a truck on its way to the slaughterhouse? My heart just broke. I was overwhelmed with total sadness. I started to cry. I had to quickly scroll down and find a funny video to get my mind off of the images.
While I think it’s great that social media is getting information out there to people about what goes on in places like factory farms, puppy mills, research labs, and meat processing plants, the truth is that for those of us who are already vegan and do what we can to help animals, this information is emotionally overwhelming.
And then there’s the dilemna: Do I share this stuff on my wall so that other non-vegans see it and hope that the post will be the catalyst to make them want to be vegan? Or will posting something like this make my non-vegan friends turn away, or scroll on by without looking because they “just don’t want to know”? It’s tough. If I try to post something cute and positive regarding animals, I usually get a bacon comment. (When will people realize that the bacon jokes are just NOT funny?) If I post something graphic and horrific, I get…..nothing.
Instead, I have found the best thing to do is talk about my running. I post vegan recipes. I get lots of positive comments and feedback from others. Am I making a difference? I don’t know. Most of the time I feel like I’m not, and it can be frustrating. However, I’m not giving up. I’m just going to continue being me.
Like a Fine Vino 
Good news! The cops who took the pig in said the pig will live there at the police station. I had read about the pig a few days ago and had originally read that the pig had been recaptured to be food. Nope! The pig was captured to keep it from getting hurt. So, that pig’s bravery gave it a happy fate–pampered pig at a police station.
Also, I post stuff that non-vegans can read or ignore–it’s my FB page–I’ll post what I damn well please. They can unfriend me if they don’t like it–at least my vegan conscience is intact. And I WANT people to have a twinge of guilt. Their problem, not mine. So post what you want!
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Patricia, that is AWESOME news about the pig. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t erase what is happening to thousands of pigs (and other animals) every day. I’m just happy that the brave pig will get to live out it’s days in peace.
I love your attitude. I think it’s why I started a blog, so that I can open up and be totally honest and talk about whatever issues I want. However, I still find myself censoring myself because I don’t want to hurt feelings or offend anyone. Ugh. I need to stop doing that! It’s my damn blog! I should not care what anyone else thinks, right? I’m working on it, Patricia, I really am! 🙂
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I hear you, Tammy. Here in Baltimore they just killed a bull on the streets today who escaped from a slaughterhouse and was running around. I am so sad. For every lucky pig or other animal, there’s hundreds of thousands daily around the world that aren’t so lucky.
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😦
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OMG! I am SO HAPPY that pig made it!!
I had to stop “liking” certain pages because I often scroll through while I’m at work, and I can’t just sit here with tears streaming down my face 😦
Speaking of which, have you guys seen the pit bull who was used as a bait dog (she did get rescued!!) – her face is sort of twisted. I can’t even explain it, but jeez I can’t even think about it without crying.
I don’t understand how people can be so cruel. I really don’t.
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The pit bull used as dog bait was one of those posts that set me off this morning! I don’t understand it, either, Laura. It’s just heartbreaking and it makes me feel so helpless. I just want to do more to help; I just don’t know what, though!
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I’ve run into this dilemma as well. I think it’s really to each their own, but I (like you) have found the more positive inspirational stuff I post/practice, the easier it is to begin the conversation about some of the choices we make and why. Great post.
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