Were you to see a dog being beaten on the street outside your home ...

Were you to see a dog being beaten on the street outside your home right now, you wouldn't go hand the person beating the dog a Why Vegan pamphlet, you would intervene. And then you would give him a Why Vegan, of course. Point being: you can do both. ~ Peter Young

It is not the property status of animals as a legal construct that is preventing their ...

It is not the property status of animals as a legal construct that is preventing their better treatment, but rather a more general ideology that regards intervention to restrict what owners do to animals as illegitimate. It is not the case that animals are regarded in law as mere things. All animal welfare statutes in the Western world recognize the intrinsic value of animals. Insofar as these statutes aren’t enforced, the explanation doesn’t lie in the property status of animals per se but rather in the wider political, cultural and economic climate in which they operate. ~ Professor Rob Garner

Much of the global environmental problems we have today come from ...

Much of the global environmental problems we have today come from the decisions and actions of 'educated' humans. Until we have a learning process that values our relations with the other we will not progress on the topic of animals either. ~ Prof. Steve Garlick

I believe that until we awaken to the larger picture of interconnectedness we are going ...

I believe that until we awaken to the larger picture of interconnectedness we are going to continue to scatter our message to the wind and few people will get what veganism is about.  ~ Harold Brown

We currently live in a society where the violent exploitation of animals is considered ...

We currently live in a society where the violent exploitation of animals is considered as normal as drinking water and breathing air. In this context, even non-violent property destruction is viewed as absolutely crazy by the vast majority of people. Consequently, property destruction has the effect of making abolitionist vegan education (directed at the public) more difficult ~ Jeff Perz

You or I may not find the concept of vegetarianism "extreme" but to approximately ...

You or I may not find the concept of vegetarianism “extreme” but to approximately 98 percent of the U.S. population—the meat-eating majority—it certainly is. And you and I have an idea of what “animal rights” means that, I can assure you, is quite different from that of the average American. So if I want to reach people...I need to communicate in a way that they can hear. ~ Dr. Melanie Joy

What I do know is that consumption and capitalism are not going to create the kinds of ...

What I do know is that consumption and capitalism are not going to create the kinds of changes that we wish to see. Getting someone to stop consuming animal products doesn’t necessarily save lives. It stops the breeding of animals, which is wonderful. However, when we are talking about 10 billion land animals in the US (55 billion globally), getting a few people to go vegan is not going to make any significant damage, particularly when we factor in increases in animal consumption in China and India and population growth around the world. ~ Gary Smith

We still do not know if supplementation is needed (at the moment there are no ...

We still do not know if supplementation is needed (at the moment there are no such guidelines) and if you would rather not supplement, you should choose foods with ALA [Omega 3 fatty acid] regularly and avoid foods containing trans-fats (main sources: of those are processed foods) ~ Malgorzata Desmond

The public need to be taught how they, as consumers, can avoid giving support to ...

The public need to be taught how they, as consumers, can avoid giving support to animal abuse. Its fundamentally important that people are educated to be vegan, as if a person is vegan, they are highly unlikely to support other forms of animal abuse. ~ Ronnie Lee

There is no better thing ~ EVER ~ than getting someone to live as a vegan ...

There is no better thing ~EVER~ than getting someone to live as a vegan for animal rights reasons because vegans fight animal persecution 24/7. They don’t eat animals or drink their juices or watch them perform or buy them as pets. If we are looking to do something NOW, what better than to talk to people about veganism for the animals’ sake? ~ Dr. Roger Yates

I think Robert Garner is right that insider status is essential. But we need both ...

I think Robert Garner is right that insider status is essential. But we need both insider status and 'outsider' status! That is to say we need to hit our opponents really hard sometimes in terms of publicity and focusing public opinion against them ~ Prof. Richard Ryder

Cruelty IS cruelty whether it happens in Indonesia, America or Australia. A knife in the ...

Cruelty IS cruelty whether it happens in Indonesia, America or Australia. A knife in the throat of a cow in Indonesia is the same as a knife in the throat of a cow in America [...] For the record, Indonesian slaughterhouses are NO worse than Australian or American slaughterhouses. Muslims are NO worse to animals than Christians and Jews or atheists. We need to stop focusing on which person/culture is doing the killing and focus on eradicating ALL of the killing. ~ Gary Yourofsky

I say if you believe as a knowledgeable, moral and ethical person that there is injustice ...

