We don’t eat dogs or cats because we recognize their individual nature and their capacity for forming strong social bonds. Science, despite their initial assumptions, has proven that all animals have personalities, individual characteristics, and form relationships. But in the fields of food, fashion, entertainment, and medicine, animals are not thought of as individuals, but as things, commodities, and property to be owned and used. Being vegan allows us to detach ourselves from the shackles of this moral dissonance and allow us to express the full measure of compassion that humanity is capable of.

Being vegan means that you aren’t supporting the hidden cycle of violence pervasive in all industries that use animals. Any industry that uses animals puts profit before lives, and when their desire to increase the bottom line is put into action, it is the animals that ultimately suffer the consequences of “cost-cutting.” But being vegan isn’t about achieving a maximum amount of purity, but of affording the minimum amount of justice owed to those individuals that we call animals.

Society has deemed that people are free to make choices as long as they don’t harm or violate others; society will not allow a person to make the argument that it is a choice to beat his/her dog and that his/her choice be respected. With choice comes responsibility and consequences. Simply because one feels free to eat meat or dairy does not absolve him/her of the consequences of that choice, and simply because the consequences are kept hidden does not mean that there aren’t any. There are many consequences to your health, the environment, and to the animals themselves.

That is a misconception floated by a study conducted in the 1970s that has since been debunked and shown to be flawed in its methodology. Plants have no central nervous systems, nerve endings, or brains required for the passage of pain. It is theorized that animals developed the ability to feel pain as a form of self-protection by avoidance of dangerous situations. Since plants cannot move away, this ability would be extraneous in evolution.

Besides, the argument of whether or not plants feel pain discounts and belittles the very real pain being inflicted on animals in service to humans.

If you are taking a principled position of not eating animals because you think it’s wrong to do so, then being vegetarian unfortunately solves only half the problem. The human demand for eggs and dairy leads to many other abuses of animals within those industries, and the interdependence of the dairy, veal, and beef industries makes it a morally inconsistent choice.

Many people are hesitant to adopt a vegan lifestyle because they think it’s a life of deprivation. Arguably, the opposite is true; a lifestyle that supports the confinement and killing of animals deprives animals of life and opportunities to live in the way that is most natural for them.

Most people find that once they become vegan, a new world opens up to them as they discover new vegetables, grains, fruits, and other foods they have never tried before. Many people find that they have much more varied and interesting meals than when they were omnivores. More meat-free and dairy-free alternatives are available in more places, with more choices and options than ever before. In making the choice between a product from an animal and one made without, in this day and age it seems barbaric to demand that an animal be made to suffer and die to satisfy a personal whim.

Cows give milk because they are expecting to provide nutrition for their young. In dairy industries, they are kept constantly pregnant for a few years in order to maintain a steady supply of milk until they are quickly worn out, then sold to slaughter. Female cows are artificially inseminated using a machine called a “rape rack” within the industry. Once they give birth, calves are immediately taken away from their mothers so that humans can take the milk nature intended for the calves. The mother cow grieves for days, while the female calves are shipped off to be raised in tiny stalls to become future milk factories, and the male calves are sold to the veal or pet food industry.

Many people are realizing that the most egregious forms of modern animal agriculture are not something they want to support, so they think that supporting “humane” practices is a better path to follow. Unfortunately, industry is one step ahead of consumer demand in this regard, and has diluted the nominal standards of what is considered “humane.” “Humane” is now a marketing label used to take advantage of the growing consumer consciousness about the animals being used for food. “Organic” is another such label being used to mislead the public into thinking the welfare of the animal is monitored; “organic” merely refers to the feed given to the animal and in no way reflects the treatment of the animal.

These labels suggest to the consumer idyllic farms populated by happy animals grazing placidly in the sun. However, in most circumstances, the only difference between standard animal agriculture and “humane” animal agriculture is that the animals aren’t kept in individual cages. The same overcrowded conditions are present, the same standard agricultural procedures like de-beaking, tail-docking, and other painful procedures are done without benefit of anesthetic. Half of all chickens bred for eggs are immediately killed; males have no economic value to hatcheries, so they are either tossed into trash bags and slowly suffocate to death, or are ground up by large chippers while still alive. Even farms that advertise that they sell “humane” eggs get their chicks from hatcheries that operate in this manner, and are part of the same cycle of cruelty. And even though hens can live up to 10 years, they are killed and thrown away after one year and replaced with younger hens as their bodies wear out and their egg production drops off.

