Animal Lover? Leave our furry friends off your plate this Christmas.

Christmas is one of, if not the best, time of year. For myself as an expat, I look forward to flying home to spend time with friends & family. I actually look forward to being a little cold, being wrapped up in oversized jumpers, hot chocolates, movie nights, Christmas parties with my girls & of course I look forward to the food.

But one thing I really struggle with this time of year is the hypocrisy of people who call themselves ‘animal lovers’ but eat animals on Christmas Day.

People will spend money, time & effort buying & wrapping Christmas presents for their pets & enjoy watching them play with their new toys but will then quite happily tuck into a meal of an animal which has the same level of emotional intelligence as your pet (or I did anyway when it was alive)

 & this is where the arguments come in. I have heard them all. There are so many reasons & studies online for & against going vegan. Some articles will tell you meat will kill you eventually, others will tell you going vegan will kill you.

Other people will use the age-old & ridiculous argument of ‘farm animals are made to be eaten’ – & my simple answer to that is ‘says who?’ to which the reply is usually ‘it’s just tradition’ or ‘we’ve always eaten turkey at Christmas’.

So? We are not robots. We do not have to follow the crowd or do what every else is doing.

Stop making excuses. There are plenty of websites & resources online & pretty much all the high street supermarkets have vegan alternatives available. There are vegan main dishes, sides, starters, desserts – there are even vegan advent calendars!

Despite what the dairy & meat industry will try to tell you (ever more so now that they are panicking due to the downturn in demand for their products) there is NO HUMANE way for animals to die in slaughter houses.

As you are you welcomed home this year by your family pet who is so excited to see you, stop & think to yourself how you would feel if he/she was treated like a turkey you are probably going to eat on Christmas Day. Crammed in solidarity confinement, with no sunlight & have never felt grass on their feet.

Cows, sheep, chickens, turkeys & ducks are all intelligent. They all feel pain just like us & our pets. They feel physical pain when they are slaughtered & emotional pain when they are separated & have their babies torn away from them.

My love & attachment to my pets is unconditional & it would break my heart if any harm came to them – let alone if they were tortured & slaughtered for the greed of society & a few moments of pleasure. 

If you buy your pet a Christmas present, but eat animals for Christmas dinner, you are a hypocrite.

Why celebrate Christmas with one & eat another?

If you are an animal lover, you know what I am saying is right. You know animals don’t deserve it. But YOU can help make a change.

Peace on earth? Peace starts on your plate.

Picture by Mino Valley Farm Sanctuary – check out their inspiring work here