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Stealth Activism

May 5, 2017 by Tofu Temptress 3 Comments

Cuddly pig.
One for the 'Bacon tho...' brigade
One for the ‘Bacon tho…’ brigade

For many people who become vegans, activism or outreach is the next logical step. Once one finds out about the horrible cruelty involved in the production of animal products, it’s hard not to want to tell everyone about it. Ah, but then you’d be known as the dreaded ‘preachy vegan’. So what to do? You think most people you know and indeed most people in general like animals and wouldn’t want to see them harmed. You want others to make the connection you did. You want to simply communicate with ordinary folk, but know deep down that few people are receptive to your message. Well, there’s one kind of activism that anyone can do, is free and you don’t even need to talk to anyone.

Who knew pork was made from pigs?
Who knew pork was made from pigs?

It’s called stealth activism and is super simple. You draw people’s awareness to animal suffering without breaking any laws. How? Well, it has a few forms. The other day there was an article in the press about a young woman who had bought a packet of spaghetti bolognaise from Morrisons. So far, so unremarkable. However, when she took the cardboard off to cook it later, she discovered, to her horror, that a sticker had been affixed to the plastic film. The sticker had a non-graphic picture of a frightened looking cow. With the picture was a message from said cow informing the young woman that her ‘personal choice’ had cost the cow her life. When I read the article I thought the headline should read something like ‘Woman hears truth and feels uncomfortable for five minutes.’ I also couldn’t help feeling that perhaps a seed has been planted and she may return to these uncomfortable thoughts. If a more sympathetic person had been the one to uncover the message, maybe they would’ve seriously considered going vegetarian. Who knows?

Some toys I found for sale in a supermarket recently.
Some toys I found for sale in a supermarket recently.

There’s a few websites where you can purchase similar stickers and covertly pop them onto supermarket meat (or indeed milk or egg) products. Check out how The Vegan Punk does it here. The approach I take is slightly different. For one thing, stickers cost money and I also tend to be a bit spontaneous so would most likely forget to take them with me. What I do is I go into the supermarket toy section, pick up any farm animal cuddly toys (Peppa Pigs are everywhere, but I’ve found cows, sheep and chickens too) and pop them into my trolley. I then wander about getting my groceries until I come to the meat aisle.

Do children realise?
Do children realise?

I have to be honest with you here, I’m pretty shy and was a bit worried I’d get caught placing them next to the corresponding meat product. It turns out I had nothing to worry about. The meat aisles these days are pretty quiet in general. I’m rarely disturbed as I put cuddly cows next to beef, sheep next to lamb and pigs next to pork. I’ll then take a quick pic and move on, leaving them there.

Trying to counter cognitive dissonance.
Trying to counter cognitive dissonance.

 

What do I hope to achieve by this? Well, I just want to assist people in the calmest way possible, to make the connection. I want people to see the irony that we encourage children to love and care for these toys, and yet also encourage them to eat their real counterparts. I want to start an awkward conversation between a child and a parent. I want to make people do a double take. I basically want to encourage people to think, which can never be a bad thing.

Cuddly cow next to minced cow.
Cuddly cow next to minced cow.

As for the supermarkets, they can never tell you you’re out of line. You’re simply taking a product from one area of the supermarket and placing it elsewhere. It’s far less disturbing than when my friend used to find packets of nappies in the booze aisle of the supermarket he worked in. Having worked in shops myself, I can see no reason to object to this tactic. So, if you’re not the outgoing type, don’t feel comfortable ‘bothering’ your friends but still want to communicate with people, stealth activism could be for you. It’s a bit of mischief that might just nudge people onto the right track.

Filed Under: Cruelty free Living Tagged With: activism, Cows, meat, pigs, sheep, supermarkets

Sheep. Fools or cool?

February 19, 2015 by Tofu Temptress Leave a Comment

Sheep are friendly and gentle

We recently celebrated Chinese New Year, with a few simple stir fries and such that even I couldn’t screw up, and welcomed in The Year of the Sheep. It got me thinking of how people view sheep. Would you be proud to be born in a year of the sheep, or a little embarrassed? Because the word sheep has become short form for those who don’t think and simply follow the crowd, we tend to be rather patronising towards our fleecy friends. Yes, sheep can act a bit stupidly when they’re in a crowd, but then, so can humans. Who ever looked at footage of a riot or of an entire stand-full of people chanting offensive songs at a football match and thought ‘Well, there are some obviously highly evolved individuals who cannot only think for themselves but are also clearly very intelligent.’? No-one, that’s who.

Sheep are seen as a bit dim, pretty inoffensive and even quite picturesque when roaming a hillside in the distance. Unfortunately, the cuteness of the gambolling lamb doesn’t stop the sheep from being one of the most abused animals in Britain. Recent secretly filmed footage at a slaughterhouse in Yorkshire reveals horrific cruelty towards sheep that is both shocking and sickening. This is why compulsory CCTV in all UK slaughterhouses must be brought in.

Sheep in truck bound for slaughter
Sheep in truck bound for slaughter. Jo-Anne McArthur/We animals

Although it’s not just in the slaughterhouse that sheep face appalling treatment. Ironically, because of their cognitive processes they can be used for research into human neurological disorders. They are also used for research into other diseases for which they suffer enormously. One of these is heart disease and the experiments done by the BHF have been widely criticised. As I’ve said elsewhere on this website, experiments on animals are patchy in their results at best, and no substitute for research that studies humans themselves in the forms of genes and cells.

Sheep are friendly and gentle
Sheep are friendly and gentle. Jo-Anne McArthur/We animals

Sheep also suffer to produce woolly jumpers and carpets. Recent undercover filming highlighted horrific abuses in the wool industry in Australia. You see, just like the meat trade, workers are encouraged to ‘process’ as many animals as possible in an hour to maximise profits. As you can imagine, this doesn’t lead to the sheep receiving care and gentle attention – quite the opposite.

Thankfully, there are plenty of wool alternatives for shoppers and knitters alike so there’s no need to put sheep through this grief. There are also many sanctuaries, including this dedicated one in Devon which may change your mind about those idyllic hillside scenes. And just to finish off, here’s some happy footage of a sheep who, having been raise alongside dogs, jumps about and plays and basically behaves like a big, woolly canine. Sheep are intelligent, fun, joyful animals who are sadly mistreated because of their gentle nature. Maybe next time someone calls you a sheep, you’ll say thank you.

Sheep. Definitely cool
Sheep. Definitely cool. Jo-Anne McArthur/We animals

Filed Under: Animals Tagged With: animals, Chinese, lambs, sheep, wool

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