And animals raised “humanely” for food are shipped to the same slaughterhouses as the “conventional” factory animals, where there are no protections in place. Even on the very rare small family farm that isn’t contracted to big agribusiness, where the welfare of the animal can be argued is exemplary, they are still killed quite needlessly. There really is no existence of a humane way to slit a throat; killing an animal in the prime of its life makes a mockery of the definition of “humane.”

People are led to believe that the use of animals is necessary for human survival, when that is not the case. The meat and dairy industries have large advertising budgets and powerful lobbies that pressure food agencies to maintain the misconception of the necessities of their products. With the advent of the modern ethical vegan movement, there are many people who are long-term vegans, and many athletes and bodybuilders have trained and won grueling competitions while on a vegan diet.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the American Dietetic Association, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization have endorsed a plant-based diet. It has been conclusively proven that the consumption of excessive meat and dairy leads to long-term health problems like diabetes, arthritis, obesity, heart disease, asthma, osteoporosis, and impotence.

Human beings throughout history have adapted to various diets just for pure survival, but now we have the luxury of choice–although it can be argued that in the future we may not have a choice not to eat meat/dairy; given that the majority of crops grown throughout the world are fed to animals raised for food. Such operations require the continuation of clear-cutting valuable forest lands, and contribute to over half of the greenhouse gases emitted. Waste and runoff from animal agriculture also destroys surrounding land and water systems, causing an environmental toll that cannot be afforded due to the ever-expanding world population. According to some environmental authorities, the very survival of the human species may depend on switching to a vegan diet.

The issue is not what people tend to eat now and have eaten in the past, but what is sensible, healthy, and available now. Even though human beings are capable of ingesting a wide range of foods, including meat, modern research shows that we do best on a diet with little or no animal protein and fat. If we define our “natural” diet as that which is best for our health, there is abundant evidence that points to veganism as our natural diet. As omnivores, we have the ability to digest dirt and paper, but few would argue that physiologically it is healthy to eat those things. In fact the vast majority of the world’s human population is lactose-intolerant to varying degrees, particularly Africans, Asians, and indigenous Americans.

We lack the sharp teeth and claws of carnivores like lions and tigers. Instead we have flat molars and a long digestive tract suited to a plant-based diet. Because our digestive tract is four times longer than a carnivore’s, meat takes about four days to pass through our bodies, during which the disease-causing products of decaying meat are in constant contact with the digestive organs (plant-based food takes only about 1 1/2 days). The nutrients found in the flesh and fluids of animals comes from whatever the animal ate; meat and dairy contain no essential nutrients that cannot be obtained from plant sources.

Anthropology has discovered a significant number of societies that existed on a diet largely of plant-based food, and even today, the Brok-Pa of the Himalayas are continuing to survive (and have done so for five thousand years) in a hostile environment at an elevation of 15,000 feet without eating meat or dairy. Since we can maintain perfect health without eating any animal products, then the question remains why we should continue to confine, abuse, and kill animals just to please our taste buds.

People on a healthy vegan diet generally have little problem getting their protein needs met; not only is there sufficient protein in beans, nuts and soy products, there is a substantial amount of protein contained in whole grains and vegetables. All plant proteins have some of every essential amino acid. It is actually more important to pay attention to your intake of the amino acid lysine than to protein; If you meet lysine requirements on a vegan diet (found in greatest quantity in legume-based foods such as tofu, tempeh, beans, etc.) you will most likely meet protein requirements. If as a vegan you eat a lot of junk food, or fall short of the calories your body needs, you are more likely not going to have your protein needs met.

Many people who eat meat and dairy actually get too much protein; in the US most people get about seven times as much protein as they need. The long-term result of too much protein leads to health problems like kidney failure and osteoporosis (excess protein creates an acidic environment and the body leaches calcium from the bones to neutralize it).

Everyone needs B12 to thrive. B12 deficiency can take several forms, from minor fatigue to dementia. Because the body loses its store of B12 as it ages, it is now believed that many diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease in elderly patients can actually be attributed to dementia from B12 deficiency. It is possible to obtain plant-based B12 from fortified foods such as many commercial non-dairy milks, nutritional yeast, and vegan processed food. However under the theory of “better safe than sorry,” supplements are generally recommended.