I say if you believe as a knowledgeable, moral and ethical person that there is injustice in the law then you need to speak up. ~ Prof. Steve Garlick

Veganism MUST be the very first thing we promote, everything else ...

Veganism MUST be the very first thing that we promote, everything else is secondary ~ Cameron Blewett

We have a very linear assumption in the animal rights movement, i.e., someone famous will ...

We have a very linear assumption in the animal rights movement, i.e., someone famous will bring attention, attention will help the animals. Do we actually know that this is how change happens? Or are we feeding a machine, the machine of culture? ~ Carol Adams

Not everyone has the ability to cook a great meal. Let those that do, do so. Not everyone has ...

Not everyone has the ability to cook a great meal. Let those that do, do so. Not everyone has the ability to articulate herself or himself in such a way that gets a message across convincingly. Let those that do so, do so. At the end of the day, we’re all working towards the same goal: the understanding that using others for your own desires, regardless of the colour of their skin, the shape of their bodies, or the membership of their species, is wrong. ~ Dino Sarma

Being vegan now is a piece of cake ... but ...

Being vegan now is a piece of cake ... but I think there are factors that can still make the idea rather daunting for some individuals. These may be related to peer group pressure, social class, family relations, geographical location, and so on. I guess existing vegans need to be sensitive to such issues and I think it is a mistake for those who went vegan easily to simply assume that everyone can have the same trouble-free experience. ~ Dr. Roger Yates

The philosophy of animal rights demands only that logic be respected. For any argument that ...

The philosophy of animal rights demands only that logic be respected. For any argument that plausibly explains the independent value of human beings implies that other animals have this same value, and have it equally. And any argument that plausibly explains the right of humans to be treated with respect also implies that these other animals have this same right, and have it equally, too. ~ Professor Tom Regan

I think we will all be happier - and thus better examples, and thus better advocates for ...

I think we will all be happier – and thus better examples, and thus better advocates for the animals – if we accept that some people will just be jerks. (And let’s be honest – that’s true about vegans, too – there are vegans who will be loudly belligerent with anyone whose thoughts deviate ever-so-slightly from theirs) ~ Matt Ball

Fighting for bigger cages or "better" treatment of animals is ...

Fighting for bigger cages or "better" treatment of animals is contradictory and ridiculous. It will never lead to empty cages. ~ Gary Yourofsky

Veganism is nothing to be proud of ~ it is simply coming home to our true nature, and ...

Veganism is nothing to be proud of – it is simply coming home to our true nature, and looking with eyes that see beings rather than seeing things. It’s a huge shift, and I’ve found I need to practice it not just with animals, but with everyone I meet, either directly or indirectly through the media. It’s an ongoing spiritual commitment, and the real adversary is never other people, it is myself—the fears, delusions, and inner disconnections that keep me enslaved to the illusion of essential separateness. All life is fundamentally interconnected, and our welfare is interconnected with the welfare of others. We will awaken to this or perish as a culture, without ever knowing why. ~ Dr. Will Tuttle

Taking action is not something to be condemned, ridiculed or belittled. It is of more ...

Taking action is not something to be condemned, ridiculed or belittled. It is of more benefit to educate about why someone has acted to effect change rather than to side with the enemy and condemn it. ~ Keith Mann

I disagree with the notion that welfare reforms cause people to feel more comfortable about ...

I disagree with the notion that welfare reforms cause people to feel more comfortable about consuming animals. In fact, empirical evidence suggests the opposite. Welfare reforms lead to more awareness about the issues, which leads people to eat fewer animal products. ~ Gene Baur

For when an injustice is absolute, one must oppose it absolutely. It was not ...

For when an injustice is absolute, one must oppose it absolutely. It was not “reformed” slavery that justice demanded, not “reformed” child labor, not “reformed” subjugation of women. In each of these cases, abolition was the only moral answer. Merely to reform absolute injustice is to prolong injustice. ~ Prof. Tom Regan