Vegan diets have many health benefits that far outweigh the easily remedied lack of B 12, and concern over a single vitamin shouldn’t be the stumbling block. Since most omnivores have nutritional deficiencies, even when avoiding obvious unhealthy items like junk food, many medical foundations and organizations recommend nutritional and vitamin supplements for everyone, regardless of diet.

Cheese and other dairy products contain casein, a milk protein that acts in much the same way as morphine. The addictive, calming effect of casein ensures newborn beings continue to desire their mothers’ milk until the time comes for them to be weaned; it helps ensure the baby to gain weight and solidify the emotional bond between mother and baby. This physical effect is so great humans are the only animals that continue to consume dairy into adulthood, and only humans regularly consume milk from other species – milk that that wasn’t intended or designed for them. We have allowed ourselves to remain addicted to dairy despite the health problems it creates.

But even in this late stage in life, you still can wean yourself off of dairy, including cheese. You may experience cravings for a few weeks, but like trying to beat any other addictive substance, it takes persistence and avoiding situations of temptation. There are a few vegan cheeses on the market that mimic closely the properties of dairy-based cheeses.

Although veganism is often portrayed in the media as a diet, a vegan lifestyle is not just about health, diet, or weight loss. It’s about living a life in accordance with the moral principle of not treating animals as property or commodities, and not using or supporting the use of animals in any way. A vegan will actively choose ethical alternatives to the use of animals in clothing, entertainment, and research, as well as food.

Religion is based on faith, a belief in something that is not recognized by empirical science. The arguments for veganism are based on real-world evidence. A cult is usually considered a small group, headed by a charismatic leader, outside of the mainstream. People from all walks of life, of all religious persuasions, of all ages, all across the world, have recognized veganism as a positive life-affirming lifestyle. In the future, there will be a time when people who use, kill, and eat animals will be considered as uncommon as those who kill animals for religious sacrifices.

If veganism is extreme, then by contrast one would have to say that the act of eating meat and dairy is insignificant and ordinary. But the human demand for meat and dairy requires the confinement and killing of over 10 billion land animals each and every year (not including the untold billions of sea animals). To vegans, killing tens of billions of animals every year is extreme.

To non-vegans, veganism may sound unattractively austere. However the increasing amount of companies catering to vegan lifestyles makes it possible to live a comfortable and principled life that actively withdraws its support of practices that causes torture and killing and emphasizes compassion for all living beings.

Because humans can act in a particular way in exceptional circumstances, it does not follow that we are justified or excused in typical circumstances. Someone on a lifeboat with no hope of rescue who eats a fellow castaway who has died probably will be excused; someone who kills and eats their next-door neighbor because “they were hungry” would not be. Extreme hypothetical situations have no bearing on everyday situations, and dreaming up unlikely scenarios discounts the very real pain and suffering that animals undergo here in reality.

Leather is not a by-product of the cattle industry; it is a co-product–almost half of profits made by cattle slaughterhouses come from the sale of skin. Because of the relatively slim margin on animal flesh, industries are dependent on the sale of hides to remain in business. Leather comes not only from cows raised for meat, but also from dairy cows whose production has dropped off and are no longer seen as profitable. Additionally, calfskin comes from the calves confined in tiny cages or boxes raised for veal.

A growing market for leather comes from China, where there is no enforcement of welfare standards, and India, where cows raised in Hindu states are marched for hundreds of grueling insufferable miles into other countries or non-Hindu Indian states where cow slaughter is permitted.

There are many synthetic alternatives to virtually every single leather product on the market.

Wool, as with other products of industries relying on the use of animals, is a multi-billion-dollar industry. As in all industries that use animals, sheep are regarded as mere commodities to be used for the value of the money they bring to the enterprise. Improving their welfare cuts into the bottom line, so as a natural course for all sheep, their tails are cut down, their ears punched with holes for ID tags, and males are castrated, all without the benefit of anesthesia.

Many sheep shearers get paid by volume, so they work quickly, some shearing as many as 350 sheep a day, leading to untreated nicks, cuts, gouges, and infections. They are shorn in the spring, often while it is still too cold, and each year an estimated one million sheep die of exposure because of premature shearing.

Raising sheep for wool also supports the meat industry. Even though sheep can live for 15-20 years, after their wool production drops off after the age of 3 or 4, they get shipped off to slaughter. Much of the world’s wool production comes from Australia, and once the sheep’s wool production declines, they get shipped off in a month-long voyage packed into dirty, disease-ridden ships to places like the Middle East and North Africa, where there is a market for inexpensive mutton. About two million die each year in transport.

As with leather, there are many synthetic alternatives that are just as warm, if not warmer, than wool. We do have the luxury of choice, so it makes no sense that an animal has to die for our comfort.

There is no shame in having an ideal and working towards it. Just as it’s a lofty goal to strive for a world where violence, wars, slavery, and murder of people is eliminated, it is just as a worthwhile goal to eliminate violence and killing of animals. Few people would argue that the world doesn’t need a bit more compassion and empathy. Violence and killing is never the answer, whether it is perpetrated against human or non-human animals. Veganism provides the most consistent expression of that principle.

The reality is that everyone won’t turn vegan all at once. As the demand for animal use decreases, then there won’t be as many animals bred for human purposes. At the same time, many wild animal species are threatened by the amount of land and resources it takes to raise farmed animals. If extinction of species is of a real concern, then the compassionate solution is to not have them live a life of misery, and take steps to protect the ones who are here by devising solutions for them to live out their natural lives, such as more sanctuaries and refuges.

Farmed animals today have characteristics that are not found in the wild or in their naturally bred relatives, such as chickens who have been genetically manipulated to grow extremely fast and develop large breasts that do not permit them to have any degree of mobility. The best hope for farmed animals is a sanctuary.

Rights (either moral or legal) serve to protect basic interests from being traded away and to not be sacrificed merely because it would be in the interests of others to ignore or violate it. The right to liberty, for instance, means the interest in freedom will be protected even if it would be in the interest of others to keep people enslaved. Animals don’t always have the same rights as humans, as animals’ interests aren’t always the same as ours and some rights of humans are irrelevant to animals’ lives’. For example, an animal doesn’t have an interest in voting, and therefore the right to vote would be meaningless to an animal. However, animals do have the right to equal consideration of their interests. An animal has an interest in living a life without being confined and treated as property or a commodity, without having pain inflicted upon him or her, and not being killed. It is up to all of us to ensure, protect, and enforce their inherent rights.

Just because another human or animal seems different does not mean we shouldn’t recognize their interest in continuing their life. The difference between animals and humans in many respects does not negate our similarities; we are all living beings that wish to continue to live; we all feel pain, and try move away from dangerous situations that put our lives at risk or cause pain. Animals have complex social relationships and have bonds with their friends, parents, sons and daughters, and they have an interest in not losing those bonds, therefore we should have consideration by not interfering with their relationships.

Although humans and animals have different strengths and different characteristics, being different does not mean one is superior to the other. The belief in the inherent supremacy of humans is called “speciesism,” similar to the belief in the supremacy of one race over another or one sex over another. Like racism and sexism, animal rights seeks to eliminate speciesism.

Animals’ inability to comprehend and adhere to our rules is as irrelevant as a child or person with a mental handicap’s inability to do so. Because they cannot speak up and defend their status as individuals means that we have a greater responsibility to ensure their rights are protected.

Society is based on rules governing people’s behavior. The nature of all reform movements is to advocate against harmful behavior, such as using humans as slaves, denying women equal status, etc. All social movements initially encounter resistance from people who wish to continue the behavior being criticized.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but freedom of thought does not imply freedom of action. You are free to think whatever you like as long as you don’t hurt others. You may believe that black people should be enslaved, and that women should be denied the ability to vote, but that doesn’t give you the right to put your beliefs into practice. Our society presently encourages the killing of animals for meat, and using animals for our purposes, but history shows that society also encouraged slavery, child labor, wife-beating, and many other practices now objectively recognized as morally wrong.

There are animals who are more intelligent, creative, aware, and communicative than some humans. Chimpanzees are more intelligent and advanced than human infants or people with severe mental handicaps. If intelligence is the determining factor, then should the more intelligent animals have rights and the less intelligent ones be denied rights? The use of intelligence to assess worth is a dangerous argument because the line between who is considered intelligent or not can be drawn by those in a position of power to exercise domination over the ones they considered unintelligent and sub-human.

If possession of superior intelligence does not entitle a human to use and abuse another human, why should it entitle humans to use and abuse non-humans? Intelligence is an irrelevant point when considering that every living being has a desire to live, and a desire to live in a habitat that fulfills his or her interests.

Judging the worth of animals based on a human measure like intelligence is itself an act of speciesism. It would be equally logical for a cheetah to consider a human inferior because we can’t run as fast, or an ant because we can’t carry three times our body weight.

Most animals that kill for food could not survive if they didn’t. That is not the case for humans. Anthropology and science has determined that we can be perfectly healthy not eating animals or animal products. We have the luxury of choice–carnivorous animals don’t.
Additionally, it is ironic that those who argue the supremacy of humans over animals put humans back down to the level of animals in this instance. Animals behave in many ways that we do not think is appropriate or moral for humans to, such as eating their young. If we truly believe that we are more advanced than animals, then shouldn’t we also not keep captive and not kill animals as a result of our sophistication?

Being bred for a specific human purpose does not change an animal’s biological capacity to feel pain and fear. Even though the animal doesn’t know why he or she was born, that doesn’t diminish his or her sensitivity. It’s irrelevant. In addition to the injustice of being genetically manipulated in order to serve our own interests over the interests of the animals, they undergo an additional injustice of living a life of confinement and misery.

The automobile replaced the horse-and-buggy industry, tractors made obsolete the manufacture of plows to be pulled by oxen, and there is no more need for the Pony Express. Job retraining and restructuring is an ingredient in social progress, not a reason to deter progress. Traditions and customs do not have any inherent moral relevance; throughout human history, many traditions and customs depended on the exploitation of others. There are constant adjustments of traditions and customs throughout human history, so we can create new ones that respect compassion towards all living beings.

Breaking laws to correct injustices, usually called civil disobedience, has a long history not only in this country, but in other places where resistance was necessary against those who were responsible for oppression and exploitation. In this case, because laws are written to protect the economic interests of those who abuse and exploit animals, rather than to protect the animals themselves, some animal rights activists feel morally compelled to work outside the law to correct the injustices being committed. Some, dissatisfied with the pace of legislative change or moved by witnessing the extent of animal abuse, endeavor to take direct action to free animals from exploitation in research labs, fur farms, or factory farms. Yet as a matter of ethical principle, no animal rights group has ever taken the life of a living being, human or nonhuman.

Today, constitutionally protected free speech and legal, above-ground protest has been identified as violence and terrorism ever since the post-9/11 passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which tags animal and environmental activists as “terrorists” if their actions inflict economic damage. However, calling nonviolent activism “terrorism” is an insult to those who have been the victims of legitimate terrorism.

It is also ethically inconsistent to call property damage “violence.” Acts of great cruelty are committed against animals every minute of every day, yet because animals are considered property, the government does not consider it violence. It cannot then be accurate to call physical damage to a business location violence.

Asking to not be active for animals and help people instead is like asking a person who works with children with autism to work instead for patients suffering from cancer. Each work for the benefit of others is important, and should not be deemed insignificant. Because there are very few laws protecting animals, who cannot defend themselves against abuses by humans, it is that much more imperative that we stand up and ensure the defense of their lives and safety for them.

Being passionate about one particular issue does not mean that one doesn’t care about other issues. Animal rights expands the circle of compassion beyond that of the human species and the animals that we allow into our lives, so that championing for the freedom of animals also extends to being an activist for the life and liberty of people.

Many people that advocate for animal rights are involved in multiple social justice issues, have jobs in education, public service, healthcare, and other fields that directly benefit people, and have a compassionate nature generally. Animal rights advocates are also among the first to step up for issues such as disaster relief, gay marriage, civil liberties, among others. Animal rights contends that the circle of compassion and respect be extended beyond species, not at the exclusion of others. Animal rights advocates believe that just as humans shouldn’t be confined and used as slaves, animals have the same interest in not being confined and used.

Simply stated, veganism is the living practice of animal rights. A vegan does not consume animals or animal products, or support practices that use animals. Since animals are sentient beings capable of pain, forming relationships, and having bonds with their offspring, then they have inherent rights to live in a way that nature intended them to do. By not eating or using animals and animal-based products or supporting organizations and practices that use animals, the inherent right of an animal to live free of human use is recognized. Veganism affirms the life of every being.